RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/COMTD/M/19
24 March 1998
(98-1175)
Committee on Trade and Development
Nineteenth Session
NOTE ON THE MEETING OF 6 MARCH 1998
Chairman: H.E. Mr. D. Baichoo (Mauritius)
A. Adoption of the Agenda
1. The Committee adopted the agenda contained in WTO/AIR/775.  Under "Other Business",
the Secretariat was invited to update the Committee on the follow-up to the High Level Meeting on
Least-Developed Countries:
B. WTO Technical Cooperation and Training Activities as they relate to developing country
Members
- Report on Technical Cooperation and Training
2. The Chairman said that the Secretariat had prepared a report on all technical cooperation and
training activities carried out in 1997 (WT/COMTD/W/36).  The report followed broadly the same
format as that of the previous year with corrigenda 1 and 2 complementing the information on two
specific points.  It provided a broad overview of the various types of activities undertaken and their
regional distribution.  The tables annexed to the document provided details on each activity.  The
report covered activities funded from the regular budget for technical cooperation and training, as wellas those financed by the WTO Trust Fund.  The vast majority had been funded through extra-
budgetary resources.
3. The representative of India said that, as mentioned in the report, technical assistance should
continue to be demand driven and based on the expertise available in the WTO Secretariat.  With
regard to the Information Technologies for Development Project, mentioned on page 6 of the report,
he asked whether any assessment had been made of the status of the infrastructure relevant to the use
of information technology in developing countries.  Specifically, how did the planners of this projectassess the status of the power and telecommunications sectors of developing countries?  Such an
assessment was necessary in order to ensure that developing countries could access and use the
valuable information  available electronically.  His delegation appreciated the detail given on page 7
on the demand for technical cooperation in the area of dispute settlement, but asked whether any
assessment had been made of the availability and utilization of resources under Article 27.2 of theDispute Settlement Understanding.  The growing number of developing countries involved in the
dispute settlement process might create a need to enhance the budgetary allocation for technical
cooperation in that area.  One way of making such an assessment could be for developing country
Members to discuss, in the Committee on Trade and Development, their views on the resources
available.
4. With regard to the WTO Trade Policy Courses referred to on page 14 of the report, he
suggested that one slot should be ear-marked for each developing country.  That should be possibleWT/COMTD/M/19
Page 2
given that the number of courses had increased and that they were conducted in the three official
WTO languages.  The matter should be discussed in the Committee on Trade and Development for a
suitable input to be given to the Budget Committee.  Referring to section III, his delegation presumed
that the activities relating to "Investment", as mentioned on page 4, had been undertaken in response
to specific requests by developing country members.  Such activities should be without prejudice tothe work being done in the Working Group on the Relationship between Trade and Investment and
the eventual outcome of that Group's work.
5. The representative of Egypt said that his delegation had found five positive elements in the
report:  the increase in the level of technical assistance activities;  the increase in extra budgetary
resources;  the increase in Africa's share in the te chnical assistance given;  the increased coverage of
various WTO Agreements and activities;  and the increase in activities in relation to the High-Level
Meeting on Integrated Initiatives for Least-Developed Countries' Trade Development.  Those fiveelements constituted a positive trend which he hoped would continue.  He had a number of specific
remarks in relation to the report.  First,  his delegation doubted that technical assistance was best
evaluated by way of number of activities carried out.  Some activities were minor while others were
major.  His delegation looked forward to furthe r improvements in reporting in order to enable
delegations to evaluate better the technical assistance provided.  Second, his delegation had found thata large percentage of the technical assistance provided had been given through seminars.  These were
useful to increase initial awareness but the focus should  in the future be shifted to practical advice and
technical assistance missions in, for example, such areas as assistance in the preparation of
notifications, advice in relation to laws and legislation, and advice in respect to the implementation of
various WTO Agreements.
6. Third, his delegation found the Briefing Sessions referred to under subsection 6 on page 7
useful and believed that with little effort from the Secretariat they could be extended to benefit more
developing country delegations.  Briefing sessions should be extended to cover more WTO
Agreements and should be held for developing country missions, newcomers to the WTO and for
junior WTO staff members.  Fourth, with respec t to information technology his delegation proposed
that a training session for Geneva-based diplomats be organized to familiarize them with information
technology activities of the WTO and how those could be used effectively by developing countries.
Sub-section 9 on page 8 of the report dealt with technical information provided by the WTO
Secretariat.  His delegation was not aware of the details of that kind of activity and would therefore
appreciate it if the Secretariat could prepare a factual paper on that kind of assistance.  Such a paper
should make capitals aware of the service and utilize it more effectively.  Finally, his delegation had
always believed that the Integrated Technical Assistance Programme for Africa should be evaluatedmore carefully.  He asked if an evaluation paper could be prepared by the Secretariat and if such  a
paper would be linked to the report currently being prepared by the Secretariat for the Ministerial
Conference.  He further asked what the relation was between activities undertaken as a result of the
High-Level Meeting on Integrated Initiatives for Least-Developed Countries' Trade Development and
activities of the Integrated Technical Assistance Programme for Africa.
7. The representative of the European Communities said that technical assistance was an area in
which it was important to avoid overlap with other organizations.  Her delegation welcomed the great
increase in technical assistance activities and said that technical assistance should  remain demand-
driven.  Ear-marking a fund for activities benefitting the least-developed countries should not be
considered contradictory to the principle of demand-driven technical assistance.  Her delegation wasof the understanding that it had been agreed that the Integrated Programme for Africa be subsumed
into the Integrated Framework for Trade-Relate d Technical Assistance, including for Human and
Institutional Capacity-Building, to Support Least-Developed Countries in Their Trade and Trade-
Related Activities but did not find any reference to that effect in the report.  The Committee on Trade
and Development should work towards developing ways to monitor and evaluate technical assistanceactivities.WT/COMTD/M/19
Page 3
8. The representative of Norway said that the quantity of technical assistance activities carried
out was impressive as was the increase in activities in 1997 compared to the previous year.  His
delegation supported all five positive points mentioned by the Egyptian delegation.  However, it was
concerned that only one fourth of the activities had been financed through the regular budget.  In an
ideal world it should have been the other way around.  Money did not seem to be the problem; the realstrain was the capacity of Secretariat to provide technical assistance.  His delegation therefore
appealed to the Secretariat to be flexible and creativ e in using all expertise available, including, to a
larger extent than currently was the practice, expertise from outside the Secretariat.  Norway would be
flexible in supporting meaningful activities in that respect.  He questioned whether the increased
quantity of technical assistance meant that a sufficient quality was maintained.  It was necessary to
evaluate the technical assistance given and to discuss criteria for such an evaluation.  Technical
assistance activities should be demand-driven and correspond to the needs of the beneficiaries; itshould not be undertaken simply in order to reach a substantive number of activities.
9. The representative of Switzerland noted with satisfaction that the introduction of the report
mentioned that the three-year plan for technical cooperation and training was a valid instrument for
planning and implementation.  Her delegation hoped that the Committee on Trade and Development
and the Secretariat would continue to develop and improve that important instrument.  However, sheregretted that the report provided too few elements for the Committee to evaluate and draw lessons
from the ongoing technical cooperation and training activities.  It was desirable that the Secretariat, in
its report, provide elements of appreciation and qualitative evaluation.  Distinguishing the
programmes that functioned in a satisfactory way from those that did not would enable the Committee
and the Secretariat to better adjust technical assistance.  It would therefore be useful if the Secretariatcould prepare a complementary note to the current report for the next meeting of the Committee.
Future reports should systematically contain a qualitative element of evaluation.  How many
activities, projects or programmes had been internally or externally evaluated?  What had been the
main conclusions of those evaluations?   Page 8, paragraph 9 of the report provided some technical
information.  Many activities consisted of giving information on products of interest to developingcountries or on trade flows.  That information sh ould already be available with the ITC or UNCTAD.
How was coordination between those organizations ensured to avoid duplication?  Was there a joint
database of the three organizations on existing studies on specific products or trade flows?
10. The representative of Morocco was happy to note that Africa's share of the budget for
technical cooperation had increased and his delegation hoped that that trend would be maintained in
the future as Africa's need for technical assistance was great.  He underlined that the previous year his
delegation had asked for an evaluation of the Integrated Technical Assistance Programme in SelectedLeast-Developed and Other African Countries.  The Secretariat had responded then that too little time
had elapsed since the launching of that programme and that it was therefore premature to carry out an
evaluation.  The moment had come for the Secretariat to proceed with an evaluation of the Integrated
Programme, as UNCTAD and ITC had also been as ked to do.  The evaluation should be independent.
The best way to carry out the evaluation would be through the appointment of an independent externalevaluator.  Two aspects should be looked at more deeply.  First, coordination between the three
organizations; had the objectives set by the three organizations been reached?  Second, the
performance of the instruments used in providing technical assistance should be evaluated.  The
evaluation should be continuous, allowing for the improvement of the content at the national level.
Seminars were useful, but that they should not outweigh other modes of delivery.  Consultationservices by country and topic were efficient and would have a greater impact on the capacity of
developing countries.
