WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/INF/30
12 April 2001
(01-1905)
WTO SECRETARIAT ACTIVITIES WITH NGOs
 Article V:2 of the Marrakesh Agreement calls upon the General Council to "make
appropriate arrangements for consultation and cooperation with non-governmental organizationsconcerned with matters related to those of the WTO."
1  In accordance with this mandate, the
Secretariat was given the task by the General Council in the 1996 Guidelines For Arrangements on
Relations With Non-Governmental Organizations of playing "a more active role in its direct contacts
with NGOs … [T]his interaction … should be developed through various means such as inter alia  the
organization on an ad hoc basis of symposia on specific WTO-related issues, informal arrangements
to receive the information NGOs may wish to make available for consultation by interested
delegations and the continuation of past practice of responding to requests for general information and
briefings about the WTO."2
In pursuit of the objectives set out in the 1996 Guidelines, the Secretariat has been giving
consideration to activities that might be carried out with NGOs in the months leading up to the Fourth
Ministerial Conference and also at the Doha meeting itself. As in the past, the basic objective of this
programme of activities is to facilitate and encourage substantive and responsible discussion with
NGOs on issues falling within the WTO's mandate.
Specific activities between now and the 4th Ministerial Conference
I. NGO dialogues and briefings at the WTO
• Small-scale NGO lunchtime dialogues:
NGO representatives who have published trade-related studies or reports on issues falling
within the WTO's mandate may be invited to the Centre William Rappard for an informal
discussion of their work with interested delegations and secretariat officials.  The selection
would be made by the Secretariat but Members are encouraged to submit names of NGOs
which could be invited.
• Small-scale issue-driven, "open dialogue" discussions:
Specific informal dialogues will be organized on issues of concern to NGOs that fall within
the WTO mandate, for participants from NGOs, Members, and Secretariat.  These events
would be kept relatively small in order to facilitate substantive discussion.  Where possible,
they could take place back-to-back with WTO meetings on issues of concern to NGOs. In
order to ensure the presence of non-Geneva-based NGOs, in particular from developingcountries, dialogues could also be organized around meetings of other international bodies in
Geneva which attract NGOs.
                                                     
1 Article V.2 of the Marrakesh Agreement establishing the WTO.
2 Paragraph 4 of the Guidelines For Arrangements on Relations With Non-Governmental Organizations
adopted on 18 July 1996 (WT/L/162, 23 July 1996)WT/INF/30
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• NGO briefings:
Regular NGO briefings will be organized after WTO meetings of interest to NGOs, including
General Council sessions on preparations for Qatar.
II. Participation of NGOs in technical seminars  organized by the WTO Secretariat in Geneva :
Opportunities will be explored to allow inte rested NGO representatives to attend technical
seminars organized for Members by the Secretariat (e.g. the recent Symposium on Tourism
Services).
III. Organization of stand-alone workshops by the WTO Secretariat
Consideration is being given to the possibility of organizing one or more stand-alone
workshops covering issues of interest to NGOs falling within the WTO's mandate.  Such
workshops could be organized both regionally and in Geneva and should wherever possible
complement national activities by the Members.  Any workshops organized in Geneva would
most likely be larger events than those planned regionally.  Workshops of this nature would,
in accordance with past practice, be organized under the Secretariat's own responsibility.
NGO-focused website outreach
The Secretariat will continue to use its website to disseminate information about the WTO,
announce events and activities, engage in discussion, and generally increase transparency and raise
the profile of our NGO-related activities.  Some activities that are planned or currently underway on
the website include:
• Chatrooms: An interactive electronic discussion forum was established two months ago.  The
forum provides for active and self-initiated di scussions between interested individuals and
organizations.  In order to focus the discussion further, theme-specific fora of defined duration are
being planned by the WTO Secretariat. Where possible, this will be done in cooperation with
other international organizations and individual (academic) experts.
• NGO position papers: NGO position papers on WTO-related activities will continue to be
published on the WTO website. In the run-up to Qatar, the number of  position papers is likely to
grow.  Increasing numbers of position papers are already made available in downloadable format.
In addition, the papers will be divided by subject for ease of reference.
• "NGOs in the news": The secretariat is exploring the possibility of using the NGO page on its
website to post temporarily NGO positions and statements on issues within the WTO's mandate.
These should address current issues.
• NGO bulletin:  The Secretariat publishes a monthly bulletin containing information about WTO
and WTO Secretariat activities and events of interest to NGOs.
• Use of website in preparations for Doha: The webs ite will serve as a vital tool for disseminating
information about the logistical arrangements for NGOs attending the 4th Ministerial Conference
and for NGO accreditation procedures.WT/INF/30
Page 3
Activities involving NGOs at Doha
The WTO Secretariat  will be working further on a programme of activities for NGOs during the
Doha meeting.  This will be done  in consultation with interested Members and NGOs.  Some of the
activities under consideration include the following:
I. General Daily NGO briefings
The WTO Secretariat would brief registered NGOs once or twice a day about the proceedings
of the Ministerial.  Arrangements would also be made for Ministers or officials of Members
who wish to brief NGOs.
II. Issue-specific NGO briefings
Focused, issue-specific briefings would also be provided for registered NGOs, involving the
relevant WTO Secretariat Directors and/or staff.  The subject-matter of such briefings would
be determined by the state of play at the Ministerial Meeting and the interests expressed byNGOs.
III. Workshops organized by the WTO Secretariat
Workshops would be organized by the WTO Secretariat on issues of interest to NGOs.  These
events would take place at the NGO Centre and would be open to all participants at the WTO
Ministerial.
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