RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/COMTD/M/25
16 August 1999
(99-3452)
Committee on Trade and Development
Twenty-Fifth Session
NOTE ON THE MEETING OF 4 JUNE 1999
Chairman:  H.E. Mrs. Absa Claude Diallo (Senegal)
I. ADOPTION OF THE DRAFT AGENDA
1. The Chairperson welcomed Members to the  25th Session of the Committee on Trade and
Development (CTD).  The draft agenda (WTO/AIR/1087/Rev.1) was adopted.
2. The Chairperson proposed that the draft agenda be adopted.
3. It was so agreed.
II. ELECTION OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE SUB-COMMITTEE ON LEAST-
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
4. The Chairperson thanked the outgoing chairm an of the Sub-Committee, the Permanent
Representative of Denmark, Am bassador Hans Henrik Bruun, for his able leadership of the Sub-
Committee on Least-Developed Countries.  Ambassador Bruun had successfully led the Sub-Committee's work last year.  During his tenure as chairman, two issues were brought forward by the
Sub-Committee through the Committee on Trade and Development to the attention of the General
Council;  market access for least-developed country exports, and difficulties faced by least-developed
countries in implementing WTO Agreements.  It was also on his initiative that the Secretariat was
asked to begin to compile information on the market access barriers facing least-developed countries'
exports.  She was confident that Ambassador Bruun would continue to participate actively in the work
of the Sub-Committee.
5. The Chairperson said Ambassador Bruun had asked her to convey to the CTD that he deeply
regretted that his absence from Geneva on the day did not allow him to participate in this meeting of
transfer of chairmanship.  He also asked the Chairperson to convey his gratitude for the confidence
that the CTD showed in selecting him as chairman  of the Sub-Committee a year ago, as well as the
support constantly given to him by all the Members as well as the Secretariat staff.
6. According to Rule 12bis of the Rules of Procedure for Meetings of the CTD, the CTD was
obliged to elect the Chairperson for the Sub-Committee on Least-Developed Countries from among
the representatives of the Members at its first meeting of the year.  She regretted that this had not been
possible in the light of the consultations that had to be undertaken, which had been announced by her
predecessor at the 24th Session of the CTD.  These consultations had yielded truly excellent results.She was pleased to inform Members of the CTD th at consultations had made evident a consensus in
favour of H.E. Mr. Benedikt Jónsson, Ambassador of Iceland, to be the next Chairman of the
Sub-Committee.WT/COMTD/M/25
Page 2
7. Ambassador Jónsson had, and continued to have, a distinguished career in diplomacy.  Since
his graduation with honours from University College, Dublin in 1982 he had worked at his country's
embassies in Paris and Moscow, and had served as Deputy Permanent Representative to the
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the United Nations Educational, Social
and Cultural Organization.  In 1998 he was Deputy Permanent Representative of Iceland to theCouncil of Europe and most recently he worked at Iceland's Ministry for Foreign Affairs variously as
Minister-Counsellor, Head of Department and Ambassador.
8. The Chairperson proposed that the Committee on Trade and Development elect
Ambassador Benedikt Jonsson, as Chairman of the Sub-Committee on Least-Developed Countries by
acclamation.  It was so agreed.
9. Ambassador Jónsson expressed his appreciation for the confidence shown in him. He said he
was deeply gratified to take on the position of chairman of the Sub-Committee, adding that there was
a certain tradition amongst Nordic countries to look after the concerns of developing nations, and that
he therefore looked forward to the task ahead. He hoped that the Sub-Committee would resume work
prior to the summer recess.
III. APPLICATIONS FOR OBSERVER  STATUS IN THE CTD
10. The Chairperson  recalled that at the previous  Session of the CTD, the Committee agreed to
accord ad hoc observer  status on a meeting-by-meeting basis to nine Intergovernmental
Organizations (IGOs).  Since that decision, the Committee had received two more applications for
observer  status in the Committee, from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the
Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) ;  these applications had been circulated to
Members on 15 March 1999.  The chairperson had consulted with Members on the two applications
on 1April 1999, and it was understood that these two IGOs should, beginning with the CTD's
25th Session, also be accorded ad hoc observer status on a meeting-by-meeting basis.  Pursuant to the
understanding by Members on 1 April 1999, (WIPO) and ECOWAS had been invited to this meeting.
11. The Chairperson therefore proposed that the CTD should invite WIPO and ECOWAS to
participate at this meeting as observers on an ad hoc basis and that the CTD agree to invite to its next
meeting on an ad hoc and on a meeting-by-meeting basis the 11 following IGOs:
(i) Arab Maghreb Union;
(ii) Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS);
(iii) Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO);
(iv) Inter-Arab Investment Guarantee Corporation;
(v) Islamic Development Bank (IDB);(vi) Organization of African Unity (OAU);
(vii) Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC);
(viii) South Centre;
(ix) South Pacific Forum (SPF);
(x) West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU);  and(xi) World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
12. It was so agreed.
13. The Chairperson invited comments from the IGOs and from Members.WT/COMTD/M/25
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14. The Deputy Secretary-General of the Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO), said it was
the first time that his organisation was attending a meeting of the WTO.  ECO comprised
ten countries of West and Central Asia, of which six were economies in transition.  It was mandated
by its basic charter to pursue objectives leading to the removal of trade barriers between member
states and the smooth integration of its members into the global economy. Presently, three of the ECOstates – Pakistan, Turkey and the Kyrgyz Republic – were full members of the WTO.  Azerbaijan,
Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Iran had applied for WTO membership, while Tadjikistan and
Turkmenistan were considering applications.  Although moves towards trade liberalisation occurred at
a slow pace and intra-regional  trade remained modest at 7 per cent, the organisation was directing its
members towards free trade and the acceptance of multilateral rules and disciplines.  He said the
status of Observer  to the CTD, and hopefully later to the General Council, placed ECO in the
mainstream of multilateral decision-making on trade, and would help ECO provide more input intointergovernmental deliberations and decisions of its members, which would in turn provide for more
feedback and action by member states. It was on this understanding that the second WTO Seminar for
the ECO region held in Antalya, in Turkey, envisage d a more concrete role for ECO in the provision
of assistance to allow members to better accommodate trade rules whilst pursuing development
objectives through trade expansion. A third joint WTO-ECO event is on the agenda of the ECO.  Hesaid that ECO believed that the Secretariats of the ECO and the WTO should cooperate closely to
formulate proper ways to dismantle trade barriers and expand trade within the region. Finally, he
thanked the chairperson and all Members of the CTD for inviting ECO to attend the 25
th Session of
the CTD.
15. The representative of Korea congratulated  the organisations granted ad hoc observer status
on a meeting by meeting basis.  His delegation wished to make two comments.  Considering the
difficulties faced in granting observer status to applicants, he said that the case-by case procedure
taken should be used in future.  This approach was clearly referenced in General Council guidelines
formulated several years before.  Second, considering the difficulties faced, his delegation was of the
view that the guidelines and criteria used for granting observer status should be revised.  Hisdelegation understood that the delegation of the United States had circulated proposals in the General
Council for revision of  these guidelines.  He therefore hoped that on the basis of these and other
proposals, the matter would be discussed in the General Council.
16. The representative of the Economic Community  of West African States (ECOWAS) thanked
the Director-General of the WTO for the recognition given to ECOWAS through the granting of
ad hoc observer status to meetings of the CTD.  He said ECOWAS was often viewed as an
organisation the function of which was peace-keeping and conflict resolution, as evidenced in Liberiaand Sierra Leone.  It  was the view of ECOWAS that there could be no free movement of persons and
goods, no commercial trading, no economic growth or development, without peace.  However, far
from being an organisation exclusively devoted to the conflict resolution and peacekeeping,
ECOWAS was first and foremost an economic community of 16 West African states, whose
objectives were to promote economic cooperation and integration within the context of an economicunion for West Africa, with the purpose of raising the standards of living of its people, of maintaining
and increasing economic stability, strengthening relations between members states, and contributing
to development on the African continent.  To achieve these objectives, the Community sought to
create a common market through trade liberalisation amongst Members.  It sought to establish a
common external tariff and a common trade policy amongst members.  The removal of obstacles tothe free circulation of good, persons, services and capital, along with rights to residence and
establishment were integral to the concerns of ECOWAS.  He said ECOWAS was intent on achieving
economic union through the adoption of common economic and financial policies, notably in the
context of monetary union, and also adopting common policies in cultural and social affairs.  He said
the WTO and ECOWAS were heading in the same  direction, and that closer cooperation was
necessary to ensure the integration of West Africa into international trade flows. ECOWAS was the
only African community in which individuals could freely circulate from one member state to anotherWT/COMTD/M/25
Page 4
without a visa. Customs papers and systems for the designation and codification of goods from 16
member states had  been harmonised.  As of 1 January 2000, products accepted for the ECOWAS free
trade system would have a zero tariff across all member states. He recalled that ECOWAS was the
cradle for automated system for customs data, a system for the processing of trade data, which was
currently utilised by customs administrations in more than 50 countries across the world.  ECOWAShad implemented a vast programme for the promotion of trade and raising awareness of economic
operators about the trade potential in the region.  Programmes were underway for land and
telecommunication links, for road construction and rehabilitation, and a programme for monetary
cooperation whose purpose was the creation of a single monetary zone.  The legal framework was
being updated so as to create a sound investment environment. He reiterated that the WTO and
ECOWAS had to collaborate as partners who were mu tual in their support of growth in trade and
investment with a view to furthering development in West Africa.
17. The representative of Turkey said his delegation extended its warmest welcome to all IGOs
granted ad hoc observer  status on a meeting by meeting at the CTD. He hoped that the CTD would be
able to grant permanent observer  status to the IGOs concerned as soon as possible.
18. The representative of the West African Economic and Monetary Union thanked Members of
the CTD for granting it ad hoc observer  status on a meeting-by-meeting basis. WAEMU comprised
eight countries of West Africa which had as a common currency the CFA franc. The countries were
Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo. These countries
in 1994 decided to transform their monetary union into economic union with five main objectives:
the establishment of a common market  based on the free movement of goods, services, persons, and
capital; the establishment of a common trade policy vis-à-vis  third countries; to ensure the
convergence of political policy through a multilateral surveillance procedure; harmonisation of
taxation policy and coordination of sectoral policy. Significant progress had been made since 1994
especially with regard to the common market;  as of 1 January 2000, products from the Union would
circulate at free of duty.  For products from third countries, a common external tariff would also be
implemented as of 1 January 2000.  The tariff set the highest level of customs duty at 21 per cent;prior to 1997, member States had rates of between 38 and 65 per cent, and the rate of 21 per cent
therefore represented an important effort in participating in globalisation.  In the area of taxation, a
harmonisation process had been developed, and was to be progressively applied in consideration of
constraints faced by member States.  Regarding economic policy coordination, criteria of budgetary
surveillance had been put into place, and were considered half-yearly to examine how policies can be
harmonised.
19. The representative of Bangladesh, returning to Agenda Item 2B, said he wished to place on
record the appreciation of the contribution made by Ambassador Bruun to the work of the
Sub-Committee on Least Developed Countries.  He welcomed Ambassador Jónsson to the
stewardship of the Sub Committee.  His delegation had been heartened by Mr. Jónsson's succinct
statement reiterating the commitment of his country, and Nordic countries generally, to developing
countries and LDCs specifically.  He said he wished to remind Mr. Jónsson of the three main areasaround which the work of the Sub-Committee would revolve in the coming days.  First, activities
under the Integrated Framework on Trade-Related Technical Assistance, regarding which the
Sub-Committee may have to provide some input to  the forthcoming Ministerial Conference.  The
second item was UNCTAD X, to be held in February 2000.  Third, was the third UN Conference on
LDCs, scheduled for 2001.  The representative of Bangladesh assured Mr. Jónsson, and the Chair ofthe CTD, of the utmost cooperation of his delegation in working towards the welfare of the least
developed peoples of the world. Finally, he welcomed  the IGOs that had been granted ad hoc observer
status on a meeting by meeting basis and assured them of the best cooperation of his delegation.
20. The representative of the Arab Maghreb Union thanked the CTD for accepting the Union as
an observer  to the CTD on an ad hoc meeting by meeting basis.  The Union had been foundedWT/COMTD/M/25
Page 5
in 1989, with an ambitious programme of economic integration based on three guidelines:  the
liberalisation of trade in goods and services between member countries; an investment programme
within the area; and infrastructure development.  Trade liberalisation was based on the removal of
tariff and non tariff barriers, and the establishment of a free-trade area between member countries.
Two members, Morocco and Tunisia, had signed an agreement which would enter into effect inJuly 1999.  The Union envisaged that the free trade area between members  would be done in
coordination with the association agreements of the European Union, creating bilateral free trade
agreements with each of the countries in the Union.  Maximum encouragement and promotion of the
investment was given through the provision of national treatment and MFN, as well as various
financial and juridical incentives. The AMU hoped to collaborate closely with the WTO and the CTD
particularly, in order to harmonise its efforts in the interest of the disciplines of the WTO.
21. The representative of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), thanked the CTD
for granting it observer status on an ad hoc basi s. She recalled the cooperation agreement between
WIPO and the WTO that came into effect on 1 January 1996.  Since then, WIPO and the WTO had
enhanced cooperation in order to avoid duplication and in order to assist developing countries
members.  She recalled that the WIPO was an Observer to the General Council and the TRIPS
Council, and reiterated WIPO's commitment to assist developing countries in all fields of intellectualproperty, and to collaborate with the CTD in this regard.
22. The representative of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), thanked the CTD for granting the
IDB ad hoc observer status on a meeting by meeting basis.  He said the IDB was a leading
development institution, with 53 countries as members.  Apart from development financing, the bank
earmarked a substantial proportion of funds for trade financing with the objective of promoting intratrade.  In addition, the bank had recently started its training programme concerning WTO-related
matters, in close cooperation with the WTO, UNCTAD and the ITC.  He believed that the IDB's
presence as an observer  to the CTD would facilitate its objective of promoting intra-trade.
23. The representative of the United States wished to clarify that that the granting of Observer
status to the eleven IGOs was on an ad hoc, meeting by meeting basis, and that this arrangement
should continue until such time as revisions to guidelines to the handling of observer status were
finalised. She said her delegation associated itself fully with the  statement made earlier by the
Republic of Korea.
IV. REVIEW OF THE APPLICATION OF SPECIAL PROVISIONS IN THE
MULTILATERAL TRADE AGREEMENTS AND RELATED MINISTERIAL
DECISIONS IN FAVOUR OF DEVELOPING COUNTRY MEMBERS, INPARTICULAR LEAST-DEVELOPED MEMBERS: STATUS REPORT BY THE
SECRETARIAT
24. The Chairperson recalled the decision by the Committee at its 22nd Session on
2 November 1998, requesting the Secretariat to prepare a Background Note compiling information on
the difficulties, if any, that Members may have experienced either in the implementation of theseprovisions and/or in making use of these provisions.  The completion and circulation of the Note had
been delayed because of the exceptionally low rate of  returns to the Questionnaire first circulated by
the Secretariat on 12 November 1998 with an initial deadline of the completed questionnaire fixed for
25 January 1999.  To date, only five Members had completed and returned the questionnaires.  These
were:  Hong Kong, China;  Japan;  Madagascar,  Norway and Singapore.  This is unchanged from thesituation at the informal consultations held on 5 May.  She recalled that it was agreed that this review
of S&D treatment provisions in WTO Agreemen ts, Declarations and Understandings, would be
conducted on the basis of the questionnaire circulated by the Secretariat and completed by Members.WT/COMTD/M/25
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She said Members would agree that a meaningful compilation of the difficulties encountered by
Members could not be based on the five returns so far.  The Secretariat, on its part, had conduct its
search of information available within the Secretariat, and was awaiting a reasonable number of
returns to the questionnaire from Members.
25. The Chairperson called on the Director of the Development Division to draw attention to
what had been done so far by the Secretariat, and emphasised further what needs to be done to enable
the Secretariat complete its background Note in compliance with the CTD decision of
2 November 1998.
26. The Director of the Development Division said that, unfortunately, there had been no new
replies since the meeting of 5 May, despite the expressions of willingness that had been made.
Replies that had been given by five countries – Hong Kong, China;  Japan,  Norway,  Madagascar and
Singapore – gave a picture of what had been don e and what remained to be done regarding the
implementation of provisions on Special and Differential Treatment.  He drew the attention of the
CTD to the reply by Madagascar – an LDC – which made links between several special and
differential provisions and the need for technical assistance. In terms of information in the Secretariat,
requests had been made to each division to provide information relating to the special and differential
provisions or development related provisions of each of the WTO agreements of understandings forwhich they were responsible.  A substantial amount of information had been provided based on
discussion in the relevant Committees, and this information was being analysed and reviewed for
completeness.  Discussions held in the context of the General Council Intersessional process were not
dealt with, these discussions being covered by checklists that  had been circulated periodically by the
Ministerial Sessions Division.  The main areas where difficulties in the application of Special andDifferential provisions had been reported by  developing countries included Dispute Settlement, SPS,
TRIMS, Textiles and the Net-Food Importing provisions of the Agreement on agriculture.  He added
that there were some areas in which difficulties reported in other fora, such as the Intersessional
process, had not been raised strongly, if at all, in Committee meetings.  Such areas included the
Committee on Balance-of-Payments Restrictions , the Committee on Import Licensing and the
Committee on Market Access.  In addition to these sources of information, the Trade Policy Review
Mechanism had, in its reviews, shown a number of areas where the treatment of developing countries
had been seen by themselves as having been inadequate.  Areas cited included the operation of GSP
schemes;  the treatment of countries under anti-dum ping procedures, difficulties in the operation of
balance-of-payments provisions, problems related to standards and SPS, backloading of liberalisation
under the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing, the ability of small members to participate effectively
in the DSU, and the clearly identified need for technical assistance in the fields of customs valuation,standards and tariff negotiations.
27. The Director of the Development Division said it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to
give  a meaningful answer to the question of difficulties in implementation of special and differential
provisions on the basis of the few replies that had been submitted by members.  One possibility would
be to present, as an informal paper initially, the essence of the replies received by the fivedelegations – and any others, were they to submit replies – and also the essence of the material
collected from within the Secretariat.  The possibility existed, once delegations had provided further
input on the basis of the informal paper, to present a formal working paper of the CTD.  He concluded
by reiterating that information by members was one of the essential elements for the completion of the
paper, and he appealed to all members to present answers to the questionnaire circulated by theSecretariat.
28. The representative of Morocco thanked the Secretariat for the information provided and the
efforts made in the preparation of the document.  He said that it would be useful to recall the
framework within which the decision had been taken by the CTD to prepare the questionnaire.  His
delegation had, at the CTD meeting of June 1998, agreed to work on three aspects  in order to makeWT/COMTD/M/25
Page 7
operational the discussion of Special and Differential Treatment within the CTD.  The first aspect was
the assessment of problems encountered by developed, developing and least developed countries in
the implementation of Special and Differential provisions.  The second aspect was the evaluation of
economic and commercial effects of the implementation, or non-implementation, of special and
differential provisions since the conclusion of the Uruguay Round.  The third aspect consisted of theevaluation of the concept of special and differential treatment itself, in order to revitalise and
operationalize it for the benefit of WTO Members.  The questionnaire on special and differential
treatment circulated by the Secretariat thus fell within  the first of the three aspects.  He noted that the
questionnaire method had proved to be problematic in a number of international organisations, mainly
due to the fact that some countries lacked the capaci ty to respond in detail to the questions asked.  He
said his delegation believed that while the CTD should persevere with the questionnaire, it should also
reflect on alternative methods of evaluating difficulties in the implementation of Special andDifferential provisions.  His delegation found the suggestions made by the Director of the
Development Division were acceptable, and could go along with them.
29. The representative of Morocco said his delegation wished to propose formally that the CTD
reflect on the holding of a seminar, which would offer delegations and officials from capitals the
opportunity to reflect on: difficulties in the implementation of provisions for special and differentialtreatment; the economic and commercial impact of  the implementation or non implementation of
special and differential provisions;  and exploring ways of making special and differential treatment
more operational for the benefit of WTO members.  He hoped that the three proposals his delegation
had made in June 1998 would not effectively be buried;  it was the conviction of his and other
delegations that these proposals represented the  way forward if the concept of special and differentialtreatment was to be meaningful.
30. The representative of Egypt began by expressing the deep appreciation of his delegation to
Ambassador Bruun for his work as Chairman of the Sub-Committee on Least Developed Countries,
and welcomed Ambassador Jónsson as the new Chairman, assuring him of the full cooperation of  the
Egyptian delegation.  He also welcomed the IGOs that had been granted ad hoc observer  status to theCTD, and thanked the delegations which had agreed to the granting of ad hoc observer status.  He
hoped that this arrangement could continue until a final decision was made.
31. Egypt fully supported the statement made by the delegation of Morocco, and the proposal for
the convening of a seminar on special and differential treatment.  His delegation was extremely
disappointed that the contribution of the Secretariat in relation to the issue of special and differential
treatment had not been forthcoming.  His delegation had indicated on numerous occasions that
responses to questions should not be a precondition to the preparation of the paper.  One year hadpassed since the proposals made by the delegation of Morocco, and an analytical paper on aspects of
special and differential treatment was still awaited.  His delegation had pointed to a number of sources
of information on special and differential treatment, but that nevertheless the paper had not been
forthcoming.  His delegation had on a number of occasions said that technical assistance activities,
Trade Policy Reviews, minutes of meeting and other sources could be used.  In addition, his
delegation had indicated that the paper on special and differential treatment it had submitted to the
General Council and to the CTD, as WT/COM TD/W/49, was to be considered the Egyptian
contribution to the discussion of special and differential treatment, and to the paper to be prepared by
the Secretariat.  Much discussion had taken place in the General Council, and a number of papers had
been submitted, including one by the delegation of India.  There had also been an extensive discussionof special and differential treatment  in various committees in connection with various agreements.
His delegation took note of the statement made by the Director of the Development Division, thanked
him for it, and expressed the hope that the note would be circulated as soon as possible. The issue of
special and differential treatment was very important for a number of developing countries, and his
delegation hoped that it could be addressed with the urgency it deserved.WT/COMTD/M/25
Page 8
32. The representative of Mauritius said his delegation noted with concern that the response to the
questionnaire was not  encouraging, and that this was regrettable.  He said that the statement made by
Morocco deserved to be noted, and that his delegation associated itself fully with that statement.  His
delegation were to a  large degree on agreement with the views expressed by the Egyptian delegation,
though his delegation did not wish to blame the Secretariat for not having completed the paper onspecial and differential treatment.  He said that im plementation issues recurred as a  leitmotif in the
CTD  and other committees.  The lack of an encouraging response was in part due to the fact that
members were wary of what precisely could be done .  He said that the compendium of statements
made at the Ministerial Conference provided information on implementation difficulties.  There was
an abundance of sources of information which should be put to good use, and hence the lack of
response to the questionnaire did not have to be taken to be a problem.  It was important that
statements made and papers submitted be utilised, lest they remain as mere papers without further use.
33. The representative of the European Communitie s thanked the Director of the Development
Division for his ideas on ensuring progress on the paper, and indicated that his delegation were
agreeable to those ideas.  Second, his delegation were of the view that the various papers submitted
regarding implementation issues should not be confus ed with the exercise that was being carried out
by the CTD.  What was required was concrete evid ence regarding difficulties in the implementation
of provisions for special and differential treatment, whereas most of the submissions made in the
General Council debate were of a more generic nature that did not identify, by agreement or by
country, specific difficulties in the implementation of special and differential provisions.  Third,
regarding alternative means of reflecting on specia l and differential treatment suggested by Morocco,
he indicated that one members State of the Communities was discussing with the Secretariat thepossibility of holding a seminar on the implementation of special and differential treatment before the
summer break.  More information would be provided to the CTD once dates had been finalised.
34. The representative of Pakistan expressed the support of his delegation for the statement made
by the delegation of Morocco, and extended that support to the proposal of holding a seminar on
special and differential treatment.  Such a seminar would do much to enable capital based authoritiesto develop a fuller understanding of the concept of special and differential treatment.
35. The representative of Cuba thanked the Director of the Development Division for his ideas
regarding the completion of the paper on special and differential provisions, and expressed the support
of her delegation for the idea of circulating an informal paper for Members to comment on.  She said
her delegation supported the proposal made by Egypt that the Secretariat examine alternative sources
of information in order to complete the paper on the implementation of special and differential
treatment provisions, as well as the proposal made by Morocco to hold a seminar on the evaluation ofspecial and differential treatment.
36. The representative of the Republic of Korea said his delegation were of the view that the low
level of responses to the questionnaire stemmed in  part from the vagueness of several special and
differential provisions.  There were several different types of provisions:  some specified transition
times for the implementation of agreements, while others stated that implementing countries shouldmake best efforts to take into account the interests of developing and least developed Members.  His
delegation shared the view expressed by the European Communities that the implementation of
special and differential treatment had not been discussed elsewhere on a point by point basis.  He
added that the discussion of the implementation of provisions for special and differential treatment on
a point by point basis could be taken up under Agenda Item 2:H dealing with possible inputs into theSeattle Ministerial Conference.
37. The representative of Mauritius said his delegation wished to place on record its appreciation
of the European Communities for having so quickly anticipated and responded to the preoccupations
of the delegation of Mauritius.WT/COMTD/M/25
Page 9
38. The representative of Japan supported the remarks made by the European Communities.
From the outset, there had been a recognition of the lack of specific resources, which is why the
Secretariat had requested member states to provide input as to the difficulties they faced under
specific agreements. He recalled that former Deputy Director-General, Mr. Hoda, had stated that  it
was difficult to provide a correct analysis without member-specific input.  It was therefore notappropriate to blame the Secretariat for not having completed the task, but that responsibility lay more
with delegations.  He supported the proposal made by the Director of the Development Division that
an informal paper be circulated, as this would elicit comments and contributions from delegations.
39. The representative of Uruguay said the question of special and differential treatment had been
discussed extensively in the General Council, along with other issues affecting developing countries.
While some of the statements made in the General Council had been of a general nature, the
statements made by his delegation, and others,  had been very specific, identifying concrete problemsunder specific agreements.  He noted that a number of checklists had been prepared in connection
with the General Council process.  These documents were informal documents, and could constitute
the basis of work to be done by the Secretariat, as they contained a wealth of information on a number
of topics discussed by delegations.  This information could be extracted and utilised; it was important
that there be no duplication of work by the Secretariat.  He recalled that his delegation had submitteda proposal which set out, in relation to the checklists, a methodology which enabled the identification
of different themes discussed, and the establishing of a certain order to questions raised and answers
thereto.
40. The representative of Bangladesh said the issue of special and differential treatment was of
great importance to his delegation.  He shared the views of the delegation of the Republic of Korea to
the effect that the unclear nature of provisions for special and differential treatment made their
implementation difficult.  Special and differential treatment amounted to no more than a sugar coating
of the WTO agreements, and had proved to be of little substance.  He felt, however, that there was
still time for Members to remedy existing lacunae in these provisions, which were of an autonomous
nature, whose implementation depended on the good intent of developed country partners, and whichwere not enforceable.  There was a lack of urgency surrounding the implementation of provisions for
special and differential treatment.  Members should address this problem of special and differential
treatment rather than delve into the particularities of individual agreements. Given that the WTO was
entering a new phase in which the Marrakesh agreements were being reviewed, and given the
recognition by the international community of the development needs of developing countries, the
issue of special and differential treatment could be examined in its entirety in the forthcoming
negotiations, with a view to developing provisions that were less autonomous, more enforceable, andcould translate into binding commitments.  His delegation supported the proposal by the European
Communities that there be a seminar on special and differential treatment as early as possible.  A
seminar would bring out issues for discussion and would provide guidance as to areas of work that
would enable the development of more substantive and implementable provisions for special and
differential treatment.
41. The representative of Norway thanked the Secretariat for the update provided and the
proposal to circulate an informal paper.  While he did not contest the view expressed by the
representative of Egypt that its was possible make progress on the completion of the paper without
further contributions, his delegation felt that the document would be more representative and
comprehensive if more responses were given, particularly from developing countries.  His delegationagreed with the delegation of Japan, and echoed by the European Communities, that responses to the
questionnaire would provide detailed information not readily accessible in other WTO fora.  The
seminar would be useful as a supplement to the questionnaire, but that this should not detract from the
importance of the questionnaire.WT/COMTD/M/25
Page 10
42. The representative of Switzerland said his delegation supported the proposal made by the
Director of the Development Division as a way out of the current deadlock.  He said his delegation
did not wish to blame the Secretariat and recalled that the WTO was a "Member-driven" organisation
in the first place.  He said that one reason why there were only a few replies was the fact that the
subject of special and differential treatment was very broad, covering a range of agreements, and thusthe completion of the questionnaire demanded considerable resources.  The seminar could be a useful
way forward for the time being, but that this  did not make the completion of a questionnaire
unnecessary, especially as the information required in response to the questionnaire would have to be
provided in order to prepare for the seminar.
43. The representative of the European Communities said that the representative of Uruguay had
made a useful point regarding the use of checklists.  However, the process of identification of issues
was an evolving process.  The purpose of answering the questionnaire was different, as it sought toprovide an opportunity to delegations which felt that there were shortcomings in the implementation
to point to specific agreements where  a provision existed, but had not been implemented.  She
emphasised that the concept of implementation was not a generic concept but one that had legal
implications, and hence it was necessary to point to specific examples of non implementation.  It was
important to differentiate clearly between lack of implementation of specific provisions under specificagreements, which could be addressed in a concrete manner with a view to finding solutions, and a
general assessment which may lead to further negotia tions and thence to changes in agreements once
agreed.
44. The representative of Egypt said it was not the intention of his delegation to blame the
Secretariat, but rather to indicate that his delegation had been awaiting the paper on the
implementation of provisions for special and differential treatment for a very long time, and that it
was not necessary to await further information in order to make progress on the paper.  He agreed that
the work of the Secretariat would be facilitated if more responses from developing and developed
Members were forthcoming.  Regarding the point made by the European Communities on the
identification of specific examples of non implementation, he said that the paper WT/COMTD/W/49contained a number of examples.  One such example was in relation to Article 10.6 of the TBT
agreement, which indicated that the Secretariat of the WTO should draw the attention of developing
countries to notifications relating to products of particular interest to them.  This was also to be found
in paragraph 9 of annex B  of the  SPS agreement.  He said that this provision was not implemented in
a systematic manner, and that this issue had been raised in the Committee on SPS.  A second example
concerned Article 9 of the SPS agreement which stated that "Where substantial investments are
required in order for an exporting developing country Member to fulfil the sanitary or phytosanitaryrequirements of an importing Member, the latter shall consider providing such technical assistance as
will permit the developing country Member to maintain and expand its market access opportunities
for the product involved".  There was no information as to the implementation of this provision.  If
responses were not coming through the questionnaire, it should be indicated that there was no
information.  If there was no information, one possible conclusion would be to change the provisionof information into a notification obligation.
45. The representative of Egypt said that an example of provisions that were implemented in all
their terms were provisions for transitional time-periods. There were no difficulties in implementing
transitional periods, whether in relation to Customs Valuation, TRIPS, SPS or others.  Another
example of areas where there were no difficulties in implementation was in relation to Annex VII(b)of the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Duties, which stated that countries with a per
capita income of less than US$1,000 had certain rights.  These rights were being used.  In contrast, if
one considered Article 15 of the Agreement on Anti-Dumping Measures, which stipulated that special
regard was to be given by developed countries to the special situation of developing country
members,  no response was given to questions as  to how such a provision was being implemented.
Article 15 also stipulated that  the possibility of constructive remedies was to be explored prior to theWT/COMTD/M/25
Page 11
imposition of anti-dumping measures, yet when information was requested of developed countries in
relation to the implementation of this provision, the response given was that there was no obligation to
respond.
46. The representative of Egypt said that there was thus a range of issues and a range of
problems, and the whole subject was complex.  There were various categories of special anddifferential treatment with various problems: while some provisions were vague and required
clarification, others were very clear, but were still not implemented as there was no legal obligation to
inform Members regarding implementation.  This was precisely why a paper by the Secretariat was
needed, in order to ascertain the difficulties associated with the subject of special and differential
treatment, to address the problems identified, and facilitate discussion on the issue.  His delegation
were concerned at the delay in the preparation of the document, especially as it had been expected that
the paper would be ready by the 25
th Session of the CTD, as indicated by former Deputy
Director-General, Mr. Hoda.
47. The representative of India supported the Moroccan proposal for a seminar on special  and
differential treatment and the statement made by th e delegation of Egypt.  Regarding the Secretariat
note, it was true that responses to the questionnaire had not been forthcoming.  It was equally true that
some Members had made statements in the General Council.  He said his delegation would copy theirproposal relating to special and differential treatmen t made in the General Council to the Director of
the Development Division.  While the proposal did not follow entirely the format of the questionnaire,
it would provide information that could  be used in the preparation of the note.
48. The representative of India said that the problem with special and differential treatment was
threefold.  First some provisions were unclear;  second, where they were clear there was no bindingobligation;  and third, there was no political will to implement obligations where they existed.  The
proposals made by the Indian delegation called for wholesale amendments in some areas.  He refered
to the example of Article 15 of the Agreement on Anti-Dumping Measures, cited by the representative
of Egypt, and said the problem lay in the fa ct that Article 15 began with the words "It is
recognised…".  These words effectively reduced the obligation on developed countries to nil, anddeveloped countries were thus able in all legitimacy to tell developing countries that they recognised
that special regard was to be given to developing countries, but that developed countries would take
no action and that, furthermore, there was nothing developing countries could do either.  Were these
words "It is recognised" to be deleted, Article 15 would become a legally binding obligation which
had to be enforced, and developing countries would challenge developed countries under the Dispute
Settlement Mechanism in the event of non-implementation.  With weak language, and without
political will, special and differential treatment would remain on paper, and for the next 40 yearsdeveloped countries would continue to affirm that special and differential treatment provisions
existed, but that nothing would be done to implem ent them.  The problem was thus a little more
complicated than intimated by the Japanese delegation: it was not simply a question of replying to the
questionnaire.  The issues involved were more complex, as pointed out by the representative of
Norway.
49. The representative of India said that a critical phase had been reached, at which developing
countries were trying to change the face of the organisation.  There was active participation, as there
had been in the Uruguay Round, and there would be much more active participation at the Seattle
Ministerial Conference.  With this was likely to co me pressure for change.  He said that regarding
special and differential treatment, the thought was there, as was the provision, but there was no legallybinding obligation.  There had been in the past a gross imbalance in negotiating strength between
developed and developing countries.  Offers regarding special and differential treatment were made
on a "take it or leave it" basis, and developing countries often preferred that there be provisions
couched in expressions such as "It is recognised that …" rather than not to have anything at all.  That
situation had changed, and developing countries legitimately sought more.  He admitted that hisWT/COMTD/M/25
Page 12
delegation had been remiss in not providing a response to the questionnaire, and that they were
willing to make available their proposals to the CTD.  He said that there was no dearth of proposals
regarding special and differential treatment, and mentioned proposals submitted by the Egyptian and
Pakistan delegations as examples.  His delegation looked forward to a meaningful discussion in the
CTD.
50. The representative of Brazil said that the point of the CTD was to help developing countries
to prepare for the Ministerial Conference.  If the Secretariat could help developing countries, well and
good; if not, developing countries would be left where they were.  Brazil, as a developing country,
had limited resources.  His delegation were not expecting from the Secretariat specific comments on
specific provisions for special and differential treatment, with specific indications as to how to
proceed.  He did not believe that the problems faced by the Secretariat were due to lack of information
and added that he sympathised with the Secretariat's position.  He understood the comments made bythe European Communities that the CTD should engage in a more specific debate than that which
took place in the General Council.  However, he did not believe that this was what delegations
wanted.  If all the Secretariat could provide was a paper with general comments on the
implementation of special and differential provisions, that had to be accepted  as what was feasible.  If
the paper could go further, it may then go further.  What was unacceptable was that there be nodocument at all.  He said the first phase was of the preparatory process was over, and the second
phase was mid-way to completion, following which delegations would be involved in a negotiating
and drafting phase, at which point if the paper was not ready it may as well be forgotten.  He therefore
agreed that the  Director of the Development Division should circulate what  was available, adding
that it was necessary to be realistic about the matter.
51. The representative of Senegal said that his delegation was undertaking an internal
consultation at the level of  the different committees responsible for different subjects within the
WTO, and that his delegation would communicate its responses to the questionnaire as soon as
possible.  His delegation supported the proposal made by the delegation of Morocco concerning the
holding of a seminar on special and differential treatment.  This would respond to a concernfrequently expressed by the G.15, and this context he wished to refer to work that had been carried out
in New Delhi which had brought together India, Sene gal, Egypt and Jamaica.  Results from this work
could feed into work undertaken in preparation for the seminar.  His delegation welcomed with great
interest the proposal put forward by the Secretariat to circulate an informal note.  He recalled that the
Secretariat had, following the completion of the Uruguay Round, prepared a document covering
subjects of interest to developing countries.  Given that special and differential treatment was one
such subject, it was normal that after five years that one should examine the contents of the concept,
as well as its scope and coverage; whether the concept had been operational; and improvements to be
made in terms of rights available to developing countries and obligations for developed countries.
Hence his delegation hoped that the proposed seminar could be held as soon as possible.
52. The representative of Senegal concluded his statement by congratulating the eleven IGOs for
their presence as observers on an ad hoc, meeting by meeting basis, and made specific mention of thetwo West African Organisations, namely ECOWAS and WAEMU.  He said this demonstrated a
constant desire of CTD members that developing countries participate actively in the work of the
WTO.  This was a signal that pointed to the role of  developing countries at the Seattle Ministerial, and
it was thus wholly legitimate that they concerned themselves with special and differential treatment.
There was no doubt that when subjects like the GATS or the Agreement on Agriculture werebroached, the subject of special and differential treatment would acquire much greater interest.
53. The Director of the Development Division thanked delegations for their views and concerns,
saying that it was indeed the intention of the Secretariat to produce a paper on  basis of information in
its possession. He took note of the offer made by the representative of India to submit to the CTD a
copy of the proposal it had submitted to the General Council.  He took note of the EgyptianWT/COMTD/M/25
Page 13
delegation's point about the paper it had submitted earlier to the CTD, and also of the request for a
seminar. He said that discussions needed to be held with delegations who proposed the holding of the
seminar, and other delegations, regarding the timing and content of the seminar.
54. The Chairperson said that the CTD took note  of the statements and proposals made by
delegations, including the proposal made for the holding of a seminar.
55. The representative of Morocco said he wished  to draw a distinction of importance for the
work of the CTD.  He said that delegations needed to avoid confusing proposals made in the context
of the preparatory process for the Ministerial Conference on one hand, with proposals relating to the
substantive work of the CTD on the other.  Thus when it was proposed that a seminar be held on the
subject of special and differential treatment, one had to be clear in one's mind whether this was
specifically in the context of the preparatory process for the Ministerial Conference or whether this
concerned the substantive work of the CTD. This dist inction needed to be kept in mind with respect to
all items on the CTD's agenda.  He emphasised that the CTD had a special responsibility in the
context of the preparatory process for the Ministerial Conference, as had been the case in 1996,
because questions related to development needed to be discussed within the CTD.  As far as possible,
information regarding the implementation of differen t agreements needed to be provided to the CTD
that it may evaluate this information, and thus contribute to the application of paragraph 8 of theGeneva declaration.  Whereas it was typically the role of the General Council to provide an overview
of the organisation and its agreements, the CTD now had the possibility to provide such an overview
and transmit it to the General Council.  In order that this happen, the CTD should mandate the
Chairperson to request from the Chairs of different committees information on the implementation of
different agreements.  Every effort should be made to ensure that developing and least developedcountries have proposals for the Seattle Ministerial Conference.  At the same time, a collective
assessment was required from the CTD as an input into the Seattle Ministerial Conference.
56. The Chairperson thanked the representative of Morocco for his statement, and recalled that
there was  a specific item on the Agenda regarding possible inputs into the 3rd Ministerial Conference.
V. WTO WORK PROGRAMME ON ELECTRONIC COMMERCE
(a) Presentation by the Economic Commission for Europe on Electronic Commerce
57. The Chairperson recalled that at the 24th Session of the CTD on 2 March 1999, it had been
decided that the CTD should invite the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) to
this Session of the CTD to provide a presentation on electronic commerce.  She welcomed
Dr. Carol Cosgrove-Sacks, Director, Trade Division in the ECE, to the CTD and invited her to make
her presentation.
58. Dr. Cosgrove-Sacks began by stating that the purpose of her presentation was to address some
development implications of electronic commerce and examine how electronic business could be used
by developing and transition countries to build capacity.  She wished to address three key issues:
first, the fact that electronic business consisted of international supply chains;  second, the importance
of trade facilitation to ensure smooth movement of goods across borders, so that the efficiency gainsfrom electronic commerce were effectively realised;  and third, the importance of capacity building to
allow developing countries to participate in electronic commerce.
59. She said that UN/ECE spanned North America and the whole European continent, an area
that accounted for two-thirds of world trade.  For over 30 years UN/ECE experts had been developing
instruments such as standards and norms to facilitate  international business.  In order to be effective,WT/COMTD/M/25
Page 14
such standards and procedures needed to be global, which in turn required cooperation on a global
scale.  This realisation led to the establishment of the United Nations Centre for Facilitation of
Procedures and Practices for Administration, Commerce and Transport (UN/CEFACT). While
UN/CEFACT was based in the UN/ ECE, it had close and intensive links with the other United
Nations regional economic commissions, and worked closely with the WTO.
60. Dr. Cosgrove–Sacks said that trade was part of an international supply chain, which ran from
the initial trade enquiry to the delivery of the product.  At various stages of the international supply
chain, there took place activities which did not add any value, but which did cause costs to increase.
Such activities were related to storing, handling, inspection, certification, and so forth.  In all of these
instances, there was tremendous potential for electronic commerce, and scope for improving the
efficiency of the international supply chain.  In the case of a food export supply chain, it was
estimated that there were as many as 27 processes among 40 different parties, so that even a fairlyrapid transaction took 12 weeks for completion.  The question therefore was how to use the
technologies and techniques of electronic commerce to reduce the length of the process, to generate
more income and to enhance the participation of developing countries in international trade.  It was
necessary to examine the paradigm shift caused by electronic commerce in ways of doing business.
61. Dr. Cosgrove–Sacks refered to the CTD note "Development Implications of Electronic
Commerce" (WT/COMTD/W/51) and said that UN/CEFACT were convinced of the analysis
contained therein, namely that the benefits of electronic commerce were only possible if it was
possible to reduce the physical, economic, juridical and policy constraints in doing business
internationally.  It was necessary to look, in the first instance, at the benefits of electronic commerce
and assess how to reduce the costs of international trade procedures, and thus to focus on the role of
trade facilitation.  In this context she said that UN/CEFACT were pleased that some Members had
proposed that trade facilitation be included in a possible millennium round of talks.  Second, it was
necessary to reduce transaction costs by building an effective global supply chain, and to integrate
developing and transition countries into this global supply chain.  Third, the investment in human and
physical infrastructure that enabled participation in this new way of doing business needed to beaddressed.
62. Dr. Cosgrove-Sacks said that electronic commerce had had its principal impact in the
software and services sectors since it was possible to deliver the product through the same channels as
by which the product had been ordered. However, when trade in goods was considered, one had to be
concerned with how one delivered the goods and how one ordered and traded goods.  Electronic
commerce was thus about the synergy formed by the use of digital information, computerised
business practices and the Internet.  Electronic commerce was defined by UN/CEFACT as doingbusiness electronically, through, inter alia , the sharing of standardised unstructured or structured
business information by electronic means, and the use of such tools as electronic mail or messaging,
the World Wide Web, smart cards, electronic funds transfers, automated data capture and bar codes,
and electronic data interchange.  The importance of electronic commerce was due to the fact that it
resided in the overlap between business processes, institutions, and networks.  The deliberations of
international organisations should accordingly focus on the overlap  between these three areas.
63. Dr. Cosgrove-Sacks said the concept of electronic commerce could be structured either by
type of business relations or by type of commercial activity, and presented a matrix that structured the
type of relations between three categories of partners (individuals, business, and government) which
sent or received data and information electronically.  The center of the matrix coveredbusiness-to-business and business-to-government communications, where the exchange of data by
electronic means  was of supreme importance.  Business-to-business relationships had become,
financially, the most important part of electronic commerce.  All of these relationships depended on
the provision of good communication links, and one of the challenges for developing countries lay in
the inadequacy of their telecommunications infrastructure.WT/COMTD/M/25
Page 15
64. As stated before, a central challenge was the integration of developing countries into the
international supply chain. One possible positive step was to reduce the barriers that were put up by
regulatory bodies.  This was a prerequisite not only for the development of international trade, but
also for the development of electronic commerce.  This brought up, again, the importance of a
commitment to trade facilitation, to ensure that such barriers to trade were reduced.  Second, it wasnecessary to deal with delays and uncertainties in business processes, such as legal issues, in the
context of an international framework for electronic business.  All commercial enterprises needed to
be concerned with the effectiveness of business process, by simplifying and streamlining their
business processes.  A greater focus on electronic commerce as a means to increase revenue and value
added was also needed.
65. Dr. Cosgrove-Sacks said the United Nations strove  to create an efficient environment for
developing countries.  UN/CEFACT was the majo r source of standards and recommendations for best
practice relating to business process, and was at the core of producing ground rules for the digital
market-place.  UN/CEFACT worked to enhance the information infrastructure, had a memorandum of
understanding with the International Standards Office and the International Electro-technical
Commission (IEC), and were  concerned to build capacity through the use of standards.  It was
through basic standards that UN/CEFACT provided the basic tools that enabled electronic commerceto work.  UN/CEFACT also sought to build capacity by ensuring a real participation in international
supply chains, and encouraged developing countries to "learn by doing".  Finally UN/CEFACT
advocated capacity building through technical assistan ce, and drew attention in this respect to the
work of other regional UN agencies and UNCTAD.
66. The Chairperson thanked Dr. Cosgrove-Sacks for her presentation and invited Members to
comment on the presentation or raise questions.
67. The representative of Mexico thanked Dr. Cosgrove-Sacks for her presentation. His first
comment had to do with access, and specifically the fact that connection charges were high in
developing countries.  Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) preferred to acquire what was essential
before embarking on electronic commerce.  A fundamental need was to lower access costs in order toensure that  SMEs had access and therefore participate in international trade.  A second point was that
protection of content was unequal, in that developing countries were recipients of contents and not
producers.  For instance, countries like his which sought to produce catalogues reflecting their own
culture and language were not able to do so. Third, there were questions of confidentiality and
security in electronic business.  Fourth, there was a lack of an "electronic business culture" or ethos,
and the development of such a culture needed to be supported by international institutions.  Fifth, he
recalled Dr. Cosgrove-Sacks' statement that the future of electronic commerce would be dominated bybusiness-to-business transactions, and said that a gr eater knowledge was needed of the view of firms
on as to how such transactions took place.  Finally, he noted that the presentation touched on the
facilitation of trade, and pointed out that there was a clear distinction between electronic commerce
and trade facilitation, and that it was quite mistaken to  say that  the two were one and the same thing.
68. The representative of Panama recalled that Dr. Cosgrove-Sacks had mentioned in the course
of the presentation that one of the problems experienced in electronic business was that of
reengineering business processes, and raised the question of whether there was any example of
countries where businesses  had reengineered their processes in order to implement the SAP industrial
process.  He wished also to know what  UN/ECE were doing to facilitate the reengineering process in
developing countries, especially in the light of di fficulties experienced in developed countries in the
execution of reengineering.
69. Dr. Cosgrove-Sacks said she agreed entirely that the core problem lay in fostering an
electronic business culture in developing and transition economies, adding that this was an issue on
which  institutions concerned with capacity buildin g should focus.  The UN/ECE had a limited role inWT/COMTD/M/25
Page 16
capacity building, insofar as its essential focus lay in the promotion of standards and norms, and the
promotion of best practices in electronic busine ss and trade facilitation.  The UN/ECE did work with
other regional UN commissions, but left to UNCTAD, the ITC and other capacity-building
organisations the bulk of the work in promoting an electronic business culture.  Referring to the
distinction drawn by the representative of Mexico between trade facilitation and electronic commerce,Dr. Cosgrove-Sacks said that there was clearly a difference between the two, and that the point she
had made was that there was only a limited value in speeding up the process by which goods were
ordered (by means of electronic commerce) if the delivery of products still took an inordinately long
time to reach their destination on account of various barriers, notably non-tariff barriers.  This was the
reason why electronic commerce highlighted the urgenc y of facilitating trade flows, and explained
why there was a fundamental link between the two c oncepts. Referring to the question raised by the
representative of Panama about the work done by UN/ECE in facilitating the reengineering ofbusiness processes, Dr. Cosgrove-Sacks said that UN/CEFACT was working closely with the delivery
mechanisms of technical assistance and capacity building to help developing countries and major
enterprises to understand what needed to be done.  At the same time, it was necessary for
governments around the world to had to consider the implications of electronic commerce.  She cited
the example of Switzerland, where had government initiated a process in order to raise awareness ofelectronic commerce at all levels of business, to enable Switzerland to take a strategic advantage in
electronic commerce. She also cited the government procurement services of the United States, which
used United Nations rules for Electronic Data Interchange for Administration, Commerce and
Transport procedures in their activities.  She urged delegations to make contact with UN/CEFACT if
they wished further information regarding  assistance  activities in trade facilitation.
70. The Chairperson thanked Members for their questions and thanked Dr. Cosgrove-Sacks and
the Economic Commission for Europe for their valuable contribution to this agenda item of the CTD.
She said the CTD took note of all comments made by delegations. She  suggested that the CTD
proceed to the second part of this item, namely:
(b) Consideration of the Contribution of the Committee's WTO Work Programme on
Electronic Commerce
71. The Chairperson recalled that at the informal consultations conducted on 5 May 1999,  a final
deadline of 25 May was set  for submission by Members, who desired to do so, to the Secretariat of
any further written contributions to the compilati on of points.  She said that since the informal
consultations of 5 May 1999, no additional comments had been received from any Member.  The
compilation of points therefore, remained unchanged from when Members last discussed the paper on
5 May 1999.  She remained convinced that the compilation of points provides a good basis forfinalising the contribution of the CTD to the General Council in fulfilment of the Terms of Reference
for the CTD on the WTO Work Programme on Electronic Commerce.  She wished to have Members'
comments on the compilation of points with a view to finalising the contribution and adopting it as the
contribution of the CTD to the WTO Work Programme on Electronic Commerce.
72. The representative of the United States said her delegation were curious to know why the first
item of the issues paper regarding points raised in the CTD contained a reference to Article XX.  She
also noted that paragraph 19 contained a reference to the handling of domain names by the ITU,
whereas it was  her understanding that domain names were being handled  by WIPO.
