RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/GC/M/87 
4 October 2004  
 
(04-4142) 
General Council 
27 July and 1 August 20041  
 
 
 
MINUTES OF MEETING 
 
Held in the Centre William Rappard  
on 27 July and 1 August 20041 
 
Chairman:  Mr. Shotaro Oshima (Japan) 
 
 
Subjects discussed : Page  
 
1. Iran – Request for Accession .................................................................................................. 2 
2. Libya – Request for Accession ................................................................................................4  
3. International Trade Centre UNCTAD/WTO - Report of the Joint Advisory 
Group on its Thirty-seventh Session ......................................................................................8  
4. Review of waivers pursuant to Article IX:4  of the WTO Agreement .................................9  
5. Committee on Budget, Finance and Admini stration – Report of the Committee 
on its meeting of June 2004 ................................................................................................... 11 
6. WTO Pension Plan – Election of a member to the  Management Board – 
Proposal by the Chairman ....................................................................................................11  
7. Rules of Origin – Harmonization Work Programme – Statement by the Chairman....................................................................................................................... ..........11
 
8. Work Programme on Small Economies – Report by the Chairman of the 
Dedicated Session of the Committee on Trade and Development ......................................14  
9. Working Group on Trade, Debt and Finance – Statement by the Chairman of the Working Group on the availability of trade finance for developing countries...........14
 
10. Implementation of Paragraph 6 of the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health – Follow-up to the General Council Decision of 
August 2003 – Statement by the Chairman of the TRIPS Council ....................................15
 
11. Work under the Doha Work Programme.............................................................................16  
(a) Report by the Chairman of the Trade Negotiations Committee ...............................................16  
(b) Draft General Council Decision – Statement by the Chairman ................................................16  
12. Claims of interest of Ecuador and nego tiations for the enlargement of the 
European Union ................................................................................................................. .....37  
13. Date of the Sixth Session of the Ministerial Conference – Statement by Hong 
Kong, China.................................................................................................................... .........37  
                                                      
1 Items 1-10 and 12-14 were taken up on 27 July.  The General Council then adjourned to allow 
consultations to be pursued on the draft decision to be taken under Item 11, with the understanding that this would be done by 31 July.  Late on 31 July, the Council reconvened to consider and approve the resulting draft 
decision, and formally adopted the Decision on the Doha Work Programme, referred to as the July package, at 
12.30 a.m.  WT/GC/M/87 
Page 2  
 
14.
 Chairmanships of the TRIPS Council and of the Working Group on Trade and 
Transfer of Technology ......................................................................................................... .38 
 
1. Iran – Request for Accession (WT/ACC/IRN/1) 
1. The Chairman  drew attention to the communication from Iran in document WT/ACC/IRN/1, 
requesting accession to the WTO Agreement pursuant to  Article XII, and recalled that the General 
Council had last considered this matte r at its meeting in May.  At th at meeting, he had reported on his 
initial consultations on Iran's request, and had said that  this continued to be a difficult matter for at 
least one delegation, and that the question of when positions might change in order to allow Members 
to pursue a satisfactory resolution remained uncertain .  In the light of the discussion at that Council 
meeting, he had proposed that he continue his c onsultations, and that the General Council revert to 
this matter.  On 7 July, he had held further cons ultations to see if there had been any movements in 
position that might allow Members to work towards a satisfactory resolution.  He had invited to these 
consultations all the delegations who had spoken on this subject at  the February and May Council 
meetings.  It had been evident in these consultati ons that although many de legations were supportive 
of early positive action on this request in the Counc il, there was still no consen sus at the present time 
that would enable the Council to proceed in this dire ction.  Nevertheless, he remained ready to work 
further with delegations to f acilitate progress on this matter. 
2. The representative of the United States  said that the issue of Iran's accession to the WTO 
continued to be under review by her Government.  Her delegation ha d nothing to add to the statement 
it had made at the May General Council meeting. 
3. The representative of Tanzania , on behalf of the Informal Group of Developing Countries , 
said he had taken note of the statement by the United States.  It was hoped that the United States would complete its review soon, an d would be able to provide a positive response on this issue at the 
next General Council meeting. 
4. The representatives of Egypt
, Cuba , Turkey , China , Indonesia , Oman , Venezuela  and 
Djibouti , associated their delegations with the statement by Tanzania on behalf of the Informal Group 
of Developing Countries. 
5. The representative of Malaysia  said that in line with the WTO's professed principle of 
universal membership, due consideration should be  given to Iran's request for accession by agreeing 
to establish the necessary mechanis m.  This request was long-standing and a decision was overdue. 
6. The representative of Egypt  said that, like previous speakers, Egypt supported Iran's request, 
which had been pending since 1996.  Egypt hoped that  under the Chairman's leadership, consultations 
on this matter would soon resolve the deadlock a nd prove Members' belief and deep conviction in the 
multilateral trading system and its universality, an d that accession issues could be settled according to 
the mandate and work of the organization. 
7. The representative of Cuba  said her delegation regretted th at a developing country as 
important as Iran, with a large population and signi ficant trade, could not advance in its accession 
process because one particular Memb er opposed this.  This impinge d on the credibility of the WTO 
and needed to be addressed urgently. 
8. The representative of Turkey  said his delegation had hoped th at at this critical General 
Council meeting, Iran's request, which had been pending for a long time, would be responded to 
positively.  His delegation regretted that this seemed not to be possible.  However, Turkey maintained 
the hope that after the summer break this issu e would be brought to a positive conclusion. 
9. The representative of Pakistan  said that Iran's request for accession had been pending for 
several years.  The WTO was about an open multilatera l trading system for the benefit and welfare of  WT/GC/M/87 
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all.  In recent years, Iran had carried out a number of trade liberalization measures, such as reduction of restrictions and duties on imports.  Members needed to encourage this trend.  Pakistan therefore strongly urged Members to set up a working party with a view to Iran's early accession. 
10. The representative of China
 thanked the Chairman for his cons ultations to facilitate resolution 
of this issue.  China very much regretted to hear, once again, that the United States was yet to 
complete its review.  As his delegation had stated at the February General Council meeting, it was not 
normal for an item like this to be on the Council's agenda for so many years without any progress.  
China believed that accession would facilitate Iran 's domestic economic refo rm and would help Iran 
accelerate bringing its relevant laws and regulations  into conformity with WTO provisions.  This 
would contribute positively to Iran's economic deve lopment and reform, and to its early and full 
integration into the multilateral trading system.  China therefore called on the United States to 
complete its review soon and to provide a positive re sponse on this issue at the next General Council 
meeting so that Members could initiate Iran's accession process as soon as possible. 
11. The representative of Indonesia  said that, for the credibility of the WTO, Members should de-
politicize the accession process.  Indonesia therefore requested Members' co-operation in supporting 
the establishment of a working part y to examine Iran's request.  It was time for Members to take 
concrete steps to find a way to solve this long-st anding issue which would help Iran – with its more 
than 60 million people – integrate into the world economy and the multilateral trading system.  
Indonesia strongly supported speeding up the accession process in order to advance Iran's accession to 
the WTO, thus ensuring greater universality of the organization. 
12. The representative of the European Communities  said that his delegation had noted what had 
become a rather familiar statem ent from the United States.  Iran's request had been on the Council's 
agenda many times and, as all knew, the Community  had always supported it.  His delegation fully 
supported Iran's request at the present meeting as well and wished to see its approval.  The 
Community's position on WTO applicants had been to  treat each application on its own merits.  Iran 
fulfilled the criteria of Article XII of the WTO Agreement to launch the accession process, and the 
Community expected all delegations to treat all ap plications in the same way.  The Chairman had 
already held informal consultations on this matter,  and his delegation was pleased that he intended to 
continue this process in order to ge t out of the current deadlock.   
13. The representative of Oman  said that Iran's request had been on the Council's agenda for a 
very long time, and it was time to take the right  decision on it.  Any country that had technical 
difficulties with this request should seek other Members'  help in order to find a solution satisfactory to 
all.  
14. The representative of Venezuela  said that Venezuela supported Iran's request to participate 
legitimately in the multilateral trading system.  Member s needed to be consistent with the principle of 
universality of the organization, in which all were important. 
15. The representative of India  said that, like other delegations, India was disappointed with the 
delay in commencing the process for Iran's accession to the WTO.  India hoped Members would soon 
be able to start this process and that they would be able to welcome Iran into the WTO community as 
early as possible.  His delegation urged all Members, particularly the United States, to work constructively towards achieving this objective. 
16. The representative of Djibouti
 said that this request had been pending for a long time, and 
there was near unanimity for a positive reply to be given to it in the near future.   
17. The representative of Switzerland  said that this matter had been on the Council's agenda for 
quite some time, and his delegation had already regi stered its position in that regard.  Switzerland 
believed that all countries that met the relevant cr iteria of Article XII of the WTO Agreement were 
entitled to start negotiations on the terms of their acc ession, all the more so since the establishment of WT/GC/M/87 
Page 4  
 
a working party did not prejudge the outcome of its  work.  Switzerland believed that Iran met all the 
relevant criteria, and his delegation therefore suppor ted the request.  It also hoped that this matter 
would be resolved quickly. 
18. The representative of Norway
 said that his delegation's point of departure was that any state 
or separate customs territory which fulfilled th e criteria for membership set out in the WTO 
Agreement, and which was willing and able to accep t the obligations incumbent on Members of this 
organization, should be able to have its accession requ est referred to a working party.  Norway noted 
that the Chairman had had consultations on this issue as mandated by the General Council although, 
as the latter had said, with no success so far.  Like other delegations, Norway urged the Chairman to 
continue his consultations with interested Me mbers with a view to advancing this issue. 
19. The Chairman  said that in light of the positions expressed at the present meeting he would 
remain in contact with delegations and reflect on the best way to proceed. 
20. The General Council took note  of the statements and agreed  to revert to this matter at its next 
meeting. 
2. Libya – Request for Accession (WT/ACC/LBY/1 and 2) 
21. The Chairman  drew attention to the communications from Libya in documents 
WT/ACC/LBY/1 and 2, requesting accession to the WTO Agreement pursuant to Article XII.  
Following Libya's most recent communication of 10 June in WT/ACC/LBY/2,  he had had a number 
of informal contacts with a range of Members in re cent weeks, including with coordinators of WTO 
groupings, with regard to this request.  His unders tanding from these contacts was that at the present 
stage there was a positive sense overall with regard to Libya's request for accession, in a way that 
would allow the General Council to take positive ac tion at the present meeting.  Accordingly, he 
proposed for Members' consideration that the Ge neral Council agree to establish a Working Party 
with the following terms of reference and composition: 
 Terms of Reference : 
 
 "To examine the application of the Governme nt of Libya to accede to the WTO Agreement 
under Article XII, and to submit to the Gene ral Council recommendations which may include 
a draft Protocol of Accession." 
  Membership
: 
 
 Membership would be open to all Members indicating their wish to serve on the Working 
Party.   
  Chairmanship
: 
 
 In keeping with customary practice, the Ge neral Council would authorize its Chairman to 
designate the Chairperson of the Working Pa rty in consultation with representatives of 
Members and with the representative of Libya. 
 22. The General Council agreed
 to establish a Working Party w ith the terms of reference and 
composition as proposed by the Chairman. 
23. The Chairman  then invited Libya to consult with the Accessions Division of the Secretariat as 
to further procedures, in particular with regard to the basic documentation to be considered by the 
Working Party.  He also invited Libya, on behalf of the General Council, to  attend meetings of the 
General Council and, as appropriate , meetings of other WTO bodies as an observer during the period 
when the Working Party was carrying out its work.  WT/GC/M/87 
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24. The representative of Libya , speaking as an observer , expressed her delegation's appreciation 
and gratitude for the Council's havi ng endorsed her country's application to join the WTO, and for the 
establishment of a working party to initiate and conduct the negotiations required.  Libya would enact local laws and regulations consistent with tho se of the relevant WTO agreements and with the 
orientations of the organization in terms of trade liberalization and economic openness in the interest 
of all Members.  Describing Libya's geographical loca tion, she noted that its location made it a transit 
route between Arab countries in the east and w est, European countries in the north and African 
countries in the south, rendering Libya the hub of ancient trade routes, and of civilizational and cultural interaction since time immemorial.  Liby a enjoyed a wealth of hydrocarbons, tourist 
attractions and fisheries, which allowed it to play an important role in economic and trade cooperation 
and integration with neighbouring countries. 
25. Libya was divided into 33 "Shabiat" or cant ons, which were indepe ndent in terms of 
managing their administration, finances and services.  Tripoli, Benghazi and Sabha were the main and 
largest cities in the country.  Libya's population in  2003 was estimated at 5,481,000, with an annual 
growth rate of 2.7 per cent.  Also in 2003, c itizens under 25 years of age constituted about 61.2 per 
cent of the population, with 1,641,000 economically  active people.  The average age was 71 years.  
The economic system in Libya was based on the resp ective roles of the private and public sectors in 
economic activities and the achievement of economic  and social development.  The State had 
shouldered the larger part of th e burden of economic activities in the past, depending on oil revenues, 
which made up the major part of the country's resources.  However, difficulties resulting from the decline in oil prices and obstacles facing the perfo rmance of production sectors had left their negative 
impact on economic activity.  A review of the role of  the public sector had therefore been inevitable.  
The private sector had been encouraged to play an ap propriate role to give i ndividuals the opportunity 
to participate in trade, production, services and othe r economic activity.  Severa l steps had been taken, 
and much legislation enacted, to promote the role of the private sector to gradually replace the public 
sector, whose role was diminishing.  The State fo cused on drawing up policies, mobilizing resources, 
rehabilitating infrastructure and providing services wh ich the private sector was unable or unwilling to 
provide. 
26. Economic policies aimed at reviving the national economy, removing distortions and 
improving performance had been adopted.  In this cont ext, certain special measures had been taken in 
the field of monetary policy, such as the abolition of  monetary controls and the alignment of rates of 
exchange of the Libyan dinar vis-à-vis other currenc ies in favour of all parties in economic activity.  
Such developments had increased along with developmen ts in the private sector and the transfer of the 
ownership of public economic entities to the private sector.  Recent legislation had been enacted to 
reduce the income tax rate.  A host of other measures had been taken in the field of trade policy, such 
as the lifting of restrictions on exports by abolishi ng export licenses and customs guarantees, as well 
as the lifting of restrictions on imports, limiting the prohibition on the importation of commodities to 
religious or security reasons only.  Most commoditi es and services had been liberalized in order to 
activate market mechanisms.  A draft law on competition was currently being prepared. 
27. Perhaps the most notable domain where Libya enjoyed great economic and investment 
potential was tourism.  Libya attached considerab le attention to this sector and had established a 
General People's Committee (a Ministry) to develop and supervise this sector.  A new law had been 
enacted to activate this body and to  encourage local and foreign investment therein.  Libya also gave 
priority to economic free zones and transit commerc e, through legislation granting foreign investors 
ample guarantees, facilities, tax and tariff exemptions .  The protection of intellectual property rights 
through a trademarks law was currently being impl emented.  Several measures had been taken in 
relation to consumers' protecti on through health surveillance and specifications control, and by 
forming civil societies for the protection of consumer s.  Important steps had been taken to privatize 
public sector corporations and to encourage foreig n investment in joint operations.  To promote 
foreign investment that would contribute to the reinforcement of the national economy, a number of actions had been introduced, such as the enactment of foreign investment law to stimulate foreign WT/GC/M/87 
Page 6  
 
