00-1887 MOREPRESS RELEASE
PRESS/177
8 May 2000
 MOORE HAILS GENERAL COUNCIL OUTCOME
GENEVA – Director-General Mike Moore hailed the efforts of the WTO's 136 member
governments following approval by the General Council of a series of measures designed to raise
confidence in the multilateral trading system by addressing the needs of developing countries,including the world's poorest.
Under the arrangements agreed by the General Council on 3 and 8 May, Member
Governments will begin in June a series of Special Sessions of the General Council dedicated to
tackle the thorniest implementation issues and concerns. Those meetings will focus on findingmutually-acceptable solutions to address the issue of implementation which many Member
Governments believe is the most pressing matter before the WTO. Member Governments have
pledged to complete this process by the Fourth Ministerial Conference which will be held before year
end 2001.
“Since the beginning of the year, we have sought to build confidence in the WTO and the
trading system. In February, the General Council took decisions to facilitate negotiations on servicesand agriculture (see ( February 2000Press Release). Since then, General Council Chairman Kåre Byrn
and my Deputy-Directors General have held intensive consultations with Member Governments in an
effort to put the WTO on course to do the important work that is needed to raise living standards for
working families everywhere. The decisions taken in recent days, and progress we have made in other
areas, set us very much in the right direction,” Mr Moore said.
The General Council also agreed today on a method for addressing requests by several
Member Governments for extending the transition period for implementation of the Agreement on
Trade-Related Investment Measures (TRIMs). The General Council directed the Council for Trade in
Goods “to give positive consideration to individual requests” to extend the transition period, whichexpired on 1 January 2000. In cases where Member Governments have not notified the WTO of any
measures which may not be in conformity with  the TRIMs Agreement, the General Council agreed
that priority should be given to consultations, under the General Council’s aegis, aimed at resolving
differences between governments.PRESS/177
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MOREMr Moore also praised 13 Member Governments for taking “a significant step in a continuing
process” of further opening their markets to products from the Least-Developed Countries1.
“Collectively, these measures are beginning to add up to tangible and meaningful market access
improvements in favour of LDCs. There is, of cour se, more that can and should be done in improving
LDCs’ market access, but this is a good starting point,” Mr Moore told the General Council.
"The measures taken in the last several days have been of great importance to the future of the
global trading system. Governments have given high priority to the problems faced by the developing
countries in their efforts to become fully engaged partners in world trade. What the Council has done,
sets the right tone for our work this year and next," Mr. Moore said.
Work by the General Council in recent days on addressing key problems affecting developing
countries and on seeking procedural improvements to enhance participation by all member
governments, marks a significant step in raising confidence among Member Governments that theWTO and the multilateral trading system can offer important contributions in promoting economic
growth and development.
The Director-General noted that Member Governments were in agreement that technical
cooperation work is a core activity of the WTO and must be funded in a stable manner. In line withgrowing support among Member Governments for funding technical cooperation activities through
the regular budget, Mr. Moore indicated that increases in this area would be reflected in proposals for
next year's budget. The Director-General has aske d Member Governments to increase the core budget
for technical assistance to CHF 10 million over three years, from the current level of about CHF
750,000. Over 90% of technical assistance expenditure is financed through bilateral donations.
Mr. Moore also reported to the General Council on his consultations with heads of other
International Organizations on improving co-ordin ation between them on the Integrated Framework
of Technical Assistance for the LDCs. The six core IF agencies agreed on a programme of support in
October 1997 and Mr. Moore has undertaken to enhance those efforts by working to make theprogramme more efficient and better suited to the direct needs of the LDCs.
2
Mr. Moore informed the Council that the six agencies will meet at senior level in New York
in July to report on suggested improvements in the Framework.
In a report to the General Council, Chairman Bryn of Norway said that his consultations on
improving internal transparency and the effective participation of all Member Governments had
already yielded some positive results. Since February , Chairman Bryn has sought input from delegates
on how information flow between governments could be improved, how participation in debate can be
enhanced and how all delegates can be made to feel part of the process.
                                                     
1 The Members are Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, European Communities, Hungary, Iceland, Japan,
Korea, New Zealand, Norway, Slovenia, Switzerland and the United States.
2 The six agencies are: the WTO, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations
Conference on Trade and Development, the United Nations Development Programme and the International
Trade Centre.PRESS/177
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ENDIn those discussions, he said, member governments have suggested holding more informal
sessions of the General Council and using more effective application of information technology toensure better and faster dissemination of inform ation. He suggested that the Member Governments
consider organizing an open-ended information meeting at which Chairpersons of main WTO bodies
can provide delegates with an overview of the state of play in their various Councils and Committees.
The chairman said he would continue to hold  consultations on this matter in the future.
"It is important to recognize that, while there remains room for improvement, the on-going
debate on internal transparency and the effective participation of all Members has already positively
influenced the way in which informal consultations are conducted in the WTO. This, however, does
not mean that more cannot be done," Chairman Bryn said.
The General Council also resolved the question of outstanding chairpersons. Amb. Jorge
Voto-Bernales of Peru will chair the Special Sessions of the Committee on Agriculture which take upnew negotiations. Mr. Yoichi Suzuki of Japan will be the vice-chair responsible for heading the
committee’s regular business sessions. Amb. Chak Mun See of Singapore was selected to chair the
Council on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights.