RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/COMTD/M/30
28 November 2000
(00-5122)
Committee on Trade and Development
NOTE ON THE MEETING OF 22 SEPTEMBER 2000
Chairman: H.E. Mr. Ransford Smith (Jamaica)
A. ADOPTION OF THE DRAFT AGENDA
1. The Chairman asked if there were any additions to the draft agenda contained  in airgram
WTO/AIR/1364 of 4 August 2000.
2. The representative of Switzerland proposed to add to item C on Technical Cooperation an
additional sub-item on how to proceed with the Evaluation report (WT/COMTD/W/72).  He recalled
that many proposals had been made at the 29th Session of the CTD, and added that since the report
was an interim report, his delegation wished to know how the Secretariat would proceed.
3. A representative of the Technical Cooperation Division said that the Secretariat's choice was
to write a second report in 2001 which would take into account statements made by delegations.
4. The representative of Switzerland said his delegation was satisfied with the Secretariat's
response, and was looking forward to the second report in 2001.  He reiterated his delegation's
proposal that the Secretariat should single out specific areas of technical cooperation for more in
depth analysis.
5. The Chairman proposed that under "Other Business" the CTD consider a proposal that a
briefing session be held on the outcome of  an ITC Forum on National Export Strategies, held at
Montreux from 27 to 29 September 2000, the theme of which "Export Development in the Digital
Economy".
6. The Chairman  proposed that the agenda be adopted as amended.
7. It was so agreed.
B. REQUEST FOR ATTENDANCE OF AD HOC OBSERVERS
8. The Chairman recalled that at previous sessions of the CTD it had been agreed to invite the
following intergovernmental organizations on an  ad hoc, meeting-by-meeting basis.  These
organizations were: the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU);  the Economic Community of West African
States (ECOWAS);  the Economic Cooperation Or ganisation (ECO);  the Inter-Arab Investment
Guarantee Corporation;  the Islamic Development Bank (IDB);  the Organisation of African
Unity (OAU);  Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC);  the South Centre;  the South PacificForum;  the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP);  the West African Economic and
Monetary Union (WAEMU);  and the World Inte llectual Property Organisation (WIPO).  The
Chairman proposed that these organisations be invited to the next formal meeting of the CTD.WT/COMTD/M/30
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9. It was so agreed.
10. The Chairman recalled that there were two outs tanding requests for Observer Status from the
League of Arab States and from OPEC, and asked if the CTD was in a position to make a decision on
either of these requests.
11. The representative of the United States said that her delegation envisioned that they would be
in position to make a decision in October, but was not, at the time of the 30th Session of the CTD, in a
position to move forward on the two requests.
12. The representative of Egypt said that his delegation hoped that the United States would be in
a position to approve ad hoc Observer Status on a meeting by meeting basis at the next session of the
CTD, and therefore proposed that the two organisations under consideration be added to the list of
organisations invited to attend the next session of the CTD on an ad hoc meeting by meeting basis.
13. The representative of Venezuela proposed that the OPEC be invited to attend the next
meeting of the CTD on an a hoc basis.
14. The representative of the United States said that the position of her delegation was the same
with respect to the request from the OPEC as in relation to the request from the League of Arab
States.
15. The Chairman said that it did not appear that the CTD was in a position to decide on the two
requests before the next meeting of the CTD.  In the circumstances, the Chairman suggested deferring
the decision on these requests until the 31st Session of the CTD.
16. It was so agreed.
17. The Chairman said that the CTD had one new request for Observer Status from the Gulf
Organisation for Industrial Consulting.  A copy of the request was available in the room.
18. The representative of Bahrein, speaking also on behalf of the United Arab Emirates and
Qatar, supported the granting of Observer Status to the Gulf Organisation for Industrial Consulting.
19. The representative of the United States said that her delegation could support ad hoc Observer
Status on a meeting-by-meeting basis for the Gulf Organisation for Industrial Consulting as her
delegation awaited the completion by the General Council of guidelines and procedures for thegranting of Observer Status for all the committees of the WTO.  Her delegation recognised that it had
been the practice of various committees to grant Observer Status on an ad hoc meeting by meeting
basis.
20. The representative of Egypt said his delegation was encouraged by the response of the
United States, and asked whether there was approval for the granting of ad hoc Observer Status for all
three organisations (the League of Arab States, the OPEC, and the Gulf Organisation for Industrial
Consulting).
21. The Chairman said that it was understanding that the United States had indicated that it would
be in position to consider the request for ad hoc Observer Status for the League of Arab States and the
OPEC at the 31st Session of the CTD.
22. The representative of the United States said that the Chairman's understanding was correct.WT/COMTD/M/30
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23. The representative of Egypt proposed that all three requests for Observer Status be kept
together, in keeping with practice in other bodies, and considered jointly at the 31st Session of the
CTD.  He said that this was regrettable since his delegation wished to support all three organisations
in their requests, and he hoped that positive action could be taken in respect of all three requests at the
31st Session of the CTD.
24. The representative of the EC said that his delegation had no objection to any of the requests,
but added that in view of the specialisation of Gulf Organisation for Industrial Consulting, the CTD or
the General Council should take up the debate on the benefits to the WTO of the number of observers
it now had.  He said that, without any offence to the Gulf Organisation for Industrial Consulting, that
this organisation had a very specific task.  There could also be an organisation for agriculture
consulting and so forth, and that some stage a debate on the general criteria for Observer Status could
not be avoided.
25. The representative of the United States said that her delegation would not oppose the request
of another Member to defer all three requests, even though it was not her delegation's wish or
proposal that all three be deferred.
26. The Chairman proposed that, in light of the discussions, that a decision on all three requests
be deferred to the 31st Session.
27. It was so agreed.
C. TECHNICAL COOPERATION :
1. Report by Chairman on the Days of Reflection
28. The Chairman recalled that on 18-19 July the CTD met informally to hold two "Days of
Reflection" on technical cooperation.  He said his report1 on that meeting, prepared on his own
responsibility, had already been distributed and copies were also available in the room in all three
languages (see Annex).  His general impression was that the Days of Reflection had served as a useful
exercise to distil ideas on the WTO's role in technical cooperation.  Among the issues on which he
thought Members would want to continue to reflect were: how best to balance planning needs againsturgent demands;  how to balance demands against budget and personnel constraints; what should be
the substantive content of the seminars;  how best to deliver technical cooperation on the one hand,
through regional or national and, on the other hand, through specialised or more general seminars;
how best to collaborate with other international and national agencies; and how the success of WTO
technical cooperation function on an ongoing basis might effectively be monitored, and how ideas for
improvement could be taken up.
29. The representative of Norway welcomed the Chairman's report on the "Days of Reflection",
which was a useful summary of the themes raised.  Norway clearly agreed with several points in the
report, such as the need for a clear strategy for t echnical cooperation in the WTO; the need to reduce
dependence on ad hoc initiatives; and the need to address the serious underfunding of WTO technical
cooperation.  His delegation reminded the CTD of Norway's strong conviction that the WTO's
technical assistance activities should be made part of the regular WTO budget, while not precludingvoluntary contributions.  The inclusion of the financing of these activities on the regular budget was
necessary to ensure the stable and predictable funding base of the Secretariat's planning of technical
assistance.  More information was needed on what was meant in concrete terms by the reference to
the need to involve the private sector.  Was this a reference to possible private funding of WTO
                                                     
1 See Annex, pp.16-20.WT/COMTD/M/30
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technical assistance activities, or was it a reference to the role private actors such as academia and
NGOs could play in technical assistance programmes at the national level?  His delegation sounded a
word of caution regarding the role of the WTO in technical cooperation.  As Norway saw it, this role
was clearly linked to submitting information, building capacity, and providing training concerning the
various rights and obligations that existed in the WTO Agreements.  Norway did not foresee a role forthe WTO in technical assistance activities of a more general, developmental nature.  Such activities
were to be left to other organisations such as the World Bank, the IMF, the UNDP, and the UNCTAD,
as well as bilateral donors.  The WTO's technical cooperation activities needed to be coordinated with
those of other partners, and trade-related technical assistance needed to be better integrated into
general development projects and programmes.
30. The representative of Bangladesh was sorry not to have been able to attend the "Days of
Reflection".  Like other LDCs, Bangladesh looked forward to more enhanced levels of technical
cooperation.  His delegation generally supported what had been said by the representative of Norway,
particularly the need to place the funding of WTO technical cooperation on a firm footing through the
regular budget.  He said that another point of the report that had attracted his delegation's attention
was the need for priority for technical assistance programmes for LDCs.  Regarding the role of the
Integrated Framework (IF), he said that Bangladesh  was disappointed by the fact that the IF had not
performed as well as expected.  He added that the IF, hamstrung as it was, was being saddled with
extra responsibilities.  It seemed to be becoming a coordination mechanism of sorts, and there was
also the additional, and not fully understood, issue of integrating the IF into the PRSP process.  He felt
that the IF should be left as it was conceived to be.
31. The representative of Switzerland said the "Days of Reflection" had been quite useful, and
that the Chairman's report adequately summarised the proceedings of the event.  He said that it was
necessary to work out a clear strategy in the months to come, with a clear definition of objectives, and
a logical sequencing of technical assistance activities.  This was, however, unlikely to solve another
major problem in the delivery of technical assistance activities: as the Chairman's report pointed out,
it was difficult to programme technical cooperation activities when only a minority of beneficiarycountries responded to the planning questionnaires.  He said that the ad hoc nature of technical
assistance delivery was not primarily a problem of the WTO Secretariat, since the Secretariat was not
necessarily  in a position to reject an ad hoc request by a country official.  Therefore, Switzerland  was
of the view that the CTD should give support to the Secretariat, by enabling it to take measures which
would make the three-year plan a more reliable planning instrument.  He said that there were several
possibilities which could be envisioned to facilitate the programming of technical assistance activities
an the early announcement of technical assistance needs.  For instance, one possibility – which couldbe called a "soft option" – would be to name those countries which made extensive use of ad hoc
requests.  Another possibility was that the CTD should take a decision that the Secretariat should only
accept requests which were made in due time, that is, in the autumn of the year preceeding the
delivery of the activity.  This would be a "hard option", but had the advantage of sensitising everyone
to the fact that technical assistance had long-term effects, and that it needed to be carefully planned bybeneficiary countries.  A third possibility, which would build-in some flexibility to deal with urgent,
ad hoc, requests would be to specify that ad hoc requests were not excluded per se , but that they
would be only accepted on condition that the requesting country partially participate in the financing
of the activity.  Switzerland proposed that the Secretariat be mandated, as part of its current work on
assessing and redefining technical assistance, to develop proposals on measures to reduce ad hocrequests, and therefore to make the three-year plan a more reliable instrument
32. The representative of the United States said that her delegation was of the view that the "Days
of Reflection" had been useful, and had allowed for a closer focus on technical cooperation, which
had become a significant and critical issue.  Her delegation had made some suggestions during the
days of reflection, and she hoped that these suggestions would be taken into account in any furtherwork done by the Secretariat.  Her delegation had also mentioned on a number of occasions the bi-WT/COMTD/M/30
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lateral assistance provided by the United States.  A compendium had been compiled of all technical
assistance provided, a copy of which was to be distributed to the WTO, and the information contained
therein was also accessible through the World Wide Web, at http://www.usaid.gov/ .  The
compendium compiled information on technical assistance provided each region and the financial
resources involved.  She urged Members to consult the compendium, as this could be used to identifyproblems, and also possibilities for the use of technical assistance.  She said that the question had once
been raised in the CTD as to why the United States did not devote the resources  it had been providing
bi-laterally to fund technical assistance through the WTO.  She said that while comments made in
CTD meetings on the role of the Secretariat in the delivery of technical assistance were important, bi-
lateral technical assistance was a fact of life, and had been taking place prior to, and independently of,
the WTO's establishment and the GATT.  She said that it was important for Members to coordinate
the technical assistance they received from various sources, and that if there was a comprehensiveapproach to the use of technical assistance, the results would also be comprehensive.  She said that the
compendium was an example of how the United States coordinated its efforts in the delivery of
technical assistance, and hoped that there would be similar efforts in coordination on the beneficiary
side, so that the results of technical cooperation could be better realised.  She said that the
United States was to submit a contribution of SwF1 million to the Global Trust Fund, specifically forthe Africa region, as a start, and that this money would cover WTO technical assistance for both
least-developed countries and other developing African countries.  The United States and the WTO
Secretariat had evaluated how the funds would be  utilised, and it was expected that a second
contribution would be made in 2001 for other developing countries.  She said that technical assistance
provided by WTO experts was effective, and that the funds required for the delivery of suchassistance would be available, but the United States was concerned that, irrespective of the source of
technical assistance, there be better coordination on the donor, the WTO and the beneficiary sides, in
order that the results of technical assistance delivery be optimal.
33. The Chairman thanked the United States for its contribution, and for news of the contribution
to be made in 2001.
34. The representative of the European Communitie s said that the Chairman had compiled in a
clear and factual manner the proceedings of the "Days of Reflection".  He said that the issues under
discussion were complex, as evidenced by the number of points raised in the Chairman's report, which
ranged from matters of budget, to matters of planning, to matters of scope and so forth.  His
delegation agreed with the issues identified by the Chairman, in the introductory section of his note,
as being the most urgent ones.  His delegation believed that the time had come to see how the report
could be built on, given the clearer view that Members now had on the issues at stake.  He said thatdiscussions on technical assistance were not only advancing in the CTD, but elsewhere as well.  He
said that one of the tasks of the CTD would be to synthesise the common elements of the various
discussions which were taking place.  For instance, the TBT Committee had discussed what approach
it could take to technical assistance, and the EC had also submitted its own proposal to the Committee
on Customs Valuation.  There was also an extensive discussion on the Integrated Framework, whichalso addressed questions such as funding, planning and scope, as well as the concept of
"mainstreaming".  He said that there was also a debate in the context of APEC, as well as the
initiatives taken by donors at a bilateral level.  Finally, he noted that the Director-General had sent out
a questionnaire on these issues as well.  He said that discussions should reflect these various
initiatives, and that conclusions should be drawn on this basis.  He said that Switzerland had made aconcrete proposal regarding the planning of technical assistance activities, and that this was one way
to start a concrete discussion.  Another way to start concrete discussion was to be aware of the various
discussions that were on-going, notably those surr ounding the Integrated Framework, which were in
many ways the leading discussions on technical assistance and which covered many areas of
relevance to the delivery of technical assistance in general.  He said that there had been proposalsmade to the effect that the principles of the Integrated Framework be extended to technical assistance
in general in the WTO.  He said that a general strategy based on all these points was an importantWT/COMTD/M/30
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demand, though it was not clear who was in a position to write such a strategy.  His main concern was
that the various approaches pursued be pulled together, so that their essence may be distilled.
35. The representative of Colombia said the Chairman's report was useful.  In order that a more
complete picture of the topics and issues for discussion that came out of the "Days of Reflection" be
given, her delegation thought it important that account be taken of a specific proposal that had beenmade by her delegation, and endorsed by others, during the "Days of Reflection" to the effect that
consideration should be given to the provision of funds to enable experts from capitals to attend
meetings in Geneva in order to provide support for missions in Geneva that lacked adequate capacity.
Such actions would ensure better implementation of agreements and a better compliance with
commitments.
36. The representative of Haiti recalled that his delegation had intervened on a number of the
themes identified in the report.  He said he wished to emphasise three areas:  cooperation with other
inter-governmental agencies; technical cooperation in favour of least-developed countries; and the
question of human resource requirements and the financial implications of such requirements.
Regarding the question of cooperation with other inter-governmental agencies on matters of technical
cooperation, his delegation had made concrete suggestions to the effect that Memoranda of
Understanding (MoUs) signed between the WTO and various other inter-governmental organisationscould have concrete results for the delivery of technical cooperation activities by the WTO.  For
instance, he had suggested that the conclusion of the MoU between the WTO and the UNIDO could
be speeded up, so that there might be cooperation on matters related to industrial development.
Referring to the ITC, and the mandate that the WTO had for close collaboration with this
organisation, his delegation expressed surprise at what appeared to be, in the context of theimplementation of the Integrated Framework, a reduction of the scope of cooperation with the ITC.
He said that the ITC had been responsible for the Administrative Unit of the IF, which was now being
handed over the WTO.  He raised questions about this transfer of responsibilities, in view of the fact
that there was already too much for the WTO to ha ndle.  With respect to the issue of technical
cooperation in favour of least-developed countries, and the Integrated Framework, he recalled that hisdelegation had already expressed the concern that by anchoring technical cooperation in the activities
of other agencies that the Integrated Framework was losing the focus of its mission, which was to
address the trade-related concerns of least-developed countries.  He said that linkages were being
made between trade-related technical cooperation, and the UNDP's poverty reduction framework, and
also with the World Bank's mission regarding poverty and development.  While his delegation
believed that particular attention needed to be given to poverty reduction, the IF was a complementary
exercise, which was intended to focus on trade-related problems, and not social problems.  If the IFwas too closely attached to other poverty reduction programmes, then the IF as had been mandated by
the Singapore Ministerial Conference would be diluted.  Regarding human resource and financial
resource needs, he said that the quest for core budgetary funding of technical cooperation had been
on-going for two years.  He said that prior to the Seattle Ministerial Conference, the proposal had
been to stagger an amount of SwF10 million ov er a three-year period, whereas now it was proposed
that the sum be provided over one year.  In relation to the latter proposal, he noted that it had also
been proposed that 75 per cent of this sum be devoted funding activities, while 25 per cent be devoted
to human resources.  His delegation requested clarification of what was meant by "activities".  His
delegation was also of the view that each Member should contribute towards the funds.
37. The representative of the Philippines said his delegation appreciated the value of the "Days of
Reflection" and the report submitted by the Chairman, insofar as it covered issues of the management
of technical cooperation.  He said that the delivery of WTO technical assistance related to general
development-oriented technical assistance provided by other agencies.  He said that the value of the
"Days of Reflection" would be determined by how  the discussion of technical cooperation could be
moved forward.  He said that in moving the process forward, it was necessary to take into account theview of donors, beneficiaries, and the Secretariat.  He said that a framework should be developed byWT/COMTD/M/30
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the WTO Secretariat on how the programme of mana gement could be worked out and consulted with
the donors and beneficiaries.  He said that he was unaware of any set of guidelines on how the
technical cooperation programme worked, and what were the main and subsidiary objectives;  and
whether technical cooperation was accessible to all and on what criteria.  He said that following the
establishment of the WTO, there was huge demand for technical cooperation which had perhaps beenunanticipated.  It was on the basis of reflections that the WTO could craft certain guidelines on
technical cooperation.  He said that it was recognised that WTO operated in a wider setting, and, as
had been demonstrated in discussions on the Integrated Framework, there as an increasing emphasis
on mainstreaming trade policies into overall development strategies, including those related to poverty
reduction.  This was another paradigm which needed to be taken into account, and for which specific
resources may need to be devoted.  He said that there was a specific issue concerning collaboration
with NGOs and the sharing of expenses, and there had been some positive experiences from both theITC's and the UNCTAD's  activities in this respect.  He said that it was necessary for the WTO  to
consider all these issues and develop a common approach.
38. The representative of Haiti proposed that in order to develop concrete solutions to questions
relating to the financing of projects under the Integrated Framework, the WTO should take up with
the World Bank the idea that a quarter of resources generated by debt relief should be allocated to thefunding of trade-related projects coming under the Integrated Framework.  He said that this was a
concrete area where the collaboration between the WTO and the World Bank could be effective.
39. The Director of the Technical Cooperation Division said that, in respect of least-developed
countries, a separate Secretariat Working Group had been established.  Regarding the transfer of the
Integrated Framework's administrative unit from the ITC  to the WTO,  he said that this had beendone to improve the administration of the IF, given that the person responsible for chairing the Inter-
Agency Working Group was part of the WTO Secretariat.  He said that other questions raised by Haiti
could be addressed at the meeting of the Sub-Committee on LDCs.  Regarding the relationship of the
private sector to the development of technical assistance, he said that the question had not arisen from
the point of view of funding, but rather from the perspective that the private sector was the engine ofgrowth.  Since this was the case, the view had been expressed that attendance by representatives of the
private sector during WTO technical assistance activities would be beneficial.  There was no intention
that the WTO take over the mandate of the ITC.  Regarding the need to consolidate the various ideas
and proposals that had been expressed on the subject of technical assistance, the Director of the
Technical Cooperation Division brought to the attention of the CTD a document that had been
prepared by the Technical Cooperation Division, and circulated two days prior to the 30
th Session,
which was entitled "A Strategy for Technical Assistance in the WTO".  The intention was to table thedocument at the 31
st Session of the CTD.  The document took into account all existing documents that
had been prepared on technical cooperation since the establishment of the WTO, all the suggestions
made at the "Days of Reflection";  the chairman's report; and the recommendations of the two task-
forces on technical assistance which had been set up over the previous two years.  The document was
structured into seven different sections.  He said that the document was still far from complete, butconstituted a first step.  It provided in one single document coverage of many of the issues and
elements raised by Members, and hopefully would assist Members in their deliberations on technical
assistance.  Regarding the question of the budget for 2001, he said that there was a section on
technical assistance.  There was paper which summarised a presentation given by Deputy
Director-General Mr. A. Stoler.  The text contained two tables, one outlining the fact that out of the
10 milion requested for 2001, some SwF2.5 million would relate to additional human resources, that
is about 16 new positions across the whole of the WTO secretariat.  A second table depicted what
would be done with the other SwF7.5 million.  The matrix was organised by subject and modes of
delivery, and it covered developing countries and least-developed country members.
40. The CTD took note of all statements made.WT/COMTD/M/30
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2. The Framework for Monitoring and Evaluating the WTO Technical Cooperation
Activities (WT/COMTD/W/73) and Monitoring and Evaluation of the WTO's Technical
Cooperation Activities – Manual for WTO'S Secretariat Staff dealing with Technical
Cooperation Activities (WT/COMTD/W/74)
41. The Chairman recalled that at the its 29th Session held on 28 June the CTD began an extensive
discussion on technical assistance issues, which was continued on 10 July.  However, some Members
indicated that they wished to revert to the c onsideration of two Secretariat documents:  The
Framework for Monitoring and Evaluating the WTO Technical Cooperation
Activities (WT/COMTD/W/73) and Monitoring and Evaluation of the WTO's Technical Cooperation
Activities – Manual for WTO's Secretariat Staff dealing with Technical Cooperation
Activities (WT/COMTD/W/74).  During the previous meeting, Members had raised a number of
questions on the reports, and clarifications were given by the Secretariat.  Members also made anumber of suggestions for improvement in the reporting process in order to facilitate the monitoring
of the WTO's technical cooperation activities.  The Chairman said that the Secretariat was going to
take these comments on board
42. The representative of Norway thanked the Secretariat for the preparation of the document on
a strategy for technical assistance.  His delegation was of the view that such a document would be
very useful as a point of departure for the evaluation of WTO technical assistance.  His delegation
were particularly interested as to how the Secretariat would spell out the niche that the WTO would
occupy in the delivery of technical assistance, and how the WTO could cooperate with other agencies,
without making such cooperation an added burden.  His delegation welcomed proposals by
Switzerland on how to tackle ad hoc requests for technical assistance.  He said that in a number ofcases, speedy action was needed on the part of beneficiary countries.  On the other hand, a situation
where ad hoc processes became dominant was one to be avoided.  Specifically regarding documents
WT/COMTD/W/73 and WT/COMTD/W/74, his delegation had sought expert advice.  Their experts
were of the view that the Secretariat approach disclosed a highly professional approach to monitoring
as well as evaluation, and that the set-up was "state of the art".  However, the experts warned againstan approach in monitoring and evaluation that was too ambitious in relation to the realities at hand.
While it may be useful to draw on UNDP and OECD models, these also had dimensions that were
different from those which applied to the WTO.  Norway advised the CTD to allow the Secretariat to
implement its strategy progressively over a period of years.  This was a pioneering activity in
uncharted territory.  Concerning monitoring and evaluation reports, his delegation noted that the
Secretariat adopted a very positive attitude as they did not seek to point to errors or blame any party.
While his delegation favoured a constructive attitude, it was also of the view that the Secretariatneeded to be frank in assessing experiences, for its own benefit and that of the CTD, so that the CTD
could be familiarised with both successes and failures.  He said that much attention had been given to
the Secretariat's role and its capacity to fill that  role.  However, its success in this depended on
commitments made by other parties, namely donors and recipients.  Regarding donors, his delegation
had stressed the  importance of integrating technical assistance fully into the regular WTO budget.No less important was follow-up of and feedback fro m recipients.  Donors needed to know how their
monies had been spent, and one aspect of long-term financing was the assessment of the recipients
themselves on how the assistance had functioned, and its effects.  His delegation recommended in
future that the opportunity be given to recipients to express their assessment and advice.
43. The representative of the Philippines said that his delegation shared Norway's appreciation of
the Secretariat's efforts in producing the draft Strate gy paper.  He suggested that issues of monitoring
and evaluation could be discussed later in the context of the overall strategy.  He said that the draft
strategy could be placed for the consideration of beneficiaries, who would ensure that donors would
be responsible enough to meet in a more effective way donor concerns regarding resource allocation.
His delegation shared the view that the delivery of technical assistance was the responsibility ofWT/COMTD/M/30
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donors, and beneficiaries were responsible to ensure that they benefitted from technical assistance in a
useful way.
44. The representative of the United States said that the Secretariat report called for the
evaluation of WTO programmes on a geographic and thematic basis which made it possible to collect
lessons applicable as widely as possible to activities across more than one country.  He said that suchinformation would be systematically disseminated to the Secretariat, beneficiary countries, and donors
countries, and that therefore the United States supported the concept.  He said that his delegation was
happy to note that the proposal incorporated both external and internal evaluation.  His delegation also
had specific comments and questions concerning the report.  First, he noted that the evaluation
questionnaires did not ask participants what their objectives were, and said that it was important to
collect information on, inter alia , the objectives of participants.  He asked whether, in the process of
planning the activity, there was a process for written agreement between the Secretariat and thebeneficiary on the needs to which the assistance provided was designed to address, and the objectives
of the assistance.  His delegation believed that such a process was vital, not only to the delivery of the
assistance, but also for the evaluation of its delivery and its effectiveness.  He said that the process of
reporting back to the CTD in a format that conveyed useful information was also important, and his
delegation wished to hear the Secretariat's thinking  in this regard.  He also asked that if the
information was stored in the technical assistance data-base, whether it would be possible for the
Secretariat to report back to members on a more frequent basis.
45. The Director of the Technical Cooperation Division said that he was in full agreement with
the representative of Norway that the implementation of monitoring and evaluation functions should
be done on a gradual basis.  He said that, given available resources, this was the only approach couldbe envisioned over the coming years, adding that it was a wise approach that would allow lessons to
be drawn.  Referring to the question from the Philippines, he said that the Strategy paper contained a
section on evaluation and follow up.  He said that as a result of suggestions made at the 29
th Session
of the CTD, the questionnaires had been revised to include a section on objectives.  These revised
questionnaires were to be annexed to the draft Strategy paper circulated in November.  He said thatthe Technical  Cooperation Division was prepared to make available on a more frequent basis
information on activities undertaken, their costs and purposes.  He said that discussions were
underway with the Secretariat Working Group on LDCs so that the same database could be used, and
discussions were underway with the Finance and Gene ral Services Division (FGSD), so that financial
figures which appeared were the official figures of the FGSD.
46. The Chairman said that the CTD would revert to the subject of technical cooperation at the
31st Session, when the draft Strategy paper will be available for discussion.  A decision to discuss
further the issues arising in connection with technical cooperation, in 2001, could be taken at the
discussion of the work programme for 2001 at the 31st Session of the CTD.
47. The CTD took note of the documents and of the statements made.
D. MARKET ACCESS FOR EXPORTS OF THE LEAST -DEVELOPED COUNTRIES – INFORMATION
PROCEDURES – REPORT BY THE CHAIRMAN ON CONSULTATIONS
48. The Chairman recalled that at the 29th Session of the CTD, he had  mentioned the statement
by the Director-General at the 3 May General Council meeting regarding provision of information on
market access for exports originating in least-developed countries, and had indicated that he wished to
take up an issue of procedure. Normally, notifications and information provided on changes to GSPwere sent to the CTD under the provisions of the Enabling Clause and it was assumed, therefore, that
information on any actions taken by Members under their GSP schemes in favour of LDCs would also
be provided in this way.  On the other hand, steps taken under the 1999 Waiver on Preferential TariffWT/COMTD/M/30
Page 10
Treatment for LDCs were to be notified to the Council on Trade in Goods.  The Chairman recalled
that at the 29th Session, he had said that he would, with Members' permission, consult with the
Chairman of the CTG on how to resolve this inconsistency, and then hold some informal
consultations.  However, because of the summer break it has not yet been possible for the Chairman to
hold these consultations with the Chairperson of the Council for Trade in Goods.  He hoped to be able
to report back to  the CTD at the next session.  Advice was also to be sought from the WTO Legal
Division on the matter.
49. The representative of Bangladesh brought to the attention of the CTD the fact that the
European Commission had recommended to its Member states that unrestricted market access be
extended to all exports of LDCs, with the exclusion of arms.  He said that the LDCs had been arguing
in favour of such an initiative, and that therefore the EC's proposal was welcome.  He proposed that
the CTD take note of this initiative, and that it encourage that the proposal be finalised.  He asked thatthe CTD call on other OECD Members, especially the United States, Canada and Japan, to take
similar steps.
50. The European Communities said that his delega tion could make available, as an informal
document, details of the initiative.  He said that the Commission had proposed that all remaining
imports from LDCs which were not subject to unrestricted market access (excluding arms) be grantedsuch access, with phase-in periods on sensitive products such as bananas, sugar and rice.  The
outcome of the debate among EU member-States was awaited.  He recalled that the EC already
absorbed 56 percent of LDC exports, which made  it the largest importer of LDC products, and his
delegation hoped that this announcement would inject more momentum to the discussion of such
initiatives amongst other trading partners, and lead to improved market access conditions for LDCs.
51. The representative of Canada informed the CTD that as of 1 September 2000, Canada had
increased the number of products that could enter duty-free from LDCs.  She said Canada had
eliminated duties on imports from LDCs on an addi tional 570 tariff lines, as a result of which LDC
exporters were eligible for duty-free treatment on 90 per cent of all tariff lines, up from 82 per cent.
She said that to further improve opportunities for LDC exporters, Canada had further liberalised theorigin requirements that applied to imports from LDCs.
52. The representative of Uganda expressed the appreciation of his delegation to the EC for the
proposal by the Commission on unrestricted market access for LDCs.  His delegation also welcomed
the statement made by Canada.  He said he hoped these measures would facilitate diversification.  He
said that a discussion of how to take advantage of such increased access opportunities through
capacity-building was important.  He encouraged trading partners to continue providing increased
access through preference schemes, without bringing in extraneous issues.
53. The representative of Zambia thanked the EC and Canada for the information they had
communicated, and encouraged other trading partners to take similar steps in the near future.  He
recalled the Director-General's appeal to major trading partners to open their markets more fully to the
exports of LDCs, and to provide more technical assistance.  He said that such measures were a top
priority.  He said that in addition to tariff and non-tariff barriers, supply-side issues should also be anelement of market access discussions.  His delegation thought that an approach focused uniquely on
market access without paying due attention to supply-side constraints was incomplete, as many
constraints continued to impede exports.  He said that the WTO needed to play a vital role in
exploring export possibilities and opportunities for LDCs, and should encourage other relevant
organisations to address their supply-side constraints.
54. The Chairman proposed that CTD take note of information provided by the EC and Canada,
urge the expeditious implementation of proposals, and encourage other major trading partners to take
similar action to improve market access for LDCs.WT/COMTD/M/30
Page 11
55. It was so agreed.
E. ELECTRONIC COMMERCE
56. The Chairman recalled that, following a period of uncertainty, the General Council agreed on
17 July 2000 to reinvigorate the work programme on electronic commerce on a practical basis.  This
was understood to be without prejudice to any delegation's position on the status of the 1998
Declaration (WT/MIN(98)/DEC/2).  Four subsidiary bodies, including the CTD, were invited to pick
up their work on e-commerce within their respective spheres of competence, identify cross-sectoral
issues, and report back to the General Council at its regular meeting in December 2000.  He recalled,
the work programme on e-commerce adopted in September 1998 had called on the CTD to "examine
and report on the development implications of electronic commerce, taking into account the
economic, financial and development needs of developing countries" (WT/L/274).  Since then anumber of delegations had made submissions and comments on the issue and the Secretariat issued a
"Note on the Development Dimension of E-comm erce" (WT/COMTD/W/51) and also organized a
seminar on electronic commerce and development.  (The report on the seminar is available in
document WT/COMTD/18.)  A final report on the contribution of the CTD to the work programme
was presented to the General Council in July 1999 (WT/COMTD/19).  He said that in the report of theCTD, a number of questions that might be further explored were listed.  These included, for example:
What were the infrastructure and human resources developments required to address the needs of
developing countries in e-commerce?  What kind of technical assistance could be provided by the
WTO?  What were some of the innovative solutions and success stories in developing countries that
others could learn from? What impact was e-commerce likely to have on customs revenue indeveloping countries?  How significant were the duties on particular products traded electronically in
specific countries?
57. The Chairman drew the attention of Members to different possibilities regarding the
organisation of the work of the CTD on electronic commerce for the rest of the year.  He recalled that
the General Council had asked the CTD to report at the December meeting of the General Council.At the same time, the CTD planned to have one more formal session, during which it would need to
hold whatever discussions Members desired to have on the subject and finalise the report.  Given this
situation, he said Members might feel it necessary to have informal consultations, in order to facilitate
the finalisation of  the report presented to the General Council.  The schedule of meetings was
extremely crowded for the month of October, which created logistical problems for both Members
and the Secretariat.  However, he drew the attention of Members to the fact that during the Geneva
Week for non-residents, a briefing session was planned on electronic commerce, for the afternoon ofthe 25th of October.  Speakers at this session  included WTO Secretariat staff as well as staff from the
ITU, ITC, and UNCTAD.  The Chairman proposed that the CTD could make use of this opportunity
and enlarge this particular session of the Geneva Week into an informal CTD consultation on
electronic commerce.  This would have a number of benefits:  it would enable the CTD to have
informal consultations in a context where logistical difficulties may have hampered the organisationof such consultation; the CTD could draw on the planned presence of experts from other IGOs; and
the CTD would also receive the input of non-residents into a component of the CTD's work
programme, which was in keeping with the desire of the Membership to increase the effective
participation of all members in the work of the WTO.  The overall the goal of the informal
consultations was to facilitate the finalisation of the CTD's report to the General Council.
58. The representative of the United States said that her delegation could support the suggestions
made by the Chairman, and said that it would be very beneficial to hear from other institutions.  She
said that e-commerce had become a very significant feature on the development side.  She said that
with respect to the questions raised earlier on revenue, there was an unofficial Secretariat study which
was undertaken in 1999 on revenue issues.  She said that the Secretariat could assist interestedWT/COMTD/M/30
Page 12
Members in identifying where they could locate the study.  She said that, with reference to the ITC
Executive Forum, the ITC web-site for the event identified several policy-related questions which
Members were seized upon in the WTO.  She suggested that if the work programme were to proceed
in accordance with the General Council decision in December, that the CTD could consider holding a
symposium with the participation of developing  country entrepreneurs, to update information
provided in the seminar on electronic commerce of 1999 organised by the CTD.  She said that at the
informal session, it would be useful to distribute information on the initiative launched at the
G-8 Okinawa Summit, which aimed at building capacity in developing countries in order to level the
playing field in e-commerce.  The initiative brought together the G-8 countries in their commitment to
build capacity for e-commerce in developing countries in a number of areas, including infrastructure
and training.  Furthermore, private sector companies had signed on to the initiative and announced
their intention to work with developing country pa rtners.  She said that since the 1998 Declaration on
E-Commerce had indicated the relevance of the impact of e-commerce on developing country
financial and economic interests, and that there had been a lot done since 1998.  Her delegation hoped
that once direction had been given by the General Council, Members could address some of the
initiatives on capacity-building, and that the CTD could benefit from case studies and examples that
have resulted from various initiatives.  She pointed to the United States initiative to connect Sub-Saharan African countries, which was a US$15 million initiative over a five-year term.  The
United States also had an "Internet for Development" initiative which included pilot countries, a list
of which was increasing and which included Egyp t, Uganda, Guatemala and various others.  Her
delegation would expand on these initiatives in the future.  Her delegation was of the view that the
G-8 initiative went beyond what most bilateral initiatives had to offer.