11. The representative of Japan said that his delegation was interested in the update from the
Secretariat on the follow-up to activities in relati on to the Integrated Framework adopted at the High-
Level Meeting on Integrated Initiatives for Least-Developed Countries' Trade Development.  He wasparticularly interested in the coordination between the WTO, ITC and UNCTAD.WT/COMTD/M/19
Page 4
12. The representative of Hong Kong, China observed that the demand for technical assistance
activities had increased significantly which was an encouraging sign.  However, the costs of those
activities had risen to outstrip the resources available in the regular WTO budget.  Total estimated
expenditure in 1998 would be in the order of SwF4.9 million, whereas the regular budget allocation
was only SwF0.74 million.  That shortfall was, as the report noted, currently largely made goodthrough extra budgetary resources.  His delegation doubted whether a degree of dependence on extra
budgetary resources of that magnitude was desirable or sustainable over time.  Without prejudging
that issue, his delegation saw benefit in enhanced dialogue and enhanced coordination between the
Committee on Trade and Development and the Budget Committee so that policy could be developed
with full regard to resource implications and so that technical assistance could be smoothly planned.
He hoped that future reports along the lines of  WT/COMTD/W/36 would provide more information
on the financial resources involved.
13. The representative of Canada agreed with Egypt's presentation of five positive elements.  Her
delegation suggested to countries that found it pertinent that they consider including a broader
audience in the WTO technical assistance activities, possibly including non-governmental
organizations, think-tanks, research organizations and the private sector.  That could help create
networks in developing countries, hence ensuring a basis for consensus to push for necessary reforms.
14. The representative of Myanmar, speaking on behalf of ASEAN, said that ASEAN believed
that briefing sessions were useful, especially for delegations from least-developed countries.  Briefing
sessions should continue to be held to enhanc e the understanding of the various WTO Agreements.
Briefing sessions enabled least-developed countries to participate meaningfully in the WTO.  On the
Dispute Settlement Understanding, as reflected in sub-section 5 on page 7 of the report, he shared theviews expressed by the delegation of India in light of the great involvement of developing countries in
the Dispute Settlement Process.  Technical assistance had to be demand-driven.  He did took note of
the interpretation by the European Communities of the term demand driven.  His delegation believed
that demand driven entailed more of a bottom-up approach than a top-down one.
15. The representative of Turkey said that his delegation considered technical cooperation to be
one of the main activities of the WTO for developing countries, for least-developed countries and for
countries in accession.  Technical cooperation activities had enabled the WTO to function better as it
had allowed the more effective participation of all Members in all of its bodies.  His delegation noted
with satisfaction the increase in technical cooperation activities in 1997 as compared to the previous
year, both in number of activities and in subjects covered.  Table 3 on page 5 showed new subjects
such as accession for which there had been no activity in 1996 and for which there had been
18 activities in 1997.  Likewise, no activity with re spect to the use of technology for development had
been undertaken in 1996, while 7 had been undertaken in 1997.  The preparation and follow-up to the
High-Level Meeting on Integrated Initiatives for Least-Developed Countries' Trade Development had
also -been a new activity in 1997.  The Dispute Settlement System was mentioned on page 7,
paragraph 5.  In view of the enhanced interest in that field, the Secretariat should envisage a
supplementary effort by increasing services rendered by professional consultants and by increasingtraining courses in Geneva as well as national and regional seminars.
16. The representative of the United States said that it was significant that technical assistance
activities had increased by 85 per cent in 1997.  That increase would go a long way toward enhancing
the ability of developing countries to become ac quainted with the WTO and bring their regimes into
conformity with WTO requirements as well as assisting those who were interested in joining theorganization.  He noted the comment made by the representative of Egypt that the WTO should get
away from the seminars format and engage more in hands-on activities.  That had also been a goal
expressed clearly by a number of delegations during High-Level Meeting on Integrated Initiatives for
Least-Developed Countries' Trade Development.  Hong Kong, China's point about having an
engagement with the Budget Committee made sense as concern had been expressed about the fundingWT/COMTD/M/19
Page 5
of the programmes.  Delegations should consider how the WTO could live within its resources, taking
into account the other budgetary challenges faced and to what extent the enhanced technical
cooperation would have to continue to be provided by extra budgetary resources.  His delegation was
interested in and took note of the comments made regarding evaluation of technical assistance.
17. The representative of Uganda found the increased demand for technical assistance a positive
sign of developing countries taking advantage of the opportunities that the programme of technical
cooperation offered.  There was a need for collaboration between the Committee on Trade and
Development and the Budget Committee to ensure that the priorities set by the Committee on Trade
and Development were respected when the Budget Committee considered the appropriation of funds.
Uganda had been one of the beneficiary countries and he welcomed the emphasis that had been put on
least-developed countries in general and Africa in particular.  As the report showed, emphasis had
been put on making the beneficiaries understand the WTO system and conform to its rules.  Hetherefore urged the Committee on Trade and Development to look at how to develop long-term
capability.  It should not only be the few officials trained in Geneva who understood the system, but
they should continue to strengthen the capabilitie s of their countries.  The training of trainers
programme was therefore welcome, as participating officials went back to their respective countries to
pass on the messages.  A link to universities was also desirable as universities should be able tocontinuously supply skilled officials to operate in the system.  It was too optimistic to train a trainer in
a one week course and expect him to grasp the whole WTO complex and go back and efficiently train
others.  Longer term training should be considered so that universities acquired lecturers with good
knowledge about the various aspects of international trade law and other issues pertinent to the
multilateral trading system.  With regard to the High-Level Meeting on Integrated Initiatives for
Least-Developed Countries' Trade Development his delegation had emphasized the need to look
beyond the Geneva-based organizations in terms of coordination if the Committee was ready to factor
supply constraints into the programme that had been designed.  His delegation therefore wished to
hear about the coordination with the Bretton Woods institutions.  He asked whether the policy
discussed in the WTO had been incorporated in the policy framework papers of the Bretton Woodsinstitutions and what the follow-up vis-à-vis  those institutions had been.
18. The representative of Tanzania said that his delegation was of the view that as time went on
the emphasis of WTO technical assistance should shift from seminars to more result-oriented
programmes.  As a result of the programme of training of trainers it might be possible for national
bodies to sustain the seminar element on their ow n rather than it being carried out from WTO
headquarters in Geneva.  The rough figures on page  16 onwards showed that the level of participation
of least-developed countries as beneficiaries of technical assistance programmes apart from the High-Level Meeting on Integrated Initiatives for Least-Developed Countries' Trade Development was
unsatisfactory.  Out of 44 national seminars conducted in 1997 less than 7 related to least-developed
countries, and out of 55 technical assistance missions conducted in 1997, only about 9 related to least-
developed countries.  Out of 78 listed workshops, conferences, symposia, round tables and training
courses only 3 to 4 related to least-developed countries.  Those figures made him doubtful as to thegeneral increase in the level of participation.  He therefore urged the Secretariat to be more out-
reaching to least-developed countries and involve more least-developed countries in its programmes.
He did not oppose the general philosophy of technical assistance being demand-driven, but he
appreciated that one of the reasons for the weak participation of the least-developed countries was
related to the fact that not many of them were represented in Geneva.  It was then not too much to askfor the WTO Secretariat to reach out to its non-Geneva-based least-developed country Members and
include them in its technical assistance programmes.  Less than half of the 29 least-developed
countries which were WTO Members participated in technical cooperation activities.  Although there
had been a general increase in technical assistance, the figures should be analyzed carefully and ways
had to be found to ensure that least-developed countries benefitted more from WTO technicalassistance.WT/COMTD/M/19
Page 6
19. The representative of Bangladesh said that it was clear that there was a consensus that
technical activities were highly desirable and should continue.  The question of sustainability of the
programme needed to be considered carefully.  The dependence on donations from generous
Members had been sustaining the programme for years.  He therefore urged that ways be found to
include the costs for technical assistance within the regular budget.  His delegation had expected tosee more tangible results from follow-up activities to the High-Level Meeting on Integrated Initiatives
for Least-Developed Countries' Trade Development mentioned in the report.  The tables showed a
spectacular growth in technical cooperation activities,  but it did not give a figure as to the least-
developed countries' share.  He agreed with the representative of Tanzania who had pointed out that
the need rather than the demand sometimes had to be taken into consideration, especially with respect
to non-Geneva based least-developed countries.  The most needed might not even be aware of the
existence of available technical assistance services.
20. The representative of Australia noted the large increase in technical assistance activities and
the significant additional demands that this placed on the WTO and would continue to place during
the coming years, particularly in light of an increasing membership and an increasing number of
implementation commitments which would fall due in the medium term.  With regard to the general
issue of how the organization approached those demands, she said that the point on coordination withthe Budget Committee, as raised by the representative of Hong Kong, China, was important.  The
approach had to be coherent both within the organization and in relation to other organizations in the
Integrated Framework for Trade-Related Technical Assistance, including for Human and Institutional
Capacity-Building, to Support Least-Developed Countries in Their Trade and Trade-Related
Activities.  With regard to evaluation she said that with increasing demands it was important that theresources were used in the most effective way.  An evaluation could also be useful in highlighting
broader issues and constraints in the delivery of technical assistance.  Delegations were already aware
of some constraints such as human-resource constraints in the Secretariat.  Her delegation noted with
interest the point made by Egypt about the seminar format versus other kinds of technical assistance.