73. The representative of Panama said the compilation was useful and could be used as a proper
guide to future discussions on the matter of electronic commerce.  He drew attention to paragraph 9 of
the compilation which stated that "the essential nature of electronic commerce and cyberspace would
make moot the issue of Movement of Natural Persons", and said that while this was true to some
aspects of business transactions, notably processes which could be handled through electronic means,
that these were only a limited part of the activities of the firm.  It was possible that even though a firmWT/COMTD/M/25
Page 17
conducted its work by electronic means, it could also have offices in a number of countries, which
would require staff travel, thus ensuring that Mo vement of Natural Persons remained relevant.  He
said that the question of Movement of Natural Persons was also relevant to the point made in
paragraph 13 of the compilation regarding the training of human resources, as this could require that
an office transfer staff from one office to another for training purposes.  Regarding paragraphs 15and 16, he said that the policies and regulations adopted by developed countries affected the
development of electronic commerce at the world leve l.  He cited as examples certain export controls
on technology, and certain prohibitions on information exports if certain confidentiality requirements
are not met.  Such policies could have a tremendous impact on the transfer of information  and the
conduct of business by electronic means across frontiers.  Regarding paragraph 18, and the principle
of avoiding duplication in the work conducted by international institutions, he said that that in the
exercise of avoiding duplication of effort, care must be taken to devote sufficient resources tocovering the existing needs of developing countries.  Regarding paragraph 49, he noted that it was not
simply access prices to the Internet that were an important obstacle, but also the initial costs of
securing a presence that would provide access to the Internet highways.  It would be useful to have an
exchange of ideas regarding the various methods being developed to increase access to electronic
networks.  Finally, he noted that there were some further barriers to the development of electroniccommerce, such as legal systems which established monopolies or closed markets, such as
telecommunications or the ticketing systems of airline seats.
74. The representative of Uruguay drew the attention of the CTD to paragraph 19, and said that at
the last informal meeting, his delegation had suggested inserting the phrase "legal issues in
UNCITRAL", given that UNCITRAL was the organisation that had first dealt with these issues.  Also
in connection with paragraph 19, he said that Domain Names were the concern of WIPO and not ITU.
Third, he questioned the inclusion of the section on points made in the seminar.  Finally, he said that
delegations were still awaiting the document mentioned in paragraph 43 of the Secretariat Paper
WT/COMTD/W/51, regarding the economic implications of electronic commerce.  He recalled that at
the end of 1998, his delegation had requested the circulation and discussion of the document in theCTD, and that request had been reiterated in the meeting of 2 March 1999, with the support of  the
EC, India, Hong Kong, China;  Cuba, and others.  He said that since the document was mentioned in
the Secretariat paper, delegations had the right  to read it.  He therefore reiterated  the request he had
made Finally, regarding the format of the report to the General Council, he wished to know whether
the report would consist of a list of  points or whether a more substantive report would be prepared.
75. The representative of Brazil recalled that his delegation had expressed the view that the
compilation of points was difficult to work with, and that it suffered from inadequacies in terms both
of format and content.  His delegation had been expecting major changes to the document, but these
had not materialised.  He recalled that his delegation, and several others, had requested that the points
raised in the seminar be struck out. His delegation had agreed to the holding of the seminar on the
understanding that this was a separate initiative with no  linkage to the work of the CTD, and  saw no
utility in attaching the list of points raised in the seminar in this or any other document reporting to theGeneral Council on the work programme on electronic commerce.  Regarding the points raised in the
CTD, he understood that while there was a disclaimer at the start of the document that the points
compiled do not necessarily reflect agreed positions, his reading of the document led him to believe
the compilation did not reflect views expressed.  For instance, regarding paragraph 2, he said that
while some delegations had indeed argued that stronger organic links and a more coordinatedapproach should be established among the areas of WTO competence, others had argued that this was
premature.  This view, however, was not reflected in the paper, and it was possible that an uninformed
reader could gather the impression that there existed an emerging consensus on the points made in
paragraph 2.  In paragraph 3, it was stated that as pects of electronic commerce were relevant under a
number of Agreements in the WTO, including the Agreement on Government Procurement and ITA-Iand II.  While some delegations had argued in that such agreements were of relevance, others had
argued to the contrary.  These views, however, we re not reflected. Regarding paragraph 6, while someWT/COMTD/M/25
Page 18
delegations had indeed argued that the growth of electronic commerce raised important trade policy
and trade facilitation issues, others had argued that trade facilitation had no bearing on the discussions
of electronic commerce.  Regarding paragraph 9, some delegations had argued that electronic
commerce would make moot the question of the mo vement of natural persons, while others had
argued to the contrary, but this was not reflected in the compilation.  Regarding paragraph 23, whichstated that investment in infrastructure will be encouraged through regimes that guarantee
non-discriminatory treatment among investment, he said that there were no relevant WTO disciplines
in this domain.  Regarding paragraph 24, while some delegations had argued in favour of low or
zero-duty access for computer and telecommunications equipment, others had argued that this was a
question of national policy and that members had the right to determine access, but that this was not
reflected in the compilation.  The representative of  Brazil said that he could make similar points in
regard to all the paragraphs of the report.  While he did not disagree with the content of thecompilation of points, he said that different views had been expressed in the course of the CTD
discussions, and that this balance was not reflected in the compilation of points.  It was therefore
difficult to use the compilation of points, as it stood, as a basis for a report to the General Council.
Given that there was a time constraint, he suggested that a factual report be prepared which would
report that discussions had been held in the CTD, and simply state the main headings listed in thecompilation of points.  He added that he  was also open to the Chairperson submitting a report, on her
own responsibility, to the General Council.
76. The representative of  Egypt said his delegation associated itself with the statement made by
Brazil, adding that his delegation shared the vi ews expressed by Brazil, Uruguay and Panama.  He
said that the paper was useful as a compilation, but  that its utility was limited to that.  The paper
should be an evolving document which included the statements, remarks and concerns of different
delegations.  In addition to the points  the representative of Brazil had cited as examples where the
balance of views needed to be more adequately reflected, the representative of Egypt drew the
attention of the CTD to the following points.  Regarding paragraph 4, he considered the use of the
word "phenomenon" in connection with electronic commerce to be strange, though he agreed thatelectronic commerce was here to stay.  The main issue was to ensure that developing countries could
participate effectively in electronic commerce.  It was important to identify different concerns and
conditions to allow this.  Regarding paragraph 5, he shared the view that electronic commerce had
positive effects on growth and development, but was concerned that if developing countries were not
able to participate in electronic commerce in an ef fective manner, this could affect their participation
in international trade.  Regarding the question of movement of natural persons addressed in
paragraphs 8 and 9, his delegation were of  the view that electronic commerce should not be used asan excuse to avoid further liberalisation in the area of movement of natural persons, or as a substitute
for such liberalisation.  Regarding paragraph 12, his delegation believed that there were various
aspects to infrastructure investment, and that this was not limited to the private sector.  The use of
public funds, development assistance requirements, and other elements, should not be ignored.
Regarding the section on constraints faced by developing countries, it was important to refer to someof the innovative ways in which developing countries have addressed these  constraints.  Regarding
paragraph 17, he said that the role of government need not be minimal, pointing to the issue of
taxation as one where the government had an important role.  He added that one often spoke of the
right macroeconomic framework, but not necessarily about hospitable policy environments, and that
there was a need to refine some of the aspects refered to in this regard, and a need for more preciselanguage.  Regarding paragraph 19, he said reference  needed to be made to the role of the ITC and
UNCTAD.  Regarding paragraph 23, he said his delegation participated in the working group on trade
and investment, and that the determinants of foreign investment and where foreign investment goes
are more complex than reflected by the paragraph.  His delegation believed this paragraph was one
where more balance could be introduced, along with details regarding various  aspects  of thedeterminants of foreign investment.  Regarding paragraph 24, his delegation shared the views
expressed by Brazil that low or zero duty access, was not the only solution to the questions addressed
in paragraph 24.  The questions raised in the illustrative list were important and pertinent, and that theWT/COMTD/M/25
Page 19
Secretariat should complement the paper prepared earlier on electronic commerce with an analytical
paper that would attempt to respond to some of the questions.  He noted that, in particular,
questions 34 to 39 and 41 to 43, were important questions that could form the basis of a future paper
by the Secretariat.  Regarding paragraph 31, he said that the issues of infrastructure and technical
assistance should be separated.  Regarding paragraph 33, he said that reference to "unrestricted,unregulated electronic commerce" was too sweeping,  since some elements of electronic commerce
had implications which affected health, safety and other matters where regulations and restrictions
were important.  Finally, regarding the seminar, he acknowledged the view expressed by Brazil that
the points raised in the seminar should be contained in a separate document, and that his delegation
was willing to go along with this proposal.  His delegation were nevertheless of the view that the
paper on points raised in the seminar should be much more substantial and much more detailed, since
there were a  number of points raised in the seminar which could be used as inputs for discussions incapitals and for further deliberations by the CTD.  He cited the example of the Symposium on Trade
Facilitation, following which a document containing papers submitted and statements made by
participants was produced, as a possible model.  In conclusion, his delegation wished to add another
aspect to discussions regarding electronic commerce, in the belief that the issue of electronic
commerce required a much more integrated approach was required by international organisations,especially those based in Geneva, along the lines used in connection with issues relating to LDCs.
His delegation believed that important work was being conducted by UNCTAD on the development
aspects of electronic commerce, and at the ITC regarding the role of the private sector and electronic
commerce.  The WTO was working on rules and the their implications for electronic commerce,
WIPO was addressing various aspects of intellectual property rights in relation to electroniccommerce, and ITU is addressing various issues in relation to telecommunications and infrastructure.
The presence of all these organisations allowed them to play an important role in an integrated
manner in order to ensure that activities are not duplicated, and that some coherence exists in
addressing issues connected to electronic commerce.  The participation of relevant non-Geneva based
organisations, such as UNCITRAL, UNDP and the World Bank, could be investigated.
77. The representative of Mexico agreed with Brazil that the Agreement on Government
Procurement was not a multilateral agreement, and that this would have to be specified in the text, or
reference to it removed altogether.  He said that  the point made by Egypt regarding investment in
infrastructure was most important. Mention needed to be made of public investment, in order to bring
greater balance to the text.  Regarding the illustrative list of questions, he said that mention should be
made of the main aspects of development to be addressed in terms of electronic commerce.
Regarding paragraph 18, he agreed that greater cooperation between the institutions listed wasnecessary, adding that greater coordination amongst the institutions was necessary as well, especially
in connection with technical assistance.  He cited as an example the possibility of cooperation
between the WTO and the UNCTAD, given the work undertaken by the latter, especially in
connection with human resources.  Regarding paragraph 27, he asked what it meant in practice to
enhance the role of small and medium enterprises in electronic commerce, and suggested that thiswould involve technical assistance programmes in connection with UNCTAD.  The WTO should
examine the experiences of UNCTAD in this field to stimulate greater participation of SMEs in
electronic commerce.  He noted that there was no specific reference to technical assistance in the
illustrative list of questions, and said that technical assistance was important if developing country
access to infrastructure was to be improved, and their empowerment in the domain of electroniccommerce realised.  Finally, he said that the document submitted by the CTD to the General Council
should list only comments made in the CTD.  He said that it was not relevant to refer to the Seminar,
and indeed that any relevant points made in the Seminar had been made before the CTD.  Such points
included the high price of access to the Internet, the predominance of English, the chain of
confidence, the issue of human resources.  He agreed with the statements made by Brazil, and saidthat the format in which the statements were presented should indicate that the statements did not
reflect agreed positions.WT/COMTD/M/25
Page 20
78. The representative of Korea said his delegation was surprised that the discussion that had
taken place was similar to the discussion held in the informal consultations.  He said it was important
to send a summary that fully reflected points made in the CTD.  Given that the CTD had to send a
report to the General Council by 30 July, his delegation proposed that a final deadline for written
submissions.  He said that it was important to include in the submission the points made in theSeminar, since the holding of the seminar was decided by the CTD, and because participants at the
seminar were similar to the participants in the CTD.  Given the technical nature of electronic
commerce, his delegation did not consider the points made in the seminar to be less relevant than
points made in the CTD.
79. The representative of Argentina said his delegation's views were along the lines of those
expressed by Panama, Brazil, Egypt, Mexico and Uruguay.  Regarding paragraph 16, he recalled that
his country was not a party to the ITA, and said that his delegation was not of the view that the ITA,and specific commitments under the GATS, could facilitate the access to IT goods and services.  His
delegation supported the view expressed by Brazil saying that a factual report was needed reflecting
the various comments made in the CTD, and supported keeping separate from the document the main
points made in the seminar.
80. The representative of India said that in his view the remarks made by Brazil, Egypt and others
regarding the compilation of points were devastating.  He identified two types of problems.  First,
errors of omission, inasmuch as when one view was expressed, the opposing view was not.  He said
there might be some reason for this, insofar as the inclusion of diametrically opposite views would
leave the  reader in doubt as to what the view held by the CTD was.  He said the truth of the matter
may be that the CTD had no view on the matter since it was  an evolving and new area.  Second, hisdelegation were also concerned about errors of co mmission.  He refered to paragraph 8 and 9 which
dealt with the movement of natural persons, and said that the statement that electronic commerce
would make moot the issue of the movement of natural persons had no basis in reality.  He cited as an
example the high demand for Indian software specialists in the United States and Europe, in
connection with the Y2K problem, and the fact that this demand could not be met owing to travelrestrictions.  It seemed, therefore, that contrary to the statement made in paragraph 9, electronic
commerce accentuated the question of the movement of natural persons.  It was therefore obvious that
the report in its present form was problematic.  Possible solutions included a summary by the
Chairperson on her own responsibility, or a factual summary.
81. The representative of Japan, commenting on the views expressed by Egypt and India, said
that the holding of the seminar was useful in educating the CTD, and added that the proposal made to
hold a seminar on special and differential treatment was a good one, to which his delegation had apositive attitude.  However, the holding of a seminar without  any concrete outcome was not very
productive; some outcome was necessary, whether the seminar be on electronic commerce or special
and differential treatment.  He said that one possibility, regarding the seminar on electronic
commerce, would be to separate the list of points made in the seminar and present it as an annex to the
compilation, adding that it was useful  to present a record of points made in the seminar to the GeneralCouncil.  He said his delegation could go along with the comments contained in the compilation, but
that if some delegations did feel unsure about comments made, his delegation was willing to be
flexible.  Echoing the suggestion made by India, he said the compilation could be presented as a
Chairperson's summary on her own responsibility, if there was no consensus within the CTD
concerning the document.
82. Returning to the section on points made in the Seminar, the representative of Japan said it was
a pity that no reference had been made to the work carried out by the WTO's Economic Research and
Analysis Division on the impact of electronic  commerce on customs tariff revenue, which had been
refered to in paragraphs 130 and 131 of Secretariat document WT/COMTD/W/18.  He said that the
compilation should reproduce the contents of paragraph 131, which stated that "the study estimatedWT/COMTD/M/25
Page 21
the customs tariff revenue loss in case all these goods were traded on-line to be US$200 million for
developing countries and US$600 million.  This amounted to less that 0.1 per cent of total world tariff
revenues.  The broad conclusion of the report was that for most countries, tariff losses from the on-
line trade of digitised products were liable to be negligible".
83. The representative of Canada said her delegation was of the view that there had been, within
the CTD, very constructive discussions on electronic commerce and development, and that it was
important to find a way of reflecting these in the report.  Her delegation believed the compilation of
points was useful and that provided the list could be revised to incorporate comments from the present
Session and the informal consultations of 5 May, it would form an important part of the report.  She
said that if other delegations thought that these discussions could be reflected in a factual summary,
her delegation were willing to show flexibility. Rega rding points raised in the seminar, she said the
reviews of the seminar had been good and that discussion in the seminar had been interesting, and thatit was important that these points remained in the report.  Her delegation were flexible as to whether
points raised in the seminar should remain part of the list, prefaced by a "chapeau" explaining the
context of that part of the report, or alternatively, that the points made in the seminar be turned into a
separate document altogether.  Finally, she said she believed Egypt had  made a good point
concerning the work of other organisations and th e need for coordination, and that mention should be
made of this in the report.
84. The representative of the European Commission said he shared the mild surprise expressed by
the representative of Korea. about the debate that had been held.  He said that informal discussions
had been held, that his delegation had enquired from the Secretariat as to whether any written
submissions had been made, and had been of the impression that the paper had been settled and couldgo forward.  Unfortunately, this did not seem to be the case, and he said the question was how to
ensure that there would be an input from CTD into the General Council process, adding that it was
very important that there be such an input.  He did not want to pronounce on how this should be done,
the but necessary steps should be taken to have another discussion and another document, with
sufficient time to discuss the document.  His delegation were willing to discuss substantive points anddid not want to prejudge any question which had been raised.  It was important that there be a faithful
reflection of what had been done in the committee.  He expressed concern about the time frame for
the completion of work and said his delegation were open to suggestions from the chair and the
Secretariat on how to proceed.
85. The Chairperson, responding to a question raised earlier by the representative of the
United States regarding a reference made in paragraph 1 of the compilation to Article XX exceptions,
said the point had been made by the representative of the Republic of Korea, in the meeting of6 March 1998.
86. The representative of the United States thanked the Chairperson for her swift response.  She
said that her delegation agreed with comments made by Japan and Korea, that the list of points made
in the seminar be retained in some shape or form, not necessarily as a submission to the General
Council but perhaps as an annex.  She agreed with Egypt that there were several items discussed inthe seminar that would be useful for discussion in the CTD, recalling that the seminar had been
initiated by the CTD, that there had been substantial input into the seminar from delegations, and that
the representation at the seminar had been quite formidable.  A broad spectrum of views had been
expressed, and therefore she did not understand why the list of points made in the seminar should be
treated as if it contained something repugnant.  She recognised that there should be a distinction
between statements made by Members and those made by individuals in the Seminar.
