RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE WT/GC/M/15
4December 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-5157)
GENERAL COUNCIL
14October 1996
MINUTES OFMEETING
Held intheCentre William Rappard
on14October 1996
Chairman: Mr.W.Rossier (Switzerland)
Subjects discussed: Page
1. Extensions ofwaivers pursuant toparagraph 2oftheUnderstanding inrespect of
waivers ofobligations under GATT 1994 2
(a) Cuba -Paragraph 6ofArticle XVofGATT 1994 2
(b) United States -Former Trust Territory ofthePacific Islands 2
(c) United States -ANDEAN Trade Preference Act 2
(d) Canada -CARIBCAN 2
(e) Communication from theEuropean Communities 2
- European Communities -Fourth ACP-EEC Convention ofLomé 2
- France -Trading Arrangements withMorocco 2
(f) South Africa -Basedates under Article I:4 2
2. Salaries andpensions ofWTO staff 2
3. Preparations forthe1996 Ministerial Conference 3
(a) Report bytheDirector-General 3
(c) Attendance ofinternational intergovernmental organizations asobservers 9
(d) Attendance ofnon-governmental organizations 10
4. WTO Press Release ontrade andforeign direct investment 11
5. Observer status forinternational intergovernmental organizations 13WT/GC/M/15
Page2
1. Extensions ofwaivers pursuant toparagraph 2oftheUnderstanding inrespect ofwaivers of
obligations under GATT 1994
(a) Cuba -Paragraph 6ofArticle XVofGATT 1994 (G/L/89, G/C/W/51/Rev.1)
(b) United States -Former Trust Territory ofthePacific Islands (G/L/101,
G/C/W/53)
(c) United States -ANDEAN Trade Preference Act(G/L/102, G/C/W/54)
(d) Canada -CARIBCAN (G/L/100, G/C/W/52)
(e) Communication from theEuropean Communities (G/L/107)
- European Communities -Fourth ACP-EEC Convention ofLomé (G/L/108,
G/C/W/58/Rev.1)
- France -Trading Arrangements withMorocco (G/L/109, G/C/W/59/Rev.1)
(f) South Africa -Basedates under Article I:4(G/L/104, G/C/W/56/Rev.1)
(g) Zimbabwe -Basedates under Article I:4(G/L/106, G/C/W/57/Rev.1)
TheChairman recalled thatatitsmeeting on2October, theGeneral Council hadconsidered
thismatter andhadagreed torevert toitatthepresent meeting. TheGeneral Council hadalsoheard
areport fromtheChairman oftheCouncil forTrade inGoods ontheCouncil 'sconsideration ofthe
requests forextensions ofwaivers under thisitem. Heproposed that,unless delegations wished to
comment onthedraftdecisions ontheextensions ofthewaivers, theGeneral Council adopt thedraft
decisions inaccordance withtheDecision-Making Procedures Under Articles IXandXIIoftheWTO
Agreement agreed inNovember 1995 (WT/L/93).
TheGeneral Council soagreed.1
Therepresentative oftheUnited States recalled thathisGovernment hadrequested anextension
ofitswaiver onitsautomotive agreement withCanada topermit itscontinued implementation bythe
United States untilduties onthese products wereeliminated completely asaresult oftheUS-Canada
Free-Trade Agreement andtheNorth-American Free-Trade Agreement. Action onthisrequest by
theGeneral Council hadbeenhelduppending bilateral discussions between Japan andtheUnited States.
Hebelieved thattheUnited States hadnowfullyanswered thequestions puttoitbyJapan, andexpected
therefore thatthiswaiver request would beacted onpositively atthemeeting oftheCouncil forTrade
inGoods on15October. Under these circumstances, theUnited States expected tobring thiswaiver
extension request before theGeneral Council atitsnextmeeting.
Therepresentative ofJapan saidthathisdelegation hadsentaquestionnaire totheUnited States
shortly aftertheGeneral Council meeting on2October, towhich replies hadbeenreceived onlyrecently.
These responses were being examined byhisauthorities, andhehoped tobeabletofinalize the
consultation withtheUnited States intimeforconsideration ofthisrequest bytheGoods Council on
15October.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatements.
2. Salaries andpensions ofWTO staff
TheChairman recalled thathehadheldinformal consultations onthismatter on3October,
andthatMembers hadbeenasked toindicate theirpositions onadraftdecision onconditions ofservice
applicable tothestaffoftheWTO Secretariat thathadbeencirculated on18September indocument
1TheDecisions weresubsequently circulated asfollows: WT/L/185 -Canada; WT/L/182 -Cuba; WT/L/186
andWT/L/187 -European Communities; WT/L/188 -South Africa; WT/L/183 andWT/L/184 -United States;
andWT/L/189 -Zimbabwe.WT/GC/M/15
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number 4783. However, noconsensus hademerged onthisdraftdecision. Consultations weretherefore
stillunder way, andafurther informal meeting oftheGeneral Council would beheldonthismatter
atthebeginning ofNovember.
TheDirector-General saidhewished torecall thatthequestion ofthestatus ofWTO staffwas
akeyissueintheimplementationoftheMarrakeshMinisterialDecisiononthissubject,andwastherefore
animportant matter inthepreparations fortheSingapore Ministerial Conference.
TherepresentativeofNorwaysaidthatthestatementsbytheChairmanandtheDirector-General
hadreferred toaserious andimportant matter. Itwould bewiseforMembers tousethedifferent
possibilities thattheynowstillhad,before theSingapore Ministerial Conference, tocome toaconclusion
onthisissue. Itwould beincomprehensible ifMember states wenttoSingapore without having resolved
thequestion ofconditions ofservice oftheSecretariat staff.