21. The Chairman said that the Committee seemed to agree that technical assistance in principle
should be demand-driven but that the aspect of real need also had to be considered.  Some countries
had difficulty in formulating their needs as had been noted in connection with the High-Level Meeting
on Integrated Initiatives for Least-Developed Countries' Trade Development.  Issues relating to
evaluation had been raised by many delegations.  Questions touched on whether an evaluation should
be internal or external and on the criteria to be used.  It was high time to consider those aspects in
order to see if WTO technical cooperation activities headed in the right direction.  He therefore asked
the Secretariat to look at those issues.  The question of coordination and the need to avoid overlap hadalso been treated.  Optimum use of available resources outside the WTO should be assured.  The
academia, the private sector and NGOs should be involved.  Another issue raised was the large
increase in the demand for technical assistance activities and whether that was sustainable given the
available budgetary resources.  There was a need for the Chair of the Committee on Trade and
Development to consult with the Budget Committee on that issue.  Whether less emphasis should beput on seminars and more on other technical cooperation activities was another issue discussed.
22. The Secretariat responded to questions asked.  With respect to taking into account
infrastructural problems in developing countries when carrying out the information for technology
project, given the large number of countries that the WTO Secretariat had linked-up to the Internet it
was obvious that there were countries with infrastructural problems among those.  Twenty-two least-developed countries had so far been linked-up and it was expected that by end of the year 36 least-
developed countries would have benefitted from the project.  The main infrastructural problem was
the weakness of the telephone lines.  There was cooperation at the technical level with the
International Telecommunications Union (ITU) in launching satellites which would reduce the
problems of weak telecommunication networks.  Several delegations had made reference to the factthat the resources of the Secretariat for technical cooperation in relation to dispute settlement wasWT/COMTD/M/19
Page 7
currently being discussed in the Budget Committee.  In addition to the external experts available in
the Secretariat for developing country Members under Article 27.2 of the Dispute Settlement
Understanding, the Secretariat had two staff members available in the Technical Cooperation and
Training Division.  The Secretariat had taken note of the request to shift from seminars to technical
expert missions.  The technical cooperation activities were already going in that direction.  However,the Secretariat would continue to respond to requests for seminars.
23. The Secretariat continued by saying that the Integrated Technical Cooperation Programme for
Africa with ITC and UNCTAD had been subsumed under the Integrated Framework for Trade-
Related Technical Assistance, including for Human and Institutional Capacity-Building, to Support
Least-Developed Countries in Their Trade and Trade-Related Activities as far as the four least-
developed countries included in that Programme were concerned.  That was a major contribution to
the follow-up to the High-Level Meeting on Integrated Initiatives for Least-Developed Countries'Trade Development.  An evaluation of the Africa Programme was required under the Programme
itself and had been discussed with donors, the beneficiary countries and the three institutions.  An
evaluation would be undertaken in due course.  The Secretariat had also taken note of the suggestions
made to involve research institutions and universities in WTO courses.  Courses already had such
participation to some extent but there was no defined policy to that effect.  It was clear that severalleast-developed and other developing countries did not have a representation in Geneva.  The WTO
Secretariat tried to take that into consideration in increasingly cooperating with Secretariats of other
Organizations such as the Commonwealth Secretariat, the ACP Secretariat and the Forum Secretariat.
As a result of the follow-up to the High-Level Meeting on Integrated Initiatives for Least-Developed
Countries' Trade Development, technical cooperation activities benefitting least-developed countrieswould increase.  The first three-week trade policy course for English-speaking least-developed
countries was to be held in Geneva in late April, and the first for French-speaking countries in the
early autumn.  To hold three-week courses was something new to the programme of technical
cooperation.
24. In response to the proposal to move from seminars to individual technical missions, the
Secretariat said that delegations should not be misled by the word seminar.  Seminars, such as the
seven held on the GATS before the Financial Services negotiations were as good as any technical
mission.  The difference between seminars and one-to-one technical missions was that when the
Secretariat wished to deliver training to a number of countries there was a seminar, while technical
missions only benefitted the country in which it was held.  In the case of services, a technical mission
could have been sent to all participating WTO Members which would have amounted to over a
hundred missions; instead the Secretariat had covered all Members and countries in accession withseven seminars.  Had delegations meant to refer to general seminars as opposed to specialized
seminars or had delegations meant moving away from specialized seminars to technical missions?
The reliance on the seminar method was a result of the lack of resources, both personnel and financial.
Regarding least-developed countries, the representative of Tanzania had noted that only few technical
assistance activities had benefitted least-developed countries.  He provided part of the answer himselfby referring to the demand-driven approach.  However, it might be reassuring that in the course of the
implementation of the recommendations of the Hi gh-Level Meeting on Integrated Initiatives for
Least-Developed Countries' Trade Development, programmes were to be organized for all countries
having responded to the needs-assessment request and even to some of the least-developed countries
that had not responded to the request.  Regional workshops with intensive training would be provided.Moreover, two intensive trade-policy courses were to be organized.  Next years report on WTO
technical cooperation activities would therefore show  a significant increase in technical assistance to
least-developed countries.  With regard to technical assistance given under Article 27.2 of the Dispute
Settlement Understanding, two professionals, ap art from the staff members of the Technical
Cooperation and Training Division, were mandated to give technical assistance to any delegationrequesting it.  However, it was important to note th at there was a limit to the assistance that the staff
or the professional consultants could give.  They could not be involved in the process of submitting orWT/COMTD/M/19
Page 8
drafting statements or submissions for the dispute settlement process.  That was at least not the way in
which the Secretariat had envisaged the assistance to be provided.  Rather, developing country
Members were helped with advice and material in the preparatory stage.  If the Member decided to go
ahead with the process, the submissions had to be drafted by the Member itself with the consultant
thereafter commenting on them.  A modest increase  in the available resources for such technical
assistance had been envisaged in expectation that the dispute settlement process  increasingly would
involve developing countries, both as complainants and as defendants.
25. The Chairman advised Members to be present in the Budget Committee when issues of
relevance to technical cooperation were discussed.  He had noted a large amount of absence in the
Budget Committee, especially on the part of developing countries who would be the beneficiaries of
increased resources to technical assistance activities.
- Manual on Technical Cooperation and Training
26. The Chairman recalled that, at its last meeting, on 17 November 1997, the Committee on
Trade and Development had requested the Secretariat to come forward with an amended version of
the Manual on Technical Cooperation and Training for consideration at the following meeting of the
Committee.  Document WT/COMTD/W/37 had been pr epared in view of that request and was a
considerably shortened version of the initial Manual.
27. The representative of Morocco said that the new document fully reflected what a manual on
technical cooperation should be and his delegation wished to see it adopted immediately by the
Committee so that it could be published and disseminated to the Members.  The Manual would allow
Members to make better use of WTO Technical Cooper ation activities.  It would also allow the WTO
to make its policy on technical cooperation more active.  His delegation agreed with what had beensaid by the delegation of Tanzania on least-developed countries. The Manual could contribute to
rectify the tendency of only a small share of WTO technical assistance activities benefitting least-
developed countries.
28. The representative of Norway said that the first paragraph of the Manual referred to 132 WTO
Members and 30 countries in the process of accession.  He had thought there were 31 countries
requesting membership and asked the Secretariat verify the numbers before the Manual was adopted.
29. The representative of United States wished to see a small change in the wording of the
introduction where it said that more than three quarters of the WTO Members had the status of
developing countries.  In his view, this should be changed to indicate that more than three quarters of
the WTO Members had self-selected the status of developing countries.
30. The Manual was adopted with the two amendments.
C. Review of the Application of Special Provisions in the Multilateral Trading Agreements and
Related Ministerial Decisions in Favour of Developing Country Members, in Particular Least-
Developed Country Members (document WT/COMTD/W/35).
31. The Chairman said that at its last meeting in November, the Committee on Trade and
Development had requested the Secretariat to update document WT/COMTD/W/33 in line with
suggestions made by delegations and had agreed to revert to the item at today's meeting.  TheSecretariat had circulated a new document, WT/COMTD/W/35, dated 11 February 1998 which
attempted to update and supplement document WT/COMTD/W/33 so as to provide comprehensive
information on actions taken pursuant to WTO provisions in favour of developing country Members.
In the case of a number of these provisions, the Secretariat had not found it possible to insertWT/COMTD/M/19
Page 9
meaningful information on the implementation of the provisions.  That was the case most particularly
for provisions of a preambular nature and for provisions that called on Members autonomously to take
account of the trade interests of developing country Members in the course of implementing the WTO
Agreements.  The Secretariat had exercised constraint in the amount of detail provided in the
document to avoid it becoming a document of unworkable size.  Delegations interested in moredetailed information were kindly referred to work being undertaken in other parts of the Secretariat.