59. The representative of Japan said his delegation supported the holding of further informal
consultations in order to finalise the report to the General Council.  His delegation could also support
the proposal in favour of holding a symposium on electronic commerce.  He said that in view of the
increasing importance of electronic commerce, the development of electronic commerce presented
great opportunities for all WTO Members, in particular developing countries, and all businesses,including small and medium-size enterprises.  In this context, the examination of electronic commerce
issues in the CTD should take place.  His delegation was of the view that issues related to electronic-
commerce included cross-cutting issues, in particular, issues relating to financial and economic
development issues;  and to technical cooperation and capacity-building issues.  His delegation was
firmly in support of setting up a horizontal task force with the participation of capital-based experts,
as this was the most appropriate forum for addressing cross-cutting issues.  His delegation requested
that the Chairman's report should state that electronic commerce related issues should be furtherexamined as expeditiously as possible, especially fr om the point of view development.  His delegation
also requested that the Chairman report to the General Council state that many Members supported
the establishment of a horizontal task force.
60. The representative of Pakistan agreed that , whatever was being done as part of the
reinvigoration of the work programme, was without  prejudice to the status of the 1998 Declaration.
He said his delegation could go along with the basic parameters set out by the Chairman, and was
willing to participate mean ingfully in any work undertaken, as the outcome of work conducted in the
CTD was of paramount importance in terms of the ultimate analysis of e-commerce and the work of
the CTD covered areas of importance to developing countries such as technical and financial
assistance and fiscal issues.  His delegation had taken note of proposals for a symposium and was ofthe view that February was too early for organising such an event, as it would be better to await the
outcome of work conducted in the CTD and the other three subsidiary bodies.  Regarding fiscal
issues, and more specifically the unofficial study undertaken by the Secretariat in 1999, his delegation
was of the view that this study should be circulated to Members, perhaps in the form of a non-paper,
so that it could become a basis for discussion.  Finally, his delegation requested that advance notice begiven of the holding of informal discussion, and requested the Secretariat to prepare a short synoptic
note on the discussion of electronic commerce held in the CTD prior to July 1999.WT/COMTD/M/30
Page 13
61. The representative of Venezuela supported the proposal to hold informal consultations on
electronic commerce.  He said that this would be a good opportunity to circulate to Members the
findings of an UNCTAD meeting of experts on the subject of "Electronic Commerce and Tourism", as
well as information on the Okinawa initiative referred to by the United States and Japan.  He said that
the interest of developing countries in the subject of electronic commerce was further made manifestby the fact that the forthcoming Heads of Government Meeting of the G-15 had as its theme
Information Technology and Telecommunications, with development questions as a fundamental
perspective, including those questions relating to human resources and the development of
competitiveness, which were brought under the collective heading of "e-development".
62. The representative of Zambia said that he supported the proposal to have informal
consultations, as well as the proposal to have a symposium on electronic commerce.  He wished to
know whether it was possible to include the private sector in the consultations.
63. The representative of Canada brought the attention of the CTD to work conducted by the
UNCTAD on electronic commerce and development, and specifically a publication entitled "Building
Confidence: Electronic Commerce and Development".  His delegation also supported the Japanese
proposal that the Chairman include in his report a statement that a number of Members supported the
establishment of a horizontal task force on electronic commerce.
64. The Chairman said that there appeared to be interest in having a briefing by other
organizations on e-commerce to help in the formulation of the CTD's report to the General Council.  It
appeared that Members were comfortable with the idea of joining forces with the Geneva Week to
hold informal consultations, with a view to finalising the report during the last meeting of the CTD in
October.  He noted that there had been a number of requests for further information, and said that theSecretariat would look into this and provide information as appropriate.
F. F
INANCE FOR DEVELOPMENT – INPUT BY THE WTO TO UNITED NATIONS HIGH-LEVEL
CONSULTATION IN 2001
65. The Chairman recalled that at the 29th Session of the CTD, he had mentioned that the CTD
may be required to contribute to the WTO input to the UN High Level Event on Financing for
Development, to be held in 2001, but that this would depend on the outcome of the General Council
to be held on 17 July.  At that meeting of the General Council, Ambassador Bryn, the Chairman,
recalled that on 19 May 2000, an informal meeting with Members of the UN Preparatory Committee
for the High-Level Event on Financing for Development, Heads of Delegations of WTO Members
and Senior Officials of the WTO Secretariat, had been held in order to hear from the Bureau of the
UN Preparatory Committee proposals for a closer dialogue and cooperation with the WTO for thepreparation of the High-Level Event scheduled for May 2001.  Ambassador Bryn also mentioned that
the Secretariat was already involved in two of the preparatory working groups, on trade and on
systemic issues.  Given the strong wish of the Preparatory Committee of the High-Level Event to
receive a political  input from the WTO membership, Ambassador Bryn proposed that the contact
point for such an input be the CTD and that its Chairman be in contact with the PreparatoryCommittee.  This proposal was accepted by the General Council.  The Chairman recalled that it  was
also agreed that issues which might be raised in the context of the preparations for the High-Level
Event would be discussed in the CTD.  He recall ed that a similar procedure had been followed in
preparing a GATT contribution to the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro.  That  contribution was based on an input from the
Secretariat and discussions among Members in the appropriate Committee, and it was agreed that the
Chairman of the General Council would inform the Co-Chairs of the UN Preparatory Committee
accordingly.WT/COMTD/M/30
Page 14
66. The Chairman recalled that the UN had structured the preparatory process for the High Level
Event through the establishment of six working groups:  Systemic Issues; Domestic Financial
Resources; FDI and other privat e flows; International Financial Cooperation, ODA and Debt; and
Trade.  The UN had also initiated a process of holding regional consultative meetings, the first one
having been held in Jakarta in early August for the Asia-Pacific region.  The objective was that thework of the working groups was to contribute to the final declaration to be adopted in May 2001 at the
High Level Event.  In the context of these prep arations, the involvement of the WTO had to date
followed two tracks.  First, the WTO secretariat had been invited to take part in the work of the
working group on systemic issues, on FDI and other private flows, and on trade.  The working group
on systemic issues had its first meeting on 25 July 2000 in Tarrytown, New York, and aimed to
complete its work by November of this year.  Regarding the working group on trade issues, the WTO
Secretariat had been invited to make a written input in  the form of an analytical paper.   Secondly the
Preparatory Committee had a strong wish that the WTO make a written input of a political nature.  As
this input was to be from the WTO's Membership, it was important that the matter be taken up to
establish how the CTD shall proceed.  The following possibilities suggested themselves:  (i) that the
CTD await the completion of the Secretariat paper, and hold a discussion on its content.  The report
would then be forwarded to the Preparatory Committee, with a covering letter in which the Chairmanwould summarise the views expressed by Members.  (ii) Alternatively, that the CTD ask the
Secretariat to make a compilation of points made by Members in discussions on the Secretariat paper,
and on the question of Financing for Development in general, and attach this compilation to the
Secretariat paper, and forward these to the Preparatory Committee.
67. The representative of the European Communities said his delegation wished to have further
information on discussions held in the working group on systemic issues.  He also wished to know
what the time-table was for the input on trade, and when the CTD could expect a draft for discussion.