Therepresentative ofMorocco saidhefully supported thestatements byNorway andthe
Director-General. Morocco hadconsistently stated thatinorder tohaveanorganization thatoperated
efficiently, thisissueshould beresolved without allowing themorale ofthestafftodeteriorate further.
Hehoped thatthose delegations thatwereencountering difficulties injoining theconsensus would help
infinding asolution tothose difficulties. Thedraftdecision submitted bytheChairman wasreasonable,
andtookintoconsideration current economic realities. Morocco believed thatallshould trytodoa
littlemore forthisOrganization, ofwhich staffmembers were apart.
Therepresentatives ofIndia andThailand saidthattheyfullysupported theefforts being made
bytheChairman andtheDirector-General tofindasatisfactory solution tothislong- standing problem.
TherepresentativeofHongKongassociatedhisdelegationwiththepreviousspeakers'statements.
TheChairman noted thatthismatter hadbeenbefore Members forsome time, andhoped that,
intheinterests ofboththestaffaswellastheOrganization, apositive solution thereto would befound
assoonaspossible.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatements.
3. Preparations forthe1996 Ministerial Conference
(a) Report bytheDirector-General
(b) Progress ofpreparatory work inWTO bodies
(c) Attendance ofinternational intergovernmental organizations asobservers
(d) Attendance ofnon-governmental organizations attheMinisterial Conference
(a) Report bytheDirector-General
and
(b) Progress ofpreparatory work inWTO bodies
TheDirector-General saidthatthiswashisfourth report oftheyeartotheGeneral Council
ontheactivities oftheinformal process oftheHeads-of-Delegations inthecontext ofpreparations
fortheSingapore Ministerial Conference. Inhisreport inJulyhehadrecalled whathadbeendone
untilthenintheinformal HOD process andhadindicated hisideas astohowonecould move forward
from there. Since July, twoinformal meetings hadbeenheldon16September and7October. In
September, hehadtriedtoprovide anoverview ofwhere onestood afterdelegations 'reflections over
thesummer break onthevarious issues stillpending. Beginning inJuly,andcontinuing inSeptember,
consultations hadbeenheldontheelements thatcould gointowhatwould bethepossible conclusionsWT/GC/M/15
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oftheMinisterial Conference. Onthebasis oftheconsultations, anoutline ofadraft ministerial
declaration hadbeenproduced. On7October, delegations hadpresented theirviews onthatoutline,
andhehadinformed themofsome points thathadarisen inthecourse ofhisconsultations inSeptember
andearlyOctober. Atbothmeetings, newnon-papers hadbeenintroduced asfollows: on16September,
theEuropean Communities hadintroduced threenon-papers, respectively ontechnical barriers, TRIPS
andcompetition. Norway andtheUnited States hadeachtabled revised proposals onlabour standards.
These andtheCommunity 'spaper oncompetition constituted further contributions inthecontext of
theseissues intheHOD, while theCommunity 'snon-papers ontechnical barriers andTRIPS hadbeen
forwarded totherelevant WTO bodies, inwhich theCommunity hadbeenasked tore-submit them.
On7October, Canada andJapan hadtabled ajointproposal oninvestment, while Hong Kong had
circulated athirdnon-paper onWTO rules. TheCommunity hadintroduced itsnon-paper onstate-
trading andadraftdecision oncompetition. Korea hadtabled anon-paper alsoontradeandcompetition.
Except forthenon-paper onstate-trading, which theCommunity haditself saiditwould pursue in
theappropriate WTO body, theother non-papers constituted further contributions inthecontext of
HOD issues.
Since themostrecent informal HOD meeting, hehadcirculated toallMembers thedraftof
thepolitical statement toformPartIoftheMinisterial Declaration. Because oftheimportance ofthis
text,hehadmade arrangements forproviding thetextinthethree official languages. Itwould be
discussed aninformal HOD meeting on22October. Intheremaining partofthatmonth, intensive
consultations would beheldfrom16October onthefiveoutstanding specific HOD issues. Work would
alsobeundertaken onthedraftofPartII,onimplementation, andPartIII,onthework programme.
Theultimate structure ofthedeclaration could onlybedecided when thefullviewofalltheelements
tobeincluded wasavailable. Afulltextofthedraft declaration would bereadied intimeforthe
informal HOD meeting tobeheldon2November. Thefewdaysfrom 2to7November would be
usedtoeffect anynecessary adjustment tothedrafttextsthatwould beavailable bythenandtofinalize
hisreport ontheinformal HOD process totheGeneral Council on7November. Itshould bethe
common aim,bothforpolitical andtechnical reasons, tocomplete allthedrafting ofanydecisions,
recommendations, communiqué etc.,alsoby7November.
TheChairman saidthathewould invite therespective Chairpersons ofthesubsidiary bodies
oftheGeneral Council aswellastheChairpersons oftheDSBandTPRB toreport briefly, under their
ownresponsibility, ontheprogress ofpreparatory work inthose bodies. Itwould behisintention
alsotoinvite theChairman oftheCommittee onTrade andEnvironment toreport ontheprogress
ofwork inthatCommittee. Ontheother hand, theChairmen oftheBudget andBOPCommittees
hadinformed himthattheyhadnothing toreport atthatstage withregard topreparatory work for
theMinisterial Conference intheirrespective Committees, andhewould not,accordingly, callonthem
tomake reports atthepresent meeting.
Mrs. Anderson (Ireland), Chairperson oftheTrade Policy Review Body, saidthattheTPRB
waswellontarget tobeinaposition topresent anagreed report totheGeneral Council on7November.