87. Concerning objections made to the list of points made in the CTD, the representative of the
United States said many delegations had raised the n eed for the list to reflect views not in agreement
with the views already contained in the list.  She said  that objections to specific statements should beWT/COMTD/M/25
Page 22
included, though the statements should not be deleted, in recognition of the fact that the statements
reflected views held by delegations.  Regarding the points made by Mexico concerning technical
assistance,  she drew the attention of the CTD to the paper her delegation had circulated earlier, which
contained a section on development, and which stated that, in addition to initiatives such as the ITA
and basic telecommunication, the United States su ggested that Members consider development
assistance initiatives that fostered the growth of  infrastructure, access to information technology and
technical know-how.  She therefore requested that the United States notation be included in the
revision of the list.  Regarding the comments made by India, she said that it was an Indian
representative who had said during the Seminar that the question of the movement of natural persons
may be minimal.
88. The representative of Venezuela supported the delegations of Brazil and Egypt in search of a
more balanced text, adding that her delegation found it difficult to take on board paragraphs 3, 7, 23,
and 24.  In particular, she recalled that her delegation had stated  a very definite position concerning
public policy in investment matters.  Her delegation wished to support the Uruguayan proposal to
extract from the compilation all points made in the seminar.  This did not negate the value of the
seminar, and her delegation were willing to show flexibility in searching for a means to reflect the
seminar.  She believed that the opinions stated by some delegations, notably Egypt and Brazil, were ofsufficient importance for there to flexibility re garding time-frames for the presentation of written
comments.  She suggested an informal approach be taken that would allow substantive modifications
to the documents. she also asked whether the representative of Japan could repeat his proposal, which
she had not fully understood.
89. The representative of Korea said he took the floor to respond to the question raised by the
United States.  As the statement had been made by his predecessor, his delegation  would undertake
further work and contact the United States delegation bilaterally.
90. The representative of Japan said the point he had wished to make was that the point made in
document WT/COMTD/W/18, paragraphs 130 and 131, regarding research undertaken by the WTO
Secretariat on the impact of electronic commerce on customs revenue be included in the report onpoints made in the Seminar.
91. The representative of Uruguay said that his understanding had been that the preliminary
report would be a note sent by the chair to the General Council.  The preliminary report  had not yet
been considered by the General Council, but would be on 15 June 1999.  Therefore the compilation
of points under discussion would form the basis for the definitive submission to the general Council
for consideration by 31 July 1999.  He said that there was therefore two months for the definitive
report to be finalised by the CTD.  If this was so, his delegation did not see why there should be ahurry to consider something as definitive when there were two months left at the disposal of the CTD.
92. The Chairperson said the discussions had been fruitful and thanked delegations for their
comments and criticisms regarding the document.  She recalled that the points contained in the
compilation were neither negotiated nor reflected consensus.  Taking into account all that had been
said, she said she would endeavour to find a date that would be convenient for all in order to havefurther informal consultations, prior to the next CTD meeting scheduled for 7 July 1999.  In the
meantime, the Secretariat would take into account statements made during the meeting and revise the
document accordingly.  It was hoped that the this would be done in time for the informal
consultations, which would be the last meeting during which there would be further discussion on the
question, which would be the submitted to the CTD at its meeting of 7 July, during which a definitedecision would have to be taken, if it was intended that the contribution of the CTD to the General
Council be made  by the end of July, as had been planned.  She hoped that Members would be
agreeable to this proposal, and said that in the meantime she would address a letter, in her capacity as
chairperson of the CTD, to the chairman of the General Council, informing him that the question ofWT/COMTD/M/25
Page 23
electronic commerce continued to be discussed in the CTD.  An indication would be made of the main
issues raised in the CTD, along with the fact that there was no consensus on most of these issues, and
that  these issues would be further discussed at the informal consultations and at the next formal
meeting of the CTD.  She believed this would provide an indication to the Chairman of the General
Council of the importance given by the CTD to the subject of electronic commerce.  She said theSecretariat would communicate to Members the date and time of the next informal consultations on
electronic commerce.
93. It was so agreed.
VI. PRESENTATIONS
- Jointly by the ITC, UNCTAD and WTO on the Joint Integrated ITC/UNCTAD/WTO
Technical Assistance Programme in selected Least-Developed and other African
Countries;  and
- By the Administrative Unit of the Integrated Framework on the Integrated
Framework for Trade-Related Technical Assistance to Least-Developed Countries
94. The Chairperson said that a number of WTO technical assistance activities were undertaken
as part of a programme or of a framework jointly with other organizations.  Examples of this were the
Joint Integrated Technical Assistance Programme for Selected Least-Developed and Other African
Countries (JITAP);  and activities undertaken by the WTO in the least-developed countries under the
umbrella of the Integrated Framework for Trade-Related Technical Assistance to Least-Developed
Countries, outcome of the High Level Meeting for Least-Developed Countries which was held in
October 1997.  She said that JITAP was a joint programme between ITC, UNCTAD and the WTO,while the Integrated Framework was a coordination mechanism which coordinates trade-related
assistance activities in least-developed countries of six agencies: ITC, IMF, UNCTAD, UNDP, the
World Bank and WTO.  She was sure that while all delegations had heard about these two initiatives,
it had seemed to her that there was a general intere st among delegations to receive more information
about them.  Moreover, the initiatives also involved bilateral development partners, which added anadditional reason to taking up these two initiatives in the Committee.
95. She welcomed Mr. Dagata, Director, Divisi on of Technical Cooperation Coordination,
Mr.Vijay, Chief of the Office for Least-Developed Countries and Africa, and Mr. Ben Fadhl, Senior
Trade Promotion Adviser/Chief Technical Coordinator in the Office for Least-Developed Countries
and Africa, all three from the International Trade Centre, who will give us a presentation on the
JITAP.  This would be followed by a presentation on the Integrated Framework for Trade-Related
Technical Assistance to Least-Developed Countries by Mr. Francesco Geoffroy, of the AdministrativeUnit of the Integrated Framework.  The Administrative Unit represented the six agencies involved:
and was located in the ITC.  The presentations would help to explain the linkage between the
Integrated Framework and JITAP.
96. Mr. Dagata said that JITAP was the joint WTO/UNCTAD/ITC Integrated Technical
Assistance Programme in Selected Least Developed and Other African countries.  He said his
presentation would try to shed light on JITAP's origins;  its programme concepts and elements;  its
management and implementation modalities;  and its relationship to the Integrated Framework for
Trade-related assistance to  LDCs.  JITAP was concerned with technical cooperation for trade
development, aimed at enhancing the participation of African countries in the multilateral trading
system. JITAP was broad in scope, covering upstream policy and downstream practical solutions tocountry needs.  Yet it was limited to meeting the most critical needs for trade-related technicalWT/COMTD/M/25
Page 24
assistance.  It was country-based, with inter-country linkages.  It depended on partnerships, among the
three Geneva-based institutions, with and among eight African countries,  and with 13 donor
countries.  The participating countries were Tunisia, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Benin, Ghana, Côte
d'Ivoire and Burkina Faso.  Four of these countries were least-developed countries.  Its rationale was
to help African countries benefit from the Uruguay Round Agreements.  On the occasion ofUNCTAD IX, in 1996, the three agencies announced their intention to jointly respond to African
needs with integrated activities in selected countries.  By end-1997, teams of Geneva-based technical
staff, working closely with African national officials, had carried out needs assessments and designed
individual projects with the eight participant countries.  It became clear that critical country-level
needs were predominantly common and that the programme response in each of the countries was
becoming a common set of activities.  When the prospect of pooling donor resources became evident
and the benefits of simultaneous implementation were considered, individual country projects weretransformed into the JITAP programme. Implementation had begun in 1998.
97. Mr. Dagata said that needs identified during country assessments fell under four headings:
first, the need to understand the implications of the new multilateral  trading system for Africa's trade;
second, the need for help in implementing WTO membership obligations and other undertakings;
third, help in identifying new trade opportunities and potential problems  for enterprises.  And finally,a need to help exporters and importers respond to those opportunities and concerns.  JITAP was first
and foremost a capacity-building  programme.  Its distinctive features were joint participation of the
three Geneva organisations; a single, or generic, programme with selected activities to address critical
common needs, based on individual country needs and responses; organisation of scores of
implementation actions in clusters of programme elements, with each cluster covering all partnercountries, allowing for the simultaneous implementation across all eight countries, cluster-by-cluster;
and finally a communication and discussion facility to facilitate networking among partner countries
and between them and the Geneva organisations.  This system, once in place, would greatly facilitate
implementation and should easily be extended to other organisations.  The distinctive features of
JITAP contributed to enhancing  synergies among partner countries and the Geneva organisations, aswell as among programme activities;  the use of resources through economies of scale in management
and programme implementation; sustainability through networking and other capacity-building
features; and replicability of the JITAP programme in other countries if and when it were decided to
expand the programme.
98. Mr. Dagata said that coordination at the national level was through a steering group of
involved institutions, donors and the three Geneva organisations.  A senior official in the trade
ministry was the focal point.  Financial contributions for JITAP were brought together in a CommonTrust Fund (CTF) administered by the ITC.  Wi ndow One received unearmarked contributions, and
Window Two for country-earmarked contributions.  The total cost of the programme in the eight
countries was estimated at US$10 million.  Contributions to date were well over US$8 million;  the
funding gap was mainly in Kenya, and to a lesser extent in Côte d'Ivoire.  There was a broad donor
base, with 13 donors, including Côte d'Ivoire itself which had pledged to make a substantialcontribution to the CTF for its own activities.
99. Mr. Vijay said he would describe the programme content of JITAP and explain how the
clusters that reflected that content had been set up to realise the three objectives of the programmes,
namely building knowledge of the multilateral tradin g system;  conforming to the multilateral trading
system;  and  enhancing the readiness of the country's exporters to take advantage of opportunitiesoffered by a liberalised economy.  As explained earlier the technical work undertaken by the three
organisations during the programming phase led to the identification of a number of activities that
needed to be undertaken to realise the three objectives of the programme.  During the programming
phase, it was found that to optimise the use of resources and to derive synergy and economies of scale
benefits, the activities were best undertaken in groups.  This led to the adoption of a cluster approach.Groups of generic activities were called clusters.  These generic activities or clusters were undertakenWT/COMTD/M/25
Page 25
to satisfy the identified needs of each country.  In each cluster, there were sufficient commonalities
across the countries to allow for simultaneous delivery  of a number of outputs in a group of countries.
By using this approach, it was possible to undertake scores of activities involving over
1,000 implementation actions in eight countries through 15 clusters.  The 15 clusters were best
understood in terms of four families and could be classified as follows: knowledge of the MTS and itsimplications; reforms to meet MTS obligations; enterprise readiness; and support.
100. The first family of clusters was aimed at strengthening the capacity  of countries to
understanding the multilateral trading system amd its  implications for external trade.  The essence of
the activities in this family was to help countries in comprehending the emerging trading environment
and to define the field in which businesses truly operated. Within the first family, there were two
clusters:  the first dealt with developing a knowledge of the multilateral trading system and its
implications while the second dealt with the impact  of the multilateral trading system on the national
economy and adaptation of external trade policy.
101. The second family addressed the issue of adjusting the national trade legislation so that it
conformed to the multilateral trading system and regulations, and also had two clusters.  Under the
first of these, technical assistance was given on all matters  relating to customs, while under the
second, assistance was given for adjusting the legal framework of a country's external trade so that itwas in line with the rules of the multilateral trading system.
102. The third family dealt with enhancing the export  readiness of enterprises.  It was, by the
nature of work that needed to be done, a large fam ily.  It sought to lay the foundation for development
of exports from a country and to give practical help at the enterprise level.  To understand the third
family, it was best to see it as comprising  two components.  The first dealt with providing support atthe strategic level while the second dealt with building capacity at the operational level, so that
enterprises actually involved in exporting goods and services could compete effectively in the rapidly
globalizing world economy.  The strategic component itself had three clusters.  Under the first cluster,
export supply and market potential, the trade prospects of counties were analysed on the basis of their
national export performance and the evaluation of international demand and supply.  Under thesecond cluster, training for strategy formulation, c ountries received help in order to identify for
themselves products that could be exported and markets in which they could be sold.  Under the third
cluster, sectoral strategies were prepared for the main export subsectors and product groups, and
technical advice was to be given to exporting enterprises to enable them to define company-specific
business strategies and plans.  At the operational level, work was undertaken in four clusters. In the
first two clusters, namely trade information, national enquiry points  and quality management, support
was given to create an enabling environment for the enterprise to operate so that they have access tonecessary business infrastructure to conduct their business efficiently and effectively.  Under the last
two clusters, namely trade secrets and export financing, efforts were directed at the enterprises
themselves giving them support in areas of critic al importance, in for instance, how to approach
export markets and finance their export activity, negotiate with banks and so forth.
103. The fourth family provided the support to ensure that the capacity built under the other three
families is maintained even after the programme came to an end.  This family also had four clusters.
The "programme management" cluster had a number of activities undertaken to ensure that various
components of the programme were synchronised and activities and outputs were delivered jointly in
a timely manner in accordance with the programme plan.  The "reference centre" cluster ensured that
up to date technical information on the multilateral trading system was readily available to varioususers such as government ministries, national institutions, and private sector enterprises.  The cluster
that dealt with networking of partners facilitated the smooth flow of information among programme
partners on JITAP's various components using the latest technology tools;  and in the human resource
development/capacity building cluster activities were aimed at ensuring that appropriate trainingWT/COMTD/M/25
Page 26
material is developed and made available to all users, and that required skills are developed in the
concerned institutions.
104. Mr. Vijay said that taken together, all clusters and families gave simultaneous and sequential
actions at three levels in order to achieve the three objectives of the programme.  The capacity
developed under the three families was sustained by the work done under the fourth family – supportfamily – where each of the three organisations namely the ITC, the WTO, and the UNCTAD, were
involved.  The fourth family acted as a backbone for supporting the entire programme which derived
its main synergy benefit from it.  There were links between clusters.  For instance, work done in the
export supply and market potential cluster was used in the cluster dealing with sector/product strategy.
This was an example of links between clusters of the same family.  However, there were many
linkages between clusters belonging to different families.  For instance, work done under the export
supply and market potential cluster fed directly into the cluster dealing with the impact of themultilateral trading system on the national economy, which in turn provided inputs into the
sector/product strategy cluster.  Likewise, work done under the cluster "adjustment to trade laws and
regulations" informed tasks undertaken under the impact of the multilateral trading system on the
national economy and vice versa.
105. Mr. Vijay said that work done by the ITC under the cluster relating to trade analysis provided
inputs to the cluster dealing with the impact of the multilateral trading system on the national
economy, which provided a key input to the national symposium in the field, in which all parties were
involved to identify strategic trade options.  Revised trade policies in line with WTO rules were
developed in order to create an enabling environment in which enterprises could flourish and help in
formulating appropriate sector strategies, which then provided an input into the strategies andbusiness plans of the enterprises which were actu ally involved in exporting.  JITAP generated
information both of a qualitative and quantitative nature on a massive scale.  To ensure that
synergistic benefits accrued in a cumulative manner and valuable lessons learnt by some participants
were readily available to all when needed, an innovative Internet-based communication and
discussion facility was to be set up under JITAP.  Mr. Vijay handed the floor to Mr. Ben Fadhl topresent this facility.
106. Mr. Ben Fadhl said that the JITAP was quite complex, given the large number of players and
the heavy information flows generated by programme partners and network of trainers.  The problem
was compounded by numerous communication difficulties and high operating costs.  These
challenges had to be overcome by networking and using modern communication technologies, to
create a tool for management and information exchange, that can be used readily by all parties
concerned, and this was the Communication and Discussion Facility (CDF).  The CDF hadfour modules:  the exchange of documents module,  which provided access to information by JITAP
partners; the question-answers module, which enabled any participating user to raise a question on the
web site and have a reply by an appropriate reso urce person; the online discussion module, which was
a JITAP chat-room where day-to-day technical issues were discussed; and the newsgroup module,
where JITAP teams periodically initiated thematic discussions or exchanged ideas on selectedsubjects.  The address was JITAP.ORG.  Once the home page was reached, one would have the
choice of surfing in French or English, though at the moment the prototype operated only in English.
Once one had entered the CDF, one could choose between functions that were grouped in
four sections:  key information dealt with the programme and  participating countries; CDF modules -
the already mentioned; links to relevant sites; and utilities. If one visited "key information" a numberof documents which could be reviewed or downloaded were available for each country.  The visitor of
JITAP.ORG could review the implementation plan for that country, obtain a list of National Steering
Committee members  and their contact addresses, and so forth.  It was possible to examine information
under implementation under various clusters.  The question and answer module enabled to post a
question  or review answers given.  The module on documents exchange allowed the transmission of
documents electronically, rather than faxing them or sending them by courier.WT/COMTD/M/25
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107. Mr. Dagata concluded by reviewing the key characteristics of the JITAP as compared with the
Integrated Framework for LDCs.  JITAP was a distinctive, concrete programme of assistance while
the Integrated Framework was mainly a structure and a set of processes to co-ordinate assistance,
although it did lead to a coordinated group of activities.  JITAP was at present an Africa programme,
while the Integrated Framework covered the world.  JITAP covered both LDCs and non-LDCs inAfrica while the Integrated Framework was by definition restricted to LDCs.  The three Geneva
institutions were currently the only JITAP executing agencies, and they also participated in the
integrated framework with other core agencies.  There were four JITAP LDCs which also fell within
the scope of the Integrated Framework.
