RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/C/M/68
6 March 2003
(03-1296)
Council for Trade in Goods
MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN GOODS
23 JANUARY AND 26 FEBRUARY 2003
Chairman:  H.E. Ambassador Supperamaniam
The meeting of the Council for Trade in Goods  was convened by airgram WTO/AIR/2004 and
the proposed agenda for the meeting was contained in document G/C/W/446.  Before proceeding to the
adoption of the agenda, the Chairman clarified th at at the CTG meeting of 22 November 2002, at the
conclusion of the discussion of the review of the operation of the TRIMs Agreement, the Council agreed
to revert to this item at "the next meeting".  At that time in November, the next regular meeting of the
CTG was expected to take place in March of this year and he confirmed the understanding reached at
the November CTG, that the TRIMs review item would be on the agenda of the March meeting.  The
representative of Brazil placed on record the regret of  his delegation that the decision of the Council last
November on taking up the issue of the review of the operation of the TRIMs Agreement at its next
meeting had been the object of an oversight and wa s not on the agenda of this meeting.  Brazil was
prepared to accept the indication that this item woul d be on the agenda of the next meeting of the CTG.
The representative of India was disappointed not to  see the item of the TRIMs review on the agenda
because it was her understanding that it would be a standing item in the CTG and expected it  would be
from the next meeting onwards.  The agenda was then adopted.
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I. ITEM 1.   KIMBERLEY PROCESS CERTIFICATION SCHEME FOR
ROUGH DIAMONDS – WAIVER REQUEST FROM AUSTRALIA, BRAZIL,
CANADA, ISRAEL, JAPAN, KOREA, PHILIPPINES, SIERRA LEONE,THAILAND, UNITED ARAB EMI RATES AND UNITE D STATES ................................2
II. ITEM 2. REGIONAL TRADE AGRE EMENTS ...................................................................3
III. ITEM 3. OTHER BUSINESS ..................................................................................................3
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I. ITEM 1.  KIMBERLEY PROCESS CERTIFICATION SCHEME FOR ROUGH
DIAMONDS – WAIVER REQUEST FROM AUSTRALIA, BRAZIL, CANADA,
ISRAEL, JAPAN, KOREA, PHILIPPI NES, SIERRA LEONE, THAILAND, UNITED
ARAB EMIRATES AND UNITED STATES
1.1 The Chairman drew Members' attention to  the communication in documents G/C/W/431 and
Corrigenda 1 and 2  which contained a request for a WTO waiver concerning the Kimberley process
certification scheme for rough diamonds and a corres ponding draft decision for the waiver in documents
G/C/W/432 and Corrigenda 1 and 2.  He  recalled that this waiver request was first discussed at the
November meeting in 2002 and noted that since that  meeting Israel, the United States and Korea had
joined the list of requesting Members.  At the end of the discussion, it was proposed that Canada carry
out consultations and that the CTG revert  to that item at the appropriate time.
1.2 Canada had informed him that consultations with some 30 delegations took place on January 16
2003, as agreed to at the November meeting of the CTG.  Canada was of the view that progress was
being made – the consultations had allowed an ex change of views and provided an opportunity to
address questions raised by Members and concrete and constructive proposals to refine the language ofthe waiver were made.  Canada was continuing to consult with interested delegations and was of the
view that it would be useful to have more time to  consult before the CTG could make a recommendation
to the General Council.
1.3 Accordingly, the Chairman proposed that Cana da continue consultations and that discussion
under this agenda item be suspended in order to be able  to revert to it at short notice and within the 90
days stipulated in Article IX.  He added that he intended to hold an open-ended informal meeting for
transparency purposes before reconvening the formal meeting.  It was so agreed.
1.4 At the reconvened meeting held on 26 February, the Chairman said discussion of this item had
been suspended in order to allow more time for consultations to be carried out by the delegation of
Canada on behalf of the co-sponsors of the waiver  request on concerns raised by Members.  At an
open-ended informal meeting on 18 February 2003, Canada reported on their consultations and a
number of Members commented on the state of play.  Canada had also circulated for that meeting a
revised draft decision for the waiver originally circulated in document G/C/W/432.  His overall
impression from the informal meeting was that the CTG was quite close to an agreement on a revised
draft decision for the waiver as proposed by Canada, and that a number of Members required moretime to consult with their capitals.  It now seemed  that there was concensus in the Council for the
wording contained in the revised draft decision as circulated to all Members in G/C/W/432/Rev.1.