Summarizing theprocedural stepstodate,shesaidthatshehadcirculated aninitial draftofthereport
on3September. Thishadpermitted afirstexchange ofviews attheconclusion oftheTPRB review
ofZambia on10September. Onthebasisofinputs bydelegations onthatoccasion, shehadcirculated
asecond drafton24September, which hadbeenthebasisfordetailed discussion ataninformal meeting
on25September. Thishadbeenanextremely helpful discussion where thedrafthadbeenconsidered
paragraph byparagraph. With thebenefit ofthisdetailed input bydelegations, shehadcirculated a
thirddrafton3October, inviting anyfinaldrafting suggestions andindicating herhopethatitwould
bepossible toadopt thereport attheconclusion oftheNewZealand review on22October. Afew
drafting suggestions hadbeenreceived which would beincorporated inafourth drafttobecirculatedWT/GC/M/15
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within thenextfewdays, clearing thewayforadoption ofthereport on22October. Astothesubstance
ofthereport, delegations hadsought toexamine briefly theextent towhich theTPRM wasfulfilling
itsstated objectives, itsvalue toMembers, itscosteffectiveness, andthescope forfurther procedural
improvements. There wasalsoasection which addressed thespecific issueofcoverage ofdeveloping
countries. Theoverall conclusion ofthereport waspositive, stressing thattheTPRM wasaunique
element intherange ofWTO activities. Thereport outlined anumber ofways inwhich theimpact
oftheTPRM might beenhanced, while ensuring thatitsdistinctive character waspreserved. She
believed thatthereport represented awell-balanced, reasonable andsuccinct lookattheTPRM. She
wasconfident thatthere wasarealsense ofownership ofthereport byMembers given thesubstantial
comment anddiscussion onthedraftoverthepastsixweeks.
Mr.Narayanan (India), Chairman oftheCouncil forTrade inGoods, saidthatregarding the
Goods Council 'spreparations ofitsreport totheSingapore Ministerial Conference, hewascontinuing
theinformal process started on7October inorder toreach agreement onthetextforthereport. The
major issue tobesettled concerned theportion ofthereport ontheimplementation oftheAgreement
onTextiles andClothing andrelated matters. Discussion onthiswould continue inparallel inthenext
formal meeting oftheCouncil assuggested bydelegations. With regard tothesubsidiary bodies, he
hadmentioned atthe2October meeting oftheGeneral Council thatalthough there hadbeenafew
slippages, workremained ontrack, andthiswasstilltrue. There werefourteen subsidiary bodies under
theCouncil, inaddition towhich there wastheIndependent Entity under thePreshipment Inspection
Agreement. However, atthisstage, hewould limithisremarks tothefourteen subsidiary bodies.
Fourofthefourteen hadadopted theirreports, namely theCommittee onRules ofOrigin on11October,
theCommittee onSanitary andPhytosanitary Measures on8October, theTextiles Monitoring Body
on1October,andtheWorkingGrouponNotificationObligationsandProcedureson3October.Reports
oftwoother subsidiary bodies, namely theCommittees onTechnical Barriers toTrade andCustoms
Valuation hadbeenfinalized andwere expected tobeadopted on16and25October respectively.
Asregards theCommittee onAgriculture, informal consultations wereenvisaged inorder to
discuss further andobtain agreement ontworeports, andaspecial meeting oftheCommittee would
bescheduled when thereports wereready foradoption. Further consultations weretobeheldonthe
report oftheCommittee onMarket Access, which wasexpected tobeadopted on18October orat
aspecial meeting oftheCommittee soonthereafter. Thereport oftheCommittee onImport Licensing
wasthesubject offurther consultations, butwasexpected tobeadopted on23October. With regard
totheCommittees onAnti-Dumping Practices, Subsidies andCountervailing Measures andSafeguards,
theSecretariat hadcirculated draftreports ontheactivities ofthese three rules-area Committees. The
Committees were holding informal consultations thatmorning todiscuss these reports, which were
expected tobeadopted attheregular meetings oftheCommittees tobeheldintheweek of21October.
TheCommittee onTrade-Related Investment Measures hadconsidered itsreport atameeting on
11October andfurther consultations would berequired tofinalize itsreport. Regarding theWorking
Party onStateTrading Enterprises, adraftreport hadfirstbeendiscussed atthemeeting oftheWorking
Party on26September. Further consultations would berequired tofinalize thereport, which was
expected tobeadopted on24October.
Mrs. Bautista (Philippines), Chairperson oftheCouncil forTrade inServices, saidthatthe
Council anditssubsidiary bodies wereinthecourse ofpreparing theirreports withaviewtoproducing
onefinalreport bytheServices Council totheGeneral Council. Thefinalreport would cover the
work oftheCouncil itselfaswellasthatofthefivesubsidiary bodies which reported totheCouncil.
Thereport would contain twoparts: thefirstwould befactual, describing thework carried outduring
1996; thesecond would contain recommendations orproposals regarding future work. Adraftof
theCouncil 'sreport hadalready beencirculated toMembers andwould bediscussed ataninformalWT/GC/M/15
Page6
meeting on24October withaview tofinalizing itattheCouncil 'sformal meeting on30October.
Since itsmeeting on30July,theCouncil hadbeenconsidering different proposals regarding itsfuture
work. These proposals were essentially based ontheprovisions oftheGATS itself anditsbuilt-in
agenda, andwerelargely concerned withthetiming oftheactivities theCouncil wasrequired tocarry
outbyArticle XIXoftheGATS. Acommon viewontheseproposals wasbeing sought. Forexample,
while many delegations hadrecognized theneedforpreparatory work inadvance ofthenextround
ofnegotiations mandated byArticle XIXoftheGATS, there were different views onthetiming of
these activities andtheirresource implications. Thereport totheCouncil would alsocover thework
ofthesubsidiary bodies, including theirproposals relating tofuture work. Inthisrespect, itwould
ofcourse bebased onthereports ofthese bodies. With respect tothose reports thecurrent situation
wasasfollows: Thereport oftheCommittee onSpecific Commitments, which hadbeendiscussed
on10October, would befinalized andsenttotheCouncil before theendoftheweek. TheWorking
Party onGATS Rules wasexpected tofinalize itsreport thatafternoon. TheWorking Party on
Professional Services would finalize itsreport atameeting scheduled for24October. TheGroup on
BasicTelecommunicationswouldfinalizeitsreportatitsmeetingon18October.Finally,theCommittee
onFinancial Services would consider, andhopefully finalize, itsreport on22October. Sheintended
tocomplete theprocess andfinalize theServices Council report totheGeneral Council atameeting
scheduled for30October.