In particular, in the area of agriculture, an informal paper on Special and Differential Treatment
Provisions Relating to the Agreement on Agriculture had been circulated on 16 February.
32. The representative of India said that special and differential provisions constituted an integral
part of the WTO Agreement and that it was therefore important to assess the status of the
implementation of those provisions in the context of the functioning of the WTO in the first three
years of the Organization's existence.  Any such assessment would be made with the objective ofensuring that the legitimate expectations of developing countries were being met.  His delegation
realized that it was difficult to make an assessment of the implementation of the preambles of
different WTO Agreements.  The preambles were non etheless integral parts of individual agreements
which gave the totality of the objective of the Agreement, especially as related the raising of standards
of living and meeting the needs of developing countries.  Ways should therefore be sought to assesshow the objectives of the agreements, as contai ned in the preambular provisions, were being
operationalized.
33. He continued by saying that a major area of concern was the non-implementation of
provisions with regard to the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), as reflected on
pages 17-21.  Not a single provision relating to the special and differential treatment contained inArticle 12 of the TBT Agreement had been implemented during the first three years of operation of
the Agreement.  The Committee on Trade and Development, with its specific terms of reference,
should therefore ensure that the forward looking programme of implementation of the TBT
Agreement was being operationalized.  His delegation requested that the issue be treated in the
Committee on Trade and Development, perhaps jointly with the Committee on Technical Barriers toTrade.  The chairmen of the two Committees might consult on how to operationalize Article 12 of the
TBT Agreement.
34. Another issue his delegation wished to address was that of the implementation of the General
Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), especially the remarks in the implementation column on
page 38 of document WT/COMTD/W/35 relating to the preparatory work for the next round of
negotiations in services.  He requested the Secretariat of the Committee on Trade and Development to
coordinate with other parts of the Secretariat to prepare a factual background note on the results of thesectoral negotiations in services in the past three years, namely, financial services, basic
telecommunications and movement of natural persons.  Such a factual background note should
provide the Committee with relevant data for assessin g the benefits that developing countries to date
had drawn from the operation of the GATS.  He also requested the Secretariat to coordinate its efforts
to provide the Committee with a factual document indicating sectors of specific export interest fordeveloping countries in the area of trade in services.  That request was made with specific reference to
page 38 of the document.  Such a database should provide developing country Members with
important information before participating in the work of the Council for Trade in Services on the
negotiating guidelines for the next round.
35. He went on to comment on the implementation of the Agreement on Textiles and
Clothing (ATC), as contained on pages 11-13 of the document.  The Council for Trade in Goods had
adopted a major review of the implementation of th e ATC, in the first three years of its operation,
(document G/C/W/105).  He requested that that document be included in the database for
consideration in the Committee on Trade and Development of the issue of implementation of WTO
provisions in favour of developing countries.  Th e Council for Trade in Goods had observed that onlyWT/COMTD/M/19
Page 10
a small number of products which had been under quota restriction had been integrated into GATT
1994 in the first three years of existence of the ATC.  It was obvious from that assessment that the
legitimate expectations of developing country Members that the ATC would bring significant trade
liberalisation, and consequently benefits to their exporters, had not been met.  Special and differential
treatment had to be seen as tempering the concept of reciprocity.  Together they resulted in the
concept of equity and balance which was what the special and differential provisions were supposed
to ensure.  Unless developing country Members were able to derive the benefits they had legitimately
expected from the multilateral trading system, they could not be expected to proceed further along the
path of trade liberalisation.  Developing countries needed a clear picture of what they had received in
return for the commitments and concessions they ha d made by entering into the different agreements
of the WTO.
36. The representative of Egypt considered the new document an improvement over earlier
versions.  With the new document, it was possible to launch a process of addressing the issue of
special and differential provisions in depth.  The issue of special and differential provisions was a
fundamental cross-cutting issue for developing count ries.  It reflected how the multilateral trading
system accommodated Members at different stages of development and it was an integral part of the
balance of rights and obligations in various agreements.  The issue of special and differentialtreatment should be addressed at two levels; the broad conceptual level and a detailed examination of
the implementation of various special and differential provisions in the WTO Agreements.
Conceptually, as liberalization commitments of de veloping countries had deepened and the trade
agenda broadened it had become imperative to examine if the special and differential provisions had
achieved their objectives, and if not, how they could be developed to do so.  On the level of particularprovisions, it was evident from the report that a number of provisions had not been adequately
implemented while others had remained non-operational.  It was not time to blame but rather to
seriously consider, in the various bodies of the WT O, how best to implement those provisions.  The
Committee on Trade and Development needed to examine how to link its conceptual discussion to the
detailed consideration of various provisions in other bodies.  If developing countries felt that thespecial and differential provisions were being faithfully implemented, it would facilitate their
approach to future negotiations.  The issue of special and differential provisions should therefore be
addressed in a constructive spirit.  His delegation was in the process of formulating ideas.  He
suggested that the Chairman of the Committee on Trade and Development began a process of
informal consultations on the issue as soon as possible.
37. The representative of Morocco said that the effort to improve the rules and regulations in
favour of developing countries in the WTO Agr eements should be maintained.  Those rules and
regulations constituted an integral part of the rights and obligations of the WTO Agreements.  They
should therefore be fully implemented just as obligations in other Agreements.  The Committee on
Trade and Development and the Secretariat should proceed to an analysis of the provisions and their
implementation.  That should be done in coordination with other implementing WTO bodies so as to
contribute to the improvement of the concept of special and differential treatment.  Special anddifferential treatment tried to achieve a balance of rights and obligations among Members at different
levels of economic development.  It was common knowledge that some provisions were difficult to
operationalize whereas others which took the form of declarations were not accompanied by any
concrete measures.  His delegation supported the proposal made by the representative of Egypt that
informal consultations should be carried out to allow a certain number of delegations to express theirviews clearly as to how they intended to improve the concept in order to reach better implementation
of the special and differential provisions.
38. The representative of European Communities said that her delegation had been satisfied with
the previous version of the document as it pointed to the conclusion that the level of implementation
of the special and differential provisions was high, both on the part of developing countries and on thepart of developed Members.  The deepened analysis in the revised version had confirmed the earlierWT/COMTD/M/19
Page 11
conclusion.  Various examples of the high level of implementation could be found in the document,
even in areas of particular relevance to developing countries.  For example, the part on the Agreement
on Agriculture began with a positive note concerning  tropical agricultural products.  Another good
example was found under the section on the Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures
(SPS) where it was mentioned that some equivalence agreements had been concluded.  Even inrelation to the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade which had been mentioned as a not
particularly good sector it had been agreed that technical assistance should be provided.  Her
delegation encouraged developing countries to make full use of the flexibility built into the system
with the aim of fully integrating into the world economy.  Her delegation was of the opinion that the
document was a good one and hoped that the Committee on Trade and Development could take note
of the document as it was.  It could constitute the agreed basis of reference for future work.
39. The representative of Bangladesh said that special and differential treatment was an important
aspect of the multilateral trading system.  It was therefore both an obligation and a responsibility of
the Secretariat to reflect on achievements with  respect to the implementation of special and
differential provisions.  His delegation understood that it might not always be possible to respond to
preambular texts.  Some of those special and differential provisions were for Members to implement
autonomously in bilateral relations.  The WTO was responsible for monitoring the multilateral tradingsystem and should have the capacity and knowledge to brief Members as to the actual state of
implementation of special and differential provisions.
40. The representative of Japan said he wished th e document to be brought the attention of other
appropriate bodies of the WTO such as the Trade Policy Review Body and accession working parties
where discussions sometimes occurred on whether a country was to be considered a developingcountry or not.  The document could be a useful source of information and reference document in
those instances.
41. The representative of Uganda said that the Agreements on SPS and TBT were critical to
countries with agro-based economies.  He underlined the need for developed countries to live up to
their promise of providing technical assistance to developing countries to meet the standards,especially since SPS and TBT requirements were being made more stringent in many developed
countries.  He hoped that it would be possible for developing countries to be assisted as provided for
in the special provisions of the above mentioned agreements.  His delegation agreed with the
statement made by the representative of Bangladesh.
42. The representative of United States said that his delegation's reaction to the document was
similar to that of the European Communities.  Th e document was a balanced update on the process,
not only of the fulfilment of developed country obligations in relation to special and differentialprovisions but also of the integration of developing countries into the multilateral trading system.  The
document was helpful in pointing out the deficiencies on both sides.  Two previous speakers had
touched on the issue of what more work could be done in the area.  The representatives of Egypt and
India had approached the issue differently.  The approach of the representative of Egypt was a more
generic one, including an informal discussion on the whole issue of special and differentialprovisions.  The representative of India had made specific proposals.  He felt the suggestion by the
Indian representative to have the Secretariat carry out work in relation to the next round of
negotiations in services would lead to duplication of work and place an additional burden on the
Secretariat.  The requirements for preparing for the next round of service negotiations had specific
elements dealing with developing countries.  Those were the requirements that had to be fulfilled inthat process.  The issue had to be addressed in a substantive way.  He found more appropriate the
proposal made by the representative of Egypt to discuss informally in the Committee on Trade and
Development what the issues might be, taking all of the agreements into account.WT/COMTD/M/19
Page 12
43. The representative of Canada said that her delegation wished to see the Committee taking
note of the document.  Her delegation continued to support efforts to provide technical assistance to
developing countries, in particular to least-developed countries, to help them integrate into the
multilateral trading.  Her delegation took the occasion to raise the issue of notifications of regional
trade agreements.  The most recent list from the Secretariat which was contained in document
WT/COMTD/W/27/Rev.1 suggested that some agreements or changes to them had not been notified.