1.5 The representative of Chinese Taipei reaffirmed support for the goals of the Kimberley
Process Certification Scheme in view of its humanitarian and peaceful nature.  While his government
had been engaged in efforts to become a participant to the KP Scheme, he drew the attention of
Members to the fact that consultations on the definition of "Participant to the KP Scheme" had not yet
reached any final conclusion.  His delegation expressed gratitude to those Members who had
supported it in efforts to become a Participant to the KP Scheme in previous consultations and called
for the continued support of WTO Members in future consultations in this regard.  Paragraph 7 of thedraft decision stipulated "This waiver shall not preclude the right of affected Members to have
recourse to Article XXII and XXIII of the GATT 1994".  His government was attaching great
importance to legitimate trade right in rough diamonds and hoped that its trade in rough diamonds
would be continued after the KP Scheme was fully implemented.  However, should trade in rough
diamonds be interrupted, his government, as an affected Member, would consider action as stipulatedin Article XXII and XXIII.G/C/M/68
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1.6 The representative of the United States said one of the features of this waiver was that it
remained open for Members to join, even after the waiver decision of the General Council and
encouraged Members that so desired to consider a dding themselves to the list of Members subject to
this waiver.
1.7 The representative of China said that regarding participation of the Kimberley Process
Certification Scheme, the WTO had no mandate to discuss the issue of participation.
1.8 The Chairman asked if the CTG could recommend the waiver request as contained in
document G/C/W/431, and the draft decision as revised along the lines agreed and issued as
G/C/W/432/Rev.1. be forwarded to the General Council for adoption.  It was so agreed.
II. ITEM 2. REGIONAL TRADE AGREEMENTS
2.1 The Chairman drew Members' attention to the Regional Trade Agreements listed in the
airgram which had been notified under GATT Article XXIV.  The texts of the Agreements and their
notifications had been circulated in the documents listed:
- Agreement between Japan and Singapore for a new-age economic partnership - notification
from the parties to the Agreement  (WT/REG140/N/1, WT/REG140/1);
- European Communities – Jordan Euro-Mediterranean Association Agreement - notification
from the parties to the Agreement  (WT/REG141/N/1, WT/REG141/1);
- and European Communities – Croatia Interim Agreement - notification from the parties to the
Agreement  (WT/REG142/N/1, WT/REG142/1)
2.2 In the absence of any comments, he proposed that the Committee on Regional Trade
Agreements carry out the examination of the Agreements in accordance with the following terms of
reference:
"To examine, in light of the relevant provisions of the GATT 1994, the Agreement between
Japan and Singapore for a New-Age Economic Partnership; the European Communities-Jordan Euro-
Mediterranean Association Agreement;  and the European Communities-Croatia Interim Agreementand to submit a report to the Council for Trade in Goods.  It is understood that the understanding read
out by the Chairman of the Council for Trade in Goods under Item VII of the Agenda of the Meeting
of the Council for Trade in Goods of 20 Februa ry 1995 as contained in document WT/REG/3/1, will
apply mutatis mutandis  to the examination of the Agreements.  It is also understood that, during the
examination, due account will be taken of the intrinsic differences between customs unions and freetrade areas."
2.3 It was so agreed .
III. ITEM 3. OTHER BUSINESS
3.1 The representative of the United States said that on December 23, 2002 the United States had
submitted questions to Canada in document G/STR/Q1/CAN/6, "Questions from the Government of
the United States to the Government of Canada Related to the Article XVII Notification of Canada
(G/STR/N/1/CAN" to the CTG.  These questions were submitted pursuant to Article XVII:4(c) of
GATT 1994.  He looked forward to Canada's responses to the questions and asked Canada to indicatewhen it would provide the responses.G/C/M/68
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3.2 The representative of Canada confirmed th at his delegation had received a copy of the
document G/STR/21/C/6 which were the questions by the US government to the government of
Canada on the notification under Article XVII by  Canada G/STR/N/1/CAN.  Canada was examining
these very detailed questions and would reply to the pertinent questions in due time in the framework
of the Working Party on State-Trading Enterprises.
3.3 The Chairman raised the issue of the TRIMs Agreement and reporting requirements regarding
the requests for extension of the transition period.  He recalled that on 5 November 2001, the CTG
agreed to a package of decisions providing additional extension of the TRIMs transitional period for a
number of Members.  The extension of the transition period entailed an obligation to report to the
CTG on progress made in phasing out the remaining TRIMs, and he reminded Members that in some
cases the deadline for reporting had not been met and urged them to report as soon as possible.
3.4 Secondly, on the matter of the date of the next meeting, the Chairman said that the next
regular meeting of the CTG was scheduled to take place in March on Wednesday, 12 and Thursday
13.   The meeting would be mainly devoted to the subject of trade facilitation, as agreed in December
2002.
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