Mr.Armstrong (New Zealand), Chairman oftheCouncil forTRIPS, saidthatthestatus of
work onthereport oftheCouncil forTRIPS totheGeneral Council remained essentially ashehad
described totheGeneral Council on2October. Asaresult ofinformal consultations heldon17and
18September, there appeared tobeagreement onthetextofthedescriptive partofthereport, with
theexception ofoneparagraph onwhich further workwould benecessary. Thedescriptive partreported
ontheconsiderable amount ofwork undertaken bytheCouncil overthepasttwoyears indrawing
upandmonitoring theoperation ofnotification procedures, initiating thereview ofthenational
implementinglegislationofthoseMembersalreadyapplyingtheTRIPSAgreementinfull,andmonitoring
theimplementation oftheprovisions oftheAgreement ontechnical cooperation, including ensuring
thatinformation onthetechnical assistance available wasaccessible toalldeveloping andleast-developed
country Members. Thereport alsoreferred tothesatisfactory wayinwhich cooperation withtheWIPO
hadevolved, including theconclusion ofacooperation agreement between thetwoorganizations. There
hadbeenafirstround ofdiscussion onSection IVofthereport which would contain theissues, problems
andrecommendations,ifany,thattheCouncilconsideredshouldbebroughttotheattentionofMinisters.
Anumber ofproposals hadbeenputforward inthisregard. TheSecretariat hadcompiled these into
achecklist which hadbeeninformally distributed toallMembers on9October, witharevision circulated
on10October. Theproposals made forSection IVincluded points regarding thefullandtimely
implementation ofobligations, theprovision oftechnical cooperation, theundertaking ofpreparatory
workforthebuilt-inagenda,includinginrespectofthenegotiationofamultilateralsystemofnotification
andregistrationforgeographicalindicationsforwines,andthenegotiationsinWIPOoncertaincopyright
andrelated rights issues. Hewould resume hisinformal consultations ontheCouncil 'sreport on
15October, andwould holdashort formal meeting oftheCouncil toadopt formally thereport once
thework hadreached astage thatwould warrant it.
Mr.Lafer (Brazil), Chairman oftheDispute Settlement Body, saidthatthedraftreport ofthe
DSBonitswork in1996 hadbeencirculated toMembers inWT/DSB/W/37. Hehadreceived some
comments onthedraft report, andtrusted thatitcould befinalized bytheDSB atitsmeeting on
16October. Thedraftreport contained afactual presentation ofmainactivities oftheDSBasthebody
entrusted withthemanagement oftheDispute Settlement Understanding. Italsocontained afinalsection
summarizing conclusions ontheexperience withthedispute settlement mechanism during itsfirsttwo
years ofexistence, towhich hedrew theattention ofMembers inparticular. Hehoped thatthisdraftWT/GC/M/15
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provided Members withthenecessary information concerning thecontribution oftheDSU, under the
management oftheDSB, togreater security andpredictability inrelations amongst partners intheopen
multilateral trading system which wasofrelevance forthework ofthe1996 Ministerial Conference.
Mr.Benjelloun-Touimi (Morocco), Chairman oftheCommittee onTrade andDevelopment,
saidthatwork intheCTD inpreparation fortheMinisterial Conference waswellunder way,andnow
focused mainly onfinalizing work onthedraftreport totheGeneral Council, wellandparticularly
ontherecommendations toMinisters inSingapore. Thereport addressed boththework oftheCTD
anditsSub-CommitteeonLeast-DevelopedCountries.Hewaspresentlyholdinginformalconsultations,
andintended tosubmit afinaldraftreport totheCommittee on15October, atleastasregards the
descriptive sections ofthereport. Thesection relating totherecommendations toMinisters inSingapore
would needfurther consultations before itcould befinalized. Regarding thesubstance oftheCTD's
work inthepastyear, hesaidthattheCommittee hadidentified foritself certain priority tasks from
among itsterms ofreference, which included areview oftheimplementation ofprovisions infavour
ofdeveloping country Members. Onthissubject, hewashopeful thattheCommittee would make
arecommendation. Another subject discussed bytheCommittee withgoodresults concerned guidelines
fortheWTO 'stechnical cooperation, onwhich theCommittee would hopefully formally adopt aset
ofguidelines on15October, sothattheparticular modalities oftheimplementation thereof could be
considered in1997. Athirdpriority subject concerned theparticipation ofdeveloping country Members
inthemultilateral trading system, including thereview oftheimpact oftheUruguay Round on
developing country Members, onwhich theSecretariat hadprepared auseful study. TheCommittee
hadconcentrated itsefforts initsdiscussions onthemarginalization oftheleast-developed countries
andonhowtoredress this. Forthisreason, thefourth subject ofdiscussion intheCommittee related
totheplanofaction fortheleast-developed countries, which wasbased onproposals made bythe
Director-General attheG-7meeting inLyon, France. Hehoped thatacomprehensive planofaction
fortheleast-developed countries would beamong therecommendations thattheCommittee would make
initsreport.