Paragraph 4 of the Enabling Clause required that any contracting party taking action to introduce an
arrangement pursuant to the Enabling Clause or subs equently taking action to modify or withdraw the
differential and more favourable treatment so provided shall notify the CONTRACTING PARTIES
and furnish them with all the information they may deem appropriate relating to such action.  Those
requirements should be duly implemented in a transparent way by all Members.  Her delegation
considered the relevant information to include a copy of the agreement, additional annexes describingthe preferential treatment granted and basic trade statistics.
44. The representative of Hong Kong, China said that just as Members could self-select the status
of developing country or economy, so they could self-select whether or not to take advantage of
individual special and differential treatment provisions in particular agreements.  It should therefore
not be assumed that a Member that had developi ng status automatically took advantage of all
preferential provisions at its disposal.  For exampl e, in the case of Hong Kong, China, very sparing
use of such preferential provisions had been made .  He could only think of one provision from which
advantage had been drawn. However, that had in practical terms been more than offset by the
discrimination to which exports from Hong Kong, Ch ina had been subject over many years as a result
of its developing country status, particularly in relation to trade in textiles and clothing.  Memberswith developing status should not think of that stat us as a one-way street, nor should it be thought of
in terms of a balance sheet of advantages and liabilities under particular agreements.  There were
more intangible factors which had to be taken into account.  While the Secretariat paper was a useful
reference document, it by no means told the entire story, especially given the caveats relating to the
information which was available or not available with respect to implementation.  His delegation wasinterested in participating in informal consultations.
45. The representative of Myanmar, speaking on behalf of ASEAN, said that ASEAN considered
special and differential treatment an important principle as it allowed developing countries to
contribute to and meaningfully participate in the WTO.  Developing countries had increasingly been
contributing in assuming greater obligations with respect to various Agreements of the WTO.
Additionally, it should be recognized that developing countries were undertaking voluntary
autonomous liberalisation.  On the other hand, developing countries had been enabled a certainflexibility in relation to particular obligations.  The special and differential provisions allowed
developing countries to be part of the WTO and his delegation was therefore concerned both about
ideas that would erode the special and differential provisions and about deficiencies in the application
of special and differential provisions in some of the Agreements.  The idea presented by the
representative of India could usefully be pursued to further develop and meaningfully operationalizethe special and differential provisions.
46. The representative of Australia particularly welcomed the transparency of the Secretariat
paper in setting out the provisions in all of the WTO Agreements and how they had been used.  There
were some necessary limitations to the paper as it was based on what had been notified.  There were
areas in which use or reliance on special and differential provisions did not need to be notified.  Therewere also vast areas of technical assistance covered either bilaterally or by international organizations
which had been left out of the document.  Her delegation had always considered the relationship
between rules, standards and protection as being a complicated one.  Being a small player, her
government had looked to the rules-based system to provide a certain security and to agreements,
such as the SPS, to prevent measures from being used for disguised protectionism.  Important issuesregarding transparency and notifications had been raised.  Her delegation would carefully consider theWT/COMTD/M/19
Page 13
specific proposals made and hoped that a further discussion would be held on the role of special and
differential provisions in assisting developing countries to gain benefits from their participation in the
WTO.
47. The representative of Cuba said that special and differential provisions were of capital interest
to developing countries and he associated his delegation with what had been said by the
representatives of India, Egypt and Morocco.  Consultations should be held to find ways to improve
the implementation of special and differential provisions.
48. The representative of United States supported the intervention made by the representative of
Canada on the importance of notifying regional trade agreements under the Enabling Clause to the
Committee on Trade and Development.
49. The representative of Pakistan said that his delegation wished to further consider the updated
document that his delegation had asked for at the previous meeting of the Committee on Trade and
Development.  There were certain areas in which the implementation should be looked at closely.  He
therefore asked that the item be kept on the Committee's agenda.  Informal consultations might be
helpful.  He suggested that specific special and differential provisions of individual Agreements be
measured by how far they had reached their fundamental objectives of enabling developing countries
to cope with the changed environment following th e implementation of those Agreements.  That type
of analysis could give an insight into how useful the special and differential provisions were and
whether they could be strengthened and improved upon in future Agreements to be negotiated.  The
ultimate purpose of the exercise was to enable developing countries to compete in an equitable
manner in a globalizing economic environment.
50. The Chairman noted that there were different perceptions of the issues of special and
differential provisions.  Several delegations had mentioned the importance of technical assistance.
Many delegations had seen the need for further work on the matter in the Committee on Trade and
Development, pursuant to its mandate.  The need for horizontal work between bodies of the WTO
Secretariat dealing with specific Agreements had b een expressed.  It had been suggested that the new
Chairman of the Committee on Trade and Developmen t should conduct informal consultations on the
most useful orientation the Committee's discussion s on the issue.  Consensus was emerging in the
WTO that implementation would be one of the Agenda items of the Ministerial Meeting in 1998.  The
work of the Committee on Trade and Development could then provide an additional insight to the
discussions that might arise in the General Council.
51. The Committee took note  of the statements made.
D. Electronic Commerce
52. The Chairman said that, at the Committee's last meeting, the representative of Egypt had
raised the issue of electronic commerce in goods and services and requested that it be put on today's
Agenda.  He had also said that his delegation intended to present an informal paper to the Committee,
which had since been circulated in document WT/COMTD/W/38.  In addition to an analysis of the
various issues involved, the paper contained a number of specific proposals for future activities for
consideration by the Committee on Trade and Development and requested a number of papers andactivities of the Secretariat.  In that context he recalled that the Economic Research and Analysis
Division of the WTO Secretariat was preparing a special study on electronic commerce which it
hoped to publish in April.
53. The representative of Egypt said that his delegation might make minor changes to the paper in
light of comments made during the meeting.  The current discussion should only be seen as theWT/COMTD/M/19
Page 14
initiation of a process.  Delegations would therefore have time to study the issue more in detail in the
future.  The potential of electronic commerce had captured the attention of governments, businesses
and consumers alike.  The developments in the ar ea would have a substantial impact on growth and
development.  They would  also have fundamental implications on the way in which business
transactions and trade were carried out.  His delegation had identified four objectives for addressingthe issue:
(i) to deepen the understanding of electronic commerce and deal with it in a coherent and
balanced manner, focusing on the use of electronic commerce in integrating
developing countries into the Multilateral Trading System (MTS);
(ii) to examine the role of the WTO in bridgi ng the information gap in the area of trade
between developed and developing countries;
(iii) to examine how electronic commerce and recent proposals on a possible global
framework for electronic commerce would affect the supply and demand of goods
and services, the market structure, labour markets and competition,
(iv) to share experience on issues related to electronic commerce.
54. It was the conviction of his delegation that information technology in general and electronic
commerce in particular could be instrumental in enhancing the participation of developing countriesin the MTS if the right approach was followed.  There was a real fear that if the necessary steps were
not taken that mode of trade might remain beyond the reach of many developing countries.  The
current trade of developing countries, particularly products that might be transmitted digitally, could
be diverted if they did not participate actively in electronic commerce as early as possible in the
process.  Furthermore, the current gap between developed and developing countries might widen as aresult of rapid change if concerted action is not ta ken.  The need to narrow the gap between the north
and the south had been recognized by all.  Narrowing that gap was both important and urgent and
would be beneficial to both developed and developing countries alike.
55. He continued by stating that the paper addressed briefly the technological developments and
liberalization efforts that were related to electronic commerce and the challenges facing developingcountries and African countries in particular in terms of their weakness in telecommunication and
information infrastructure as well as elements of the financial requirements in the area.  It also
addressed the development and impact of the Internet as a global tool for collecting, disseminating
and exchanging information.  Electronic commerce would extend the scope of what might be
considered tradable.  Any good or service that might be provided in digital form could probably be
traded electronically within and across borders.  There was a need to identify areas and sectors where
electronic commerce was expected to gain importance.  It would also be of vital importance tostrengthen the capacity of developing countries to participate in electronic trade in these and in other
sectors especially since the impact of electronic commerce might be significant and relatively fast.
The paper gave an indication of the kind of difficulties that firms in developing countries were facing
and it referred to some of the difficulties encountered by firms in developed countries in dealing with
electronic commerce.
