. /.RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/MIN(99)/SR/8
14 January 2000
(00-0146)
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
Third SessionSeattle, 30 November - 3 December 1999
SUMMARY RECORD OF THE EIGHTH MEETING
Held at the Conference Centre, Seattle, United States
on Friday, 3 December 1999, at 11 p.m.
Chairperson:  Ms. Charlene Barshefsky (United States)
Subject: Adjournment of Session
The CHAIRPERSON offered her sincere thanks to and highest regard for the Director-
General, the working group Chairs and Co-Chair s, the WTO Secretariat, the Deputy Directors-
General, and each of the delegations representing their governments at this Ministerial Conference for
their hard and productive work over the past week.  She also thanked the city of Seattle, the state of
Washington and the hosts in the Seattle community for their hospitality and patience during thissometimes very difficult week.  Over the past four days, there had been intense discussions and
negotiations on one of the core questions facing the world today – the creation of a global trading
economy for the next century.  The delegates had taken up profound and important issues and policy
decisions, including issues that previous rounds of negotiations had not been able to resolve and
matters that had not arisen previously in the trading system.  They had taken up these issues with
goodwill and mutual respect and had made progress on many of them.  However, the issues that had
arisen were diverse, highly complex and often new, and in addition, it had become clear that the WTOhad outgrown the processes that had been appropriate to an earlier time.  Just as issues relating to
transparency might affect outside perceptions of the WTO, those same issues also had an impact on
perceptions of the WTO by the Member governments themselves.  There was an increasingly shared
view among the Members that there was a need for a process that had a greater degree of internal
transparency and was more inclusive, in order to accommodate a large and very diverse membership.Such a process had been embarked upon, and was the first ever in the GATT/WTO system to attempt
to ensure the inclusion of all WTO Members.  However, this process had become extremely difficult
to manage and had stretched both the substantive and the procedural capability of the Ministerial
Conference.
In addition, as time had passed, divergences of opinion that had long dogged the issues under
discussion had remained, and while very substantial progress had been made in many areas, the issues
that had remained were highly complex and could not have been resolved rapidly.  Her own
judgement, and in turn the judgement shared by the Director-General, the working group Chairs and
Co-Chairs and the membership generally, was that it would be best to take a time-out, consult with
one another, and find a creative means to finish the job.  Therefore, Ministers had agreed to suspend
the work of the Ministerial Conference, and to allow the Director-General time to consult with
delegations in order to do the following:  first an d foremost, to ensure that the WTO developed rules
and processes that would ensure maximum transparency for all delegations, and second, to discuss
creative ways in which to bridge the remaining differences in areas where consensus did not yet exist,so that the Ministerial Conference could resume and complete its work.  She noted that under the
Uruguay Round Agreements, mandated negotiations in agriculture and services had to proceedWT/MIN(99)/SR/8
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beginning in January 2000.  Thus, these negotiations would commence in January in Geneva under
already established WTO rules for such negotiations.  She again thanked the Director-General, the
Seattle community, and all of the delegations for their hard work and their active and sincere
participation in the discussions during this week.  It had been an honour and a privilege for her to be
part of this process and she looked forward to  its continuation in the weeks and months ahead.
The DIRECTOR-GENERAL paid tribute to the Chairperson for her work and dedication over
the past few days, to the Ministers and Ambassadors, and to the dedicated staff of the WTO
Secretariat.  A record number of Ministers from all over the world – from the small island countries to
the great democracies – had attended this Conference, representing probably more than a billion
voters.  They had come to try to put together a package that would advance living standards in their
own countries and provide more justice elsewhere. This Conference in Seattle had been a first, as ithad been an assembly of legislators from dozens of parliaments, all interested in what was happening.
In the end the votes in their respective congresses and parliaments would decide on the fortunes of
this institution.  It had been a remarkable meeting, and the considerable work that had been done
would be built on and not lost.  The hard work that had started and was yet to be finished would
continue, and the WTO would never turn its back on the least-developed countries.  To the Ministersof those Members, and to the Governments and parl iaments they would return to, he expressed his
thanks.
The decision to take a time-out had been based on the judgement of the team.  He noted that
this was not the first time a Ministerial Conference had run into difficult and complex issues that hadnecessitated such a time-out, and the present issues were as complex as the world itself.  In addition,
as the Chairperson had said, there was a serious institutional challenge.  The WTO serviced the
governments that drove it and was owned by thos e governments, and any package would have to be
ratified and agreed by their respective parliaments and congresses. In addition, there was a built-in
agenda and a mandate to continue doing some of the work that had already begun.  He expressedthanks to the people of Seattle who had been so friendly over the past few days, and to the host
committee and the hundreds of volunteers that had helped with the Conference.
The Session of the Ministerial Conference adjourned at 11.15 p.m.
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