Mr.Weekes (Canada), Chairman oftheCommittee onRegional Trade Agreements, saidthat
withaviewtoidentifying theelements thattheCommittee wished toinclude initsreport, theCommittee
hadhadauseful discussion on7October based onachecklist ofpoints thathadbeenpresented to
delegations. Following thatmeeting, theSecretariat hadprepared adraftofthereport, which had
beendiscussed atameeting oftheCommittee on11October. Asaresult ofthatdiscussion, the
Secretariat waspreparing arevised draft, which would bediscussed ataninformal meeting inthecourse
ofthatweek. Themainfocus ofthework thathadbeenengaged inwould nowbeonthefuture work
programme oftheCommittee. TheCommittee hadnotoutgrown asyetthework programme that
ithadbeengiven upon itsestablishment bytheGeneral Council, andthusanumber ofactivities that
could becarried outinthefuture could already beidentified inkeeping withtheCommittee 'sexisting
mandate. There were, however, some other ideas forfuture work, which theCommittee wasstill
considering andwhich would bethesubject offurther informal consultations open toallMembers.
When thefinalreport oftheCommittee wasagreed intheseconsultations, ashortformal meeting would
beconvened toformally approve it.
Mr.Sanchez Arnau (Argentina), Chairman oftheCommittee onTrade andEnvironment, said
thatthedraftreport oftheCommittee contained threechapters. Thefirsttwofocused onthebackground
ofeachoftheitems ontheCommitee 'sagenda andtheproposals submitted bydelegations, andthe
debates thathadfollowed their submission. Thethird section summed uptheconclusions and
recommendations, including those onfuture work andtheinstitutional future oftheCommittee, which
would besubmitted totheMinisterial Conference. Aninitial draftofthefirsttwochapters concerning
thebackground debates andproposals hadbeendistributed towards theendofJuly. Several delegationsWT/GC/M/15
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hadmade suggestions onthatdraft, onthebasis ofwhich theSecretariat hadprepared andwas
distributing asecond draftofthese twochapters ofthedraftreport. Regarding thethirdchapter on
conclusions andrecommendations, consultations hadbeenheldwithmostofthedelegations involved
inthesedebates and,onthebasisofaninitial debate heldatameeting oftheCommittee inSeptember,
anoutline forthischapter hadbeensubmitted. Thediscussion onthisoutline hadbeenfollowed by
asecond debate onthepossible contents ofthefinalversion, onthebasis ofwhich aninitial draftof
chapter three containing conclusions andrecommendations hadbeencirculated. Thisdrafthadbeen
thesubject ofalonganddetailed analysis bydelegations ataninformal meeting, andhadgiven rise
tothepresentation ofwritten proposals onspecific elements contained inthereport. Onthisbasis,
asecond draftofthischapter hadbeendistributed theprevious week, which would bediscussed at
aninformal meeting on17and18October. Ifnecessary, informal consultations would continue the
following week. Afinalmeeting oftheCommittee wasscheduled for24and25October, atwhich
thereport asawhole washoped tobeadopted.
TheChairmansaidthatdelegationsnowhadanoverallviewofthestate-of-playinthepreparatory
work inboththeHOD process under theChairmanship oftheDirector-General andtheprocess in
thevarious WTO bodies. Hesawaremarkable sense ofunity which augured wellforthepreparations
fortheMinisterial Conference. Having heard thereports bytheDirector-General andthechairpersons
ofthevarious WTO bodies, hebelieved onewasnowentering acrucial phase inthepreparations for
Singapore. Thefollowing twoweeks would beatimeofintense activity. On2November, asindicated
bytheDirector-General, thecomplete textofadraftdeclaration would besubmitted todelegations.
Also, on1November, theCouncil forTrade inGoods would meet tofinalize itsownwork. By
2November, therefore, delegations would beabletohaveacomprehensive, overall picture ofwhat
could besubmitted toMinisters inSingapore. Since itwasthedelegations themselves thatwereputting
togetherthepiecesofthepuzzle,theyshouldnotbefacedwithanyunexpectedsituationson2November.
Thus, by2November, allwould beinaposition toproceed towards theconclusion oftheprocess
attheGeneral Council meeting on7November, andtomake anyfinaladjustments asmaybenecessary
toleadtoagreed-upon conclusions atthatGeneral Council meeting. Some workmight wellberequired
onthetextstoensure consistency andcoherence, interms ofform.
Asoneengaged inthisfinalphase, hewished tomake some comments andrecommendations.
First, itwasimperative tomaintain thedeadline ofthe7November General Council meeting forthe
conclusion ofthesubstantive preparations fortheMinisterial Conference. After thatdate,anumber
ofdelegations inGeneva would notbefullyoperational duetoother meetings, aswellastheneed
forthem toreport totheircapitals andreceive instructions forSingapore. Logistical requirements
imposed thisdeadline, including thetimerequired forprocessing thedocumentation forSingapore,
andthefactthattheSecretariat would betravelling toSingapore wellinadvance oftheMinisterial
Conference inorder toensure thattheorganisational aspects werefullyoperational fromthefirstday
ofthemeeting. The7November deadline wastherefore nottobetaken lightly.