investment, which accorded numerous tax privileges and allowances as it permitted foreign investors 
100 per cent ownership of projects or in  partnership with local investors. 
28. In the context of preparations to join the WTO, many preparatory steps and procedures had 
been taken, including the establishment of a high  Ministerial commission.  Sectoral committees had 
been set up which had begun to examine and clarify legislation, regulations and decisions governing 
economic and trade activities, and to review th ese regulations in the light of WTO rules and 
requirements.  A draft memorandum on accession was being prepared to provide clear and transparent information on Libya's economic and trade position.  Seminars and workshops had been organized to 
this end, including a symposium held in colla boration with UNDP and UNCTAD, where various 
relevant national institutions and au thorities had been invited to take part in the proceedings in order 
to familiarize them with the work of WTO and to pr epare them to fulfil Libya's requirements.  In view 
of the considerable burden that would result fro m the accession process, Libya needed specialized 
technical assistance and expertise available in the WTO in order to complete this task in good time.  
Libya also hoped to benefit from WTO technical tr aining programmes in order to prepare and equip 
its nationals to follow work in the WTO and to  engage in the negotiation process.  Libya, as a 
developing country, looked forward to WTO me mbership, with the aim of achieving economic 
development, diversification of its sources of income, attainment  of economic benefits and the 
consolidation of good trade and economic relations with WTO Me mbers for the attainment of 
economic development for all. 
29. All representatives who spoke welcomed and c ongratulated Libya on the decision just taken 
by the General Council.  
30. The representative of Nigeria
, on behalf of the African Group , said that this was an historic 
decision and that Libya was an important country in Africa, whose membership in the WTO would 
enhance work and strengthen participation in the WTO.  Nigeria hoped the working party would soon 
undertake its work and that Libya would soon become a full WTO Member. 
31. The representative of Egypt  said that the clear engagement shown by the Libyan Government 
testified to the latter's belief in the multilateral trading system and to its high degree of commitment 
and political willingness to join the organization.  Th is should be encouraged by the membership, as 
all would benefit from this importa nt partner's accession and its cont ribution to the consolidation and 
universality of the multilateral trading system in which all believed.  Egypt assured Libya of its 
willingness to participate constructively in the accession working party. 
32. The representative of Tanzania , on behalf of the Informal Group of Developing Countries , 
said that as more and more countries entered the fold  of the rule-based multilateral trading system, the 
world economy as a whole stood to gain.  Developi ng countries stood ready to cooperate with all 
parties in an expeditious process in order to make  Libya's accession to the WTO an early reality. 
33. The representative of Morocco  said that Libya's request for WTO accession was part of a 
succession of policy decisions being made by the Libyan Government in recent months.  Libya had 
provided a description of its economic environment and the courageous economic decisions that had 
been made in the private and public sectors.  Mo rocco was certain that the Working Party would 
provide an opportunity to examine th ese issues in more depth.  It was of utmost importance that Libya 
had committed itself to abiding by all of the WTO rul es applying to all Members.  This was a strategic 
commitment that should be appreciated.  He also wi shed to underscore that Libya had taken strategic 
decisions in recent months which had been conduciv e to improving peace and stability in the world.  
The international community was fully aware of this and of Libya's wish to incorporate itself into the 
multilateral system of the WTO, to be part of globalization and world trade generally.  Morocco 
supported Libya's request to benefit from special technical assist ance measures that would help it 
reach a successful conclusion of the work in the Working Party.  WT/GC/M/87 
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34. The representative of Tunisia  supported the statements by Egypt  on behalf of the Arab Group, 
by Tanzania on behalf of the Informal Group of De veloping Countries, and by Nigeria on behalf of 
the African Group.  Libya's request for accession w as a result of and follow-up to the strategic 
decision of that Government to become part of the multilateral trading system, and Libya's statement bore witness to that commitment.  Libya's accessi on to the WTO would certainly strengthen the 
universality of the organization.  Tunisia urged all Members to support Libya's accession and to help 
that country develop its programme of economic liber alization, in order to become a full Member of 
the WTO in the near future.  His delegation wished  to thank the Council for this historic decision. 
35. The representative of Canada
 said that Libya's accession to the WTO would help accelerate 
that country's economic development and further st rengthen its ties with the international community 
and, more specifically, with Canada.  Canada endor sed the goal of universal membership of the WTO 
and the importance of participation in the WT O as a cornerstone of economic development. 
36. The representative of Jordan  said that the establishment of the Working Party confirmed the 
commitment towards universality of the organization.   Jordan hoped to see more developing countries 
join the multilateral trading system.  As Libya was on e of Jordan's brother countries and major trading 
partners in the region, its accession would have a sign ificant impact in fostering the reform of trading 
régimes in the region, which would clearly benef it the multilateral trading system.  Jordan wished 
Libya a successful accession process.  As a recently -acceded Member, Jordan noted that accession 
was never an easy task, and that it took both an  open heart and open mind to overcome the many 
hurdles one might face during the process.  He reaffirmed his delegation's support for Libya and offered Libya the expertise it had gained in its  own accession process, should this be needed.   
37. The representative of Kenya
 said that Libya was a key member of the African Union and an 
observer in COMESA, and her dele gation was convinced that Libya's accession would significantly 
contribute to economic growth and development, a nd to African's overall development.  Kenya fully 
supported Libya's request for technical assistance an d support from the WTO, and wished to associate 
itself with the statements by Tanzania on behalf of the Informal Group of Developing countries and 
by Nigeria on behalf of the African Group. 
38. The representative of Uganda  said that his delegation looked forward to working 
constructively with Libya in the Working Party. 
39. The representative of Cuba  said that this was a positive and important decision.  Her 
delegation congratulated Libya on its statement and recognized the sacrifice being made by Libya to 
comply with the requirements of the WTO Agreement. 
40. The representative of Mauritania  said that the Council's decision to establish a working party 
was fair and legitimate, because it took into account  the deeper commitment undertaken by Libya and 
the process launched at the national level to integrat e fully into the multilateral trading system.  This 
decision also contributed to the universality of th e organization.  Mauritania hoped that the Working 
Party would get under way as soon as possible and would lead to Libya's early accession. 
41. The representative of Lesotho  said that Lesotho encouraged the integration of all economies 
into the multilateral trading system, and urged Libya's expedited accession to the WTO. 
42. The representative of India  thanked Libya for its comprehensive statement.  India was 
impressed with the progress Libya had been making.  India had a long tradition of friendship and good relations with Libya, and hoped that the accession process would be completed expeditiously. 
43. The representative of Norway
 said that Norway supported, from a systemic point of view, that 
any state or separate customs territory that fulfille d the criteria for membership laid down in the WTO 
Agreement and that was willing and able to accep t the obligations incumbent upon Members of the 
organization, should be able to have its acces sion request referred to a working party. WT/GC/M/87 
Page 8  
 
44. The representative of Malaysia
 said that his delegation supported a favourable outcome 
regarding Libya's request.  His delegation had not ed the trade policy and liberalization measures 
Libya was undertaking, and hoped that Libya's reque st would be expeditiously examined in order to 
enable it to accede to the WTO. 
45. The representatives of Albania , Angola , Australia , Bahrain , Benin , Botswana , Burkina Faso , 
China , Democratic Republic of the Congo , Djibouti , European Communities , Madagascar , Mexico , 
New Zealand , Oman , Pakistan , Paraguay , Qatar , Senegal , Sierra Leone , Turkey , United Arab 
Emirates , Venezuela , Zambia  and Zimbabwe  wished to be placed on record as also having welcomed 
and supported the establishment of a working party on the accession of Libya. 
46. The General Council took note  of the statements and of the expressions of welcome and 
support for Libya. 
3. International Trade Centre UNCTAD/WTO - Report of the Joint Advisory Group on its 
Thirty-seventh Session (ITC/AG(XXXVII)/200) 
47. The Chairman  recalled that the Joint Advisory Group of the International Trade Centre 
UNCTAD/WTO had held its Thirty-seventh Session from 26-30 April 2004.  The report of the Joint 
Advisory Group had been distributed in doc ument ITC/AG(XXXVII)/200.  In keeping with 
customary practice, the report had been cons idered initially by the Committee on Trade and 
Development at its meeting on 11 May, where it ha d been presented by the Chairman of the Joint 
Advisory Group, Mr. Iversen (Denmark). 
48. Mr. Clarke (Barbados), Chairman of the Committee on Trade and Development , said that the 
Committee had considered the report of the ITC Jo int Advisory Group (JAG) at its meeting on 
11 May and had agreed to forward it to the Ge neral Council for adoption.  The report had been 
introduced by the JAG Chairman, Mr. Iversen (Denma rk).  The ITC's Executive Director, Mr. Bélisle, 
had also been present at the meeting.  The Chairman of the JAG had reported that there had been a marked increase in the ITC's techni cal assistance activities during the p ast year.  In 2003, the delivery 
of technical assistance to developing and tran sition economies had increased by 19 per cent over 
2002, and a double-digit increase in the number of technical assistance activiti es was also foreseen for 
2004.  In general comments, the JAG Chair ha d explained that deve loping-country Members 
continued to ask for more assistance from the ITC.  As for developed countries, they had expressed their satisfaction with the ITC's various activities,  including its creative trade tools, market access 
maps and pilot schemes, and its role in providing  assistance with programmes such as JITAP and the 
Integrated Framework.  The JAG Chairman had al so introduced the recently  created International 
Trade Fellowship Programme for developing-country  graduates in international business, and had 
explained that the fellowships had been recently la unched with AISEC, the International Organization 
for Students in Economics and Business.  He had co ncluded by saying that the JAG had once again 
asked donors to be as forthcoming as possible in their contributions.  He had also thanked the 
Governments of Canada, Denmark,  Finland, France, Germany, India, the Netherlands, Norway, 
Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the Un ited States for their recent contributions.  These 
countries' donations had ensured that the ITC had roughly the same budget in 2004 as in 2003.  
49. The representative of the United States
 said her delegation wished to  applaud, and reiterate its 
support for, the work of the ITC.  The United States appreciated the statement by the Chairman of the 
Committee on Trade and Development, and wished to highlight that it was also pleased to have made 
a contribution of US$ 1 million to the ITC.   
50. The representative of Pakistan  wished to place on record Pakistan's deep appreciation for the 
work the ITC was doing for developing countries.  In Pakistan, the ITC was currently actively 
involved in trade-related capacity building.  ITC experts were advising Pakistan on increased export 
competitiveness and on building the capacity of the G overnment as well as the private sector to meet  WT/GC/M/87 
 Page 9 
 
 
the challenges and opportunities of the world tradi ng system.  Pakistan fully supported the ITC's 
future vision and wished it the best.   
51. The representative of Djibouti  said the ITC was a very important organization for developing 
countries, especially LDCs.  He had worked on sev eral occasions with ITC experts within the 
framework of the Integrated Framework.  The ITC was doing very practical work in the field – as 
much as the WTO.  Djibouti applauded this and believed that Members should attach very high 
importance to the ITC and its lengthy experience in the field. 
52. The representative of Benin  said that Benin supported the ITC for its remarkable work, in 
both training and in the field. 
53. The representative of Uganda  said that as a beneficiary of the ITC's efforts, his country 
wished to support the ITC's work in Uganda and in many other African countries. 
54. The representative of Zambia  said his delegation wished to place on record its appreciation 
for the work being done by the ITC together with  the WTO and UNCTAD.  Zambia was one of the 
LDC beneficiaries of ITC assistance and was grateful to all the countries that were making it possible for the ITC to continue its work. 
55. The representative of Guinea
 said that his delegation wished to applaud the ITC on its efforts 
to make improvements in the context of the povert y-reduction strategy papers.  Guinea had seen the 
ITC at work in this area and felt that this work  should be encouraged, and supported the appeal to 
donors. 
56. The General Council took note  of the statements and adopted  the report of the Joint Advisory 
Group in document ITC/AG(XXXVII)/200. 
4. Review of waivers pursuant to Article IX:4  of the WTO Agreement 
(i) El Salvador – Agreement on Implementation of  Article VII of GATT 1994, granted on 8 July 
2002 until 7 March 2005 (WT/L/476) 
 (ii) LDCs – Article 70.9 of the TRIPS Agreement with respect to pharmaceutical products, 
granted on 8 July 2002 until 1 January 2016 (WT/L/478) 
 (iii) Preferential Tariff Treatment for Least- Developed Countries, granted on 15 June 1999 until 
30 June 2009 (WT/L/304) 
 (iv) Kimberley Process Certifica tion Scheme for Rough Diamonds, granted on 15 may 2003 until 
31 December 2006 (WT/L/518) 
 
57. The Chairman
 recalled that, in accordance with para graph 4 of Article IX of the WTO 
Agreement, "any waiver granted for a period of mo re than one year shall be reviewed by the 
Ministerial Conference not later than one year af ter it is granted, and thereafter annually until the 
waiver terminates."  There were four waivers before the General Counc il for review, which he 
suggested be taken up together.  With regard to th e waiver in sub-item (ii) for LDCs under the TRIPS 
Agreement, he recalled that in connection with the approval of the draft waiver at the meeting of the 
TRIPS Council in June 2002, the Chairman of the TRIPS Council had noted that it was understood, in 
regard to the review foreseen in paragraph 2 of that waiver, that the exceptional circumstances 
justifying the waiver would continue to exist fo r least-developed country Members until its expiry 
date of 1 January 2016. 
58. The representative of Tanzania , on behalf of the LDCs  and referring to sub-item 4(iii), said 
the LDCs wished to express their appreciation to the membership for the waiver granted in 1999 to WT/GC/M/87 
Page 10  
 
enable developing countries to provide prefer ential tariff treatment to products from LDCs 
(WT/L/304).  It was a significant development by the membership to assist LDCs through the means of improved market access and pref erential terms.  Helping LDCs secure beneficial and meaningful 
integration into the multilateral trading system w as a shared commitment of the membership.  This 
commitment had been reiterated at all WTO Ministerial meetings and elsewhere.  Many Members had 
made positive efforts to assist LDCs under the 1979 Enabling Clause.  For example, the Community's 
Everything-but-Arms (EBA) initiative, the African Gr owth and Opportunity Act of the United States, 
and the revised GSP Schemes of Norway, Japan, Cana da and Australia were contributing greatly to 
creating opportunities for LDCs.  The Decision of 1 999 to provide favourable and predictable market 
access conditions for products of LDCs was another ma jor step by the membership to further facilitate 
and promote the trade of LDCs.  The LDCs saw such preferential treatment as a key instrument in 
building their production and export base.  In sev eral LDCs, preferential market access had brought 
benefits.  Predictability in market  access could invite substantial investment in targeted sectors and 
thereby contribute to employment creation and income growth.   
59. South-South trade was growing at a faster rate  than total world trade.  Developing-country 
Members could take special measures through this waiver to facilitate LDC exports and create more 
trade between the LDCs and developing countries.  For example, developing countries that were in a 
position to do so could provide duty-free and quota-fr ee access for LDC products if they so wished.  
Experience with several special trade arrangements like GSP indicated that in many cases LDCs were 
unable to enjoy fully the potential that such schemes offered, due to the latter's design and associated 
conditions.  For example, stringent rules of origin  and related administrative procedures made much 
of the preferential market access unusable by LDCs.  As they had often underlined, LDCs were 
committed to the rule-based multilateral trading syst em in which they saw the potential of help to 
trade their way out of poverty and to accelerate th eir economic development.  The LDCs looked to 
their developing-country partners to take meaningf ul measures to enable the LDCs to increase their 
exports and thereby translate the 1999 Decision into reality.  
60. The representative of Sri Lanka
 said that as a low-income developing country, Sri Lanka 
completely understood the market access difficulties facing LDCs.  Sri Lanka welcomed any effort to 
assist LDCs by other developing countries providing  improved market access.  Similarly, Sri Lanka 
welcomed the EBA initiative of the European Communiti es.  However, at the time when this initiative 
had been introduced, it had been pointed out that it might have negative implications on countries just 
above the LDC level.  The situation had become wo rse for low-income developing countries in Asia 
which were not LDCs, as duty-free access similar to that provided under the EBA was available for 
most developing countries through various types of preferential arrangements in main developed 
countries' markets.  As a result, a substantial am ount of trade and investment diversion had taken 
place in the countries which did not benefit from su ch enhanced preferential arrangements for LDCs 
and in other developing countries with higher le vels of preferential access.  Therefore, the 
implications of such preferential arrangements, bot h positive and negative, needed to be addressed in 
a comprehensive manner during the DDA.  Sri Lanka also  wished to draw attention to paragraph 3 of 
the waiver Decision (WT/L/304) which stated that "[a]ny preferential tariff treatment implemented 
pursuant to this Waiver shall be designed to f acilitate and promote the trade of least-developed 
countries and not to raise barriers or create undue di fficulties for the trade of any other Member.  Such 
preferential treatment shall not constitute an impedime nt to the reduction or elimination of tariffs on a 
most-favoured-nation basis."  Sri Lanka strongly believed it was necessary to adhere to this 
requirement during the negotiations on preferential arrangements within the WTO. 
61. The General Council took note  of the statements and that th e General Council would revert to 
the review of multi-year waivers under Article IX :4 of the WTO Agreement at its meeting in 
December.  WT/GC/M/87 
 Page 11 
 
