JOB/GC/226  
 
4 March 2020  
(20-1714) Page: 1/3 
General Council    
 
 
AGENDA ITEM 2 : IMPLEMENTATION OF TH E BALI, NAIROBI AND BUENOS AIRES 
OUTCOMES – STATEMENT  BY THE CHAIR  
TUESDAY, 3 MARCH 2020  
1.1.  Under this item, let me recall that on 24 February, in preparation for this General Council 
meeting, I held a meeting with the Chairs of Regular Bodies, and I take this opportunity to warmly 
thank them for their cooperation and engagement during my tenure as Chair of the General Council. 
As always, their updates on the implementation of the Ministerial mandates ar e the basis of my 
statement today.  
1.2.  A number of WTO bodies have not yet met this year and since the last General Council meeting, 
and therefore my statement today will only focus  on matters where there have been developments 
since my last report in December . 
1.3.  I will start with the Work Programme on Electronic Commerce.  Following the adoption of the 
Decision (WT/L/1079) last December, I convened an informal open -ended meeting on 10 February 
to report on my consultations, and to hear Members' views on how to st ructure our work ahead of 
MC12. At that meeting, I urged delegations to come forward with specific proposals and stressed 
the need to be focused given the short time left before MC12. Delegations reiterated their 
commitment to implementing the December Dec ision and restated known divergent positions on the 
moratorium and its impact. There was a general agreement to have a workshop focusing on various 
aspects of the moratorium.  
1.4.  I am pleased to confirm that the workshop will be held on Monday 23 March and, i n this regard, 
a communication has been sent to all Members.  The workshop will bring together various 
stakeholders including Members, international organizations, research institutions and business 
representatives. As noted by Members at the informal meet ing, the participation of capital -based 
officials would be beneficial to our discussion.  
1.5.  Looking ahead, I understand that some delegations are working on possible submissions to 
contribute to the discussions and that these may be submitted in the near futu re. In that regard, an 
Informal Open -Ended meeting is tentatively scheduled for 12  March to consider any new submissions 
received by then. Further information will be provided in due course.  
1.6.  Regarding TRIPS non -violation and situation complaints,  the Chair  of the TRIPS Council has 
held a number of small group consultations in January to discuss the way forward in light of the 
short time -period until MC12. Delegations discussed the item again at the formal TRIPS Council 
meeting on 6 February, and agreed to a sk the incoming TRIPS Chair -designate to hold consultation s 
once the slate of chairs has been formally agreed by the General Council. These consultations should 
begin as soon as the new Chair takes up her duties.  
1.7.  Moving now to some of the Ministerial outco mes on Agriculture, with respect to the Nairobi 
Decision on Export Competition,  the Committee on Agriculture will conduct the 2020 dedicated 
discussions on export competition at its September meeting.  
1.8.  With respect to the review of the operation of the Bali Decision on TRQ administration , the 
Committee on Agriculture will have its first meeting this year at the end of March, and will take up 
the matter in light of the recommendations agreed by the General Council in December.  JOB/GC/226  
 
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  1.9.  A brief update on the implementa tion of the Trade Facilitation Agreement . Since December last 
year, the Committee has met on 4 occasions. Two of the meetings were called over the past two 
weeks, and they were linked to the implementation of the flexibilities in the TFA for least -develope d 
countries. Two additional ratifications have been received since my last report, bringing the total 
rate of ratification to over 90% of the membership.  
1.10.   And finally, on Aid-for-Trade , Members have been able to agree to the new Work Programme 
for Aid for Trade which covers the period 2020 -2021. I understand that Ambassador Blackman, 
Chairman of the CTD, wishes to take the floor now to introduce the work programme  (See Annex).  
 
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  ANNEX  
STATEMENT BY AMBASSA DOR BLACKMAN, CHAIRM AN OF THE  
COMMITTEE ON TRADE A ND DEVELOPMENT  ON 
AID-FOR-TRADE WORK PROGRAMME  2020-2021 
At the outset, let me thank Members for their positive engagement in discussions on the new biennial 
work programme.  I began discussions on the new work programme at the final, formal meeting of 
the CTD Aid for Trade in November last year.  An informal op en ended consultation followed in 
January. Members then considered a draft text at the 11 February CTD formal meeting. A series of 
briefings were also held with Members in different groupings. These consultations harvested a 
number of ideas and suggestions  that we were captured in the text.  
 
On the basis of this broad -based, inclusive process, I am pleased to inform Members that the new 
Aid-for-Trade work programme was issued on 21 February. The 2020 -21 plan is themed 
"Empowering Connected, Sustainable Trad e". It focuses on the opportunities that digital connectivity 
and sustainability offer for economic and export diversification – and how Aid for Trade can help 
empower different economic actors to realize these opportunities.  
 
Building on the success of pr evious events, the work programme envisages a further Aid for Trade 
Global Review next year. This will be the eighth such Review since 2007.   
  
In closing, I would like to thank Members for their support, their suggestions and the endorsement 
of the work programme. Following past practice, the 2020 -2021 Aid for Trade work programme 
contained in document WT/COMTD/AFT/W/81 is being issued under my own responsibility as CTD 
Chair.  
 
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