. /.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/COMTD/45
9 December 2002
(02-6702)
Committee on Trade and Development
OUTSTANDING IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES
GATT Article XVIII:  A, C and D
Report by the Committee on Trade and Development to the Trade Negotiations Committee
1. This report is submitted to meet the requirement in paragraph 12(b) of the Doha Ministerial
Declaration1 which states that "the other outstanding implementation issues shall be addressed as a
matter of priority by the relevant WTO bodies, which shall report to the Trade Negotiations
Committee, established under paragraph 46 below, by the end of 2002 for appropriate action."
2. The CTD began its consideration of sections A, C and D of Article XVIII at its 40th Session.
The work was based on paragraph 12 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration and the Decision onImplementation-Related Issues and Concerns
2 in conjunction with tiret 3 of JOB(01)/152/Rev.1 of
27 October 2001.  Tiret 3 of JOB(01)/152/Rev.1 states:
"A complete review of Article XVIII shall be undertaken with a view to ensure that it
subserves the original objective of facilitating the progressive development of
economies in developing countries and to allow them to implement programmes andpolicies of economic development designed to raise the general standard of living of
their people."
3. At the 40
th Session the Chairman said that it was his understanding that the Committee on
Balance-of-Payments was considering section B of Article XVIII3 and would report to the Trade
Negotiations Committee at the end of 2002, and that it was for the CTD to consider the remaining
elements of GATT Article XVIII as an outstanding implementation issue.
4. The issue of the appropriate fora to deal with Article XVIII was raised.  The delegation of
India drew Members' attention to its earlier propos al on sections A and C of Article XVIII, contained
in document WT/GC/W/363 of 12 October 1999.  The Secretariat was requested to provide
background information on the manner in which section C of Article XVIII had been applied since the
WTO came into being.  That information was subsequently circulated in document WT/COMTD/39.
The Secretariat note showed that, since the creation of the WTO, more than one WTO body hadreceived notifications with respect to Article XVIII and there had not been any clear understanding as
to where and how such notifications should be dealt with.
5. Informal consultations were held on 21 June 2002 and 10 September 2002 and it became clear
that Members did not oppose that parts of Article XV III relating to the examination of tiret 3 of
JOB(01)/152/Rev.1 be dealt with in the CTD, as long as it was without prejudice to work with respectto Article XVIII being carried out in other WTO bodies.  At the 41
st Session, the Secretariat was
requested to provide further information regarding the application of section C of Article XVIII
                                                     
1 WT/MIN(01)/DEC/1
2 WT/MIN(01)/17
3 Tiret 1 of JOB(01)/152/Rev.1WT/COMTD/45
Page 2
before the WTO came into being.  That information was subsequently provided in
document WT/COMTD/39/Add.1.
6. A few delegations stressed the importance of fulfilling the mandate given by Ministers at the
Doha Ministerial Conference as reflected in tire t 3 of JOB(01)/152/Rev.1.  A few other delegations
said that no new information or compelling arguments had been provided to warrant a review ofArticle XVIII.  There was no consensus on the issue.
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