 
5. Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration – Report of the Committee on its 
meeting of June 2004 (WT/BFA/73) 
62. The Chairman  drew attention to the report of the Committee on Budget, Finance and 
Administration in document WT/BFA/73. 
63. Mr. Iversen (Denmark), Chairman of the Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration ,  
introducing the report in WT/BFA/73, said that it cove red the meeting held on 28 June, the agenda for 
which was contained in document WTO/AIR/2333.  The report included:  (i) various administrative 
up-dates and progress reports;  (ii) review of th e Guidelines on voluntary contributions from Non-
Governmental Donors;  (iii) assessment of additio nal contribution to the 2004 Budget and advance to 
the Working Capital Fund – Accession of the Kingdom of  the Nepal to the WTO;  (iv) letter from the 
Chairman of the Appellate Body;  (v) adjustment to WTO Dependency Allowances;  (vi) Oral Report 
on efficiency measures in the WTO;  and (vii) monitoring temporary assistance.  He wished to draw attention to the recommendations contained in pa ragraphs 10 and 12, which required decision by the 
General Council.  The Committee would continue its discussions on the possible adjustment of 
compensation provided to Appellate Body members and on the monitoring of temporary assistance. 
64. The General Council took note
 of the statement, approved  the specific recommendations in 
paragraphs 10 and 12 of the Budget Comm ittee's report in WT/BFA/73, and adopted  the report.  
6. WTO Pension Plan – Election of a member to the  Management Board – Proposal by the 
Chairman (WT/GC/W/532) 
65. The Chairman  drew attention to the proposal circulated in document WT/GC/W/532 
regarding the election of a member to the Manageme nt Board of the WTO Pension Plan.  He recalled 
that at the General Council meeting in May, at which Mr. Terry Collins-Williams (Canada) had been 
elected Chairman of the Management Board for a period of three years, he had indicated that it would be necessary at the present meeting to elect a member of the Management Board to replace Mr. Collins-Williams for the balance of his term of offi ce as a member, which would expire in July 2005.  
In his communication, he had proposed the nomination of Mr. Nicholas Niggli (Switzerland) as a 
member, and had invited Members to submit any co mments they might have regarding this proposal 
to him by close-of-business on 22 July.  He had not received any comments from delegations and, 
accordingly, proposed that the General Council el ect Mr. Niggli as a member of the Management 
Board of the WTO Pension Plan until July 2005. 
66. The General Council so agreed
. 
7. Rules of Origin – Harmonization Work Programme – Statement by the Chairman 
67. The Chairman  recalled that at the General Council meeting in July 2002, the Committee on 
Rules of Origin had forwarded 94 core policy issues to the General Council for discussion and 
decision at General Council level, with a view  to concluding work on the Harmonization Work 
Programme by the extended deadline of December  2002.  At its meeting in December 2002, the 
General Council had agreed to extend to July 2003 the deadline for completion of negotiations on the 
core policy issues, and also that, following reso lution of these core policy issues, the Committee on 
Rules of Origin would complete its remaining tec hnical work by 31 December 2003.  Since then, at 
the request and on behalf of the Chair of the Genera l Council, this work had been pursued in informal 
consultations by the Chairperson of the Committee on Rules of Origin.  In July 2003, the General Council had heard a report from the Committee Chairper son that despite best efforts and the useful 
work done, the deadline of July 2003 for comple tion of negotiations on the 94 core policy issues 
could not be met, and that further time was need ed to resolve these complex technical and political 
issues and to conclude this work.  In the light of that report, the General Council had decided to 
extend to July 2004 the deadline for completion of negotiations on the core policy issues, and that WT/GC/M/87 
Page 12  
 
following resolution of these issues,  the Committee on Rules of Origin  would complete its remaining 
technical work by 31 December 2004. 
68. Ms. Thorstensen (Brazil), Chairperson of the Committee on Rules of Origin
, reporting on the 
progress in the consultations for the determination of  origin on 94 core policy issues since July 2003, 
said that in the nine years since work had begun on harmonizing rules of origin, substantial progress 
had been made.  While quantification of this progr ess was not easy, roughly 70 per cent of the work 
had been completed, and Members were working hard  to resolve the remaining 30 per cent.  In order 
to bridge the existing gaps among Members concerni ng the 94 issues, five rounds of extensive, one-
to-one, small group, and open-e nded consultations had been held in the past 12 months. 
Unfortunately, however, it had not been possible to  reach consensus, and Members had missed the 
deadline for completion of these negotiations for the sixth time. 
69. Summarizing the state of play, she said that, fi rst, with regard to the 93 product-specific 
issues, it had been confirmed that the proposal made  in 2003 by the then Committee Chair was a good 
package, reflecting a fair balance of interests as a whole.  Many delegati ons which had long-standing 
positions had been able to join the Chair's proposal.  As a result of this, important progress had been 
made on some issues.  She had focused especially on the issues of coffee, dairy products, sugar, 
cocoa, processed fish and meat that included the mo st sensitive issues for many delegations.  Second, 
on the question of origin of fish inside an Excl usive Economic Zone, positions were still rigid because 
of the concerns related to implications of origin  on the obligations deriving from agreements on the 
conservation of species and stocks of fish.  Thir d, on the assembling of machinery and information 
technology products, the main question related to th e use of two different criteria to determine the 
origin of the good – tariff shift in the tariff nomenclature, or value added in the production of a good.  
Fourth, concerning the implications issue, ther e was almost full agreement among Members on two 
notions:  (1) harmonized rules of origin should be applied only to goods, not to services or intellectual 
property;  and (2) harmonized rules of origin should be applied equally for non-preferential 
commercial policy instruments, whenever a Memb er was required – or, in the absence of such 
requirement, when a Member voluntarily deci ded – to determine the country of origin. 
70. However, the greatest difficulty in the implicati ons issue at the present stage seemed to be the 
implications of harmonized rules of origin for th e Anti-Dumping Agreement, in which there were two 
main questions.  The first was whether the harmonized  rules of origin should  be used for the Anti-
Dumping Agreement.  Although "anti-dumping duty"  was mentioned in the Agreement on Rules of 
Origin, there was an inconsistency in the basic conc epts used in an anti-dumping investigation, i.e. a 
product exported from a country or a product originat ed in a country.  The application of these 
different concepts could lead to different resu lts.  The second question was whether harmonized rules 
of origin should be applied to deal with circum vention of anti-dumping duty measures referred to in 
the Marrakesh Ministerial Decision on Anti-Circumve ntion.  The possible application of harmonized 
rules of origin to anti-circumvention was dividing Members into  two opposite positions, one 
suggesting that a simple operation should  confer origin upon a good, and another  suggesting that only 
a very substantial operation should  confer origin.  These opposing positions had so far prevented 
Members from reaching consensus.  In order to resolv e this issue, consultations were now focused on 
the anti-dumping matter, in which not only origin  experts but also anti-dumping experts were 
participating.  In light of this  development, Members were now entering the most important phase of 
the work programme.  There was a shared feeling that a breakthrough would be possible only after the 
resolution of the anti-dumping issue. 
71. She recalled that the 94 core policy issues had been forwarded to the General Council by the 
Committee on Rules of Origin in July 2002.  The Committee had done its best over the past 24 
months, but had been unable to overcome the barri er between the mandate given and the political 
reality.  In their work, Members were not only di scussing the determination of origin based on the 
criteria of substantial transformation, but were also  negotiating the implications of origin for several 
politically sensitive questions, such as export subs idy and domestic support policies in agriculture, 
circumvention of anti-dumping measures, inconsistent  determinations of or igin for labelling and SPS  WT/GC/M/87 
 Page 13 
 
 
measures, and quota and tariff-quota administration.  The Committee had almost finished the work at 
the technical level, and the time had come to reach  political solutions.  It seemed  that without the 
personal involvement of Heads of Delegation, th e task would be impossible.  Therefore, from 
September onwards, she would begin visiting Heads of  Delegation to explain the present situation and 
to try to involve them in the negotiations.   In the light of this situation she wished to recommend that 
the General Council extend the deadline for completi on of negotiations on the core policy issues until 
July 2005, and for the remaining technical work until  the end of 2005.  All were aware that Members 
did not have boundless freedom to continue their wo rk on these issues into the future, and in her 
informal consultations Members had agreed on a firm  commitment not to miss this seventh deadline.  
She hoped that at the end of this new deadline, th e Chair of the Committee would be able to make a 
better report to the Council than the present one.  
72. The Chairman  said that in the light of the report from the Committee Chairperson, Members 
had to recognise that despite their best efforts to da te and the useful work done over the past year, the 
deadline of July 2004 for completion of the negotiations  on the 94 core policy issues could not be met.  
The issues Members faced in their work were admitte dly difficult and required further time to bring to 
a close.  He had discussed the question of furt her work with the Chairperson of the CRO, and 
understood that the CRO Chair had also discussed this  matter with delegations.  All delegations were 
aware of the importance of the issues to be solved a nd the implications to be considered.  In the light 
of the present circumstances, and the views of delega tions in the consultations held by the CRO Chair, 
he proposed that the General Council extend to July  2005 the deadline for completion of negotiations 
on the core policy issues identified in the CRO Chair's report to the General Council in July 2002 
(G/RO/52).  He also proposed that following resolu tion of these core policy issues, the Committee on 
Rules of Origin complete its remaining work con cerning the overall architecture and technical issues, 
as well as the overall coherence exercise referred to in Article 9.3(b) of the Agreement on Rules of Origin, by 31 December 2005. 
73. The representative of India
 said that his delegation attached the highest importance to the 
completion of work in this important area.  He r ecalled that under the Agreement on Rules of Origin, 
this work was to have been completed by 1997, but  it was still going on seven years after the deadline 
the Uruguay Round negotiators had laid down.  Indi a agreed with the Committee Chair that it was 
time for all to show strong political will to resolve these issues, particularly in the context in which 
Members were talking about trade facilitation necessar y to improve the movement of trade flows in 
the years to come.  India hoped that Members woul d be able to find a solution to these issues during 
the current negotiations. 
74. The representative of the United States  shared Members' concerns that they had been unable 
to reach closure on this issue.  The United States agreed with the Committee Chair that it would be 
unacceptable to allow this work to  lapse.  Therefore, her delegation had been happy to join the 
consensus to extend the time for this work.  An enormous amount of work had been done and 
progress achieved.  The United States agreed that in extending the deadline, Members would also 
engage themselves in such a way as to find imag inative solutions in re-examining these issues and 
would remain steadfast in their will to resolve them. 
75. The representative of the Philippines  said the Philippines concurred fully with the report of 
the Chair of the Committee.  As a delegation whic h had been involved in this exercise since the 
beginning, the Philippines wished to see some politi cal will from the membership in order to enable 
this work to be completed.  This also applied to the trade-facilitating measures Members were trying 
to undertake. 
76. The General Council took note  of the statements and agreed  to the Chairman's proposals.  WT/GC/M/87 
Page 14  
 
8. Work Programme on Small Economies – Report by the Chairman of the Dedicated 
Session of the Committee on Trade and Development  
77. The Chairman
 recalled that at its meeting in Febr uary and March 2002, the General Council 
had taken note of a framework and procedures fo r the conduct of the Work Programme on Small 
Economies, under which this Work Programme sh all be a standing item on the General Council's 
agenda.  The framework and procedures also pr ovided that the Committee on Trade and Development 
shall report regularly to the General Council on the pr ogress of work in its Dedicated Sessions on this 
subject. 
78. Mr. Clarke (Barbados), Chairman of the Dedicated Session of the Committee on Trade and 
Development , reporting on the Committee's activities in this  regard, said that the Dedicated Session of 
the Committee on Trade and Development had held it s most recent meeting on 12 May, at which two 
new submissions had been presented and discussed.  The first (WT/COMTD/SE/W/10) was a submission by Bolivia, Paraguay and Mongo lia.  The second (WT/COMTD/SE/W/11) was a 
submission by Barbados, Fiji, Mauritius, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Trinidad and 
Tobago.  Since his report to the General Council in  May, he had been conduc ting consultations with 
various delegations to see how to best move this process forward.  Several delegations had said that 
many of the issues raised so far in the Dedicated Se ssion were also the subject of negotiations in the 
negotiating groups, and believed that the scope of wo rk in those groups could well be affecting the 
pace at which Members proceeded in the Dedicate d Session.  The outcome of the present General 
Council meeting would help the Dedicated Session decide how to best progress some of the issues before it.  Once the result of the "July package" was known, he pla nned to continue consulting with 
key interested parties to assess how and where thei r positions and concerns might have changed.  In 
the meantime, he was available to discuss any issue of concern to any delegation.  He would report 
again at the next meeting of the General Council. 
79. The representative of Paraguay
 thanked the Chair of the Dedicated Session of the CTD for his 
report and for his determination to forge ahead w ith consultations aimed at establishing a programme 
on the basis of the submissions by small-economy countries.  This initiative was in favour of 
developing countries which were close to becoming developed and needed a hand up to ensure their 
full development and progress.  Paraguay would conti nue to work under the able leadership of the 
Chair of the Dedicated Session of the CTD in order to  allow this work to yield real benefits and in 
order to succeed in helping these countries view a rosi er future for their people.  His delegation urged 
others to support the Work Programme on Small Economies. 
80. The General Council took note  of the report by the Chairman of the Dedicated Session of the 
Committee on Trade and Development and of the statement. 
9. Working Group on Trade, Debt and Finan ce – Statement by the Chairman of the 
Working Group on the availability of trade finance for developing countries 
81. Mr. Balas (Hungary), Chairman of the Working Group on Trade, Debt and Finance , said that 
after having engaged in a broad exam ination of the relationship between  trade, debt and finance, as 
required by paragraph 36 of the Doha Declaration,  the members of the Working Group had decided 
unanimously to focus their work on eight specific themes that had been  spelled out in their report to 
the General Council that had been forwarded to the Cancún Ministerial Conference (WT/WGTDF/2). 
Since the work had resumed after Cancún, Members had started to tackle each theme, one by one. 
Given the amount of technical work done in past years, in cooperation with other inter-governmental 
organizations and the private sector, Members had d ecided to discuss the "trade financing" theme at 
the Working Group's meeting on 13 May 2004.  In this  context, he recalled that the Director-General 
had briefed the Council in February on his work in cooperation with the Managing-Director of the 
International Monetary Fund to improve the access of developing countries to more plentiful and 
secure sources of trade financing, particularly in periods of financial crisis .  The General Council had  WT/GC/M/87 
 Page 15 
 
 
requested the Working Group on Trade, Debt and Fi nance to examine the te chnical aspects of this 
issue, on the basis of the Secretariat report in WT/GC/W/527. 
82. In discussing the issue of trade financing at its meeting on 13 May, the Group had recognized 
that the Director-General's initiativ e in this area was timely, and that by raising the profile of the 
problem, the WTO and the IMF were providing impor tant encouragement to regional development 
banks, other public instituti ons and private banks to expand thei r activities to provide adequate and 
affordable flows of trade financing to developing countries.  In the WTO,  the Committee on Trade in 
Financial Services might wish to examine the ro le that GATS commitments on financial services 
might play.  There had also been recognition of the importance of WTO Members acting to keep markets open in periods of financ ial crisis and avoiding the use of trade measures that might 
undermine coordinated efforts by the international financial community in exceptional circumstances 
to maintain lines of trade financing. 
83. Two more meetings of the Group were fore seen in 2004, one in October and one in 
December.  In October, the Working Group would examine a study promised to it by the then 
Managing-Director of the IMF at the General Council meeting on Coherence in Global Economic 
Policy-Making and Cooperation between the WT O, IMF and World Bank held on 13 May 2003, on 
"the impact of exchange rate volatility on trade flow s".  This study had been received by members of 
the Group and of the General Council earlier in 2004, to allow time for examination in capitals and 
hence for a good discussion in October.  The Group would also examine progress in the strengthening 
of the international financial architecture and its impact on the trading system, by inviting a Senior 
Official of the Financial Stability Forum to dial ogue with the Group.  The Group also planned to 
discuss the issue of coherence in October, although more consultations were needed before Members 
had a clear idea of what the focus under this them e should be.  The Group would also need to have 
more consultations to set the agenda of the December meeting, but there was a demand that this be dedicated to the examination of market-access rela ted themes.  More discussion was needed to focus 
the discussion under these items in order to avoid overl ap with issues dealt with by other bodies of the 
WTO.  
84. The General Council took note
 of the statement.  
10. Implementation of Paragraph 6 of the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and 
Public Health – Follow-up to the General Council Decision of August 2003 (WT/L/540) – 
Statement by the Chairman of the TRIPS Council 
85. The Chairman  recalled that at its meeting in Augus t 2003, the General Council had adopted a 
Decision on the Implementation of paragraph 6 of the Doha Declar ation on the TRIPS Agreement and 
Public Health.  Paragraph 11 of that Decision foreshadowed work by the TRIPS Council on the 
preparation of an amendment to the TRIPS Agreement. 
86. Mr. Law (Hong Kong, China), Chairman of Council for TRIPS , reported on the arrangements 
in the TRIPS Council for finalizing the work on th e preparation of an amendment to replace the 
provisions of the Decision on Implementation of Pa ragraph 6 of the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS 
Agreement and Public Health (WT/L/540) adop ted by the General Council in August 2003.  
Paragraph 11 of this Decision provided that the D ecision, including the waivers granted in it, would 
terminate for each Member on the date on which an  amendment to the TRIPS Agreement replacing its 
provisions took effect for that Member.  It also instructed the TRIPS Council to initiate by the end of 2003, work on the preparation of such an amendment with a view to its adoption within six months, 
i.e. by June 2004, on the understanding that the amendment would be based, where appropriate, on the 
Decision, and on the further understanding that it would not be part of the negotiations referred to in 
paragraph 45 of the Doha Declaration.  Accordingl y, the TRIPS Council had taken up this matter at its 
last meeting in 2003 and again at its meetings in 2004.  In addition, both the previous Chair of the 
TRIPS Council and he ha d consulted actively with delegations .  These consultations had indicated 
that there seemed to remain significant differences  among delegations in rega rd to the substantive WT/GC/M/87 
Page 16  
 