Second, ifthisdeadline were toberespected, thenthevarious WTO bodies should strictly
maintain theirowntimetables fortheirlastmeetings. Heurged delegations toassist boththeDirector-
General andtheChairpersons ofthevarious WTO bodies inmeeting theirdeadlines. Third, thereports
from thevarious WTO bodies should notbedraftreports. They would havetobedefinitive texts,
andheexpected thatalldifferences ofviewwould beresolved before thereports werefinalized. If
differences persisted attheendofthelastmeeting ofanyWTO body, theywould havetobereflected
inthereport itself, butnotinsquare brackets. Fourth, bothunder theDirector-General 'sprocess and
intheGeneral Council process, workcould onlybecompleted ifdelegations refrained fromintroducing
newandsubstantive elements. Thetimeforinputs hadnowtobeconsidered aspast,anditwasnow
timeforoutput. Fifth, considerable commitment, effort anddiscipline would berequired byalloverWT/GC/M/15
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thefollowing twoweeks. Heurged alltomake substantive contributions tothemeetings onthedates
onwhich theywereconvened. TheWTO meetings timetable wasalready overburdened, aswasthe
Secretariat 'scapacity toprovide interpretation andmeeting room facilities. Inthefollowing weeks,
itwould bedesirable toavoid anylast-minute cancellations ofmeetings. Suchcancellations werenot
onlyexpensive, butmade rescheduling meetings difficult because ofthelimited availability oftime
andmeeting rooms. Hewould continue hiscoordination activities withgreater intensity inthecoming
weeks. Thenextsubject forconsultations would concern organizational matters andtheproposed agenda
fortheMinisterial Conference, andthedeadlines setforthisintheRules ofProcedure (WT/L/161)
would havetoberespected. ThiswasthefirstMinisterial Conference, andeverything should bedone
toensure thatitwould stand asacredible parameter forfuture suchmeetings.
Therepresentative ofMorocco saidhefullysupported theChairman 'sstatement. When the
Chairman hadurged thatallreports totheGeneral Council befinal, heunderstood thatthiswasbecause
theGeneralCouncilwouldmerelyendorseallthereportsandforwardthemtotheMinisterialConference
astextsalready endorsed. Itwould therefore notbeveryuseful tohavereports withsquare-bracketed
textsattheGeneral Council meeting on7November. Heunderstood thistobethereasoning behind
theChairman 'srecommendation, since thenormal practice wasthatifacommittee orcouncil could
notagree onanyparticular matter, itforwarded thatmatter toahigher bodyforfurther consideration.
TheChairman saidthatonecould notenvisage afinalreport issued byacommittee orcouncil
thatcontained square-bracketed text. Thatwasnotafinalreport. Ifagreement werenotpossible on
aparticular matter, thereport should itself reflect thisfact,andMembers could thenfollow thatup
inthemanner theydeemed most appropriate.
Therepresentative ofMexico saidheagreed thatiftherewerenoconsensus onanygiven matter
inaWTO body, thenitsreport should reflect thedifferent positions ofMembers. However, Mexico
believed itwasveryimportant nottointroduce intoanyreports proposals bycertain Members ina
manner thatgavetheimpression thatthere wasaconsensus ontheirinclusion inthereport. Mexico
wasconcerned thatinthereports ofsome WTO bodies, proposals bycertain delegations onwhich
therewasnoconsensus hadbeeninserted asanewsection ofthereport. Where therewasnoconsensus,
Mexico agreed withtheChairman thatthereport should reflect theopposing views.
Therepresentative ofParaguay saidthathisdelegation alsosupported theChairman 'sstatement,
andhoped thatthrough anefficient approach tothiswork onewould besuccessful. Asasmall
delegation, Paraguay wasmaking greatefforts tofollow theverylargenumber ofmeetings being held
inthepreparations forSingapore. Withregard tothereports ofalltheWTO bodies andother related
documentation, heemphasized thattheyshould bedistributed insufficient timetoalldelegations in
thethreeworkinglanguagesoftheWTO,sothatdelegationscouldconsultmoreeasilywiththeircapitals.
Hisdelegation attached thehighest importance tothisaspect because itdidnotparticipate inallthe
plurilateral consultations.
TheChairmansaidthathehadnotedParaguay'sstatement,andwouldgiveitparticularattention.
Alldelegations should beabletoparticipate fullyinthiscrucial phase ofthepreparatory work.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatements.
(c) Attendance ofinternational intergovernmental organizations asobservers
TheChairman recalled thatatthe2October meeting oftheGeneral Council, ithadbeenagreed
thatfourinternational intergovernmental organizations thatwere notalready observers totheWTOWT/GC/M/15
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andthathadrequested observer status attheMinisterial Conference, should beinvited toSingapore.
Since thatmeeting, another organization thatwasnotalready anobserver totheWTO, namely the
United Nations Economic andSocial Commission forWestern Asia(ESCWA), hadsubmitted arequest
forattendance, andheproposed thatthisrequest beconsidered positively.
TheGeneral Council agreed togranttheESCWA observer status attheMinisterial Conference.
Therepresentative ofMorocco asked whether thelistoforganizations thatfellintothiscategory
-namely, those thatwere notalready observers inanyWTO body andrequested observer status at
theMinisterial Conference -wasclosed orstillopen. Hebelieved thatalistofallsuchrequests should
bedistributed sothattherequests could beacted oninthecorrect manner, onthebasisofconsultations,
rather thanbepresented todelegations ataformal meeting forimmediate action.
TheChairman saidthatthere wereveryfewinternational organizations thatdidnotalready
haveobserver status intheWTO. TheESCWA wasaUNregional commission, andhehadbelieved
thatnodelegation would object togranting itobserver status, andhadtherefore notheldconsultations.
Hewould clearly holdconsultations onrequests fromother organizations onwhich aconsensus might
beindoubt, andwould keepMorocco 'scomments inmind.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatements.