108. Mr. Dagata proceeded to introduce the Integrated Framework.  The Integrated Framework for
trade-related technical assistance to LDCs was endorsed by the October 1997 High-Level Meeting on
LDCs.  The core agencies were the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the UNDP, and thethree Geneva institutions.  They formed an interagency working group, under the chairmanship of the
WTO, supported by the Administrative Unit housed at the ITC.  Other multilateral and bilateral
partners active in trade-related assistance were now participating the Integrated Framework process to
arrive at a truly comprehensive, cooperation framework.  The 48 least-developed countries were
heavily concentrated in Africa, but there were a large number in Asia as well.  A website -LDCS.ORG – supported the IF process.  The site was a key and unique information tool providing
transparency for the process. The starting-point of the IF process was the country's needs assessment.
The core agencies addressed those needs in an integrated response.  Other  multilateral  and bilateral
agencies had been invited to broaden the integrated response, and several had done so.  Subsequently,
the LDC should schedule a trade-related Round Table meeting, where it presented in a strategicsetting, its needs assessment , the integrated response, and requested assistance.  At the meeting,
development partners should officially announce their interest in supporting elements of a multi-year
country-specific programme of trade-related assistance.
109. So far, 40 needs assessments and the corresponding Integrated Responses had been prepared.
Over 20 countries were planning  for a trade-related Round Table and were in various stages ofpreparation.  One Round Table had been held in December 1998 in Uganda.  It had become clear that
the round table process was not moving as quickly initially expected.  Accordingly, the
Administrative Unit was asked early this year to develop a model Round Table document, which had
now been disseminated to all LDCs.  Without compromising ownership, the agencies were now
taking a more proactive approach to getting round tables set up, including facilitating launch
workshops and the national preparation of round table documents.  Thirteen Round Table Meetings
were currently scheduled for 1999, though this was understandably subject to change. In Angola,preparations were at an early stage, and the UNDP wa s helping.  In Bangladesh,  the World  Bank was
helping to organise a launch workshop in Dhaka on 23 June 1999.  The next meeting of the
Inter-Agency Working Group was also scheduled to be held in Dhaka after the workshop.  In Bhutan,
help in preparing the meeting was principall y from UNDP and ITC.  In Djibouti, following
preparatory missions by the WTO, the UNCTAD and  the ITC, the Round Table Meeting could takeplace in the autumn.  In Ethiopia, a Round Table document had been circulated;  the World Bank was
providing support.  In Gambia, the meeting would take place within a broader UNDP-supported
meeting, also focussing on private sector development and agriculture.  In Guinea, the meeting was
planned in conjunction with a meeting on private sector development.  A joint mission of the Bank,
the UNCTAD and the UNDP would help prepare it.  In Haiti, consultants under a UNDP/UNCTADproject were helping to prepare documentation.  In Mozambique, preparations were still at an early
stage.  Nepal would also attend the launch workshop in Dhaka.  In Niger, a broader UNDP Round
Table would include discussions on the trade sector and private sector development.  In Tanzania, a
meeting was being pursued with the support of the World Bank, following recommendations of a
consultative group meeting in may.  In Zambia, discussion was under way with core agencies. Finally,there was interest  in having a meeting in Malawi.WT/COMTD/M/25
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110. Mr. Dagata said that another measure of progress was what the six core agencies had
accomplished in carrying out their respective parts of the integrated responses. Agencies had already
addressed  almost half of the 2,000 needs they agreed to pursue in the Integrated Responses.  These
responses typically included IMF missions to review and update customs legislation, ITC
buyers-sellers meetings, UNCTAD consultancies on trade policy issues, World Bank advisorymissions to improve national frameworks, and WTO specialised national and regional workshops.
Progress had also been made in reducing the overlap and fostering synergies among core agencies.
Several of the integrated responses were joint responses involving two or more agencies.  Less
tangibly, the Integrated Framework had also sensitised partners to the importance of trade-related
assistance, and had given it more visibility on the development agenda. this was resulting in enhanced
effectiveness in the delivery of technical assistance.  All of this would be considered in an eventual
evaluation of the value-added of the Integrated Framework approach.
111. Mr. Geoffroy of the Integrated Framework Administrative Unit briefly presented the
Integrated Framework website.  He said the website  had been prepared with very simple graphics, so
as to facilitate the downloading of inform ation in LDCs. The site became operational in
September 1998, and had received almost 9,000 hits at an average of 50 hits a day.  The upper left
part of the front page contained the main menu, while the core information on the process for everysingle LDC was contained under the heading "Coun try-Specific Programmes".  Once a participating
country had been selected, a full menu was accessible with rubrics such as the national focal point,
needs assessment and so forth.  The national focal point was normally a senior official within a
relevant Ministry of the LDC.  The needs assessment paper contained the country's economic analysis
covering all trade development constraints and identified the technical assistance needs.  Theintegrated response page was divided into three columns;  the left column stating the technical
assistance needs listed in the needs assessment page, the middle column gaving the name of the core
agency meeting the need identified, and the right hand column briefly describing the response of the
core agency.  The Status of Implementation page reflected the status of implementation in the LDC.
Updating of the report on implementation was made regularly by the agencies every 6-8 months andcommunicated to the Administrative Unit for its electronic dissemination.  The page on
communication by other development partners listed the trade-related assistance the country was
receiving from other multilateral partners and bilateral agencies.  The page "Status of Preparation of
Round Tables" provided information on the timing of the meeting, the venue and the lead agency
assisting the country in preparing for the even t.  The Round Table document was disseminated in
advance to all interested parties in real time th rough the website.  Returning to the main menu, the
page "programme participants" pr ovided information on the main group of actors, that is the LDCs,
the six core agencies, and other development partners.  The page "core group of organisations" made
available information on six core agencies.  The section "other development partners" contained
information on multilateral and bilateral partners.  Under the multilaterals sub-heading, information
on 12 agencies active in trade-related technical assistance to LDCs was presented.  Under the heading
Inter-Agency Group, the coordinates of the focal points of the six core agencies was provided.  Underthe heading official document, a selection of the most important Integrated Framework documents
was provided, and under the headings "process at a glance", "coming events" and "what's new?",
information on the most important steps for participating LDCs was provided in a summarised way.
112. The Chairperson thanked Messrs. Dagata, Vijay and Ben Fahdl for their interesting
presentations.
VII. REPORT ON TECHNICAL COOPERATION AND TRAINING 1998
113. The Chairperson invited Mr. Jean-Maurice Léger, Director, Technical Cooperation Division
to make an important statement on the present critical financial situation, which has potentiallyWT/COMTD/M/25
Page 29
serious effects for WTO technical cooperation activities.  She said  the subject of his statement should
be of concern to every Member of the CTD.
114. The Director of the Technical Cooperation Division said the purpose of his presentation was
to give a review of the technical cooperation activities that took place in 1998, and also the budget
situation, as of 31 of May 1999, for the year 1999.  There had been a fourfold increase in the numberof technical cooperation activities between 1995 and 1998.  In the first five months of 1999,
141 activities had been conducted.  This rate of increase was not sustainable, owing to financial and
human resource constraints.  Furthermore, the preparations for the Seattle Ministerial Conference, and
the ensuing negotiations, would require that WTO would have to be present in Geneva to service
these negotiations.  He also recalled that the workload of operational divisions consisted primarily in
servicing working groups and committees;  dealing with dispute settlement panels; providing day to
day technical assistance to delegations in Geneva;  and only  when time and resources permitted theundertaking of technical assistance missions outside Geneva.
115. Mr. Léger presented information on the geographic distribution of technical assistance
activities for 1998, and noted that Africa continued to account for the largest number of activities.
The 58 per cent increase in 1998 over 1997 resulted from activities under the Integrated Framework
and JITAP, and  also from the decision to establish WTO reference centres in LDCs.  The numbersfor Europe for both 1997 and 1998 were inflated insofar as they included all activities that took place
at WTO headquarters, which activities covered developing countries  in all regions.  He said that the
footnote pertaining to North America referred to short term trade policy courses that were geared to
developing and least developed countries, that took place in Washington D.C., and that were financed
by the Organisation of American States.  Insofar as the Middle East was concerned, the increase wascloser to 50 per cent, reflecting greater involvement of countries  in this area of the globe, and also
because there were a number of countries in the process of accession in this area.  The WTO worked
closely in the Middle East with the Islamic Development Bank, which had financed a number of
activities.
116. The Director of the Technical Cooperation Division said that whenever modes of delivery
were discussed, attention needed to be given to the evolving nature of the multilateral rules based
system, and in this context the need for at least three levels of activities.  The first level consisted of
the general dissemination of an overview of the WTO  and its agreements.  The second level
represented more in depth upgrading of developing countries human resource skills in order  to further
improve their capacity to participate in the WTO a nd the decision-making  process.  The third level
consisted of specialised knowledge required for the implementation of WTO agreements.  Examples
in this respect included the training of customs officials in customs evaluation methods, establishingenquiry points and conformity assessment procedures as required by the TBT, and risk  assessment
techniques under the SPS.  It was also important to bear in mind that there was  a continuous renewal
in developing country administrations, with new government officials, thereby requiring repeats of
WTO training programmes.  Looking specifically at the figures, there had been an increase in regional
seminars from 42 to 71, and a decrease in national seminars from 44 to 41.  These results were in linewith Members' requests to emphasise regional seminars.  Although regional seminars reach a larger
number of countries and permit the establishment of contacts with the authorities of participating
countries, the cost of regional seminars was very much higher than the cost of national seminars. The
cost of an average regional seminar in 1998 was CHF150,000, while the cost of the average national
seminar was CHF20,000.  Furthermore, the synergy that resulted from regional seminars was usuallylimited owing to the small number of national participants.  Given that developing countries were
increasingly concerned with implementation issues, it was likely that the number of national  seminars
would increase.  National seminars served to identify more readily concerns at the country level, and
the larger number of participants ensured a greater synergy once the activity had been completed and
facilitated the assessment of the implications of agreements.  The huge increase in technical seminarsfrom 55 to 90 reflected the establishment of WTO reference centres, and also resulted  from specificWT/COMTD/M/25
Page 30
request from Members to conduct specialized activi ties rather than general ones.  The increase in
workshops and symposia from 78 to 106 denoted the fact that the WTO had been increasingly in
demand to participate in these events.
117. Mr. Léger added that two-thirds of all planned missions assigned for 1998 under the
three-year plan were executed, compared to 50 per cent in 1997.  However, activities coming underthe three-year plan constituted only a third of all activities conducted in 1998.  Although the
three-year plan was of help, more rigorous pl anning was required by members.  The number of
activities not coming under the three-year plan (196) was in part explained by the fact that this was
the first full year of operation of the three-year plan.  Finally, the activities of the three-year plan not
executed (58) were due to cancellation by host countries, or postponement for a variety of reasons.  It
needed to be made clear that many actors were involved in the conduct of a technical cooperation
mission: the Technical Cooperation Division as th e chief executing unit, the host country, funding
resources, and in the case of the regional seminar, the beneficiary countries.  The interaction between
these various actors was an important factor in the cancellation or postponement of activities.
118. Mr. Léger said that of the 140 activities fully organised by the WTO (which represented less
than 50 per cent of all activities in which the WTO was involved), over half were undertaken by
divisions other than the Technical Cooperation Division, though the latter acted as coordinator.  By"other institutions" was meant those that were part of the JITAP process, those that were part of the
Integrated Framework, and others.  Activities to which the WTO was invited numbered 110,
representing more than one-third of all activities in 1998.  In a number of cases, costs – transportation
costs and local expenses - were frequently borne by the WTO, and more was being done to have host
organisations absorb these costs in the future.
119. The Director of the Technical Cooperation Division noted that the activities of the Division
covered a number of subjects, which could be classified into 11 categories, including general
seminars;  goods;  services;  dispute settlement;  intellectual property;  trade and environment;
implementation issues;  regionalism;  electronic commerce;  and so forth.  General seminars were
defined as those where general dissemination of the WTO and its agreements took place.  The numberof activities under general seminars in 1998 numbered 80, reflecting a heightened interest in the
activities of the WTO and the multilateral trading system.  Activities on specific subjects were
covered usually in workshops, specific seminars and technical missions.  The total number of
activities was greater than the total number of missions, given that in any one mission, it was possible
that more than one activity be covered.  Missions on accession reflected the increased demand for
technical cooperation by countries in the process of accession to the WTO.  The number of activities
under information technologies for development, 37, reflected the installation of WTO referencecentres.  Activities on market access were mainly on the explanation and identification of market
access conditions at the product and tariff line levels, and incorporated two training courses on trade
negotiations skills.  The large number of missions on customs valuation reflected the implementation
date of the agreement by the year 2000.  A number of countries in 1998 required assistance on the
transposition of tariff schedules into the HS 1996 system. For reasons of cost efficiency, theIntegrated Data Base had been dealt with in seminars on market  access issues.  Agriculture, textiles
and clothing were important subjects for developing countries, and SPS and TBT were treated
together in one single activity.  In the area of rules, it was noteworthy that more requests for
assistance were being received by the Secretariat.  This was an area where the division concerned
devoted a sizeable amount of time to technical assistance at headquarters, responding to dailyquestions and concerns by delegations.  As already indicated, servicing committees and working
groups, along with dispute settlement panels, constituted the priority area of work for the Secretariat
in this domain.  The main subject that was beginning to be covered substantially in technical
assistance was the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures.  Particular attention was
given to the issue of disciplines in notification requirements.  In the area of trade in services, theWT/COMTD/M/25
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Agreement was explained in general, as well as at the sectoral level, particularly with respect to
financial services and telecommunications.
120. Technical aspects of the scheduling of commitments were also dealt with in the course of
technical assistance activities.  Activities on TRIPS reflected the implementation date of the
agreement in January 2000, and also the joint programme conducted with the WIPO.  Activities underDispute Settlement Understanding numbered 17, of which four were regional or sub-regional courses,
while the others were at the national level.  Ac tivities under trade and environment reflected the
holding of regional and sub-regional seminars announced in 1997 by the WTO.  Regarding
implementation issues, a number of requests had been made for legal advisors to screen national
legislation to verify compliance with WTO agreements.  Regarding notification requirements, specific
seminars had been held.  Regional integration was also a subject of increasing interest to developing
countries, particularly those involved in negotiations on a regional, sub-regional or bilateral basis.Attention was given to the issue of consistency between regional, sub-regional and bilateral
arrangements with WTO commitments.  One activity had been  held under the rubric of electronic
commerce, though more were expected in the near future.  There was interest in the role of electronic
commerce within the WTO framework,  as well as progress to date made on the work programme on
electronic commerce.
121. The Director of the Technical Cooperation Division said that in keeping with the Singapore
Ministerial Declaration, the services of the division had been made available to developing country
Members in the areas of trade and  competition policy, and trade and investment.  These activities had
been conducted in connection with the UNCTAD and the World Bank,. there had also been a
symposium on trade facilitation in 1998, and a number of missions had been conducted ontransparency in government procurement.  Lastly consultation with other international organisations
covered JITAP and the Integrated Framework.  The WTO was also in contact with a  number of other
agencies with a view to develop  joint programmes.
122. With regard to the Integrated Framework, Mr. Léger drew attention to the input of the WTO.
In 1998, 52 activities were held, 32 of which consisted in the establishment of national referencecentres, seven national seminars, three meetings of the inter-agency working group, three meeting in
the Round Table process, three regional seminars ( one in Zambia for English-speaking African LDCs,
one in Djibouti for French-speaking African LDCs , and one in Bangladesh for Asian and Pacific
LDCs), and two short term policy courses for LDCs.  Regarding the WTO contribution to the JITAP
programme, there had been 23 missions, mostly concerning sessions on notification, implementation
issues and the establishment of WTO reference centres.
123. The Director of the Technical Cooperation Division presented the budget situation as of
May 1999.  The figures presented excluded the regular training courses of three months each
amounting to CHF1.5 million.  They also excluded donations from the United Kingdom for the
consolidated tariffs schedule database, and for the financing of one position for one year in the
Technical Cooperation Division to cover technical evaluation.  His presentation assumed the
disbursement of 1999 instalments yet to be disbursed by donors.  He drew attention to the fact that theline "WTO regular budget" could only be used to cover travel and per diem expenses of WTO staff
members.  The regular budget, along with programme support fund, and the trust fund donations of
CHF5.2 million for gave a total funding of CHF6.775 million.  It could be seen therefore that roughly
10 per cent of technical cooperation activities were projected to be financed through the regular WTO
budget.  Regarding projected expenditure, close to 60 per cent of projected expenditures had beenfirmly committed.  A number of reasons for this development could be posited, including the
upcoming deadlines for the implementation of several agreements, the carryover of a number of
activities from 1998, the extension of WTO reference centre programmes to small island economies,
increasing requests for TBT and SPS seminars, general concerns related to the Singapore work
programme, and preparations for the forthcoming Seattle Ministerial.  Some request for regionalWT/COMTD/M/25
Page 32
seminars had already been refused: one was on trade and development for middle-eastern countries, in
Malta; one was for-English speaking LDCs  on rules, in Malawi; and so forth.
124. The Director of the Technical Cooperation Division said that the current problem lay in the
fact that because it was not known in advance what funds would be available for a particular year, the
approach that was followed was one of first-come , first-served, though efforts were made, to the
extent that was possible, to consolidate requests into regional seminars.  Ad hoc requests received
amounted to 57, at a  cost of CHF947,000.  TPR reviews accounted for CHF500,000.  Additional
funding was for TPR reviews of least-devel oped countries, notably Chad, Mozambique and
Mauritania, as well as Malawi, Central African Republic and Madagascar.  Regarding short term trade
policy courses, the task force report on enhanced technical cooperation called for eight short-term
trade policy courses.  The estimate in the budget provided for four at CHF150,000 apiece.  The final
result of the technical assistance budget for 1999 was a projected deficit of CHF2.6 million.  Heindicated his intention to call an informal meeting with donors to evaluate the current situation, and to
see whether a positive response could be elicited to this situation.