content and the legal form that an amendment to replace the paragraph 6 Decision should have, 
although many delegations had emphasized that they remained ready to consider alternative solutions. 
87. With regard to the issue of timing, there ha d been general acceptance among delegations that 
the TRIPS Council needed more time to complete its work on the amendment.  Regarding such 
further work, he wished to mention certain points on which his consultations had indicated there was 
no disagreement.  The first was that given that the Decision remained in force until the amendment 
came into force, providing more time would not cr eate any gap in legal cover.  The second was that 
all Members continued to be committed to replacing the Decision of 30 August with an amendment to 
the TRIPS Agreement, as called for by paragraph 11 of that Decision.  The third was that the time-frame specified in paragraph 11 provided for flexibilit y, with the use of the words "with a view to its 
adoption within six months", which le ft it open to the TRIPS Council to provide for more time for this 
work, if necessary. 
88. At its meeting in June, the TRIPS Council had ag reed to continue its work on the preparation 
of the amendment with a view to making a recomm endation by the end of March 2005, so that the 
General Council could concl ude its work on the amendment at its first meeting thereafter.  He wished 
to add that, at the time he had proposed this arra ngement at the TRIPS Council meeting, he had  made 
it clear that the proposal did not exclude the TRIPS Council agreeing earlier than March 2005, and he hoped that this would be the case.  He had also ma de it clear that, in order to meet the new time-
frame, the TRIPS Council would need to work e xpeditiously and purposefully, starting with its 
September meeting.  He was sure there was a r eadiness on the part of delegations to do this. 
89. The General Council took note
 of the statement. 
11. Work under the Doha Work Programme  
(a) Report by the Chairman of the Trade Negotiations Committee  
(b) Draft General Council Decision (WT/GC/W/535 and Corr.1) – Statement by the Chairman 
90. The Chairman  proposed that the two sub-items be ta ken up together, and invited the Director-
General, as Chairman of the TNC, to make a brief report under sub-item (a). 
91. The Director-General, Chairman of  the Trade Negotiations Committee , said he would make a 
short report on the most recent meeting of the TNC held on 30 June, and then a few general 
observations regarding the work over the past few m onths.  At its most recent meeting, the TNC had 
received both written and oral reports from the Chairp ersons of all the nego tiating bodies established 
by the TNC.  These reports had provided updates on the state of play in the various areas of the negotiations, and had indicated th at progress overall had been made, but that outstanding differences 
remained in some key areas.  He had urged delega tions to exercise maximum flexibility in order to 
overcome these differences and achie ve convergence on the July packag e.  Since that meeting, the 
Chairman of the General Council and he had undertaken intensive consultations with a view to 
producing a draft text for the consideration of Member s.  The first draft had been circulated on 16 July 
in JOB (04)/96 to serve as a basis for further ne gotiations among Members.  Following the circulation 
of that text, Members had engaged in an intensive consultative process with the assistance of the 
facilitators.  This consultative process had been undertaken in various formats and configurations, 
always bearing in mind the importance of inclusiven ess and transparency.  In this respect, he wished 
to thank individual delegations as well as group coordinators for their assistance. 
92. As all knew, a revised draft text had been circulated in the early hours of the previous day.  
This text further attempted to bridge the divergences in Members' positions so as to pave the way for a 
consensus adoption by the General Council.  At the informal HODs meeting the previous day, a 
significant number of Members had indicated that the revised text represented an improvement over the previous draft, although some elements require d further work.  Over the past 36 hours there had  WT/GC/M/87 
 Page 17 
 
 
been intensive consultations with a view to ge tting convergence on these outstanding elements.  While 
the present meeting was not a Ministerial meeting as such, it had benefited from the commitment and close personal involvement of a number of Ministers from a broad spectrum of the membership, and he wished to thank these individuals.  He also wish ed to pay tribute to all for the tremendous efforts 
made to move forward a long way from the setback at Cancún.  Ten months earlier, the DDA had 
been in jeopardy and there had been much appreh ension about its future.  Now Members were on the 
verge of taking an historic decision that would provide a strong foundation for the negotiations to advance.  The road from Cancún had not been easy.  Accommodation on issues of great difficulty and sensitivity had had to be secured in a very shor t time.  He wished to thank Members for the 
constructive spirit they had shown throughout this  process and for their willingness to dig deep and 
exercise flexibility at crucial moments in order to build consensus.  The window of opportunity had 
not been allowed to slip away, as some had fear ed.  Instead, Members had shown great courage and 
commitment, and had redoubled their efforts to find the compromises needed to  revive the DDA.  It 
was in no small measure thanks to Members' efforts and confidence in the system that they had before 
them a text which represented not just a very subs tantial package, but something truly historic.  
93. He fully recognized there might be areas where the text could be improved and where 
Members might feel their priorities and interests coul d perhaps be strengthened.  While the text might 
not be perfect, it did represent a very  fine balance of interests, and all knew it could not be further 
improved at the present stage in the negotiations w ithout upsetting this fine balance.  Members had 
come to the crunch.  There were certain times in  the world of multilateral trade negotiations when 
decisions had to be taken.  This was one such ti me.  Members had painstakingly made very important 
gains during the past week.  They needed to conso lidate these gains and not lose this great opportunity 
to take a decision that the whole world was anxiously awaiting. 
94. All representatives who spoke thanked the Chairman , the Director-General and the facilitators 
for their tireless efforts to take the process forwar d in order to maintain the momentum of the 
negotiations and bring them to a successful conclusion that would benefit all Members. 
95. The representative of Peru
, speaking also on behalf of Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, 
Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Panama , said that throughout this process 
these delegations had recognized that preference erosion could create difficulties for some countries, and had therefore accepted the language in Annex A on Agriculture as it appeared in the first two 
draft texts (paragraph 45 of JOB(04)/96 and paragrap h 44 of JOB(04)/96/Rev.1) .  This paragraph had 
led these countries to understand that the issue of  preference erosion would be addressed "under 
conditions to be agreed" by all Me mbers.  However, in the revised draft Decision text in document 
WT/GC/W/535, which had been made available a fe w hours earlier, this paragraph had been amended 
and the words "under conditions to be agreed" had been  deleted.  These countries considered that even 
though these words had been deleted, it was clear from the text that the way in which preference 
erosion would be addressed in order to deal with th e impact it could have on some countries, would be 
agreed at the next stage of the negotiations.  Howe ver, this amendment to the earlier text was still 
serious cause for concern to these countries and th ey wondered whether the reason for deleting this 
phrase was to prevent the conditions for addressing th e issue of preference erosion from being decided 
collectively.  They therefore requested clarificati on both of the reasons for deletion of these words and 
of how the issue of preference erosion would be addressed. 
96. The representative of Honduras
, referring to the previous statem ent by Peru also on behalf of 
Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Panama 
requesting clarification of paragr aph 44 of Annex A, said his dele gation would appreciate a response 
from the Chairman for the record.  Honduras underst ood that the conditions and criteria relating to 
preference erosion would be negotiated during the second phase of the negotiating process.  Regarding the change introduced in the last indent  of paragraph 18 of Anne x A, Honduras considered 
this to be an achievement for the food-aid recipien t countries, in that it would enable them to take 
account of their special needs – not only those re lating to emergency situ ations, but also those 
deriving from their programmes to combat and re duce poverty.  Regarding paragraph 41 on Special WT/GC/M/87 
Page 18  
 
Products, consideration would have to be given to additional flexibility in the area of tariff reduction 
commitments.  Countries such as Honduras, whose ta riffs were bound at a low rate, should remain 
exempt from any kind of reduction, in view of the international market distortions caused by export 
subsidies and domestic support granted by the de veloped countries.  The new Special Safeguard 
Mechanism should be used to coun ter surges in imports, particularly in special products on whose 
production the low income producers depended.  In the second stage, i.e. beginning the present day, 
Members had to continue to take account of the developing countries' needs in the areas of rural 
development and food security and/or livelihood security, and as stipulated in paragraph 39, S&D 
treatment for developing countries should be an integral  part of all elements of the negotiation.  In the 
case of Special Products, it had to be made perfectly clear that there would be no link with the tariff 
reduction formula, and that the new Special Safegu ard Mechanism could be used for all products.  
Honduras considered paragraph 43 to  be a fundamental element of the S&D treatment that would 
ensure that the results of the negotiations satisfied  the export interests of the developing countries.  
The complete liberalization of tropical products without any exception of any kind would allow the WTO to achieve full implementation of the MFN principle. 
97. Mr. Groser (New Zealand), Chairman of th e Special Session of the Committee on Agriculture
 
said that the reason these words had been deleted was that a number of countries – generally small 
developing countries – had felt that these words were threatening to them.  However, he did not feel 
there was any need to be concerned that any interp retation might be made that this was not an issue 
that required careful consideration.  This was not a carte blanche  to replace the MFN system with 
preferences.  This was his interpretation.  He, of course, understood the c oncern and had held many 
discussions with the Heads of Delegation of the a bove group of countries on precisely this issue.  He 
knew exactly what their concern was, and was quite  confident that the text would preserve their 
positions in a perfectly reasonable way. 
98. The Chairman , referring to the second sentence of paragraph 44, which read "The issue of 
preference erosion will be addressed", said it was understood that "addressed" was a very broad term 
which meant that, in the post-July stage, Member s would have to negotiate on how to address the 
issue of preference erosion. 
99. The representative of Venezuela  reiterated that Venezuela ha d faith and believed in the 
multilateral trading system, whose importance Ven ezuela was convinced of, because it provided the 
only forum in which to regulate fair and just comme rcial relations.  Further, its instruments provided 
countries with a new means for development, th rough which ways could be found to address the 
poverty and inequalities among the world's peoples.  Ve nezuela also believed firmly in the value of 
transparency in WTO negotiations – a value that c ould not be jeopardized, either in the present Round 
or in future ones.  Only thus would Members ha ve certainty, credibility and stability in multilateral 
negotiations, where more than 70 per cent of Me mbers were from the developing world.  This 
required that transparency become an absolute valu e.  As soon as transparency became cloudy, it lost 
its value.  Transparency was not easy but necessary, and Members had to try to preserve it, in order 
for negotiations to be successful and to ensure that  the Doha Round was truly oriented towards fair 
and equitable development for all. 
100. For this reason, Venezuela was concerned that  within a few hours, a group of Members had 
met in order to incorporate into the draft D ecision in paragraph (e) on services, and without 
consultation, a date for the submission of impr oved offers, which her de legation had taken into 
account exclusively as indicative.  Venezuela had no ticed, in addition, certain contradictions that 
generated problems of interpretation.  In the first place, in the Spanish version of the draft Decision, 
the word "shall" was used in the last sentence in paragraph (e), whereas in the English version the 
word "should" was used.  One had to be very careful, as this put at risk the good faith of the negotiations.  Second, Venezuela noted with great pr eoccupation that in paragraph (b) of Annex C of 
the draft Decision, no date was mentioned, whereas in paragraph (e) in the main body of the text there 
was a date.  This indicated an obvious contradic tion between the body of the draft Decision and the 
text in Annex C to it, which had been negotiated an d had been the subject of consensus in the Special  WT/GC/M/87 
 Page 19 
 
 
Session of the Council for Trade in Services, a body which was as competent as the General Council 
for these negotiations.  Therefore, her delegation re quested that the Spanish version of the draft 
Decision be corrected by replacing the word "shall " with the word "should", so that there was 
consistency between both the English and Spanish vers ions of the text.  This was very important for 
Venezuela, as it would generate certainty and credibility in the negotiations.  Venezuela was 
committed to the multilateral trading system.  Member s had to orient their work towards fulfilling the 
visionary goal of the DDA – i.e. the eradication of  poverty and the improvement of the standard of 
living of the poorest – if they wished to preserve the system.  Credibility and certainty in the multilateral sphere was the way to reach good governance and could also foster trade. 
101. The Chairman
, responding to Venezuela's statement, said that with respect to Annex C and 
the date in paragraph (e) of th e draft Decision, the General Council was taking a decision based on the 
recommendation from the Special Session of the Council for Trade in Services. 
102. The representative of Bulgaria  said that the task of bringing the positions of 147 participants 
with divergent and very often i rreconcilably opposed interests to convergence in order to pave the 
way for a deal acceptable to all had at times seemed  impossible.  It now seemed that these efforts had 
taken Members forward, and major participants in  world trade represented in the "Green Room" had 
been able to reach compromises and come to an agreement among themselves.  This was an 
achievement that needed to be lo cked in so that it did not get lost in the further course of the 
negotiations.  On the other hand, it was clear that the package had to be acceptable not only to those 
participants, or even to the majority of Members, but to each individual participant.  After the first 
draft of the July package in JOB(04)/96 had been distributed, Bulgaria had pointed out the special 
importance it attached to the balance of interests and,  in particular, to the need that such balance be 
achieved from the point of view of each Member.  Bulgaria had emphasized that it was looking for 
both an overall balance between the different elem ents of the package and for a balance within 
agriculture.  With this in view, his delegation had presented some proposals at the open-ended HODs 
meetings.  Unfortunately, these proposals had not been taken into account in the drafts circulated in 
JOB(04)/96/Rev.l and WT/GC/W/535.  Bulgaria still had serious concerns with these texts which, 
from the point of view of its interests, were not sufficiently balanced. 
103. Nevertheless, bearing in mind the principle of the single undertaking that "nothing was agreed 
until everything was agreed", and with a view to  contributing to the continued progress of the 
negotiations, Bulgaria did not oppose the consensus on the adoption of the draft Decision.  Bulgaria recognized that the framework contained in the dr aft Decision was only an intermediate step, not 
foreseen in the Doha mandate, merely outlining some elements to be further specified and developed 
in subsequent negotiations and, in particular, in the modalities to be adopted.  With this in mind, 
Bulgaria did not oppose consensus on the draft Decision in WT/GC/W/535 on the understanding that it would undertake commitments for reductions of its own tariffs, dom estic support and export 
subsidies under this Decision, or any other decision or modalities which might be adopted on its basis, 
to the extent that they were suffi ciently balanced, in its view, by improved access to the markets of its 
trading partners for its own products, includi ng products with geographical indications. 
104. The representative of Cuba
 said that Cuba agreed with the content of Venezuela's statement  
regarding services.  Cuba believed there was a contra diction between paragraph (e) on services in the 
main body of the draft Decision and paragraph (b ) of Annex C to the draft Decision, because 
paragraph (e) said that the General Council adop ted the recommendations agreed by the Special 
Session of the Council for Trade in Services set out in  Annex C.  However, paragraph (b) of Annex C 
contained no specific date for the submission of re vised offers, but merely read, "A date for the 
submission of a round of revised offers should be established as soon as feasible".  If Members were trying to accelerate the negotiations, Cuba did not think that setting a date for the submission of 
revised offers was the best way to proceed.  Th is date should take into account the technical 
difficulties many delegations, including Cuba, had st ated at meetings of the Council for Trade in 
Services, and which her delegation had also mentio ned in consultations with the Chairman of the 
Services Council.  Cuba considered that the fact that a text which had been approved by such an WT/GC/M/87 
Page 20  
 
important body of the WTO – the Services Council – had been modified by a handful of delegations in a small-group meeting, put into question the pr ocedures of the organization.  A small group of 
delegations could not change a consensus reache d by all Members – a consensus which had been 
reached after long, constructive cons ultations held in the Services Council.  Therefore, Cuba wished 
to state that the date mentioned in paragraph (e ) was merely indicative, as the Chairman of the 
General Council had said at the beginning of the in formal HODs meeting immediately preceding the 
present meeting. 
105. The representative of Malaysia
 said that the adoption of the proposed framework on 
agriculture would be a significant step forward, as it set some of the parameters for Members to 
address long-standing issues in international agricultura l trade.  In addition, it had the potential to 
promote agricultural trade, including South-South tr ade, while recognizing the importance of Special 
Products in the agricultural sector of developing count ries.  Malaysia would continue to participate 
actively in the agriculture negotiations to secure opp ortunities for the exports of developing countries, 
in particular those with limited numbers of competitive agricultural exports.  His delegation 
acknowledged the spirit of compromise evident in th e negotiations that had taken place over the past 
few days.  Malaysia had agreed where it could agr ee, had demonstrated flexibility where it could, and 
had agreed not to agree in areas where differences re mained.  In this context his delegation took note, 
in paragraph 49 of Annex A, of the interests of some Members on the subj ect of differential export 
taxes, on which there had been no agreement.  Mala ysia maintained that differential export taxes was 
not a subject within the mandate of the Doha wo rk programme.  Nonetheless, his delegation would 
continue to work constructively in the next phase of the work programme. 
106. The representative of Chile , speaking as the Chairman of the Special Session of the Council 
for Trade in Services , said he had been prompted to take the floor because of the comments on 
services made by two earlier speakers, and wished to state that he did not see any contradiction 
between paragraph (e) of the Draft Decision and Annex C of that text.  He recalled that his report to 
the TNC had stated that several Members had indicated  the need to have a date for the submission of 
revised offers, and many had indicated that this shoul d be well before the next Ministerial Conference.  
The report had also stated that Members had not f ound it feasible to recommend a specific date for the 
submission of revised offers.  The discussion of such  a date had been hampered by uncertainty about 
other key dates relating to the DDA negotiations, including the date of the Sixth Session of the 
Ministerial Conference.  However, a date for the submission of revised offe rs had to be set, and 
several Members had expressed the view that this date  needed to be decided by the TNC as part of the 
expected outcome in July 2004.  Th us, he saw a coherent combination of  factors, in that the report had 
indicated the difficulties in setting a date, and that  a date had subsequently been proposed in 
consultations and accepted by those present at those cons ultations.  In saying this, he wished to clarify 
for the record that there was a basis on which to pr oceed to establish the date, following his report as 
Chairperson which reflected the wide discussion held among Members in the Services Council in 
Special Session. 
107. The Chairman , turning to sub-item (b) of this Agenda item, said he wished formally to present 
for the General Council's consideration and adopti on the draft General Council Decision contained in 
document WT/GC/W/535 and Corr.1.  This text had a long history, and he would not go into the 
details, except to note that it had emerged from an arduous process of discussions and negotiations.  In 
presenting this text, he wished to offer his sincere th anks to the Director-General, to the dedicated and 
able staff of the WTO, to all the Chairpersons w ho had assisted Members so ably throughout this long 
process since Cancún, and finally to all the Minist ers and representatives of governments for their 
hard work and patience over these past few days.  A tremendous amount of committed work had been 
undertaken by all delegations to get to where th ey were, and he was grateful for the spirit of 
cooperation and goodwill shown by all.  On the b asis of the general acquiescence that had been 
expressed in the informal meeting of Heads of Delega tion just prior to the present formal meeting, he 
proposeed that the General Council adopt the draft Decision in WT/GC/W/535 and Corr.1.  WT/GC/M/87 
 Page 21 
 