He said that it would be better to consider the draft first, and then consider what further input would
be made.  Besides that, he was in agreement that th e process to be followed should be that followed
for the Rio Conference.
68. A representative of the Development Division said that a briefing on discussions held in the
working group on systemic issues would be made give n at the next meting of the CTD.  Regarding the
time-table for the trade input, the aim was to circulate a draft to Members by the end of 2000, in time
for discussion early in 2001.  The paper would be submitted as an input to inform the deliberations of
the Members.
69. The Chairman said that he would be in touch with co-Chairmen  of the Preparatory
Committee, and report back to the CTD at the 31st Session, which would give Members a clearer
indication of the time–table involved.
G. OTHER BUSINESS
70. The Chairman drew the attention of members to the fact that the WTO/UNCTAD
International Trade Centre (ITC) was holding an Executive Forum on National Export Strategies in
Montreux on 27-29 September 2000. The theme of the conference this year was Export Developmentin the Digital Economy. Details of the programme were included on the Executive Forum web-site
Http://www.intracen.org/execforum.   The Chairman  brought before Members the suggestion that it
would be useful if the essence of this three-day meting could be presented here in the WTO.  He
proposed that a half-day event be organised some time in November.  The event would feature
presentations by participants at the Montreux conference, and would include representatives of theITC and representatives of the private sector.  The event would focus on development issues, and
would be entirely separate from the work of the CTD.
71. There being no further business, the Chairman adjourned the 30
th Session of the CTD.WT/COMTD/M/30
Page 15
ANNEX
"DAYS OF REFLECTION ON TECHNICAL COOPERATION"
18-19 July 2000
Report by the Chairman
72. The Committee on Trade and Development held two informal days of reflection on WTO
technical cooperation activities on 18 and 19 July 2000.  This report on these two days is made to the
Committee under my own responsibility, for its consideration.
73. The programme of the two days covered th e following themes: an introduction to WTO
technical cooperation; objectives and purposes of technical cooperation;  programming and
coordination of technical cooperation;  modes of delivery and impact of technical cooperation;
cooperation with other intergovernmental organizations;  monitoring and evaluation of technical
cooperation activities;  technical cooperation for least-developed countries and the IntegratedFramework;  and human and financial  resource requirements in respect of technical cooperation.
74. My thanks are due to all of those who participated:  Mr Ravier and Mr Stoler, the
distinguished Ambassadors and representatives of Members and Observers, and representatives ofother organizations.  Thanks also to the member s of the Development and Technical Cooperation
Divisions who provided the back-up for the days of reflection.
Introduction to WTO technical cooperation
75. Mr Ravier, in his introduction, pointed out that,  although technical cooperation was
enshrined in practically every WTO agreement, its positioning in respect to other WTO Secretariat
activities was not always perfectly clear.  There was a debate on whether or not technical cooperationmust be considered as a core activity  - in line  with activities such as implementation, dispute
settlement and negotiations - and on what was the responsibility of other international organizations
on trade-related matters.
76. Therefore, targeting of technical cooperation was important.  Likewise, the instruments of
technical cooperation needed to be targeted:  both general and specialized instruments were necessary,as well as coordination with other international organizations to avoid overlapping and to make best
use of scarce resources.  In this connection, fina ncial resources were not the only important aspect.
The availability of human resources in the WTO Secretariat was also of utmost importance.
77. Participants emphasised that technical assistance had to continue to be demand-driven, tailor-
made and field-oriented.  Three important areas to be looked at in relation to technical assistance
were:
(i) policy environment;(ii) new and strengthened human resource capacity;  and
(iii) institutional capacity building.WT/COMTD/M/30
Page 16
Objectives and purposes
78. A number of participants pointed out that, for developing countries, especially least-
developed countries, the building-up of supply capacity was a key element in trade-related
development. This was partly, but not wholly, the WTO's responsibility.   The WTO's competence
and expertise lay in improving knowledge of multilateral rules and working procedures, assisting in
the definition of approaches to negotiations, and assisting in the implementation of commitmentsincluding the effective use of the DSU.   This was particularly relevant to poorer developing
countries, including LDCs.
79. By contrast, it was noted that the relatively more developed and integrated developing
countries had somewhat different needs, including a deeper understanding of WTO rules and
disciplines;  of detailed negotiating techniques in agriculture and services;  and the creation of
capabilities to address problems of implementation.  They also required more experience and insight
to help them defend their rights under the DSU process and in operationalizing S & D provisions ofWTO Agreements.
80. Some speakers said that there was a wide asymmetry between the expectations of most
developing countries and the existing framewor k of WTO's technical cooperation, based on the
existing aim "to assist in the full integration of beneficiaries into the multilateral trading system and
contribute to the expansion of their trade".  No mention was made of investment and of the needs ofdeveloping countries in both supply and demand sides of the equation.  There was a need to
reformulate the Guidelines to include "expanding investment opportunities".
81. Others noted that the objectives of WTO technical assistance were to promote the
understanding of WTO rules and to enhance the capacity of beneficiaries to adopt or adapt national
laws in order to participate more fully in the multilateral trading system.
82. It was pointed out that trade policy, trade-related technical assistance, and capacity building
needs should be articulated in a broad developmental context.  It was noted that the agreement on the
Integrated Framework recently forged in New York recognized that these aspects of policy could not
be addressed in isolation.
Programming and coordination
83. It was observed that the organization and implementation of WTO technical cooperation
activities did not currently take place in a fully integrated manner.  While Members' immediate needs
in fulfilling obligations and taking advantage of trading opportunities could be a starting-point, a
multi-year programme based on a logical sequencing of activities should be the main focus for the
construction of a clear strategy.  Follow-up action and assessment criteria should also be identified at
the programming stage.  Identification of priorities should be seen as a key component ofprogramming and planning, but flexibility should be built in to deal with urgent, ad-hoc requests.
84. The implementation of technical cooperation activities should continue to be mainly demand-
driven.  Needs assessments should thus be the starting point of the programming and planning of
technical cooperation activities.  These assessments should be carried out in a systematic manner, but
they should not be too rigid nor too time-consuming to prepare by countries.
85. Three levels of coordination of technical cooperation activities were identified:  within the
Secretariat, at the national level, and with other international and regional organizations.  In thisconnection, the view was expressed that WTO technical cooperation should be limited to what the
organization can do best. It was observed by the Secretariat that programming of technical
cooperation activities was extremely difficult when only 40 per cent of developing countriesWT/COMTD/M/30
Page 17
responded to the WTO questionnaire on their needs for technical assistance for the forthcoming year
and when 90 percent of activities were financed through voluntary contributions.
86. With regard to technical cooperation in general, five "disconnects" were identified: ownership
(with different ministries in Members being responsible for finance, trade and development);
transparency of dissemination of information at the national level;  information sharing on trainingtaking place in different ministries of countries;  information on what other international organizations
do at regional and other levels;  and the need for adequately trained human resources to undertake
negotiations.  The need was also expressed to have the specific provisions on technical assistance in
various Agreements (SPS, TBT, TRIPS, etc…) fully operationalized.
Modes of delivery and impact of technical cooperation
87. It was suggested that the modes of delivery of technical cooperation should be analysed more
closely, particularly with regard to developing and strengthening domestic administrations both in
understanding and implementing the WTO Agreements and in improving their negotiating techniques.