125. The Director of the Technical Cooperation Division said that the future orientation of
technical cooperation could be dealt with under three sub-headings.  First, the question of funding OF
activities.  As indicated previously, 90 per cent of current financial requirements were met throughextra-budgetary resources, making it extremely difficult for the WTO to efficiently plan technical
cooperation activities.  The regular WTO budget for technical cooperation needed urgently to be
revisited, if technical cooperation was to continue. Second, it was necessary to identify possibilities
for outsourcing. In this context the task force on enhanced WTO technical cooperation circulated
recently to Members identified possibilities.  Areas where WTO expertise could be supplementedincluded intellectual property rights (WIPO), customs matters (WCO), TBT (ISO), SPS (Codex),
preparations for post-Seattle negotiations (the World Bank); trade and investment and trade and
competition (UNCTAD), training information technology (ITC).  The paper also identified a number
of organisations at the regional level, including UN regional commissions, the Joint Vienna Institute,
with which memoranda of understanding could be negotiated.  Finally, the elaboration of multi-yearprogrammes of interest to developing countries would permit a more structured approach to technical
assistance, but was dependent on a strengthened regular budget. What could be anticipated as
priorities were overview of WTO agreements, followed by  an upgrading of human capacity to enable
better participation in the WTO, and finally  specialised knowledge to  enable the implementation of
WTO  agreements.
126. The representative of the Republic of Korea thanked the Director of the Technical
Cooperation Division for his presentation, and referred to paragraph 85  which detailed technical
cooperation activities by region.  The representative of Korea wished to know what factors explained
the difference between the growth rates in techni cal cooperation activities held in the Asia-Pacific
region and those held in Europe, given that there were more developing countries in Asia than in
Europe.
127. The representative of Morocco thanked the Director of the Technical Cooperation Division
for his presentation, which filled in some of the gaps left in the written report.  His delegation were
pleased to note the increase, by about a third, in activities from 1997 to 1998, and wished to see this
trend continue.  His delegation reiterated the importance it accorded to the technical cooperation
activities of the WTO, which should accompany in an effective way all the activities of the
organisation, and which should keep pace with the  evolution of the multilateral trading system.  His
delegation reiterated the importance it accorded to the Integrated Framework for trade-related
technical assistance, and noted with regret delays in its implementation, particularly with respect to
the convening of round table meetings. Without such meetings, decisions taken at the High-Level
Meeting would remain ineffectual. He also reiterated the importance of the JITAP process, and said
that it should be extended to other African countries.WT/COMTD/M/25
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128. The representative of Morocco said that there were certain analytical aspects missing from the
written report. notably regarding the budget and the distribution of expenditure.  The approach that
had been adopted on the basis of the number of activities provided an approximate indication of the
value of the activity, but a budgetary breakdown w ould provide a clear indication of the value of
activities, as well as an indication of the distribution of resources, thus enabling an identification ofpriorities, on a thematic basis.  The next report should have a section dealing with coordination and
cooperation with other competent agencies.  The approach adopted in the report reflected in a
fragmented fashion  the question of cooperation and coordination.  A more integrated section would
provide a clearer  indication of the approach followed by the Secretariat in the sphere of coordination
and cooperation with other agencies.
129. The representative of Morocco said he would not comment on the evaluation of technical
cooperation given that his delegation had made known its views on a number of prior occasions.Addressing the issue of financing, he said that his delegation was very concerned about the financial
crisis that affected technical cooperation activities.  He noted that the fraction of costs covered by the
regular WTO budget had been 20 per cent and 1998 and was projected at 10 per cent for 1999.  His
delegation supported the recommendations of the Task Force on Technical Cooperation that the
funding of technical cooperation from the regular budget be increased.  He said that there should beincreased predictability of funding from extra-budgetary sources, as both a gesture of solidarity and a
commitment on the part of the organisation as a whole.
130. The representative of the European Commun ities thanked the Director of the Technical
Cooperation Division for his presentation, and said he agreed with most of what had been said by the
representative of Morocco.  He made the following suggestions concerning the report:  first, it wouldbe useful if the budget section of the report was clea rer, for instance by indicating who paid for what.
This would increase transparency and may be an incentive for others to pay for more.  Second, the
forward-looking section was important to encourage discussion of future activities, and this section
should be expanded accordingly.  He said that the Task Force had more importance for future
activities than was reflected in the report.  There was also a strong link  to the ongoing debate aboutcoherence.  He urged that this subject be dealt w ith in a comprehensive manner, particularly in regard
to cooperation with other organisations.  He noted the possibility of cooperation with other
organisations that would be able to fund activities undertaken. He also suggested that it would be
useful if points raised in the presentation made to the CTD could be made to the Budget Committee in
order to raise awareness.
131. The representative of Egypt thanked the Director of the Technical Cooperation Division for
his presentation, and said he shared the views expressed by the delegations of Morocco and the
European Communities regarding several issues.  He said that when technical assistance had been
reviewed in 1997, his delegation had indicated that there had been five positive elements regarding
technical assistance activities in 1997.  These had been: the increase in the level of technical
assistance activities;  increase in the level of extra-budgetary resources; increase in Africa's share of
technical assistance;  increased coverage of WTO ag reements;  and increase in activities in relation to
the High-Level Meeting.  A number of these observations were still valid, and his delegation
welcomed the continuation of those trends.  With regard to the report submitted to the CTD, he said
there were again five positive elements.  These were:  the slight increase in budgetary outlay for
technical assistance;  the increase in technical missions; the use of information technologies –
particularly the increased  availability of training packages through the Internet; the JITAP process;and the fast pace of implementation of technical assistance activities.
132. The representative of Egypt said that his delegation had two serious concerns.  The first, as
pointed out by the Director of the Technical Cooperation Division himself was the small and falling
percentage of technical cooperation activities funded through the regular budget.  The second concern
related to the projected shortfall in financing, and he indicated that his delegation would participate inWT/COMTD/M/25
Page 34
the informal consultations held by the Director of the Technical Cooperation Division in this regard.
Egypt was also concerned with the capacity of the Secretariat to deliver technical assistance.  His
delegation had several ideas on the matter, in re lation to strengthening the Technical Cooperation
Division, strengthening other Secretariat divisions responsible for the delivery of technical assistance,
and addressing issues of finance and relations with other international organisations.  He concludedwith the following questions:  first, his delegati on would like a breakdown of the budget, as requested
by the delegations of Morocco and the European Communities, adding that the breakdown should go
back to the establishment of the WTO, in order to obtain a comparative view of developments since
the establishment of the WTO to the present.  This would facilitate a discussion of financial issues in
the context of informal consultations.  Second, page 24 of the report refered to the evaluation of
technical assistance in the first quarter of the year 2000.  His delegation hoped that an assessment of
JITAP could take place at the same time.  The third request related to the translation of basic WTOdocuments into Arabic.  His delegation had been informed at a previous meeting by Mr. Hoda that
consultations on this subject would be necessary, and the representative of Egypt requested that the
Secretariat get back to his delegation regarding that point.  In addition to these question, the
representative of Egypt noted that, in relation to JITAP, page 32 refered  to a table on budget outlays.
However, this table did not appear in the document, and he requested that it be issued.  With regard topage 14, which referred  to conditions attached to funds provided by donors, he recalled that his
delegation had previously requested information on donor conditionality, and awaited a response.
Finally, the issue of outsourcing needed to be addressed, and particularly what was required on
allowing the WTO to undertake outsourcing when ca pacity shortfalls did not allow the delivery of
technical assistance.
133. The representative of Norway thanked the Director of the Technical Cooperation Division for
his presentation, and began by observing that in 1998, the WTO spent CHF7 million in technical
assistance, and that this figure would increase to 9.4 million in 1999.  This was a small amount of
money.  He said the way technical assistance had been financed in the past years had been less than
satisfactory.  The growth in technical assistance in recent years had been made possible byextra-budgetary funding by a small group of countries. Technical assistance was a right enjoyed by
developing Members, and therefore a core activity of the WTO, and should therefore be financed
through the regular budget.  All Members needed to take this collective responsibility.  He noted that
some delegations had said that the continuous increase in technical assistance activities posed a threat
to the organisation, that the WTO should not be a technical assistance organisation, and that the
Secretariat should not devote an excessive amount of time to technical assistance.  He said his
delegation understood these concerns, and added that these should be addressed by outsourcing toother international organisations most or all technical assistance activities which did not have to be
conducted by WTO staff.  He recognised that there were some activities that had to be conducted by
WTO.  He said that the CTD had approved such an outsourcing process in its meeting in
November 1998, and the Secretariat had prepared a note on its plans for outsourcing through the Task
Force on Enhanced Technical Cooperation.  The crux of  the problem, however, lay in the fact that one
could not expect other international organisations to undertake technical cooperation activities for the
WTO without receiving payment.  Therefore, even if as much outsourcing was done as possible, some
action  was needed in regard to financing.  As pointed out by  the Director of the Technical
Cooperation Division, the Secretariat would be unable to finance technical cooperation activities as of
the autumn of 1999 owing to lack of funds.  The representative of Norway said that furthermore,
funding from extra-budgetary sources was not a long term solution.  It was a paradox that the WTO,
which was in the process of preparing a new round, had to struggle with such a trivial issue.  All that
needed to be done was to augment the regular budget  so as to fund technical assistance activities in
the same manner as other activities of the Secretariat.  A solution should be found by the time of the
Seattle Ministerial Conference, and once a solution was found, extra-budgetary funding could bephased out. In conclusion, the representative of Norway said that the concerns of those not wishing to
make the WTO a technical cooperation organisation could be addressed.  This left the issue of
financing, which could be resolved by increasing the regular budget.  Finally, he said that the informalWT/COMTD/M/25
Page 35
consultations the Director of the Technical Cooperation Division was to hold should be open to all,
and not just donors, as the financing of technical cooperation was a collective responsibility.
134. The representative of Switzerland thanked the Secretariat, and particularly the Technical
Cooperation Division for the workload it had carried out in 1998.  He said his delegation had been
rather taken by surprise by the gloomy budgetary situation, and added that the report should have aforward-looking chapter.  Second, his delegation believed that the section on evaluation of technical
assessment needed to be more concrete and provide some indicators on qualitative aspects.  His
delegation looked forward to with great interest to the evaluation report which was due in early
in 2000.  Only then would one be in a position to dr aw conclusions about the future orientation of the
Technical cooperation Division.
135. The representative of Barbados thanked the Director of the Technical Cooperation Division
for his presentation.  She said she had understood fr om the presentation that owing to the demands for
technical assistance in connections with negotiations launched at the Seattle Ministerial, the number
of missions to capitals in the year 2000 was likely to be reduced.  For countries such as hers with
small economies, technical cooperation needs were liable to increase exponentially with the
commencement of negotiations, especially if negotiations covered issues other than those of the
"built-in agenda".  It was therefore necessary to find some very creative solutions to in order toprovide increased technical cooperation activities.  The outsourcing of technical cooperation activities
was one such possible solution.
136. The representative of Senegal thanked the Secretariat for its work in the area of technical
assistance as well as donors for their contributions.  He said that many organisations were involved in
technical cooperation and that this could enable the WTO to rationalise and focus its technicalassistance.  He said noted that some agreements we re more specialised than others, and suggested the
exploration of training programmes for trainers.
137. The representative of Hong Kong, China thanked the Director of the Technical Cooperation
Division, and echoed the concerns raised by othe rs on the predominance of extra-budgetary sources
of funding for technical cooperation activities.  The present situation was most unsatisfactory, andaction should be taken forthwith.  Her delegation welcomed  bringing the issue to the attention of the
Budget and Finance Committee.
138. The Director of the Technical Cooperation Division responded to questions raised by
delegations. In response to the question by the representative for Korea, he said that the rate for
Europe reflected technical assistance activities held in at the WTO Headquarters.  If these activities
were excluded, it could be seen that a greater number  of activities were held in the Asia/Pacific than
in Europe.  Regarding the question raised by the representative of Egypt regarding Memoranda ofUnderstanding with donors, he said that he did ha ve information on the basis of responses from the
10 donors contacted in writing.  Seven of these donors indicated their willingness to share
information, while three others indicated their willingness to issue a background paper regarding their
Memoranda of Understanding. Regarding the issue of  outsourcing, he said that some activities had
already been outsourced.  Memoranda of Understanding were being finalised with Institute for LatinAmerican and Caribbean Integration, the training arm of the Inter-American Development Bank, and
ESCAP.  A large regional seminar was to be handled by  the Joint Vienna Institute at the end of June,
who were also prepared to handle accommodation, transport, visas, medical insurance and other
administrative concerns.  Similar arrangements were being negotiated with ESCAP.  Efforts were
being made to coordinate the holding of short term trade policy courses, and the outsourcing of thesecourses. was envisioned for the future.  Some types of activities, such as those requiring specialist
knowledge, could probably never be outsourced, sh ort of implementing the proposal made by the
representative of Senegal for training trainers.  He agreed with the representative of Norway that
informal consultations should be open to all.  Regarding the comments by the representative ofWT/COMTD/M/25
Page 36
Switzerland that his delegation would have liked some advance indication of the budgetary situation,
Mr. Léger said that  a document had been circulated to the Budget Committee on 25 March 1999,
indicating the situation facing the financing of technical cooperation activities. At the time, a deficit of
2 million had been projected, as compared to the current  projection of 2.6 million.  He would speak
to the Director of the Finance and General Services Division, to examine the possibility of presentingto the Budget Committee the budgetary preoccupations surrounding technical cooperation activities.
In connection with the statement made by the representative of Barbados, he said that the launch of
new negotiations would mean that most of the Secretariat would be involved with the servicing of
committees and working groups, the writing of papers, and so forth, thus limiting the amount of time
they could devote to conducting seminars and other such activities on the field.  He said that the
demand for technical cooperation activities was likely to increase, while supply was likely to
decrease, which made the gap even larger than at present. He did not have a solution, as yet, to thisproblem. The Director of the Technical Cooperation Division thanked all delegations for their
comments, adding that in its next report the Secretariat would endeavour to include more details on
financing as well as some paragraphs on qualitative indicators.
139. The Chairperson thanked all Members for their participation, and the Director of the
Technical Cooperation Division for his remarks.  She  said that technical cooperation was essential to
the integration of developing countries into the multilateral trading system.  She said that it was her
impression that the views of the CTD regarding the financial crisis and the need for extra technical
assistance activities should be presented to the Budget Committee.  If Members agreed, she would
send a letter to the chairman of the Budget Committee.
140. The Chairperson noted that it had not been possible to exhaust all topics on the agenda.  She
thereby proposed that the work of the CTD be suspended, and that the CTD resume its work on
16 June 1999.
VIII.  RESUMPTION OF THE SE SSION ON 16 JUNE 1999
141. The Chairperson welcomed Members to the resumption of the 25th Session of the CTD which
had been suspended on Friday, 4 June 1999.  There were two items left for discussion on the adopted
agenda contained in WTO/AIR/1087/Rev.1.  These item s were, respectively, the possible input by the
CTD to the Third Ministerial Conference and "other business".
142. The Chairperson proposed that before discussed the two remaining items, she wished to recall
the importance that Members attached to the issues raised by Mr. Jean-Maurice Léger, Director,
Technical Cooperation Division, at the CTD Meeting of 4 June, in the presentation of the Report on
Technical Cooperation and Training in 1998, which focussed, inter alia , on the financial crisis
confronting the delivery of WTO technical assistance.  Following the exchange of views by members,
it was agreed that the Chairperson should address a letter to the Chairperson of the Committee on
Budget, Finance and Administration.  The Chairperson had done so, and copies of the letter had been
circulated to Members.
143. The Chairperson said that Mr. Léger had requested that the CTD take up the issue again,
informally, and she therefore proposed that the CTD break into informal session at the end of the
meeting.
144. It was so agreed.WT/COMTD/M/25
Page 37
IX. POSSIBLE INPUT BY THE CTD INTO THE 3RD WTO MINISTERIAL
CONFERENCE
145. The Chairperson recalled the valuable and constructive exchange that Members had had on
this item informally on 5 May 1999.  Following that exchange, it had been agreed to revert to this
item at the 25th Sessions, and that the Secretariat should prepare an informal note that summarised the
informal consultations and that framed the discussions of the CTD on the item for the present
meeting.  The Secretariat had done so in its Informal Note contained in Job No. 2940, which was
circulated to Members on 21 May 1999.  The Chairperson hoped that Members had had the chance to
consider the Informal Note by the Secretariat.  She invited Members to comment on the Informal Note
by the Secretariat, to exchange views on the item, and to offer suggestions on the procedure that the
CTD should adopt in dealing with the item.