 
108. The General Council so agreed .2 
109. The representative of Switzerland  said that insofar as Members had been able to adopt the 
draft Decision before them, they had succeeded wh ere they had failed in Cancún, and had put the 
Doha Round back on track.  The important decisions  Members had taken woul d provide new trust in 
this new phase of the negotiations and would set do wn markers towards the final goal of success.  
Members now needed to continue in this direction an d to reach the end result in the best possible time 
period.  Switzerland was satisfied with the overall r esults.  The elements of the package Members had 
adopted were generally balanced.  Switzerland was also satisfied with  the improvements that had been 
made to the first version of the draft text with resp ect to agriculture.  His delegation wished to point 
out in particular that the three pillars of ag riculture were addressed with a similar degree of 
specificity, and he would refer to this subsequently  in Switzerland's statement on behalf of the G-10 
countries.  The negotiations on NAMA were a priority  for Switzerland, and an essential element in the 
balance of these results.  Switzerland would have liked to have seen a higher level of ambition in this 
area.  However, Annex B contained all the importa nt points for Switzerland, and therefore provided a 
good basis for continuing the opening of markets.  Services was another essential component of the 
Swiss economy.  The negotiations ongoing over th e past years would benefit from the new trust 
Members were providing at present and would be good for the whole of the Doha Round.  Important progress had been made and Members would also reach a balanced result in this area.  However, this 
result would only be achieved if the quality of the offers on the table was improved.  It was essential 
that countries which had not yet made offers do so  as soon as possible.  It was true that in Doha, 
Switzerland had expected more from the Singapore issues, as Members had had a unique opportunity 
to modernize the multilateral trading system.  Howe ver, conclusions had ha d to be drawn from the 
deep divergences that persisted in this area.  Ne vertheless, and despite the mixed results, Switzerland 
was pleased that a decision had been taken to launch negotiations on trad e facilitation, and was 
convinced that all Members would deri ve considerable benefits from this. 
110. Speaking on behalf of the G-10 countries
, he said that the Chairman of the Committee on 
Agriculture in Special Session, whom he thanked for his outstanding work, had invited Members to be 
less cautious in the coming negotiations.  However, Switzerland's experience went to the contrary.  
The way Switzerland's concerns had been addressed inv ited it to be more cautious with regard to the 
expectations of others.  The G-10 countries wish ed to stress that the framework on agriculture 
provided non-legally-binding guidelines which should lead to modalities.  It went without saying that 
a number of notions would require further precision and elaboration in the next phase of work.  For 
the G-10 countries, this work should aim at providi ng Members with the flex ibility needed to reach 
the Doha objectives.  The sensitivities of Members in  agriculture were, like their tariff structures, 
fundamentally different, and these sensitivities were in compatible with rigid approaches.  Non-trade 
concerns were an integral element of the Doha mandate and were of vital importance to the G-10 
countries.  In the framework on agriculture, non-trad e concerns were acknowle dged in paragraph 2 of 
Annex A.  This had a bearing on all aspects of th e negotiations, including with respect to market 
access.  His delegation wished to recall that the ove rall balance of trade and non-trade concerns in the 
Doha mandate had been decisive for many Members when they had agreed to embark on the reform 
process, and this balance needed to be retained in  the final result.  The framework acknowledged that 
the commitments made regarding the Blue Box a nd export competition would preserve the integrity 
of ongoing reforms.  The G-10 countries saw this as a cen tral principle that applied to all three pillars, 
including market access. 
111. Switzerland's fundamental difficulties with th e concept of a tariff cap had been made 
abundantly clear on several occasions.  In the framewo rk, the reference to a tariff cap was now limited 
to a future evaluation of this concept and any role  it might have.  His delegation was convinced that 
such an evaluation would show that there was no rationale for a cap within a tiered formula with 
distinct treatment of sensitive products.  For th e G-10 countries, the overall balance of the final 
outcome of these negotiations was linked to the treatment  of sensitive products.  They wished to stress 
                                                      
2 The Decision was subsequently circulated in document WT/L/579. WT/GC/M/87 
Page 22  
 
that paragraph 33 recognized that balance in this negotiation would be found only if the final results 
also reflected the sensitivity of the product concerned.   Thus, the "substantial trade expansion" that all 
had agreed to could not contradict the more fa vourable treatment of sensitive products.  It was 
Switzerland's understanding that the next phase of th e negotiations would achieve  the balance referred 
to in paragraph 33 in a practical a nd concrete way.  The coherent a nd equitable criteria referred to in 
paragraph 34 should be deve loped in the same spirit.  On the i ssue of domestic support, his delegation 
understood that the framework implied that the harm onization would be made on the basis of absolute 
levels of support.  In addition, the methodology to be agreed with respect to product-specific capping 
of AMS should not undermine ongoing reforms. It s hould also take account of factors such as 
structural adjustment and emergency situations. 
112. Speaking on behalf of Switzerland
, he stressed that with the adoption of this Decision, 
Members had shown the players in the world economy  that the WTO remained a credible institution, 
and that it could face the challenges of globali zation which had changed the very nature of 
international trade.  Members had now entered a new stage in the strengthening of cooperation among 
countries at very different levels.  The present ne gotiations had therefore deserved their name – the 
Doha Development Round – which made Switzerland particularly  happy.  Developing countries 
would benefit from a better opportunity to access market s in developed countries.  At the same time 
they would enjoy greater flexibility in the commitm ents that they had undertaken.  Switzerland had 
also undertaken commitments that fo llowed the letter and spirit of the Doha Declaration, and this was 
perhaps the most tangible proof of the trust Switzerland had in the multilateral system – in other words, in the conduct of international trading rela tions on the basis of cooperation, law and equity. 
113. The representative of Venezuela
 asked whether a new text in  Spanish with the correction 
Venezuela had suggested in its earlier statement would be circulated. 
114. The Chairman  said that this matter was being looked into. 
115. The representative of Norway  said that after Cancún, the first step to put the negotiations back 
on track had had to be taken in agriculture, and the fearless leadership of th e Chairman of the Special 
Session of the Committee on Agriculture had been cruc ial in order to ensure the present success.  By 
adopting the frameworks on agriculture and NA MA, and taking important decisions on trade 
facilitation and development issues, Members had fi nally managed to put Cancún behind them.  The 
fact that Members had been able to work together in  order to correct mistakes of the past was viable 
proof of the robustness and relevance of the WTO sy stem.  The present success was also an important 
step on the road to a final result in the DDA.  It was not the final step.  More difficult steps remained 
to be taken.  Tough negotiations would have to be carried out, and painful compromises made, before 
the final result was achieved. 
116. On substance, it had not been easy for Norway to agree to the framework on agriculture.  In 
this regard he wished to associate his delegation with Switzerland's statement on behalf of the G-10 
countries.  It was of the utmost importance to Norw ay that non-trade concerns be taken into account 
as Members negotiated the modalities in the next phase.  This also applied to the market access pillar.  
The overall balance of trade and non-trade concerns had to be retained in the final result.  Norway's 
major concern with Annex A related to tariff cap ping.  Norway was convinced that the future 
evaluation of the cap would show that there was no rationale for such a cap within a tiered formula 
with distinct treatment of sensitive products, an d his delegation would continue to oppose its 
introduction.  The treatment of sensitive products w ould be crucial to Norway in the next phase.  
Balance in this negotiation would be  found only if the final results also  reflected the sensitivity of the 
products concerned. 
117. Regarding NAMA, Norway had wished to see subs tantially more ambition.  However, it did 
appreciate the agreement on the non-linear formula and the sectoral approach as the key modalities for 
reduction and elimination of non-agri cultural tariffs.  This was important in order to ensure that the 
ambition in the Doha mandate was met, and that real market access was provided for.  Furthermore,  WT/GC/M/87 
 Page 23 
 
 
Norway welcomed the flexibility for LDCs, which exempted them from tariff reductions at this 
juncture.  Flexibility had also been provided for other developing countries in various parts of the 
framework text.  This would provide the opportuni ty not to overburden poor developing countries 
with too strenuous commitments.  His delegation also  attached high importance to the negotiations on 
trade facilitation, which were important in order to limit unnecessarily burdensome trade procedures.  
Norway hoped that these negotiations would make it easier and more cost-effective for producers 
from developed and developing coun tries to export their goods.  At the present stage of the 
negotiations, Norway had hoped that ambitious benc hmarks in services and rules would have been 
established in the framework text.  However, his de legation appreciated that the text reconfirmed the 
importance of achieving a balanced outcome at the end of the Doha Round and the principle of the 
single undertaking. 
118. The package before Members was an important st epping stone to achieving the overall aim of 
the DDA – development through trade – and Norway  therefore welcomed its adoption.  Many 
concerns had been raised over the past two weeks on process, transparency, inclusiveness and 
political ownership.  These were indeed importa nt principles in order to ensure successful 
negotiations among 147 Members.  Thanks to intense work, an equal level of discomfort with the text, 
substantial flexibility by all parties, and perhaps a bit of luck, Members ha d been able to reach 
agreement.  As they now embarked on the final a nd even more difficult stretch of their negotiations, 
an inclusive process in which the voices of all partic ipants would be heard was absolutely crucial for 
success. 
119. The representative of Nigeria , on behalf of the African Group , said that these countries fully 
supported the draft Decision, and hoped that this  would help them realize the dreams of Doha. 
120. The representative of Kenya  said that two days earlier, Members had been within striking 
distance of success, and it was now clear that the extra time spent had paid off.  Together, Members had passed failure on the way to success, and together  they had gone beyond doing their best to doing 
what was necessary.  They had reaffirmed their tr ust in the Doha Agenda, an agenda that placed 
development at the core of its business and made a commitment to integrate developing countries into 
the multilateral trading system.  Tireless efforts had been rewarded by the present Decision.  Together 
with the Director-General and the facilitators, Members had been able to acknowledge areas of 
hopelessness and to face them directly, not with desp air but with the creative intent of keeping them 
from polluting all areas of possibility.  These words described vividly what had happened in the WTO 
during the past week, as Members had pulled in the sa me direction to restore faith and confidence in 
the multilateral trading system. 
121. Members now had to begin the most important phase of their work, translating the 
frameworks into modalities, and would again have to have the courage to take up their responsibilities 
and act with conviction.  It was her hope that Me mbers had achieved a framewo rk in agriculture that 
was bold enough to carry the vision articulated in  the Doha Declaration.  It would be a good 
framework if – as India had so eloquently pu t it on an earlier occasion – it encapsulated sound 
principles from which future formulations would flow .  Her delegation wished to thank the Chairman 
of the Special Session of the Committee on Agri culture for listening to its views, hopes and 
aspirations, and for remembering most of what had been expressed.  On NAMA, Members had started from divergent positions and, as a reflection of wh at was possible with political will and good faith, 
had been able to agree.  Faith, it was said, m oved mountains, but one had to keep pushing while 
praying.  It had indeed been painful to make the concessions in NAMA, but her delegation believed 
that with the inclusion of the new paragraph 1, Kenya could make use of the principles and positions 
captured in the African, ACP and G-90 Declarations and platform in the future negotiations.  Kenya 
congratulated and thanked the facilitator for NAM A for his efforts, patience, creativity and 
cooperation.  Her delegation was also grateful to  Deputy Director-General Mr. Yerxa for making it 
possible to have modalities on trade facilitation.  He r delegation hoped that by showing flexibility on 
an issue that had never been a priority for Keny a, it had demonstrated its commitment and good faith.  WT/GC/M/87 
Page 24  
 
Kenya also hoped that Members would be sensitive to its needs and concerns as they embarked on 
further negotiations. 
122. Her delegation had always spoken to Kenya's r esource constraints regarding the other three 
Singapore issues, and it was Kenya's expectation that  these issues would not take up any more time 
than was absolutely necessary.  It was also useful to recall that this was a development round and that 
development issues were urgent and important.  Ke nya was gratified that one of its own from the 
African Group, the Chair of the Special Session of th e CTD, had been able to pull it all together, and 
her delegation wished to thank him.  It also wished to place on record its expectation that 
development issues would be accorded the highest  priority, now that the agriculture and NAMA 
issues were progressing.  Kenya urged the membership  to ensure that negotiations on S&D and on 
implementation proceeded in a systematic manne r and that the new deadlines created were met 
without fail.  TRIPS and Public Health was of  critical significance to Africa and beyond.  Kenya 
would have liked to see some language in the text on this matter, and hoped that this was an oversight 
that would not hinder work on a permanent solution.  She wished to pay tribute to the coordinator of 
the African Group for outstanding service to the Group, for the dignified manner in which he had 
represented the Group and for all the hard work.  The present achievement was proof that the 
difference between what Members did and what they  were capable of doing would suffice to solve 
most of the world's problems, as the late Mahatma Gandhi of India had said. 
123. The representative of Paraguay
 said that with this Decision, an additional step had been taken 
towards a fair and more equitable multilateral trading system in which the rules did not merely favour 
the interests of powerful nations, but also helped to meet the needs of the weak est.  However, this was 
but a single step, because the very concept of the sy stem was still flawed in many respects.  Members 
had to continue to work with great effort and im agination in order to create legal institutions and 
economic instruments that could provide help for mo st needy.  Perhaps one day Members would have 
mechanisms to address, on an emergency basis, th e needs of countries and populations in dire need.  
This was something Members had not yet consider ed.  Paraguay joined in supporting this Decision 
with much hope.  However, some aspirations, and so me of its legitimate expectations, had been left 
aside.  Therefore, Paraguay was not fully satisfi ed.  Specifically, not enough emphasis had been 
placed on the implementation of paragraph 35 of th e Doha Declaration, which was expressly designed 
to provide assistance to a group of countries whic h, although they were not LDCs, would not be in a 
position to become integrated into the globalized  world economy if additional instruments supporting 
the efforts of their governments were not made avai lable.  This group included Paraguay, the GDP of 
which amounted to a mere US$5,780 million in 2003, the lowest in all Latin America, and which had 
an annual per capita GDP barely in excess of US$1,000.   Nevertheless, Paraguay would continue to 
strive to make its voice heard and to achieve fair trade liberalization and the equitable distribution of 
cooperation for countries which were in real need. 
124. The representative of Rwanda , on behalf of the African Union , said that these countries were 
aware that negotiations were a process and not an ev ent, and that they called for painful compromise, 
but that they were necessary to  achieve the common good of multilateral trade.  The African Union 
was committed to multilateral trade, as witnessed by its heavy investment in bringing the present 
process to its fruition.  They would continue to en gage in this process with determination, as they 
believed strongly that it was the trade-development paradigm, and not aid, that was the only way out 
for Africa.   
125. The representative of Panama  reiterated Panama's wholehear ted commitment both to the 
multilateral trading system and to the post-Canc ún negotiating process.  The points on which 
Members had agreed at the present meeting in th e Decision would serve as the framework for the 
future modalities to be agreed and the negotiations to be held under the Doha Work Programme.  The 
flexibilities made use of by Panama in its capacity as a developing country had served as proof of this 
firm commitment, a commitment that had helped achieve the required conv ergences which were 
legitimately consistent with the letter and spirit of the DDA and gave impetus to the negotiations 
Members would be continuing post-July.  The c onvergences which had emerged had been a great  WT/GC/M/87 
 Page 25 
 