(d) Attendance ofnon-governmental organizations
TheChairman saidthatinadopting on18Julytheguidelines forarrangements onrelations
withNOGs andatthesametimetheprocedures forthecirculation andderestriction ofWTO documents,
theWTO hadcontributed totheimprovement oftransparency anddevelopment ofcommunication with
NGOs. Inthatrespect, theSingapore Ministerial Conference wassignificant asitwasthefirstmajor
opportunity fortheWTO tohaveitsrelations withNGOs placed under public scrutiny. Onanoverall
note, theWTO 'spublic image wasthatofanewly established organization thatwasdoing important
work andwasfunctioning quitewell. Atthesame time, oneshould notforget thatinmany countries
public support forthemultilateral trading system wascrucial toreaching thegoals thathadbeenset
fortheWTO. ThefactthatNGOs withabroad range ofinterests wished tofollow thework ofthe
WTO inSingapore wasanaccurate reflection oftheimportance attached bythepublic totheactivities
oftheorganization. These considerations hadbeenuppermost when, alsoon18July, theGeneral
Council haddecided toprovide facilities totheNGOs during theMinisterial Conference. Ashadbeen
requested bytheGeneral Council on2October, theSecretariat hadputtogether inaninformal document,
number 5278, theinformation onthemodalities forattendance ofNGOs attheMinisterial Conference,
which hadfirstbeencirculated during theinformal consultations heldon4October.
Herecalled thattheGeneral Council on2October hadagreed toextend thedeadline for
registration to15October. Since theGeneral Council would notmeetagain before 7November, and
inorder nottodelay unnecessarily theprocess ofregistration ofNGOs, agreement hadbeenreached
ininformal consultations onawaytomove theprocess forward, asfollows: (a)theSecretariat would
establish for16October, onedayaftertheregistration deadline, asanaddendum tothelistdistributed
on2October, alistofthose additional NGOs which hadpresented requests forregistration andwhich
hadreceived registration forms since2October, andwould circulate on22October afinallistofthose
NGOs towhom confirmation would besent; and(b)thefacilities provided forNGOs attheSingapore
Ministerial Conference might bereviewed bytheGeneral Council inthelightoftheexperience gained
fromthisfirstMinisterial Conference. Headded thatconfirmation ofregistration would allow NGOs
entrance totheplenary session oftheMinisterial Conference attheSuntec Conference Centre, entranceWT/GC/M/15
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totheconference room made available forNGOs intheWestin Hotel, andparticipation insocial and
cultural events. Hehoped thatwiththesetwosuggestions onecould agree tomove theprocess forward.
Therepresentative ofPakistan saidthat,ashisdelegation hadalready informed theChairman,
ithadrequested information andclarification fromtheSecretariat onthequestion oftherelationship
withmatters related totheWTO ofcertain NGOs whose names appeared inthelistcirculated bythe
Secretariat on1October. Hisdelegation appreciated being given thetimerequired toconsider such
clarifications, andwould come backtotheChairman inthelightoftheseclarifications inthetime-frame
indicated byhim.
Therepresentative ofMorocco saidthatthesuggestions made bytheChairman seemed
appropriate. Theinformal procedure, andtheconsultations thattheChairman hadheld, werethebest
waytodealwiththisverysensitive issue, andhisdelegation supported thisprocess. Theissueofthe
NGOs would beimportant fortheWTO inthefuture.
Therepresentative ofKorea saidthatsome NGOs from Korea hadindicated theirinterest in
attendance attheSingapore Ministerial Conference, andhisdelegation wished toexpressed its
appreciation forthearrangements thathadbeenmade inregard tothismatter.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatements andagreed totheChairman 'sprocedure.
4. WTO Press Release ontrade andforeign direct investment
Therepresentative ofIndia, speaking under "Other Business", expressed concern attherecent
issuance bytheSecretariat ofaPress Release entitled "Trade andForeign Direct Investment -New
Report bytheWTO". Tothebestofhisknowledge, neither theGeneral Council noranyother WTO
bodyhadseen,much lessadopted, this"report". Itwasamatter ofregret forhisdelegation thatmaterial
onahighly controversial subject wasbeing circulated withamisleading titlegiving theimpression
thatithadtheblessing oftheWTO membership. Infact,itwashisunderstanding thatthePress Release
hadnotyetbeenmade available toWTO Members. Hehadnoknowledge whatsoever astothereasons
andcircumstances under which thePress Release hadbeenissued. Hehadheard rumours thatthe
report inthisPress Release waspartofabigger document andthatthesection relating totrade and
foreign direct investment wasbeing released inadvance. Itwasamatter ofdeepregret forhisdelegation
thatonatopic thatwascurrently under informal discussion intheHeads-of-Delegations preparatory
process fortheSingapore Ministerial Conference, theSecretariat should haveissued adocument giving
whatappeared tobeaone-sided viewofthismatter. What concerned hisdelegation wasnotsomuch
thematerial contained inthePress Release, butrather theaction oftheSecretariat inissuing adocument
onacontroversial issue currently being debated, without taking Members intoconfidence. His
delegation 'sattitude would notchange, norwould hesupport suchanaction oftheSecretariat, ifthe
Secretariat weretoputoutadocument supporting hisdelegation 'sviews onthissubject. Theissue
herewasnottheprosandconsofamultilateral investment agreement, butsomething morefundamental
andimportant fordelegations. Itrelated totheroleoftheSecretariat andtherelationship ofthe
Secretariat withdelegations. Therespect andcredibility thattheWTO Secretariat commanded with
delegations likehisownwasdirectly related tothefactthattheSecretariat didnottrytotakesides
when delegations haddifferent approaches toissues. Hehadanuncomfortable feeling thatthePress
Release inquestion perhaps signified adetermined departure from whatdelegations hadunderstood
theroleoftheSecretariat tobe.Henoted thatthePress Release hadindicated thattwoDirectors of
theSecretariat would holdamedia briefing ontheafternoon of16October. Itappeared thatthe
Secretariat wastrying topushoneparticular point ofviewonthissubject. Herequested theDirector-WT/GC/M/15
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General toindicate whether thiswastheintention. Iftheanswer wereyes,hemight wishtorevert
tothissubject attheHeads-of-Delegations meeting, aswellasatthenextmeeting oftheGeneral Council
withapossible suggestion thattheagenda oftheSingapore Ministerial Conference include thesubject
oftherelationship between theSecretariat andtheMembers oftheWTO sothatdelegations likehis
could haveclarity onthissubject.