56. He went on to say that one of the challenges that developing countries in particular faced in
relation to electronic commerce was how to create a conducive policy environment that would
maximize the benefits of electronic commerce without compromising legitimate public policy
objectives.  Enhancing developing countries' interest for and participation in electronic commerce
would require concerted efforts, at the policy, the analytical and the technical level.  It would benecessary to establish a conceptual and policy platform reflecting the interests and specificities of
developing countries in a global framework for electronic commerce.  A number of developedWT/COMTD/M/19
Page 15
countries had recently completed policy papers on how to establish a global framework for electronic
commerce.  These papers contained very little about the role of developing countries in designing,
establishing and implementing such a framework.  Those major trading partners had a global
responsibility and should consider the role that th ey should play to enable developing countries to
benefit from this important area and help enhance their participation in international trade in goodsand services including through electronic commerce.   Developing countries would require assistance
to help them put their information on the Internet.  It was important to gain knowledge about how
much of the trade related information on the Internet originated from developing countries.  That issue
should be monitored continuously and could be considered as one of the factors that could contribute
to the evaluation of the progress of enhancing the role of developing countries in electronic
commerce.  Developing countries would also require assistance in establishing the regulatory
framework that would be conducive to the developm ent of the information society and in raising
awareness in the public and the private sectors of the significance of electronic commerce.
International cooperation would be necessary in facilitating access to information and to the global
information infrastructure, in promoting the transfer  of information technology, in the participation of
developing countries in research and development activities and related areas as well as in measures
to foster dialogue and partnerships between developing and developed countries, both governmentaland private, in the area of electronic commerce.
57. He said that the paper enumerated a number of policy areas related to electronic commerce
which were usually classified into three broad groups:  financial, legal and access issues.  However, a
discussion should not concentrate unduly on a very detailed consideration of issues that might appear
central today but which were likely to disappear or become replaced by others in a constantlyevolving environment.  Some of the policy issues did not fall within the purview of the WTO and
others were addressed by a number of international organizations.  His delegation felt that it would be
useful for WTO Members to become aware of the latest developments in policy areas and address the
role of the WTO, if any, in areas where it might make a useful contribution.
58. The paper briefly addressed a few related activities in the WTO and in other international
organizations.  His delegation wished to stress three points:
- as far as the WTO was concerned, stronger organic links should be established among
the areas of WTO competence which were of immediate relevance to discussions on
electronic commerce;
- the necessity for cooperation among international organizations dealing with issues
related to electronic commerce which was a direct result of its inter-sectoral nature;
- how to integrate information technology in ongoing trade-related activities and
programmes.
59. In conclusion, a number of specific proposals were made in the paper, these were:
- to request the WTO Secretariat to prepare a factual paper on WTO provisions and
activities that were most relevant to electronic commerce;
- to request the WTO Secretariat to prepare an analytical paper on how to enhance the
participation of developing countries in electronic commerce and the use of
information technology in the integration of developing countries in the MTS.  That
issue was related to the infrastructural problems of developing countries;WT/COMTD/M/19
Page 16
- to request the WTO Secretariat to communicate with relevant international
organizations to provide the CTD with information on their activities in areas closely
related to electronic commerce;
- to convene a special session of the CTD to address the issue of electronic commerce;
- to request the WTO Secretariat to organize a joint seminar with UNCTAD and ITC to
allow for a better understanding of the issues involved in electronic commerce
focusing on their development implications.
60. If electronic commerce were to become of significant importance, as his delegation expected,
it had to be ensured that the infrastructure in developing countries, both human and physical, was
capable of supporting its development.  His delegation approached the issue with an open mind and in
a flexible manner and looked forward to constructive discussions on that important issue.  Finally, he
requested that the proposals he had made should be put forward in informal consultations to be heldby the next chairman.  His delegation did not push for hasty results but wished to see the issue move
forward.
61. The representative of United States said her delegation was impressed by the thoroughness,
thoughtfulness and studied approach of the paper.  It was a valuable contribution to the emerging
discussion on electronic commerce.  She hoped that all delegations also studied the proposal putforward by Ambassador Hayes to the General Council on 19 February.  The core conclusion of the
paper presented by the delegation of Egypt was the vital need for infrastructural development in
developing countries and the dilemma as to where financing would come from.  Her delegation's
answer was that such infrastructure needs should be met by private sector investments, domestic and
foreign.  It had been her delegation's experience that investment was attracted to hospitableenvironments where competition led to growth and government rules were minimal.  A special fund
had been created in order to finance the linking of all schools in the United States, a task that had been
80 per cent completed.  Developing countries could do the same.  Egypt's paper noted that few funds
would be available from international financia l institutions.  With the changes underway in
international telephone accounting rates the revenues of traditional telephone monopolies were sure todecline in the coming years.  The best source of future investment would therefore be the private
sector.  Developing countries themselves would decide whether or not they would be connected
electronically and benefit from electronic commerce.  Some countries in the developing world had
already began a process and were doing well.  Her delegation would encourage Egypt and other
developing countries that had not yet done so to join the Information Technology Agreement and to
make commitments on basic telecommunications.  It was also important to support the proposal for a
duty-free environment for electronic transmissions.  Those gestures would go a long way to ensure
private sector investment in response to the openness of the regimes.  Egypt and other developing
countries should join in the call for the private sect or to lead in fostering the growth of electronic
commerce through self-regulatory codes of practice.
62. Her delegation generally supported the idea of increased exchange of information.  That
would be demonstrated during the WTO Trade Facilitation Seminar in which companies from theUnited States and other countries would participate.  Increased information should also result from the
study on Electronic Commerce that the WTO's Rese arch Division would issue by mid-March.  Before
asking the Secretariat to undertake additional work, her delegation believed that it made sense to ask
the Chairman of the General Council to undertake informal consultations on electronic commerce in
the near future.  Her delegation also welcomed informal discussions on developing country concerns.She wished to point out that there was a distinction between the proposal of the United States for
duty- free electronic transmissions and what her delegation believed that the delegation of Egypt was
addressing.  The discussion initiated by the delegation of Egypt should continue as it was important to
cover all issues.  The proposal of the United States before the General Council was a first step thatWT/COMTD/M/19
Page 17
would help facilitate that discussion.  There was no need to mesh the two proposals.  The General
Council was the appropriate body to continue the discussions on her delegation's proposal.
63. The representative of India said that his delegation recognized the positive effects electronic
commerce could have on growth.  As was pointed out in the paper prepared by the delegation of
Egypt, the potential of electronic commerce had captured the attention of governments, businessesand consumers alike.  The developments in the ar ea would have a substantial impact on growth and
development and fundamental implications on the way in which business transactions and trade were
carried out.  The detail of the paper showed that electronic commerce was a complex issue.  There
was no accepted definition of what electronic commerce covered.  There were aspects of electronic
commerce that touched on existing WTO provisions and other aspects which would require further
study, especially regarding benefits for developing countries.  Issues that had to be examined
included; the treatment of intellectual property protection, the movement of natural persons in theform of service providers involved in electronic trade, regulatory regimes, and the administration of
border taxes and controls.  His delegation therefore supported the proposal made by the delegation of
Egypt to have a joint seminar organised with UNCTAD for the impact of electronic commerce on
developing countries to be appropriately assesse d.  UNCTAD could be requested to invite relevant
intergovernmental organizations to such a seminar.   His delegation looked forward to the paper on
electronic commerce prepared by the Research Division of the WTO Secretariat and hoped that that
paper would address the specific issues raised in the working paper submitted by the delegation of
Egypt.  His delegation was willing to participate in informal consultations on the matter.
64. The representative of European Communities said that given the fact that electronic
commerce covered international trade, the WTO should play a significant role in providing a global
predictable framework for its development.  Aspects of electronic commerce were relevant under a
number of Agreements in the WTO; GATS, the Agreement on Basic Telecommunications, the
Agreement on Government Procurement, the Agreement on TRIPS as well as the ITA, including the
work currently undertaken under the ITA II.  She also recalled the initiative by the Government of the
United States on avoiding import duties on electronic transmissions.  Her delegation welcomed theinitiative to address issues of electronic commerce in the WTO.  The initiative was useful in launching
the discussion on one of the many issues at stake.   Further discussions over the next months were
necessary to address other trade-related aspects such as intellectual property rights, government
procurement, trade facilitation and to provide a general framework for the development of electronic
commerce.  It was the view of her delegation that the GATS would have to play a major role in
further discussions since electronic transmissions had to be characterized as services.  The debate was
at an early stage.  Many trading partners were only starting to address electronic commerce as a tradeissue.  The understanding of the issue had to be deepened.  It was therefore a positive development
that the Committee on Trade and Development at the initial stage also focused on electronic
commerce.  Not being a technical Committee, Members would benefit from exchanging experiences,
listening to each other, discussing overall objectives, concerns and opportunities from the particular
perspective of developing countries.  However, it would be too early to elaborate a programme ofwork for the Committee on Trade and Development.  The WTO had to put together all elements
relevant to the new area of electronic commerce and identify one forum where energy and resources
could be concentrated.  Until then it was good to explore all aspects of electronic commerce in the
Committee on Trade and Development but it was too early to adopt an agenda.  The ambition as to
joint action should currently be limited as it was still unclear what type of action the WTO as a wholeshould take with respect to electronic commerce.