 
challenge to Panama in terms of its expectations, concerns and responsibility to its political, social, 
economic, productive and trade structures.  With a view  to meeting this challenge and achieving real 
and effective participation in the multilateral trad ing system, Panama would remain vigilant during 
the next stages of the negotiating process to ensure  that these convergences were not undermined, and 
that they maintained a fair and effective balance of rights and obligations under the WTO agreements, 
which Panama hoped to achieve through the results of the Decision just adopted.  
126. The representative of Jamaica  said that all meaningful agreem ents in this organization had 
been built on compromise and on give and take, as we ll as on striving for a balance of benefits.  The 
present framework package was no exce ption.  For this reason, agreement on it had been particularly 
difficult to achieve.  Jamaica considered the frameworks in agriculture and NAMA, and the 
modalities on trade facilitation, to be very important , as they would ultimately affect the welfare of 
farmers, factory workers, small business people a nd other producers, consum ers and their dependents 
in all countries.  For this reason, Jamaica took ve ry seriously the negotiation of these frameworks and 
modalities, as well as the other aspects of the Deci sion just adopted.  Jamaica had joined in the 
consensus so as to facilitate movement to the ne xt phase of the negotiations, but it had important 
concerns which singly and collectively gave it consid erable pause, and which his delegation expected 
to see taken into account and addressed in the succeed ing work.  In agriculture, while the text was 
much improved – and Jamaica wished to pay tribute to the work of Chairman of the Special Session 
of the Committee on Agriculture – his delegation antic ipated that continuing imbalances between the 
interests of major developed countries and those of many developing coun tries would be addressed 
fully at the modalities stage.  Jamaica expected  to see and would work for the elaboration of 
modalities that provided for significant differentia ted tariff reductions, significant flexibility on 
Special Products and a Special Safeguard Mechanism that was consistent with the development needs 
of the small vulnerable economies in the Caribbean.  Jamaica expected to see – and this was very 
important to it – the issue of preference erosion addressed effectively. 
127. His delegation was disappointed that despite the high levels of trade-distorting support that 
developed countries were providing  and would continue to be ab le to provide, a reduction in 
developing countries' de-minimus  was now "to be negotiated".  Hi s delegation wished to underscore 
its expectation that the exemption applicable unde r this framework to subsistence and resource-poor 
farmers would encompass small farmers in Jamaica' s sub-region.  Further, it expected that S&D 
treatment with respect to the elimination of some forms of export credits, export credit guarantees and insurance programmes, and the development of disci plines on these instruments, would be sufficiently 
flexible to ensure that the ability of relevant fina ncial institutions in the countries concerned to assist 
the agricultural sector was not undermined.  On tr ade facilitation, Jamaica was pleased that a number 
of the proposals of the core group in which it had participated actively had been taken on board.  
Jamaica remained concerned, however, that th e question of DSU applicability was not addressed 
clearly in the text adopted.   
128. Speaking also on behalf of Belize
, and in the context of the NAMA framework, he said that 
Jamaica was a small economy with exceedingly high import levels.  Its imports accounted for more 
than 40 per cent of GDP, and imports and exports combined exceeded 60 per cent of GDP.  Jamaica 
was a small, open economy, which wa s typical of the economies in its sub-region.  In the past two 
decades, imports had grown ten times as fast as exports, and since the end of the Uruguay Round in 1994, imports had grown by more than 150 per cent,  while the level of goods exported had remained 
essentially unchanged.  Against this background, Be lize and Jamaica were extremely concerned that 
Annex B proposed a non-linear tariff formula, app lied on a line-by-line basis, as a core modality for 
the negotiations, and also sectoral tariff negotia tions from which no country or group of countries 
other than LDCs appeared to be obviously exempt.  To apply such a formula in this Round would not 
be fair or equitable. 
129. His delegation recalled that the developed c ountries had themselves not applied a mandatory 
non-linear formula to their industrial and manufactur ed products in any pe rvious multilateral trade 
round.  Jamaica wished to emphasize in particular th at the application of such a tariff formula would WT/GC/M/87 
Page 26  
 
have adverse consequences for the fledgling and vulnerable manufacturing sectors in Belize and 
Jamaica, and for other producers as well.  Given the se verity that was an integral characteristic of such 
a formula, there would also be significant revenue implications.  Belize and Jamaica wished to draw 
attention to these factors and to state clearly and emphatically that they had joined in transmitting 
Annex B to the next phase of the negotiations  only on the understanding that the new first 
paragraph which had been added to  Annex B served to ensure that there was now no prejudging of the 
type or scope of applicability of the tariff form ula to be used in the NAMA negotiations.  His 
delegation also noted the elements other than the fo rmula that were cited in this new paragraph as 
being elements on which additional negotiations we re required, and which included the issue of 
participation in the sectoral tariff component and pr eferences.  As a small country very dependent on 
trade in goods and services, Jamaica had much at  stake in this framework package and in the 
negotiations to follow.  Jamaica had joined in th e consensus in the hope and expectation that as the 
negotiations proceeded, its comfort level regard ing both substance and process would increase, and 
that the final outcome would accommodate fully the interests of the entire spectrum of the 
membership.  Jamaica looked to the Chairman's able leadership to contribute to and ensure such an 
outcome. 
130. The representative of the Philippines
3 said that Members found themselves at a critical 
juncture in the work programme undertaken in Doha  nearly three years earlier.  Not only did they 
have the burden at present of trying to accomplish wh at had eluded them in Cancún in 2003, but they 
also had the responsibility, given the worsening st ate of developing countries' economies, of ensuring 
that the multilateral trading system they were evolvi ng through these negotiations remained true to the 
developmental spirit of the negotiating mandate agr eed in Doha.  Indeed, paragraph 2 of the Doha 
Declaration provided that:  "The majority of WTO Members are developing countries.  We seek to place their needs and interests at the heart of the Work Programme adopted in this Declaration."  
Members were behoved to remind themselves that developing countries had agreed to launch this 
Round on the premise that the existing imbalance with respect to the benefits obtained from 
participation in the multilateral trading system woul d be rectified in these negotiations.  Members had 
recognized that the application of equal rules to  uneven economic situations  had resulted in an 
inequitable distribution of benefits derived from su ch multilateral trade rules.  Thus, the developing 
world had placed its faith on the promise that the Doha work programme would address this 
fundamental inequity. 
131. The failure in Cancún had shown that, given the direction of the proposed work programme, it 
would not live up to this promise.  If Members were not careful, they might again forget this 
unfulfilled promise.  All should keep the promise of the Doha Round – that the multilateral trading 
system would rapidly deliver develo pment and prosperity to the mass of humanity – foremost in their 
minds during the negotiations.  Otherwise, the price they, and the institution, would pay in an adverse 
eventuality should be enough to make trading part ners re-think their approach.  The Philippines hoped 
that the draft Decision could provide the guidance fo r subsequent work on moda lities for negotiations.  
The Philippines would be guided by the following un derstandings of certain provisions being adopted.  
In agriculture, on domestic support, the Philippin es understood paragraph 11 as maintaining the right 
of developing countries that had allocated  or intended to allocate most of their de minimis support for 
subsistence and resource-poor farm ers, to be fully exempt from any reduction commitments.  The 
Philippines trusted that this paragraph affirmed the policy space for developing countries to pursue 
their developmental goals and aspirations. 
132. Regarding Special Products, his delegation was proud to stand with its G-33 colleagues and 
their group coordinator, Indonesia, in having paragraph 41 recognize fully the concept of Special Products and the fundamental right of developing-co untry Members to designate products as vital to 
their food security, livelihood security and rura l development needs.  The Philippines further 
understood and underscored the wisdom of the Decisi on that assured that Special Products would be 
                                                     
 
3 At the request of the delegation, the full text of this statement was subsequently circulated in 
document WT/GC/81.  WT/GC/M/87 
 Page 27 
 
 
entitled to the most favourable and flexible treatme nt. Special Products were separate and distinct 
from sensitive products.  In the NAMA negotiations, ti me and again his delega tion had mentioned the 
situation of developing countries who, having be lieved in the promise liberalization led to, had 
unilaterally and aggressively pursu ed tariff-reduction programmes in previous years, only to find 
themselves confronted not only with serious repercu ssions in affected domestic industries, but at a 
definite disadvantage under the proposed treatment  of unbound tariffs contained in the suggested 
framework for negotiations.  While the Philippi nes was willing to bind these presently unbound 
tariffs, his delegation wished to emphasise that ther e had to be flexibilities for developing countries 
(i) to bind these at levels higher than what was propo sed in the present Annex B, and (ii) to exempt a 
greater percentage – at least 10 per cent – from bi nding.  Viewed in this context, his delegation 
wished to emphasise for the record the clear, shared understanding among Members that the 
framework being adopted in Annex B was not a full y agreed text.  Several elements had not been 
agreed which would need to be negotiated and ag reed in the next phase of negotiating the modalities 
for NAMA.  Foremost among these for the Philippin es was the entire notion of how unbound tariffs 
would be treated in these negotiations, and the percen tage of products that could be exempted from 
binding. 
133. In services, his delegation wished to note its understanding that the May 2005 date for 
submission of revised offers, which had been belate dly added to the text of the draft Decision, was 
not, as stated by the Chairman, mandatory, and as su ch was merely indicative.  Such a date would 
more likely than not be impractical for many Me mbers, particularly for the 50 or so developing 
countries which had as yet not been able to table in itial offers due to serious capacity constraints.  
Such a benchmark, even if non-legally binding, wo uld be akin to setting a deadline which everyone 
knew would not and could not be respected by many Members.  The Philippines, like many other delegations, was not fully satisfied with the draft frameworks currently before Members.  However, 
his delegation noted that the fundamental concerns it had raised in its statemen t at the informal HODs 
meeting earlier in the week pertaini ng to the Blue Box in agriculture, de minimis for developing 
countries, Special Products, differen tial export taxes and issues rela ted to the treatment of unbound 
tariffs and flexibilities for developing countries in the NAMA "vehicle", had all been subject to 
intensive consultations and had been given some form of rectification in  the final draft.  Therefore, in 
a spirit of constructive engagement and for purpos es of helping move the negotiations towards the 
promise of a development-oriented agenda, the Philippines accepted the Decision and the annexed 
frameworks as a basis for Members' future work. 
134. The representative of Hong Kong, China
 said that his delegation appreciated the dedication 
and flexibility shown by all Members.  There had indeed been significant improvements in the final 
text compared to the previous text.  The final text addressed many of the concerns expressed by Members, especially those of developing countries.   As the Director-General had said, the text 
reflected a fine balance of interests, and Hong Kong, China warmly supported its adoption.  This 
Decision would inject much-needed momentum into  the multilateral trade negotiations and form a 
good basis for the next and more intensive phase of  negotiations after the summer.  Looking ahead, 
Hong Kong, China wished to highlight briefly four  areas.  First, on NAMA it considered that the 
framework contained the necessary elements for future work on modalities by the Negotiating Group 
on Market Access.  His delegation urged Members to focus and to redouble their efforts to define the 
specifics of the elements as a matter of priority after the summer break, with a view to finalizing the 
modalities that would deliver the Doha mandate and th e overall balance therein.  Second, on services,  
his delegation welcomed the setting of a date fo r revised offers.  While noting the difficulties 
expressed by some developing-country Members, Hong Kong, China remained  committed to working 
with all Members on tabling revised offers that w ould bring substantial improvement to the services 
negotiations on the basis of the agreed timeline.  Third, Hong Kong, China welcomed the launching of 
negotiations on trade facilitation on the basis of An nex D, and was convinced that the outcome would 
bring benefits to all Members.  Hong Kong, China would participate actively and constructively in the 
negotiations after the summer.  Lastly, his delegati on welcomed in particular the decision to hold the 
Sixth Session of the Ministerial Conference in H ong Kong, China in December 2005, and would work WT/GC/M/87 
Page 28  
 
very closely with all Members and the Secretariat to stage a conference that would be successful in 
both substantive and logistical terms. 
135. The representative of Japan
 said his delegation wished to pay the highest tribute to the 
General Council Chair, the Director-General, the Ch air of the Special Session of the Committee on 
Agriculture and other parties concerned for taking as much account as possible of the G-10 countries' 
position.  Japan strongly endorsed the statement by  Switzerland, which had presented their position in 
a detailed and clear manner as the coordinator of the G-10.  The agreement on agriculture reached at 
the present time was extremely meaningful in that it established a framework that would serve as the 
basis for future negotiations on modalities.  First, Japan recognized that the framework agreement was 
the amalgamation of tremendous efforts by the respective Members post-Cancún, and that it was 
extremely important for the development of the multilateral trading system under the WTO and the 
economic development of the developing countries, wh ich was one of the important objectives of this 
Round.  Second, this framework ensured various flex ibilities to realize the position taken so far by the 
G-10, such as the proper reflection of non-trade con cerns in the future negotiations on modalities.  
Japan would continue to aim for a substantial impr ovement in market access in order to achieve the 
objective of the Doha Declaration.  At the same time, Japan intended to contribute constructively to 
the negotiations, so that Members could establish we ll-balanced and realistic modalities, based on the 
co-existence of various types of agriculture, reflecting the position of the food-importing countries.   
136. His delegation welcomed the July package just a dopted and felt that the past week in Geneva 
had been very impressive.  The DDA had been laun ched in November 2001 in Doha in a very tense 
atmosphere.  In spite of passion and ambition in Cancún, Members had not been able to succeed, but 
the determination of the US Trade Representative an d also of the EU Trade Commissioner, and their 
joint letter, had provided a new opportunity for a successful outcome.  However, the passion of 
Members over the past week had also contributed a lot to the successful outcome.  On the other hand, 
Members had had to learn many lessons from the prev ious week's experience, and had had to face the 
issues squarely, or would not have been able to reach a successful conclusion.  Japan was firmly 
convinced that Members should work together and should not spare any effort to achieve a great 
success in the DDA.  He was certain this would make a very important contribution to the promotion and expansion of the global world, eventually leading to a richer and more affluent life for all people. 
137. The representative of Pakistan
 said that the Decision just a dopted was a major improvement 
over the draft Members had been considering in Cancún.   The fact that the text addressed the concerns 
of so many countries, especially developing and least-developed countries, was indeed a major 
achievement.  Like others, Pakistan was not fully sa tisfied with all that was contained in the text.  
However, his delegation realized that negotiations were about give and take.  A certain amount of 
give was essential in order to continue the negotiatio ns for significant gains in the long run.  The text 
contained some historic achievements.  These include d the agreement to negotiate an end date for the 
elimination of all kinds of expor t subsidies and export credits.  The overall reduction of domestic 
subsidies and the agreement to start doing so, with  a down-payment of 20 per cent at the beginning of 
the reform period, was another major achievement.  As for the third pillar, Pakistan was not sure how 
much gain there was for market access, which woul d have been the key factor for removing existing 
trade distortion, but it hoped that in the subsequent  negotiations, a major effort would be made to clear 
up this vagueness.  His delegation was also pleased that the text relating to cotton was much better 
than what had been included in the previous versi on of the draft Decision.  Pakistan hoped that in the 
subsequent negotiations, Members could make sure that this would be implemented on a fast-track 
basis. 
138. On NAMA, Members seemed to have made ve ry little progress.  Although agricultural reform 
was and would continue to  be of major interest, NAMA was no less important.  More than 90 per cent 
of Pakistan's exports were of industrial goods, and his delegation hoped that market access issues in 
NAMA would be resolved urgently.  Pakistan welcomed  the fact that of the four Singapore issues, it 
was now clear that negotiations were to commen ce only on trade facilitation.  Members would not 
have to devote their scarce resources to other issues that had been dropped from the Doha Round.  On  WT/GC/M/87 
 Page 29 
 
 
development issues, Members had made very little  progress.  His delegation hoped that during the 
course of the negotiations, more flexibility would be  shown by developed countries.  Through this 
Decision, Members had taken their first, but rather di fficult, step.  Pakistan hoped that the next phase 
of negotiations would not take as long as the first phase, and that the Round could be completed 
expeditiously and ambitiously.  Paki stan would continue to play a constructive role to move this 
process forward. 
139. The representative of Indonesia  said that after a period of un certainty following the Cancún 
Ministerial Conference, his delegation was pleased that Members had finally managed to put the DDA 
back on track.  The consensus achieved at the present meeting had no doubt shown Members' 
renewed commitment to the DDA and the multilateral trading system.  In an increasingly globalized 
and interdependent world, the multilateral venue provided the best means of achieving Members' 
universal goals and of containing their common thre ats.  Indonesia hoped that in the next phase of 
negotiations, Members would continue to show the high level of commitment and flexibility that had 
been shown, so as to ensure that a genuine deve lopment agenda was set in the multilateral trading 
system.  In undertaking the work in the post-July  process, it was necessary to continue to aim at a 
target date for the completion of the DDA.  This w ould help bring a sense of urgency to the work in 
the post-July process. 
140. Regarding agriculture, his delegation believe d that the framework agreed in Annex A 
provided adequate guidance for future work.  Indon esia viewed Annex A as a compromise text which 
preserved the level of ambition and flexibility of the Doha mandate.  With regard to de-minimis , 
Indonesia remained concerned with the idea th at developing countries had to reduce their de-minimis .  
Paragraph 11 of Annex A would further deteriorate and limit the concept of S&D for developing 
countries.  On the issue of Special Products and on behalf of the G-33 countries , his delegation wished 
to welcome the recognition that Members had given to the fundamental importance of Special Products for developing countries' food security, li velihood security and rural development needs.  
This was an important first step in Members' effo rts to fulfil the Doha mandate.  It was of critical 
importance to ensure that Special Products receive d the greatest possible flexibility with regard to 
tariff treatment, TRQ commitments and access to Sp ecial Safeguard Mechanisms in the post-July 
negotiation phase.  In this context, the language  of paragraph 41 provided the necessary basis to 
ensure that developing countries had adequate fl exibility regarding their designation of products as 
Special Products to fully address their food security, li velihood security and rural development needs.   
141. On NAMA, despite the divergent starting points on Annex B, Indonesia welcomed the 
constructive way these divergences had been acco mmodated.  The agreement on NAMA would 
greatly contribute to moving the work forward.  His delegation took comfort in the fact that the element in Annex B about which Indonesia had pa rticular concern remained open for further 
clarification and negotiation.  It was his delegati on's understanding that its c oncerns on Annex B were 
captured in the letter of 9 July from the Chairman of the Negotiating Group on NAMA.  The 
proposals Indonesia had put forward in the course of  the negotiations since D oha, as well as Annex B 
itself, constituted a point of reference for future ne gotiations.  On the issue of deadlines, while these 
were important to better motivate and focus Member s' work, Indonesia recognized that throughout the 
WTO's history the membership had had a tendency to miss the deadlines it had set.  While the setting 
of a deadline for revised offers on services might he lp bring a sense of urgency for Members to meet 
such deadline, the specific difficulties in making such offers had to be taken fully into consideration.  
Moreover, specific deadlines should in no wa y undermine Article XIX of GATS regarding 
progressive liberalization for developing countries.  Indonesia wished to congratulate all Members for the spirit of compromise and flexibility demonstrat ed, which had enabled them to reach consensus on 
this package. 
142. The representative of Chinese Taipei
 said that as his delega tion had mentioned on several 
occasions, his Government had a strong sense of po litical ownership of the delivery of the July 
package, which was a much-need ed platform for future negotiations on the DDA.  Through the 
adoption of this Decision, the WTO would continue to  be an effective platform for further liberalized WT/GC/M/87 
Page 30  
 