88. In developing the WTO's strategy for technical cooperation delivery, consideration should be
given to ways in which information could be more effectively disseminated.  Innovative techniques
that might be used could include more effective use of established reference centres; distance
learning;  technical assistance linked to trade policy reviews;  training of trainers; and outsourcing to
regional institutions.   However, some developing Members noted that they lacked technical capacityfor distance learning  and that there was no substitute for direct contact with expertise from the WTO.
Monitoring and evaluation
89. It was emphasised that the purpose of monitoring and evaluation was to assess and improve
performance, not to criticize.  Monitoring and evaluation should be an integral part of each technical
cooperation programme.  Monitoring and evaluati on aimed to know whether the programme was on
track and how to improve its delivery and impact.
90. Members recognized that an approach to, and instruments for, monitoring and evaluation had
been proposed in documents WT/COMTD/W/73 a nd WT/COMTD/W/74; now they needed to be
implemented.  This would mean ensuring that:
- monitoring by WTO staff was continuous. WTO staff should be clear from the outset
what needs were to be addressed in a technical cooperation programme, what werethe objectives of the programme, and which indicators were best suited to judge the
results of the programme.
- evaluation at the project or programme level was built in from the outset and was part
of the programme outline (criteria, deadline, internal or external evaluation);
- an internal assessment was done for each technical assistance project (independently
from a more specific CTD-evaluation mandate);
- the main elements of evaluations were collected in a computerized database;
- follow-up was automatically envisaged when planning and executing technical
cooperation activities;
- lessons learned were fed back into the planning and programming of technical
assistance programmes; and thatWT/COMTD/M/30
Page 18
- experiences drawn from monitoring and evaluation at the project-level by WTO staff
were reflected adequately in the annual reports to the CTD on technical cooperation.
Cooperation with other inter-governme ntal organizations
91. Members emphasised that coordination among institutions must be at all levels, from policy
formulation to implementation.  In this regard, an adequate and continuous flow of information had to
be encouraged among intergovernmental agencies in volved in trade-related technical assistance.  A
clear and coherent policy on division of labour among agencies would reduce uncertainty as to the
role of the WTO in technical assistance.  However, some Members felt that greater coherence was
impeded by the different decision-making processes of the various agencies.
92. It was noted that regional institutions had a wealth of accumulated expertise and information
upon which WTO could draw to obtain a regional perspective on issues.
93. Just as developing countries had been encouraged to establish national steering committees so
that all issues are part of the overall planning and policy formulation, members felt that there was alsoneed for coordination among different ministries/agencies within the donor countries.
94. It was felt that the questionnaire recently sent to Members and other international
organizations by the Secretariat was a good starting-point to assess what is available in terms of
support from the countries and from international and regional agencies.
Technical Cooperation for Least Developed Countries and the Integrated
Framework (IF)
95. Members stated that the principle of "mainstreaming" and of anchoring technical assistance to
LDCs as part of an overall development strategy was a good concept,  but recognized that practical
difficulties existed with regard to its coordination and coherence.  The interplay between the LDCs,
donors and agencies in the formulation of projects and the delivery of assistance was also mentioned.
In this regard, the potential rôle of the IF as a mechanism for coordination was stressed;  some
supported the need to set up a Trust Fund to support its operation.  Improved coordination of technical
assistance within the WTO Secretariat would also ensure efficient and speedy delivery of technical
assistance to LDCs.
96. Participants stressed that the definition of strategic concerns and coordination of assistance
had to be totally owned by the country in question;  that the IF needed to be integrated into overall
development policy within the LDC, and into investment and policy discussions within the WorldBank Consultative Groups or UNDP Round Tables;  that technical cooperation under the IF required
anchoring in national development strategies through the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP);
that cooperation and coordination were crucial at all levels, and resources should be devoted to keep
overlapping actions among institutions at a minimal level;  and that the objectives of the IF would
need to be clearly set and based on what could realistically be accomplished.
Human and financial resource requirements in respect of technical cooperation;
budgetary questions;  costs and benefits of outsourcing
97. Mr Stoler, introducing the topic, emphasised the serious human and financial resource
constraints faced by the Secretariat in the area of technical cooperation, as well as the need to bring
the financing of technical cooperation on budget.  This would bring greater predictability and
consistency to the WTO technical cooperation programme, and enable it to respond positively to
requests for assistance.  Furthermore, it would have  the effect of spreading the financial burden in a
more equitable manner and providing adequate resources both for training and for technicalWT/COMTD/M/30
Page 19
cooperation. It was recalled that for the WTO 2001 budget exercise, the proposal had been made to
increase the technical cooperation budget to 10 million Swiss Francs, of which about 75 per cent was
activity-related and 25 per cent human resource-related (new staff posts).  On training, a separate
proposal intended to double the capacity of the Secretariat to provide Trade Policy Courses had been
drafted.
98. Mr Stoler observed that although technical cooperation was a demand-driven activity, a
certain distillation of requests received from developing countries for the year 2000 needed to be
carried out to determine what could reasonably be expected in the light of resource constraints.  For
this purpose, a number of criteria and priorities needed to be established; (i) activities which were
similar, both by country and by issue, to what had already been done in 1999 should be eliminated
where possible;  ii) requests for which there was little or no further information should be discounted;
iii) requests which were duplicative, or that could be folded into other activities, should be combined;iv) if national priorities could be addressed in the framework of regional activities, this should be
done; v) requests where host governments could probably provide the financing or at least cost-
sharing should be identified;  and vi) where the number of WTO officials engaged in an activity could
be reduced, this should be done.  Priority should be given to activities with LDCs; activities to assist
most recent Members and countries and territories in the process of accession;  and issues related toimmediate implementation and current negotiations in agriculture and services.
99. Many participants supported Mr Stoler's proposals.  It was emphasised that clear planning,
prioritisation and vision were necessary for the effective allocation of resources.  The Secretariat
should not act simply on the basis of demands but should filter demands through prioritisation,
planning and full consultation with Members concerning the mix of activities and budgetaryconstraints.  It was stated that even if technical cooperation activities were funded on-budget, there
would still be a balance to be found between budgetary and extra-budgetary funds.
100. It was also emphasised that fuller information and greater transparency – including through
use of an on-line bulletin board and Reference Centres – would assist Members in knowing what
resources was available and how they were being spent.  Better coordination within the Secretariat inregard to both funding and conduct of technical cooperation activities, and a clear definition of the
place of training in these activities, was also desirable.
Conclusion
101. As Chairman, I have deduced from the discussion during the two Days of Reflection a clear
recognition of the link between trade-related technical assistance, trade and development, and of
technical assistance as a core function of the WTO.  The discussions have also led me to reflect on
whether WTO technical assistance should not perhaps logically have two foci:  a narrower focus on
providing information on and promoting implementation of the WTO Agreements, and a related role
in support of broader trade and development strategy,  in which WTO's technical cooperation should,
as appropriate, be coordinated with and reinforce development assistance provided by other
organizations and institutions within their areas of competence, as well as in some cases by bilateral
donors.  These two elements seem to me to pervade the discussion of objectives, ways and means, anddisposal and use of resources for technical cooperation and, it seems to me, should be a basis for the
discussion of strategy and modalities for the WTO's technical cooperation in the future.
102. The future strategy for technical cooperation will be discussed in future meetings of this
Committee.  It seems to me that it would be useful, in the spirit of consistent monitoring and
evaluation, to repeat this reflection exercise periodically, perhaps every three years or so, to ensurethat the strategy remains on track and is adapted to changing needs.
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