65. The representative of Pakistan believed that it was useful for Members to exchange views on
developments in the area of electronic commerce.  Those developments appeared to take place at
rapid pace, not only in the area of technological development but also in the area of regulation.  The
momentum had been advanced by countries that had advantages in information technology and whichwere already witnessing growth in the area of el ectronic commerce.  In July 1997, the United StatesWT/COMTD/M/19
Page 18
Government had made an announcement on a framework for global electronic commerce which was
followed by a ministerial declaration of the European Communities on global information networks.
In addition to those framework proposals, many aspects of electronic commerce were being addressed
in a number of fora: taxation matters in the OECD, electronic payment systems in the Basel
Committee on Banking Supervision, uniform commercial code in the International Chamber ofCommerce, some aspects of intellectual property protection in WIPO, domain names in ITU, privacy
and security matters in the OECD and APEC, acces s to infrastructure, telecommunication and issues
of inter-operability in ITU, OECD and WTO, and technical standards in OECD, ISO and ITU.  It
seemed obvious that work in all those fora needed to be monitored.  Another aspect that required
examination was the issue of implications for developing countries: would unrestricted, unregulated
electronic commerce provide increased market access to enterprises in developing countries; how
would developing country enterprises be fairing, especially with regard to their competitive ability inareas where electronic commerce was carried out; what would the infrastructural implications be;
what would be the effect on other modes of supply such as commercial presence and the movement of
natural persons; what impact could electronic commerce have on customs revenue.  The importance
of analysing and monitoring developments was obvious.  UNCTAD was doing some work in the area
as was the WTO Research Division.  Once such papers had been studied, delegations might be in abetter position to assess implications and decide on how to proceed with work on the issue.
66. The representative of Australia welcomed the focus on the issue of electronic commerce and
the recognition of its importance.  She noted that the sentiment of the importance of the issue was
shared in the WTO: a Secretariat paper was forthcoming and a proposal had been made by the
delegation of the United States.
67. The representative of New Zealand said that the Egyptian paper was useful and timely in that
it set out some of the specific development issues  involved in electronic commerce: the weaknesses in
telecommunication infrastructure in developing countries and the problems in achieving broad-based
access for users.  The WTO had a role to play in enhancing international cooperation in the area of
electronic commerce and the guiding principles should be coherence, transparency, coordination andavoiding duplication.  He noted that the specific aspects of electronic commerce already had been
considered by various WTO groups, most recently by the General Council.  That raised the question
of whether the Committee on Trade and Development should be taking the lead on some of the more
general issues identified in the paper presented by the Egyptian delegation.  Before progressing much
further, his delegation believed that it would be useful to identify work that had been done to date and
to establish a coordinated approach for future WTO activity.  That appeared to be the aim of the first
specific proposal in Egypt's paper, a proposal which his delegation supported.  It would also be usefulto provide WTO Members with more information on the activities of other international organizations
as illustrated by the delegation of Pakistan.  After having considered the forthcoming paper of the
Secretariat, the Committee on Trade and Development would be better placed to consider the second,
fourth and fifth proposal of Egypt's paper, relating specifically to the needs of developing countries
such as a special session of the Committee on Trade and Development and a seminar with UNCTADand ITC.  His delegation agreed with the delegation of the European Communities in that it would be
premature to begin a programme of work without due consideration of the Secretariat's paper.  The
WTO as a whole should look further into the is sue before arranging joint seminars with other
organizations.  The proposal made by the delegation of the United States at the General Council was
interesting and practical.  The use of electronic commerce raised important international trade policyand trade facilitation considerations and could offer significant benefits to a wide range of countries.
His delegation therefore looked forward to participating actively in future discussions in the General
Council on that proposal.
68. The representative of Myanmar, speaking on behalf of ASEAN, said that, at the meeting of
the General Council of 19 February 1998, ASEAN had indicated the interest of its member
delegations to broaden the understanding of electronic commerce, in particular its economic, trade andWT/COMTD/M/19
Page 19
social implications.  The Egyptian paper provided useful ideas in terms of its objectives and outlined
specific proposals for future activities.  His delegation saw merit in further looking into those aspects
in the WTO.  The proposals were relevant and would contribute to meeting the objectives of
enhancing the understanding of electronic commerce.  There was a particular need to tap the expertise
of other international organizations, such as UNCTAD.
69. The representative of Canada appreciated the effort of the Egyptian delegation in putting
forward the interests of developing countries with regard to electronic commerce and agreed on the
importance of looking at how electronic commerce c ould contribute to trade growth and development.
There was ongoing work in a number of fora that might partly achieve some of the suggestions in the
paper presented by the Egyptian delegation.  The WTO paper was one such example.  The first step in
any new work by the WTO Secretariat would be an inventory of existing work undertaken: by the
Development Bureau of the ITU, especially in the context of the World TelecommunicationsDevelopment Conference that would take place in Malta at the end of March;  by the UNCTAD trade
point programme which was part of the trade efficiency initiative launched by UNCTAD VIII; by the
UNCTAD partners for the development programme launched in October 1997 that had as one of its
two main themes a global electronic trade partnership; by UNCTAD IX, Midrand, which
recommended that UNCTAD should follow up the results of the UN international symposium of tradeefficiency and, in close cooperation with ITU, assess the practical trade and development implications
of the emerging global information infrastructure and identify relevant avenues for action in this area;
and finally by the Global Knowledge 1997, held in Toronto sponsored by the Government of Canada
and the World Bank.  An inventory should lay the ground for any further work.
70. The representative of Japan said that electronic commerce would contribute to the efficiency
of economic activities and had the potential to promote a balanced development of the global
economy.  While electronic commerce was promoted primarily by private sector initiatives, it was
necessary to coordinate and develop the appropriate environment and establish new global rules.  His
delegation welcomed discussions on electronic commerce in the framework of the WTO.  The
Government of Japan encouraged ongoing tests by the private sector with respect to electroniccommerce.  His Government was prepared to make the results of those tests available to carry forward
the international discussions on electronic commerce in the WTO.  There were currently no customs
duties on electronic commerce in Japan and it was desirable for other Members to keep a similar
practice to promote electronic commerce.  Concrete discussions on customs duties had to be held
considering the deliberations in other international fora.  As the proposal in the WTO was expected to
lead to a legally binding agreement with multilateral disciplines it was important for the discussion
and examination to clarify definitions legally.
71. The representative of Korea said that the implications of electronic commerce on the
multilateral trading system were overarching.  Issu es such as market access, intellectual property
rights, customs valuation and Article XX exceptions had to be considered.  It was therefore premature
to decide where and how to proceed with the discussion on electronic commerce.  He supported the
suggestion to await the Secretariat paper and was willing to participate in any informal discussion.
72. The representative of Hong Kong, China said that her delegation would appreciate an in-
depth discussion in relation to the implications of electronic commerce on developing economies.
Her delegation shared the sentiments that there was a need to address the issue in the broader context
of the WTO.  She looked forward to any relevant discussion on the topic and said that her delegation
would be willing to participate actively.
73. The representative of Peru said that the current discussion was opportune since it
corresponded to the ever greater interest in having  analytical studies and exchange of information to
better understand the implications of electronic commerce from the point of view of modalities of
trade as well as legal coverage.  His delegation supported the proposal made by the delegation ofWT/COMTD/M/19
Page 20
Egypt to ask the WTO to draw up a factual document including all aspects of the WTO which might
be of interest for electronic trade, among others the GATS, intellectual property and customs
valuation.  The issue of electronic commerce should be kept on the agenda of the Committee on Trade
and Development as it would allow Members to deal with the issue from the development
perspective.  His delegation was willing to participate in informal consultations.
74. The representative of Norway said that the Egyptian paper was timely, particularly since his
government had different ministries focusing on the issue.  Electronic commerce was not the future, it
was currently taking place and at a rapidly increasing pace.  At the same time, the legal framework
relating to electronic commerce was unclear.  There was need for increased understanding and
possibly for some definitions.  The need to maintain momentum should therefore not be
underestimated.  His delegation wished to take part in any future consultations.
75. The representative of Mexico proposed three steps in the treatment of the issue of electronic
commerce.  First, the paper prepared by the WTO Secretariat should be considered.  Second, once that
document was available, a meeting in the Committee on Trade and Development should be organized
to analyze the paper.  That proposal should be seen in conjunction with the proposal by the delegation
of Egypt.  The WTO could also prepare a factual document on where work was being carried out on
electronic commerce.  It was common knowledge that UNCTAD, OECD and APEC had carried out
work in that respect but it was important not to forget the role played by the private sector.  Third, a
guideline for the WTO ministerial meeting could be prepared for ministers to be able to determine a
way to channel the analysis of the issue.  Trade facilitation had three clear faces: first an exploration at
the global level, second, the organization at the regional, multilateral and bilateral level, and third,
private initiatives.  The discussion of electronic commerce could focus on and have those sameperspectives.  The WTO had to face fully the question of electronic commerce and create the
necessary multilateral rules.