international trade, which would certainly generate  a very positive impact on the global economy.  
The continued strengthening of disciplines on intern ational trade might prevent some Members from 
taking bilateral or regional approaches in this area that would jeopardize the proper functioning of the 
multilateral trading system.  Despite  his delegation's disappointment re garding the further reduction of 
the level of ambition on trade facilitation, Chinese Taipei supported the launching of negotiations on 
trade facilitation.  Regarding the negotiations on NAMA, although the level of ambition was clearly 
not up to Chinese Taipei's expectations, it welcomed the transformation of the so-called "vehicle" into 
an integral part of Annex B as a new first paragr aph.  On services, his delegation was happy to see a 
separate paragraph devoted to it, which could provide the desired balance between services, 
agriculture and NAMA.  However, his delegation wish ed to point out that improvement in the quality 
of Members' offers remained the ch allenging task in the post-July phase. 
143. On agriculture, Chinese Taipei fully supported the statement by Switzerland on behalf of the 
G-10 countries.  Chinese Taipei shared the views of that group that the framework was just the first 
step towards final modalities, and that a number of notions in the text would require further precision 
and elaboration in the next phase of work.   Th e post-July phase should aim at providing Members 
with the flexibility needed, taking into account thei r non-trade concerns, in order to reach a balanced 
outcome.  Despite the fact that some improvement had been made in the text in the direction his 
delegation had wished to see, the language relati ng to sensitive products remained Chinese Taipei's 
major concern.  His delegation also wished to stress that paragraph 33 recognized that balance in the 
negotiations would be found only if the final negotiated result also reflected the sensitivity of the 
product concerned.  The "coherent and equitable cr iteria" referred to in paragraph 34 should be 
developed in the same spirit.  Moreover, his dele gation wished to emphasize that the methodology to 
be agreed with respect to product-specific capping of  AMS should take into account factors such as 
structural adjustment and emergency situations, so as not to hinder the ongoing reforms.  Based on the 
fact that the overall level of ambition of the July package had been significantly reduced from that in 
the Derbez text, the challenges ahead were how to  maintain the cooperative spirit and the necessary 
momentum to complete the journey of the DDA.  After the extremely hard work in which Members 
had just been engaged, they would face an even  more challenging period in the post-July phase. 
144. The representative of Bangladesh
 welcomed the Decision just adopted.  This was an 
important day for the WTO.  At D oha, momentous decisions had been taken about the future direction 
of the multilateral trading system.  After missed d eadlines and the setback at Cancún, it was important 
for the membership to display commitment to th e WTO and what it stood for.  The Decision just 
adopted included frameworks for agriculture and NA MA.  This had not been envisaged in the Doha 
Declaration.  However, the membership, including Bangladesh, had agreed to  these frameworks in the 
hope that this would ultimately lead to a succe ssful fulfilment of the Doha mandate.  Bangladesh 
hoped that the level of ambition set at Doha would be maintained.  This was essential for the vitality 
of the multilateral trading system, as well as for the growth of the world economy.  His delegation 
wished to draw attention to two other issues.  The first was the process through which the membership 
arrived at decisions.  Many Members had left the substantive negotiations and decision-making to a 
very late stage.  Decisions relating to trade ha d a profound impact on the economy of any country, and 
hence had substantive political undertones.  However,  this did not justify the delays and last-minute 
negotiations his delegation had observed.  Furthe rmore, for most delegations, the documents had 
come out so late that they could not be properl y examined and assessed.  Bangladesh hoped that the 
membership would give due attention to this aspect  of their work.  The second point related to the 
development dimension of the decisi ons Members were taking in regard to trade.  For many countries, 
trade was a vital component of their development st rategy.  It was vital that these countries had the 
market access and the policy space required to develo p their industries.  This meant that development 
issues had to be addressed in substance throughout the agreements being negotiated.  This was the 
only way to make the DDA truly developmental.  His delegation looked forward to engaging in the 
negotiations that would follow the Decision just adopted. 
145. The representative of Tanzania , on behalf of the LDCs , said that these countries wished to 
commend the entire membership for the constructive e ngagement that had made it possible to breach  WT/GC/M/87 
 Page 31 
 
 
the initial divergences in several ar eas of the negotiations, leading to the adoption of the framework 
agreements that would form the basis of work in the post-July phase.  He wished to register the 
Group's approval of this framework package, whic h represented a remarkable improvement over the 
text Members had had in Cancún.  The LDCs rec ognized that the consensus attained at the present 
meeting was a result of the spirit of flexibility ex ercised by the membership, both at the level of 
individual delegations and among various groupings.  It was the Group's sincere hope that this spirit 
of mutual accommodation which had delivered the success at this framework stage would continue 
into the post-July phase, so that any outstanding issues and concerns c ould find conclusive resolution, 
particularly with a view to strengthening the de velopment value of the Doha Round.  The LDCs 
appreciated the membership's reaffirmation in this Decision of the commitments made at Doha for the 
LDCs.  The fulfilment of those commitments should progressively result in more effective integration 
of the LDCs into the multilateral trading system.  In  this regard, early and predictable provision of 
duty-free and quota-free market access for products originating from LDCs formed one of the major 
plans.  In the same vein, exemption of LDCs from  various reduction commitments also gave them the 
policy space they needed to grapple with their de velopment challenges.  Furthermore, addressing non-
tariff barriers to exports of LDCs and sanitary a nd phytosanitary obstacles was a crucial dimension in 
making meaningful the market-access opportunities offered to LDCs.  The LDCs therefore looked 
forward to these and other aspects of importance to LD Cs continuing to receive priority attention in 
the relevant branches of work in the post-July phase.   
146. The representative of Zambia  said his delegation supported the statements by Nigeria on 
behalf of the African Group, by Rwanda and by Tanzania on behalf of the LDCs.  The road from 
Cancún to Geneva had been long and rough, and ma ny were not even sure where the road was taking 
them.  However, Zambia had not gotten lost on th e way.  It knew where it was going and was pleased 
to have finally arrived.  It had not achieved ever ything it had wished to achieve, as the vessel had not 
been big enough to take on all concerns.  Howeve r, no delegation had got everything it had wanted.  
The text adopted was not what Zambia had wanted.  It was not excellent, but in the circumstances, it 
was probably the best one could hope for.  What  was important was that Members had agreed to 
remain engaged.  They had no choice but to keep on talking to each other, because the world had not 
come to an end.  It was turning and it would con tinue to turn.  All delega tions could pat themselves on 
the back.  They had shown commitment and dedicatio n to the cause of the multilateral trading system.  
The great advances that had taken place in info rmation technology had made the world a global 
village.  How could human beings not turn to each other to survive and live as one human race?  The 
trouble spots in many parts of the world were not only the concern of one country or even of a few 
countries.  They were and had to be the concern of a ll, and this despite the fact that not all countries 
had the capacity to act in resolving these problems. 
147. Zambia was grateful to those countries which ha d the capacity to act in the interest of the 
human race.  In this regard he wished to refer to  one development issue that had not been addressed – 
the foreign debt that was ravaging the economies of  many developing countries, especially the LDCs.  
Since the WTO was going to cooperate with the IMF and the World Bank, and was in good stead with 
its development partners, he suggested that the i ssue of foreign debt be seriously addressed in all 
Members' negotiations post-July in accordance with paragraph 36 of the Doha Declaration.  Unless 
the issue of foreign debt was resolved, all the e fforts Members were trying to make would come to 
nought.  Members had shown that they could come together and agree on issues that were thought to 
be insurmountable.  The LDCs now requested that  the developed countries and those developing 
countries that were able to do so should quickly  start implementing the measures agreed upon in 
favour of LDCs.  In this way, it w ould not take long before the LDCs we re able to join the rest of the 
world and would then be able to say that along with the rest of the world, they were moving together 
in the social and economic development of all countries. 
148. The representative of Croatia , also on behalf of Albania, Georgia, Jordan, Moldova and 
Oman , said that these countries realized that the docum ent just adopted was not perfect.  At the same 
time, they were aware that it contained a delicate balance among Members, and hence at present it represented a vital milestone in the work being pur sued within the DDA.  These countries could, of WT/GC/M/87 
Page 32  
 
course, say that they were not entirely happy with  the text, and they would probably not be alone in 
this.  However, given the importance of this text, and the fact that it addressed most of these countries' 
concerns, they were ready to support it.  They we re confident that, based on this document, Members 
would be able to continue their work in a manner th at would ensure that the interests of all Members 
would be protected.  Certainly, these countries e xpected that appropriate provisions that would 
accommodate their concerns would be reflected in  the final modalities.  Members had achieved an 
important stage in their negotiations but they still ha d a long way to go.  He assured the Chairman of 
these countries' full and constructive support.  They we re ready to participate actively and engage in 
the future negotiations, which should be conducted in the same cooperative spirit displayed in the past 
few days. 
149. The representative of Trinidad and Tobago
 said that if one stepped back to look at the big 
picture, it appeared that the broad strokes were just  about right.  As was often the case when viewing 
any portrait, perspectives might differ depending on one's position.  From where his delegation stood, 
the current Annexes A and B represented a considerab le improvement over the previous version of the 
text, although his delega tion still had some lingering concerns regarding some elements of the agreed 
text.  In many respects, this text contained the mo st delicate balance of interests and concerns that 
could be achieved at the present stage.  Trinidad and Tobago acknowledged the effort which had been 
made to address all the concerns expressed with regard to, inter alia , the blue box and the absence of a 
fundamental linkage between paragraphs 13 and 14 in the text on agriculture, de minimis  reductions 
for developing countries, imbalance in the treatme nt between sensitive products and Special Products, 
flexibility provided with regard to Special Products, treatment of long-standing  preferences, market 
access for the exports of LDCs, the need for greater clarity on the nature of the flexibility envisaged 
for state trading enterprises and developing countries,  and the best means of integrating the concerns 
of many developing countries into Annex B.  The package was by no means perfect, but it had brought Members to a point of convergence.  Realistically, it would be exceedingly difficult to address further the concerns of any Member wi thout prejudicing those of others and, more 
importantly, disturbing the inherent balance currently  struck.  In addition, it was his delegation's 
understanding that the May 2005 deadline set for th e tabling of revised offers on services was merely 
indicative.  As far as his delegation was concerned, this package could create the requisite climate in 
which Members could commence negotiations on full modalities during the post-July phase, in 
pursuit of the achievement of the objectives set out in the Doha mandate.  It represented the best and most equitable deal that could be cut at the pr esent juncture of the Doha Round.  As such, his 
delegation agreed to accept it. 
150. The representative of Australia
 welcomed the agreement on this framework package.  Along 
with other Members, Australia had been workin g intensively over recent months to move these 
negotiations forward.  With this package Memb ers were able, once and for all, to put the 
disappointments of Cancún behind them and move with confidence and purpose to the final phase of 
these negotiations.  Clearly there was still much work  to do, but Members now had some very clear 
plans on what was required to achieve the ambitious go als set out in the Doha mandate, particularly in 
the vital market-access areas of agriculture, NAM A and services.  The negotiations on trade 
facilitation would complement this important work.  Recent weeks and days had highlighted again 
that the membership acknowledged th at agriculture lay at the heart of the benefits that would flow 
from this Round.  The benchmark that the Cairns Group countries had set for this framework was the 
high level of ambition set out in the Doha mandate ac ross all of the three pillars in agriculture.  Annex 
A achieved this objective by providing the outlin es of a plan for concluding these negotiations, 
including through the welcome clarity that had been provided on the elimination of export subsidies.  
Australia remained strongly committed to the nego tiations and looked forward to picking up this 
important work after the summer break to move th ese negotiations forward quickly and ambitiously.  
His delegation wished to congratulate the Chairman, the Director-General and the facilitators, and all 
its colleagues for the positive way in which they ha d approached this July package.  The process 
might not have been perfect, but all had succeeded in a job well done.  WT/GC/M/87 
 Page 33 
 
 
151. The representative of Barbados  said that her delegation supported the Decision just adopted, 
but wished to place on record the following concerns regarding some of its elements.  With regard to 
agriculture, since the circulation of the first draf t of Annex A, her delegation had expressed a number 
of concerns primarily related to the treatment of S&D treatment elements within the text.  Barbados 
wished to reiterate these concerns  in relation to the final Annex A.   On domestic support generally, 
Barbados continued to regret that it had not b een possible to include language on enhancing the 
development provisions of Article 6.2 and the Green Box.  On de minimis , her delegation noted that 
developing countries would now be obliged  to negotiate the reduction of their de minimis  levels of 
support, with the exception of a limited area of exemption.  Unlike many other developed and developing countries, the only form of domestic  support to which Barbados had access for its 
vulnerable agricultural sector was de minimis support.  Her delegation therefore wished to emphasise 
that it was Barbados' understanding that the carve-out  with respect to subsis tence and resource-poor 
farmers would be applied in a manner that addr essed Barbados' local circumstances.  On Special 
Products and the Special Safeguard Mechanism, he r delegation wished to reiterate the critical 
importance Barbados attached to these concepts .  In developing full modalities on these issues, 
Barbados expected that their tariff and tariff-rate  quota treatment, where applicable, would reflect 
their fundamental importance as a developmental t ool and as a means of addressing food security and 
rural development needs.  
152. On NAMA, Barbados expected that the new pa ragraph 1 of Annex B would guide Members' 
future discussions in the context of the existing situ ation, which had been accurately depicted in the 
9 July letter from the Chair of the NAMA Negotiating Group.  It was also Barbados' expectation that 
future work on the NAMA modalities would effectivel y and fully take into account the special needs 
and concerns of developing countries with constr aints and characteristics si milar to Barbados' own 
small, vulnerable economy.  With re gard to paragraph (e) of the core  text on services, her delegation 
noted the appearance of a date for the tabling of revised offers.  Barbados could only consider this 
date as being indicative and would c ontinue to be guided by the principle of feasibility outlined in the 
second paragraph of Annex C with regard to this ti meframe.  With regard to  the issue of technical 
assistance, Barbados noted that reference to "low-i ncome countries in transition" had been added.  
This addition was welcome.  However, her delegati on wished to recall that paragraph 38 of the Doha 
Declaration instructed that "[p]riority shall also  be accorded to small, vulnerable and transition 
economies, as well as to Members and Observers w ithout representation in Geneva" in the area of 
technical cooperation and capacity building.  Barbados  hoped that with the adoption of this Decision, 
the membership would also recommit itself to en suring that development remained firmly at the 
centre of the Doha Round. 
153. The representative of Bolivia
 said that the Decision Members were endorsing at the present 
meeting had, since the Cancún Ministerial Conf erence, benefited from an enriching negotiating 
process.  The outcome therefore constituted a first step forward, the technical and political signal 
required to restore the credibility of the organizati on, and Members' commitment to continue striving 
to fulfil the Doha mandates.  Bolivia had never lost sight, in particular over the past year, of the fact 
that the needs and priorities of developing and least-developed countries should be the guiding 
principles of future reforms of the legal structur e of the WTO.  After considerable effort, this 
understanding had been embodied in the package Me mbers were now adopting.  The content of these 
measures once again served as proof of Bolivia's commitment to the liberalization process, the 
outcome of which – upon completi on of negotiations on the respective modalities – Bolivia was keen 
to see reflected in a genuine opening of and in crease in markets for its agricultural and non-
agricultural products.   In accordance with the trend of trade flows, in which the services sector had 
been gaining increasing prominence, his delegation al so hoped that the next stage would see Bolivia 
receiving offers that corresponded to the requirements and realities of developing countries in all four 
modes of supply.  The launch of negotiations on tr ade facilitation was the pillar that had been lacking 
in the work during the modalities phase, and Bolivia hoped to make a major contribution in this area. 
154. The representative of Cuba  said that the Decision just adopted constituted a reference 
framework for future work and reaffirmed the co mmitment undertaken by all Members, as set out in WT/GC/M/87 
Page 34  
 