Therepresentative ofMalaysia saidthatheshared India'sconcern andsupported fully its
statement. Hisdelegation would welcome anyexplanation concerning thismatter.
Therepresentative ofMexico saidthattheissueraised byIndiadeserved careful consideration.
Although hisdelegation hadhadnoprior knowledge oftheparticular casereferred tobyIndia, ithad
often found itself inanuncomfortable position inthepastwhen certain views andtrends ofthought
inWTO discussions werereflected indocuments made available tothepublic. Mexico therefore shared
India'sconcerns. Thismatter deserved tobeexamined collectively atanappropriate timetoseehow
oneshould proceed inthefuture sothatsuchsituations foronedelegation orother could beavoided.
Therepresentative ofMorocco saidthatalthough India hadraised animportant andrelevant
problem, hewould urgedelegations nottodealwiththismatter atthistime, inviewofthedeadlines
andtheimportance ofthepreparatory work fortheMinisterial Conference. While theWTO might
bethecontinuation oftheGATT, itwasnonetheless aneworganization, andonedidnotalways need
toreferbacktowhatwasdoneinthepast. Thatbeing said,thisproblem certainly deserved attention.
Hebelieved, however, thatitshould beputonholduntilaftertheMinisterial Conference. Inthe
meantime, theSecretariat should perhaps beasked toabstain fromfanning theflames oncontroversial
issues.
Therepresentative ofNorway expressed support forMorocco 'sstatement. Hisdelegation had
noticed atendency intheGeneral Council toraise under "Other Business" important andrelevant
questions thatother Members hadnopriorknowledge ofandweretherefore unprepared forsubstantive
discussion on.Hisdelegation fullyshared thebasic concerns raised byIndia. However, ifother
delegations were tobeabletorelate tothismatter, theyshould havebeengiven thepossibility of
familiarizing themselves withthisproblem inadvance, rather thanhaving totakeitupunder"Other
Business".
Therepresentative ofTanzania saidthatwhile hehadnotseenthepress release referred to
byIndia, heendorsed andassociated hisdelegation withthesentiments expressed byIndia. Thequestion
ofinvestment wasaveryimportant one,andtouched allcountries, particularly theAfrican andleast-
developedcountries.Onewascurrentlyintheprocessofdiscussingwhethertherewasmeritinproposing
adiscussion atSingapore without commitment tonegotiations. Thatbeing thecase,small delegations
feltveryuncomfortable tobeseen, when theyexpressed adifferent view, asiftheywerecontradicting
theposition oftheSecretariat. Hehoped thataclarification would bemade astothebestwaythis
matter should behandled.
TheChairman noted thatanydelegation wasentitled topropose anitemfordiscussion under
"Other Business", particularly ifthatitemconcerned amatter thatarose aftertheconvening notice
forthemeeting withtheitems proposed fortheregular partoftheagenda hadbeencirculated tendays
prior tothemeeting, asrequired bytheRules ofProcedure (WT/L/161). However, asRule25of
those rules stipulated, unduly longdebates under "Other Business" should beavoided. Anymatter
raised under "Other Business" hadtobeconsidered asmostly forthepurposes ofproviding information.
There wastherefore noquestion ofreaching anyconclusions onthismatter atthispoint, andan
appropriate follow-up would beprovided atasubsequent meeting.WT/GC/M/15
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Therepresentative ofIndia saidithadnotbeenhisintention tospring anysurprises. Hehad
made clear inhisstatement thathisdelegation hadaconcern onwhich itonlysought aclarification
fromtheDirector-General atthisstage. Depending onthatclarification, hisdelegation would consider
reverting tothismatter attheinformal Heads ofDelegations meetings oratthenextGeneral Council
meeting withapossible suggestion. Ithadnotbeenhisintention tohaveanyparticular point endorsed
atthepresent meeting.
TheDirector-General saidhewished tomake clearthatthepress release inquestion merely
reproducedforadvancecirculationachapterontradeandforeigndirectinvestmentfromtheforthcoming
WTO Annual Report for1996. Thiswasinkeeping withthepastpractice ofreleasing apress statement
before theannual report oninternational tradewaspublished. Thechapter recognized thatthequestion
ofwhether amultilateral negotiation should takeplace, andifsowhyitshould takeplace intheWTO,
wasanopenquestion. Hedidnotbelieve, therefore, thattheSecretariat hadmade anyinnovations
inthismatter. Hewould, however, lookintothisquestion withalltheattention thatitrequired.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatements.
5. Observer status forinternational intergovernmental organizations
TheChairman, speaking under "Other Business", recalled that,inaccordance withtheadhoc
arrangementsforobserverstatusforinternationalintergovernmentalorganizationsapprovedataninformal
meeting ofHeads ofDelegations on16March 19952,andasagreed attheGeneral Council meeting
on2October 1996, thefollowing organizations hadbeeninvited asobservers tothepresent meeting:
United Nations, UNCTAD, IMF, World Bank, FAO, WIPO andOECD. Itwashisunderstanding
that,pending agreement ontheorganizations tobeaccorded observer status intheGeneral Council
inaccordance withtheguidelines forsuchstatus agreed on18July3,theabove organizations would
alsobeinvited tothenextmeeting.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthisinformation.
2SeeWT/GC/M/3, item3.
3SeeWT/L/161, Annex 3.