76. The representative of Egypt said that his delegation was conscious of the benefits that
electronic commerce might provide for developing countries.  The issue of participation of the private
sector had been mentioned and was crucial.  Electronic commerce was already taking place among theactors of the private sector.  That had to be balanced with an examination of what governments ought
to do in the area.  The objective was not to restrict electronic commerce but to find a conducive
environment that would allow electronic commerce to grow in a balanced way and contribute to
development.  It had been mentioned that the proposal of the delegation of the United States be
treated separately.  However, remarks by several delegations indicated that it would be preferable to
address the issue in a coherent manner in a single forum.  His delegation was flexible in that regard.
His delegation was interested in addressing the issue from a development perspective.  A deepenedunderstanding was necessary.  The role played by UNCTAD, WIPO, ITC and other organizations was
important and would continue to be so.  There was also an important role for the WTO to play.  In
relation to the specific proposals mentioned in the paper presented by his delegation he said that his
delegation did not believe that those had to be implemented at the same time.  He recognized that it
would require time and looked forward to their im plementation in a phased manner.  It had not been
the intention to duplicate work being done elsewhere.  His delegation was willing to wait for the study
prepared by the Secretariat to see how it could contribute to the debate.  An inventory of work had
been mentioned and that was in fact what his delegation had meant by the WTO Secretariat
communicating with other organizations to find out what  happened in other fora.  It was important for
the item to remain on the agenda until delegations had had time to discuss the issue and study it incapitals.  If it was felt appropriate and useful, the next Chairman could initiate informal consultations
after the issuance of the Secretariat paper on electronic commerce.
77. The Chairman said that the exchange of views had been useful.  All delegations seemed
interested in understanding the issue of electronic commerce.  He encouraged other delegations to
circulate non-papers on the issue to enable the Committee on Trade and Development to deepen itsWT/COMTD/M/19
Page 21
understanding.  He took note of the proposal in the paper prepared by the Egyptian delegation that the
Committee on Trade and Development request the Secretariat to do a number of things, including the
preparation of papers.  Given that the Economic Research and Analysis Division of the WTO
Secretariat was currently finalising a special study on the topic of electronic commerce, which it
hoped to publish by mid-April, he suggested that the Committee await the circulation of that study,which, he had been told by the Secretariat, would cover many of the elements requested by the
Egyptian paper.  He had also been led to believe that there was a special section in that paper covering
development and social issues.  It would be relevant to wait for that paper before asking the
Secretariat to do any further work.
78. The Committee took note of the statements made and asked the next Chairman to carry out
informal consultations on how to bring the issue forward.
E. Election of Officers
79. The Chairman said that the Rules of Procedures of the Committee on Trade and Development
stipulated that it should elect a Chairperson from among the representatives of Members.  The
election should take place at the first meeting of the year and should take effect at the end of the
meeting.  The Chairperson should hold office until the end of the first meeting of the following year.
In that context, he recalled that the General Council at its meeting on 19 February noted the consensuson the nomination of Ambassador Chowdhury of Bangladesh as the next Chairman of the Committee
on Trade and Development.
80. The Committee approved by acclamation the nomination of Ambassador Chowdhury as its
new Chairman.
81. The Chairman said that the Committee on Trade and Development needed to elect a new
Chair for its Sub-Committee.  He had conducted informal consultations in that respect but regretted
that he had not been able to complete them.  He therefore had to ask the new Chairman to continue
those consultations until a new Chairperson for the sub-Committee had been found.  It was
understood that the present Chairperson of the Sub-Committee would stay until the nomination of a
new one.
F. Other Business
82. The Chairman invited the Secretariat to give a brief update on the follow-up to the High-
Level Meeting on Least-Developed Countries.
83. The Secretariat said that it was drafting the report for the Director General to present to
Ministers at the Ministerial Meeting to be held in May 1998.  The report would contain a detailed
description of the work that took place in favour of the least-developed countries both at the High-
Level Meeting in October of the previous year and also since then.  He would indicate the main itemsin the Director General's report and give brief information about what these would contain.  The
report would be issued as a working document in the series put out for the Committee on Trade and
Development.
84. Six points were worth mentioning.  The fi rst concerned the approval of the Integrated
Framework by the other five agencies.  As delegations might recollect, the Integrated Framework hadbeen endorsed at the High-Level Meeting.  Since then, the Secretariat had been informed that the
Executive Board of the UNDP had endorsed the Integrated Framework at its session held from 19-
26 January 1998.  UNCTAD's Trade and Development Board had endorsed the Integrated FrameworkWT/COMTD/M/19
Page 22
at its session on 16 February 1998.  For ITC, which was a joint subsidiary organ of UNCTAD and
WTO, the issue would be taken up for discussion at the thirty-first session of the Joint Advisory
Group of the ITC foreseen for 27 April - 1 May.  The Secretariat had also been informed that the
World Bank and the IMF staff had informed their Executive Boards of their intention to participate as
regards trade-related technical assistance.
85. The second point concerned the number of least-developed countries participating in the
exercise.  Of the 48 least-developed countries, 37 had so far expressed an interest in participating in
the exercise by submitting completed needs assessments. The six agencies had already prepared
responses for 34 of the 37 needs assessments received.  There were three outstanding which had been
received only very recently.  The agencies were in the process of drafting responses for those three
and would do so for any others that came in.  The agencies would be meeting again at the beginning
of June.  That meeting would provide and opportunity for the six agencies to complete the first stageof the exercise of providing coordinated integrated programmes of technical assistance for the least-
developed countries.  Stage two of the Integrated Framework, as foreseen in the document that was
adopted in October 1997, required essentially two things to be done.  The first and most important
was that the least-developed countries themselves, those who had received an Integrated Response
from the six agencies, were expected to convene a round-table.  It was generally expected that round-tables would be held in the context of the UNDP Roundtable cycle or World Bank Consultative
Group meetings.  So far seven least-developed countries had expressed an interest to the agencies in
organizing such round-tables.  Each least-develope d country would be assisted in the preparation of
its round-table.  The agencies felt that it was important to prepare the round-tables extremely well if
they were to be successful and had advised the countries concerned accordingly.  The round-tableswould therefore take place at the earliest this summer, most probably not until the autumn.  That stage
of the process was in the hands of the least-developed countries.
86. Second, the agencies had consulted among themselves and decided to put in place a more
formal follow-up mechanism than the current inter-agency consultation process which had so far been
functioning.  The aim of the new mechanism was to achieve three things.  One was to continue and tobuild on the currently functioning inter-agency coor dination process.  The six agencies would each be
represented in an inter-agency working group wh ich would manage the follow-up from the point of
view of the six agencies.  Secondly, the mechanism would create a focal point for least-developed
countries, multilateral and regional intergovernmental organizations, and for other development
partners of the least-developed countries to coordinate activities with a view to assisting individual
least-developed countries to prepare and complete their round-table exercises.  Third, the follow-up
mechanism would undertake technical work.  There was thus a need to establish a very smallsecretariat.  It would not involve new resources but it would involve UNCTAD, WTO and ITC
contributing to create a centralized secretariat unit which would among other things maintain
databases of trade-related technical assistance provided to least-developed countries and help to
develop the methodology for review and evaluation of that technical assistance.  In addition, and as
part of the follow-up mechanism, a focal point for least-developed countries would be established ineach organization.  Discussions were ongoing in the WTO Secretariat on how to best establish a
functional unit that would serve as a focal point for least-developed countries.  The follow-up
mechanism would be available as a document as soon as it had been agreed with the other five
agencies.  It would also be included in the Director General's report to ministers at the May
Ministerial Meeting.
87. The third point related to market access.  The Secretariat had not received any formal
notification of improved market access for least-developed countries.  Delegations might recall that a
number of announcements had been made at the High-Level Meeting by governments that were
intending to improve market access for least-developed countries.  The Secretariat was waiting for
those notifications.WT/COMTD/M/19
Page 23
88. The fourth point dealt with accessions.  There were at present six least-developed countries in
the process of accession.  Of those six, Ethiopia and Laos had requested accession to the WTO since
the High-Level Meeting and working parties had recently been established.  In addition, Cap Verde
had been granted observer status at the meeting of General Council on 19 February 1998.  Bhutan had
requested observer status in a communication dated 4 February 1998.  In addition to the six least-developed countries already in the process of accession there were thus two others whose observer
status was either decided or would be considered at the next meeting of the General Council.
89. The fifth point related to Trade Policy Reviews.  The Secretariat planned to cover four least-
developed countries in its TPRs during 1998 which was an increase over 1997 when only one least-
developed country had been dealt with in the TPR process.  Three of the countries to be dealt with in
1998 would be grouped: Burkina Faso, Togo and Mali.  Lesotho would be dealt with within the
review of the South African Customs Union.
90. Finally, WTO was committed to provide least-developed countries with information
technology in terms of computers, software and know-how to access information over the Internet,
particularly the WTO website and the joint World Bank/WTO website.  It was estimated that 36 least-
developed countries would be fully equipped by the end of 1998.  The process had so far been
completed for 13 least-developed countries.  All the points mentioned above would shortly beavailable in a document in the form of the Director General's Report to the May Ministerial Meeting.
91. The Committee took note of the statement.
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