the statements and decisions adopted at the D oha Ministerial Conference, which remained the 
platform for work.  The agreement, reached only a short while earlier after arduous negotiations, did 
not fully live up to Cuba's expecta tions, given that issues of vital inte rest to developing countries were 
not addressed and the wording agreed for other issu es did not serve Cuba's needs at this critical 
juncture.  Cuba hoped that in the next phase, deve lopment issues would be tackled with the requisite 
sense of urgency and priority, that the establishe d deadlines would be met, that provisions on S&D 
treatment would be strengthened a nd rendered more precise, effectiv e and operational, and that an 
appropriate solution would be found with regard to implementation i ssues.  Cuba regretted that the 
final text did not contain references to continuing work on trade, debt and finance and on trade and 
transfer of technology.  This woul d have permitted a more in-depth analysis of the external debt of 
underdeveloped countries, as well as improved access to technology and promotion of its transfer to 
such countries.  Furthermore, Cuba wished to expr ess its dissatisfaction at the failure of the text to 
address the issue of primary commodities, the long-term downward trend in the prices of which had had a negative impact on devel oping countries that were largel y dependent on exports of such 
products.  Her delegation hoped th at negotiations on market access for agricultural and industrial 
products would take the interests of small economies into consider ation.  Future negotiations on 
agriculture would have to respect the objectives of rural development, food security and poverty 
alleviation with regard to S&D tr eatment for developing countries, and heed the concerns of net food-
importing countries.  As far as Annex B on NAMA was concerned, the impossibility of discussing this text had prevented making explicit provisi on for the need for the policy space and flexibility 
required to enable developing countries to pursue industrial policies on the basis of their national 
development objectives.  These elements would therefor e have to be addressed as a priority in the 
coming months. 
155. With regard to services, Cuba considered that there was a contradiction between sub-
paragraph (e) of the Decision and Annex C to that text given that, on the one hand, the 
recommendations of the Special Session of the Coun cil for Trade in Services, which had not set a 
deadline for the submission of revised offers, had been adopted, while on the other hand, a date had 
been established, thereby amending the consensus re ached by Members in the Special Session of the 
Services Council.  Setting a deadline for the subm ission of revised offers did not expedite the 
negotiating process, but rather constituted forcible persuasion.  Setting such a date was premature, 
given the technical difficulties involved in preparing initial offers, as described at several meetings of 
the Council for Trade in Services and in consultatio ns with its Chairman.  The amendment made to 
this text at the close of the process, when only a few Members had been present, could not alter the 
recommendations of the Council for Trade in Services,  which had been adopted by consensus.  Cuba 
therefore understood the deadline of May 2005 to be indicative.  The negotiations on trade facilitation, 
which aimed to clarify and improve aspects of Articles V, VIII and X of GATT 1994, should take into account the principle of S&D treatment for deve loping and least-developed countries, as well as the 
commitment that such countries would not be obl iged to undertake invest ments in infrastructure 
projects beyond their means.  In this respect, it was a matter of priority for developed countries to ensure the necessary financial and technical support.   The next phase of negotiations would address 
all of these aspects in depth. Cuba stood ready to contribute to that process in order to achieve an 
outcome consistent with the Doha mandate, at  the very heart of which lay development. 
156. The representative of El Salvador
 said that since its accession to the WTO, El Salvador had 
fully committed itself to the multilateral trading system  as a key tool in trade policy.  It had fulfilled 
its Uruguay Round obligations and, although on some occasions this  had involved cons iderable effort, 
had done so certain in the knowledge that it sought a fair and equitable trading system that provided 
development opportunities on a reliable and balanced  basis.  El Salvador firmly believed trade 
liberalization to be an indispensable tool for a c ountry's development and ec onomic growth.  In this 
context, at the Doha Ministerial Conference El  Salvador had renewed its commitment to the 
multilateral system by supporting the launch of a new, development-based round of negotiations.  
Such a round involved major challenges for El Salva dor, but it believed that these would be offset by 
real and effective internatio nal market-access opportunities.  WT/GC/M/87 
 Page 35 
 
 
157. The present marked the end of an interim stag e which had proved crucial to achieving the 
objectives set by Ministers in Doha.  Although his de legation would have prefer red this goal to have 
been reached by the origin al deadline, it considered that even with this delay, the Decision just 
adopted represented a step forward and that such a framework set out a road map for continuing with 
the task entrusted to Members, on the premise of co nditional trust, with a view to reaching a balanced 
agreement that addressed Members' legitimate intere sts.  This Round, bearing in mind that it was a 
development round, would be positive insofar as  it achieved effective implementation of S&D 
treatment for developing countries.  His delegation wi shed to reiterate that, as far as El Salvador was 
concerned, negotiations on agriculture were a ke y element of the Doha Work Programme, given the 
economic and social significance of this sector to El Salvador.  El Salvador therefore felt that S&D 
treatment in this and other areas should be an in tegral, fundamental and effective part of the 
negotiations.  Although Members had endorsed a decision on services which included specific deadlines, it should be taken into account that, while  working towards this goal, Members had to be 
realistic with regard to the major limitations faced by countries such as El Salvador.  In the light of 
this, El Salvador considered that the recommenda tions on services established within this framework 
were a basis for an ongoing negotiating process.  His delegation welcomed the reference to the special 
attention that would be given in this negotia ting round to sectors and modes of supply of export 
interest to developing countries, in particular Mode 4. 
158. The launch of negotiations on tr ade facilitation constituted a major step forward in this 
process, taking into consideration the benefits of efficiency and transparency in export flows.  
Nevertheless, it should be emphasized that, as established in the negotiating framework, the 
limitations of developing countries should be borne in mind regarding their entering into 
commitments that went beyond their means.  Last but not least, his delegation wished to comment on development aspects, and wished to refer to devel opment not merely as yet another negotiating issue, 
but rather as the approach Members had been manda ted to adopt in relation to their work – an 
approach which permeated each and every one of the Doha Round agreements.  El Salvador hoped 
that developing countries would be granted fair and equitable S&D tr eatment, and that the outcome of 
the Doha Round would help the people of El Salvador to attain a higher standard of living and a level 
of development that could be sustained over time. 
159. The representative of India
 said that the Decision just adopted was the result of months of 
intensive negotiations in Geneva a nd of several Ministerial discussions in different capitals.  From a 
process standpoint, this work marked a welcome revi val of engagement in Geneva.  He knew of the 
hard work and long hours put in by negotiators in Geneva, especially by the Chairs of the various 
negotiating bodies.  His delegation especially complimented the Chair of the Special Session of the Committee on Agriculture for his re lentless work in a difficult and often frustrating phase in the 
negotiations on agriculture.  His delegation was also  aware that the adoption of the Decision marked 
simply a half-way point between the launch of an ambitious work programme at Doha and its 
culmination, which was still some time away.  Memb ers' achievement was not spectacular.  However, 
after the collapse of talks at Cancún, Members ha d needed a success in the interim, to restore 
confidence and to revive optimism.  Members coul d derive some satisfaction that they had not 
blundered in accomplishing this difficult and necessary task.  They had restored faith in the developmental promise of the Doha wok progr amme.  This would be welcomed widely. 
160. It was also an achievement that Members had provided practical guidance for the difficult 
work ahead in key negotiating areas, while remaini ng faithful to the Doha mandate.  In agriculture 
and NAMA, they had developed principles and guide lines to facilitate future work.  Discussions on 
the framework had also provided an opportunity for a collective stocktaking of the status of 
negotiations, even if this had not always been reflect ed in the text.  This had been his first attendance 
at a meeting of the General Council, and his firs t experience of the "Green Room" process of the 
WTO.  He would leave Geneva with a new respect for his interlocutors.  The latter were dogged in 
their pursuit of their national interest, and flexible when Members' collective interests seemed in peril.  
It was this constructive blend of tenacity and acco mmodation in negotiations that would be Members' WT/GC/M/87 
Page 36  
 
greatest asset in the period ahead, as they sought an expeditious completion of the work begun at Doha. 
161. The representative of Korea
 said that after repeated frustrations and failures since the start of 
the Doha negotiations, the present Decision marked an important milestone.  The agreed frameworks 
for agriculture and NAMA lay the groundwork for est ablishing modalities in the next stage.  The 
launch of negotiations on trade fa cilitation promised not just significant economic gains, but greater 
relevance of the WTO in global trade as well.   The work programmes for cotton and other 
development-related issues woul d serve to help Members keep their focus on the development 
dimension as an integral part of the DDA.  All in all, the Decision provided Members with a springboard to continue the negotiations with rene wed momentum.  However, it was not with a sense 
of proper satisfaction that his delegation participated in the present Decision.  Korea believed that, as 
a whole, the Decision represented a rather modest p ackage.  Korea also had some serious concerns 
with parts of the Decision, including the Annex es on agriculture, NAMA and trade facilitation.  Korea 
did not find in the Decision a proper balance between  the level of ambition for agriculture and those 
for NAMA and trade facilitation, nor did Korea be lieve that Annex A on agriculture retained a 
balance between the interests of importing and expo rting countries. The decision to drop the three 
issues of investment, competition policy and gove rnment procurement from the single undertaking 
and the DDA was also a disappointment, as it put these important issues on the back burner of the WTO agenda.  However, his delegation took comfort that all Members, including Korea, were united 
in the spirit of compromise and flexibility in avoiding  a crisis.  Korea also hope d that the same spirit 
would guide Members throughout the negotiations, leading to their balanced outcome.  Korea 
remained committed to the successful completion of  the Doha negotiations, and would continue to 
work with the Chairman and with othe r delegations to achieve that goal. 
162. The representative of Senegal
 said his delegation wished to pay tribute to the significant 
political support from the Ministers who had played a decisive role in re-launching the Doha Round 
negotiating process.  Senegal endorsed the statements  by Nigeria on behalf of the African Group and 
by Tanzania on behalf of the LDCs, and welcomed the overall consensus that had emerged from these 
difficult negotiations involving all Members.  His delegation was pleased to note that, in spite of major differences of position and wide-ranging concer ns and interests, an understanding on a certain 
number of issues had been reached to enable the Doha work programme to move forward.  This 
consensus, which Senegal joined, was the fruit of  a collective investment by Members who, at a 
critical juncture, had been capable of transcending their differences and acting resolutely and even 
flexibly.  Senegal was aware that no human e ndeavour was perfect, and Members' work was no 
exception to this reality.  However, what stood out from these days of intensive work was the feeling 
that a true spirit of partnership had been born.  His delegation had sensed this during the discussions 
in which it had taken part, in the context of the consultations on the concerns of LDCs and, more 
particularly, the sectoral initiative on cotton.  Ther e was now, more than ever before, a need to 
translate the political commitment to development unde r the DDA into concrete action.  Substantial 
efforts were still required to ensure that this trul y was a development round.  When the time came for 
Members to embark on a new phase in the negotiati ons, they had to keep sight of the legitimate 
expectations of developing countries, in particular  LDCs, with regard to trade-related development 
issues, especially those such as S&D treatment and implementation concerns, which had yet to be 
fully considered.  His delegation assured the Chairm an of Senegal's wholehearted cooperation in the 
next stages of the negotiations. 
163. The Chairman
 said he wished to express his personal appreciation to all Members for their 
support and for the confidence they had entrusted in him, without which he would not have been able 
to reach the present point.  He would certainly be se eking Members' assistance and co-operation in the 
months ahead as well.  He also wished to thank the staff of the Secretariat – the interpreters, 
translators, security staff, secretaries and other officials – who were a very dedicated, able group of 
people without whom he believed the presen t success could not have been achieved. 
164. The General Council took note  of the statements.  WT/GC/M/87 
 Page 37 
 
 
12. Claims of interest of Ecuador and negotiati ons for the enlargement of the European 
Union  
165. The representative of Ecuador , speaking under "Other Business ,"4 said that in respect of the 
notification by the European Communities concerning the enlarg ement of the European Union 
(G/SECRET/20 of 30 January 2004), Ecuador had s ubmitted within the 90 days provided for in the 
Procedures for Negotiations under Article XXVIII of the GATT 1994 claims of interest regarding 
Ecuadorian export products included in Schedule CXL of the Community.  On bananas (tariff item 
numbers 0803.00.19 and 0803.00.11), this claim of in terest had been communicated to the European 
Commission by means of note verbale No. 4-2-016/04 of 22 March 2004 from the Ecuadorian Embassy to the European Union at Brussels and by Note No. 4-03-22/04 of 24 March 2004 from the 
Permanent Mission of Ecuador at Geneva to the Permanent Mission of the European Communities to 
the WTO, with copies to the WTO Secretariat.  The second claim of interest, regarding other 
Ecuadorian exportable products, had been comm unicated to the European Commission on 28 April 
2004 from the Ecuadorian Embassy to the European Un ion in Brussels and in Geneva, with copies of 
the communications to the WTO Secretariat.  Some  four months had passed since Ecuador had made 
its claim of interest with regard to bananas, a nd roughly three months had passed since its claim of 
interest with regard to other Ec uadorian exportable products.  No re ply had yet been received from the 
Community. 
166. In the case of bananas, as of 1 May 2004 the Community had modified the commitments 
established in the respective schedules of the ten new EU members, in spite of having failed to notify 
the conclusion of the negotiations relating to document G/SECRET/20.  Payment of a €75-per-tonne 
tariff applicable exclusively to exports by MFN su ppliers had been introduced, while market access 
had been reduced by roughly 15 per cent by the est ablishment of a quota of 300,000 tonnes to meet 
the demand of the ten acceding countries.  In the annex to document G/SECRET/20, the Community 
recognized Ecuador's negotiating rights  with regard to certain products in the tariff universe as a result 
of EU enlargement.  Nevertheless, the Communi ty had not yet recognized Ecuador's claims of 
interest, as required by paragraph 4 of the Pro cedures for Negotiations under Article XXVIII of 
GATT 1994.  Therefore, in compliance with this pr ovision, Ecuador was now referring this matter to 
the General Council.  This claim was made without prejudice to any of Ecuador's rights under the GATT 1994.  Full details of Ecuador's  interests and requirements were set out in the respective above-
mentioned claims of interest.  Ecuador wished to re iterate its willingness to enter into negotiations as 
soon as possible with the Community under Artic les XXIV:6 and XXVIII of GATT 1994 in the light 
of the enlargement of the European Union. 
167. The General Council  took note
 of the statement. 
13. Date of the Sixth Session of the Ministerial Conference – Statement by Hong Kong, 
China 
168. The representative of Hong Kong, China , speaking under "Other Business ," said he wished to 
take this opportunity to update Members on his au thorities' preparations for the Sixth Session of the 
Ministerial Conference.  He recalled that in October 2003, Hong Kong, China had been greatly 
honoured to have Members’ agreement for it to hos t this Conference, and had since begun the initial 
preparation work.  Specifically, his authorities had be en in close touch with the WTO Secretariat with 
a view to sorting out the detailed requirements of a Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong.  For this purpose, the majority of the members of the Secretar iat task force had already conducted site visits in 
Hong Kong.  His Government had also obtained th e necessary funding approval from its legislature in 
May 2004.  He also recalled that according to the provision in Article IV of the Marrakesh 
Agreement, and taking into account the date of the Fifth Session of the Ministerial Conference, the Sixth Session should take place sometime in 2005.  On this assumption, his authorities had secured 
                                                     
 
4 At the request of the delegation, the full text of this statement was subsequently circulated in 
document WT/GC/80. WT/GC/M/87 
Page 38  
 
two possible slots in the very heavy schedule of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre – one in August 2005 and the other in December 2005. 
169. While Members were working hard to achieve al l they had set out to achieve at the present 
meeting, he wished to urge them to look forward.   His delegation considered that it would be salutary 
to the momentum of the DDA process for Members to decide on the date of the next Ministerial 
Conference sooner rather than later.   Much work would have to be done to ensure that the next 
Ministerial Conference would be a success.  As his delegation had stated on a number of previous occasions, as a responsible host, Hong Kong, Ch ina would need at least 12 months to make 
preparations for a Ministerial Conference.  His delegation fully appreciated that Members were devoting all their efforts and energy to strike a deal for the July package, but while they were enjoying 
their well-deserved summer vacation after the prese nt meeting, Hong Kong, China would request 
Members to reflect on the question of the timing for th e Sixth Session, so as to take a decision on this 
by the time of the next General Council meeting in October.  In the meantime, however, he wished to 
inform Members that his authorities would be releasing the August 2005 slot, given the booking policy of the Centre and in order not to unduly prejud ice the legitimate interests of potential exhibitors 
and users of this venue.  However, his authorities w ould continue to make their best efforts to hold 
onto the December 2005 slot, which was one of the Cent re's busiest times, for as long as possible.  He 
wished to assure Members that Hong Kong, China remained committed to do its utmost to make the 
Sixth Session of the Ministerial Conference a success and would proceed with the preparation work in 
full gear, once a decision was made on the date of the Conference. 
170. The General Council took note
 of the statement. 
14. Chairmanships of the TRIPS Council and of the Working Group on Trade and 
Transfer of Technology 
171. The Chairman , speaking under "Other Business ", said that as Members were aware, Mr. Law 
(Hong Kong, China), Chairman of the Council for TR IPS, and Mr. Meetoo (Mauritius), Chairman of 
the Working Group on Trade and Transfer of Technol ogy, would soon be leaving their posts as heads 
of their respective delegations in Geneva.  As th e appointments for the Chairpersons of these bodies 
were made following consultations by the Chairman  of the General Council,  he had already begun 
considering possible names in informal contacts with delegations.  His aim was to be able to propose 
names for these appointments to all delegations very  soon.  Also, on behalf of the membership, he 
wished to thank both Mr. Law and Mr. Meetoo for th eir strong efforts to take the work of these two 
bodies forward during their short tenure, and to wish  them both success and good wishes as they took 
up their new appointments.   
172. The General Council took note  of this information. 
__________