146. The representative of Egypt said that his delegation had been unable to attend the informal
session, and thanked the Secretariat for the Informal Note summarising the positions taken by various
delegations.  His delegation felt that the direction taken by discussion was not the most appropriate.  It
appeared from the note that discussion had taken place on issues which were the sole responsibility of
the General Council.  Discussion on whether to have a Round or not, whether to adopt a single
undertaking approach, discussion surrounding the modalities of negotiations, and so froth were theresponsibility of the General Council.  The CTD should focus on issues within its mandate to help
developing countries in their preparation for the Ministerial Conference, and the mandated
negotiations in various areas.  His delegation proposed a number of areas in which the CTD could
make a positive contribution to the Third Ministerial Conference.  First, a preparation of a paper on
the participation of developing countries in international trade.  This paper had been prepared by theCTD on an annual basis, and the first year it had not been prepared was in 1998.  The last paper
produced had been WT/COMTD/W/31, in November 1997, and a constructive discussion had taken
place in the CTD.  A new version should consequently be produced, and should take into account the
comments made by Members when the previous version had been discussed.  Second, the CTD
should address the issue of the distribution of benefits of the multilateral trading system on the basisof a Secretariat paper.  He recalled that the Geneva Ministerial Declaration stated that Ministers
agreed that more needed to be done to ensure that the worlds people shared more fully and equitably
in the achievements of the multilateral trading system.  Third, the Secretariat should begin analytical
work on developing indicators to measure the integration of developing countries in the multilateral
trading system.  He noted that despite frequent references to the integration of developing countries
into the multilateral trading system in meetings an d in declaration, there was no clear idea of how this
could be measured or evaluated.  The fourth area concerned difficulties experienced by developingcountries in the implementation of Uruguay Round Agreements.  The Secretariat could contribute in
this area  by compiling difficulties experienced by developing countries, including in the area of
market access for products of export interest to them.  The issue of special and differential treatment
had been discussed under a separate agenda item, and this was also an area where work could be
undertaken. Another area of prime importance was that of technical assistance.  The topic needed tobe addressed to find ways and means of improving technical assistance in the WTO to address the
difficulties, concerns and requirements of developing countries in regard to human  and institutional
capacity building.  Another area was follow up to  the High-Level Meeting on LDCs.  The delegation
of Egypt had proposed that the Secretariat prepare an analysis of market access offers made to LDCs
in connections with the High Level Meeting, and ex amine the contribution of such offers to the trade
of LDCs.  Yet another area where analytical work  may be required was that of credit for autonomous
liberalisation.  This was an important issue of which the development aspects could be usefully
analysed by the CTD.  Still another area of interest to developing countries was revenue implications
of trade liberalisation.  An analysis of this issue could be usefully addressed by the CTD.  A final
point, not covered in the Informal Note, was to have some relation between discussions taking placein the CTD and those taking place in the Comm ittee on Trade and Environment.  He concluded byWT/COMTD/M/25
Page 38
reiterating the view that Members should refrain from attempting to gain negotiating points in the
CTD by addressing issues which were best left to the General Council.
147. The representative of Morocco associated himself completely with the statement made by the
representative of Egypt, and particularly regarding the fact that a number of questions discussed in the
informal meeting and covered in the Informal Note were  best left to the General Council.  He said the
CTD should focus instead on a substantive and technical contribution to the Third Ministerial
Conference which would allow the latter to bring out concretely the concerns of developing countries.
In this respect, the representative of Morocco supported entirely the list proposed by the delegation of
Egypt. He said he wished to emphasis certain issues.  First he said the CTD should adopt a proactive
approach  to implementation issues, and try to bring out the difficulties experienced by developing
countries, and in addition evaluate globally implementation by developing countries and the impact of
implementation on their economies.  He noted that a number of evaluations were being conducted ona sectoral basis by other committees, and by country, in other international institutions.  Regarding the
issue of special and differential treatment, he recalled that his delegation had proposed the holding of
a seminar.  The CTD should contribute to the process of implementation of special and differential
provision.  There should be a should be a pragmatic and practical link between the seminar and the
work of the CTD.  The representative of Morocco said that the follow up to the High-Level Meetingon LDCs was crucial.  He said that so far the implementation of decisions  taken at the High-Level
Meeting was proceeding at a very slow pace and that the CTD should send a strong signal to hasten
the implementation of decisions taken in favour of LDCs.  The last point he wished to take up was the
subject of technical cooperation.  It was not possible to conceive of the integration and participation of
developing countries into the WTO and the multilateral trading system with only limited technicalcooperation activities, which often did not meet up to the requirements of developing countries,
especially with regard to enabling them to appropr iate the benefits of the multilateral trading system.
Technical cooperation was a fundamental element of the work conducted by the CTD, and the latter
should make a significant contribution regarding technical cooperation at the Third Ministerial
Conference.
148. The representative of the European Communities agreed that the CTD was not the place to
discuss the scope  and modalities of future negotiations, and questions of such a nature.  He said it
was legitimate for the CTD to flag issues where it could make a useful contribution.  Referring to the
Informal Note, which covered a variety of subjects such as a possible work programme for the CTD,
he said that it was important to clarify that the discussion undertaken concerned the input to the Third
Ministerial Conference.  He said it was not immediately clear whether the lists of subjects presented
by the representatives of Morocco and Egypt were related to possible inputs to the Third MinisterialConference or the work programme of the CTD.  If the former, the representative of the European
Communities said that there was much to which his delegation could agree.  Regarding
implementation issues specifically, he cautioned that the CTD should not get involved in work done
elsewhere in other committees, though he agreed with the representative of Morocco that there may
be some cross cutting issues of a horizontal nature that needed to be addressed in the CTD.  Therepresentative of the European Communities recalled that the General Council, in keeping with
paragraph 8 of the Ministerial Declaration, would discuss overall implementation issues, and the CTD
could contribute to those discussions.  He said that, in terms of making the whole process of
developing CTD inputs into the Ministerial Conference operational, it would be useful as a first stage
to collect ideas, and take these back to capitals for reflection.  It would then be possible, at a laterstage, to present to the General Council a menu of options.  He said it was important that the CTD be
given some sort of guidance from the General Council as to the direction of its work, especially
regarding the more political issues.  He concluded by saying he did not have, at that time, any specific
reactions to individual proposals made, and reiterated that the purpose of the present meeting was not
to comment on issues but to collect them.WT/COMTD/M/25
Page 39
149. The representative of Mexico agreed with the delegations of Egypt and Morocco  that it was
necessary to clarify the issues to be handled in the future work of the CTD, and agreed that
discussions regarding the scope, modalities, etc. of negotiations came under the mandate of the
General Council.  He said that it was necessary to  clarify the issues which the CTD would address in
preparing its input to the Third Ministerial Conference and also to establish a time-frame for thesubmission of its work to the General Council.  He said it was  important to avoid that the same work
be carried out on two levels, within the CTD and the General Council.  To this effect, he suggested
that the CTD present its contribution regarding the Third Ministerial Conference to the General
Council not later than 30 September, and leave it to  the General Council to work thereafter on the
issues proposed.  Referring to the Informal Note, he said points 1 and 2 dealt with negotiation issues,
while Point 3 and thereafter dealt with the work programme of the CTD.  He said the CTD already
had a work programme, and discussions had been  held already on a number of points mentioned in
the Informal Note.  While the issue of coherence between institutions and policies had not been
discussed in the CTD, the General Council had conducted an analysis of the question.  The role of the
CTD with regard to coherence would be to stress its development aspects.  Finally, with regard to the
list presented by the representative of Egypt, he said  that in addition to the points  raised therein his
delegation would also like to see discussed development aspects as well as the subject of revenues.He also noted that work was being conducted on a number of points listed by the representative of
Egypt.  In conclusion, he said that it needed to be established whether the CTD was to follow its work
programme with a view to making an input to th e Seattle Ministerial Conference by means of a
contribution to the General Council by 30 September, or whether the CTD would follow its work
programme and present its results in December. He said the former was the better option if the CTDwas to make an input to the preparatory process.
150. The representative of Australia supported wholeheartedly the comments made by the
representative of Egypt, and others, regarding the issues of process and modalities.  She said there was
considerable scope for constructive work within the CTD in preparation for the Seattle Ministerial,
particularly in identifying in a concrete way some of the specific problems and concerns ofdeveloping countries.  She supported the proposal made by the representative of Egypt that the study
on the participation of developing countries in international trade be updated.  Her delegation believed
that areas in which the CTD could make a specific input into the preparatory process included the
specific challenges faced by developing countries in improving participation in world trade; responses
by WTO Members to these challenges; market access issues relating to products of export interest to
developing countries; and the enhancement of technical assistance for capacity building.  Her
delegation was also of the view that the implementation of special and differential treatment couldappropriately be dealt with by the CTD, though it was important to bear in mind work undertaken in
the General Council.  The survey on the implementation of special and differential provisions that was
being carried out by the CTD was very useful in this context. Finally, her delegation wished to flag a
few issues: first, follow up to the High-Level Me eting on LDCs was of utmost importance, and she
noted that follow up involved an extensive work programme that went beyond the single question ofmarket access; regarding implementation, caution was needed to avoid involvement in the work of
other committees, though there could be issues of a horizontal nature that could be addressed;
regarding credit for autonomous liberalisation, it remained unclear as to discussions held under the
mandate of the General Council; with regard to customs revenue studies, she drew attention to the
study prepared by Australia regarding the benefits of future liberalisation, which noted particularly theproportionate gains to developing countries from further liberalisation;  and finally, the CTD could
play a useful role in drawing attention to work conducted elsewhere such as in the World Bank or
UNCTAD.
151. The representative of Canada thanked the Secretariat for the Informal Note, and said the CTD
had a constructive role to play in the preparatory process for the Third  Ministerial Conference, while
at the same time avoiding covering issues that fell within the mandate of the General Council.  The
work of the CTD should be pragmatic and advisory, to assist delegations in their search forWT/COMTD/M/25
Page 40
development friendly options.  The work programme of the CTD should be based on its capacity to
deliver specific advice to the General Council, and thence to the Ministerial Conference, in a manner
reminiscent of its work on the Action Plan for LDCs and guidelines for WTO technical cooperation
prior to the Singapore Ministerial Conference.  Turning to the Informal Note, she said that the
proposal to strengthen Part IV of the GATT regarding market access for manufactures and primaryproducts of developing countries, as wells as stable and remunerative prices, needed to be examined
as each agreement was negotiated in turn.  She said the issue of coherence was being addressed in
other fora, and notably the informal sessions of the General Council.  She noted the reference in the
Informal Note to a joint meeting between the WTO and the World Bank  on the results of the
World Bank project on supporting the participation of developing countries in the future trade
negotiations.  While the CTD should monitor discussions, it should not seek to take the lead on
coherence issues.  She said that the CTD had done much work on implementation, trade-relatedtechnical assistance and special and differential treatment.  She invited the CTD to look again at these
issues with a view to preparing proposals for submission to the Third Ministerial Conference.  Some
consideration needed to be given to the two revised papers on implementation issues, namely
WT/COMTD/LDC/W10 and WT/COMTD/LDC/W/11/Re v.1.  She said the CTD should adjust its
work programme in order to have a CTD review, including representatives from UNCTAD, of specialand differential treatment.  Some of the recommendations arising from the review could then be
tabled to the General Council, and thence to the Ministerial Conference.  The review would cover
concerns regarding market access issues and the implementation of Uruguay Round outcomes.  She
said a review should be undertaken of implementation issues with specific recommendations on
trade-related technical assistance to be forwarded to  the General Council, and thence to the Ministerial
Conference.  The discussion could cover the implementation of the Integrated Framework for Trade-
related Technical Assistance.  She said the CTD could undertake a more ambitious work programme,
and could be mandated to provide advise to delegations on each agreement as it was negotiated.  She
said that the proposal for joint meetings between the Committee on Trade and Environment and the
CTD was useful, but invited delegations to comment as the whether this was the best use of the CTD'stime given the pressing need to clarify options for developing countries.  The preference of her
delegation was that the CTD retain a narrower focus on the emerging trade negotiations and options
for developing countries.
152. The representative of Switzerland said that the most important role of the CTD was to raise
awareness of development issues on a horizontal basis.  The goal of his delegation would be to
provide the General Council with a broad overview of problems developing countries were facing.
An alternative goal would be to provide a concrete input into the Seattle Ministerial Declaration.  Hesaid the first option was certainly valuable, though its use as an input into the Seattle Ministerial
Conference was less clear.  He said the proposals made, respectively, by the delegations of Egypt and
Morocco, tended in the direction of a broad overview through the preparation of background
documents.  This would be valuable at a later stage once negotiations had begun.  The present focus
of the CTD was, however, to prepare and input into the Seattle Ministerial Declaration.  Lengthy textswere not required, but rather concise statements to the General Council which would then be
responsible for the drafting of recommendations to Ministers.
153. The representative of the Republic of Korea said that many delegations had enumerated areas
where useful work could be done.  His delegation, however, was of the view that given time
constraints, the CTD had to be more focused on issues concerned directly with the launch of newnegotiations.  He noted that some of the issues raised by the Egyptian delegation were connected to
work in the General Council, and that therefore discussions needed to be held with members of the
General Council.  His delegation asked whether there was a distinction between the work programme
of the CTD and the input of the CTD to the Third Ministerial Conference, and referred to the Informal
Note, which seemed to indicate that there was some overlap between the two processes.  He suggestedthat if indeed there was no clear distinction between the two, that the Secretariat reorganise theWT/COMTD/M/25
Page 41
Informal Note in order to enable the CTD to decide which issues were more relevant as  inputs to the
Seattle Ministerial Conference.
154. The representative of Pakistan thanked the Secretariat for the Informal Note, and said his
delegation associated itself extensively with the statement made by the representative of Egypt, and
also that made by Morocco.  Discussions regarding scope, modalities and so forth of future tradenegotiations were the to be left to the General Council, and their discussion in the CTD would detract
from work on developmental issues.  His delegation were  of the view that the list of issues identified
by Egypt, and augmented by Morocco, should formulate the basis of any further work of the CTD,
including in the preparation of inputs to the Third Ministerial Conference.
155. The representative of India noted that there some points on which there was an emerging
consensus, one of them being that issues regarding to scope, modalities and so forth of future trade
negotiations should not be addressed in the CTD.  Second, the point had been made that the CTDshould make its contribution to the General Council.  Third, the need to update the paper on the
participation of developing countries in international trade had been stressed.  His delegation fully
associated itself with those who had made statements in support of these points.  Regarding the way
forward, he said that there appeared to be two dist inct rubrics on which the CTD should focus.  The
first was some input to the General Council in view of the Seattle Ministerial Conference, and thesecond was the future work programme of the CTD.  His delegation were of the view that it would be
useful if the CTD were to focus on three issues prior to Seattle, namely difficulties faced by
developing countries in the implementation of Uruguay Round Agreements, special and differential
treatment, and technical assistance.  These three issues should form the basis of the CTD's work
programme prior to the Seattle Ministerial Conference.  He said the proposal made by Japan toconsider one issue at a time and how to move forward on them, was a useful one.  A starting-point
was to see whether there was work that had already  been done by the CTD that could be built upon.
The issue of revenue implications of trade liberalisation was one on which work had not been
previously but which was nevertheless of importance.  He said that questions relating to the form of
the contribution made by the CTD to the General Council could be addressed later, and that thepresent priority was to focus on specific issues.
156. The representative of the United States said her delegation agreed that some of the issues
listed in the Informal Note were better left to the General Council and that the focus of the CTDs
work should be on positive, practical contributions to the General Council.  Her delegation were of
the view that the list proposed by the delegation of Egypt was a useful starting point in order to
develop an input of a practical and advisory nature to the General Council.  Turning to specific issues,
she said that her delegation did not necessarily share the views expressed by the Indian delegationregarding the deletion of certain words in particular special and differential provisions.  With regard
to small and vulnerable economies, her delegation did not believe that any measure should be taken
that would appear to create a different category of Members, but rather that the concerns of small and
vulnerable economies be addressed through existing provisions for special and differential treatment.
Her delegation agreed completely with the intervention by Mexico on how to proceed, and notablythat points 1 and 2 of the Informal Note were not di rectly relevant to the preparation of possible inputs
to the General Council.  She added that her delegation did not necessarily agree with all the
statements presented in the Informal Note, or the assumptions that underpinned the.  Her delegation
was not of the view, for instance, that there was any inherent conflict between the TRIPS Agreement
and the Convention on Biodiversity.  In conclusion, her delegation welcomed the further investigationof proposals made by Egypt, Morocco, Canada, Mexico, the European Communities, and others, in
order to develop recommendations to the General Council regarding the Third Ministerial Conference.
157. The representative of Argentina said his delegation wished to associate itself with the
consensus that questions relating to the scope, modalities and so forth of future trade negotiations be
left to the General Council.  His delegation did not as yet have specific instructions on how to proceedWT/COMTD/M/25
Page 42
regarding the preparatory process for the Seattle Ministerial Conference.  It was not yet clear that the
CTD needed to make a specific contribution at all to the General Council.  He said that the
preparatory process for the Seattle Ministerial Conference was driven by proposals made by
Members,  rather than on the basis of proposals by specific committees or councils.  If indeed the
CTD were to discuss a possible contribution to the General Council, he said it was very good to bearin mind the proposal made by Switzerland that one distinguish between the preparation of background
documents, and the discussion of implementation problems faced developing countries, as this would
facilitate the making of decisions with regard to a  possible input into the preparatory process.  His
delegation wished to support  the issues brought forward by the delegation of Egypt and Morocco, and
particularly the proposal to update the document on the participation of developing countries in
international trade.  His delegation was also of th e view that some work could be conducted on the
distribution of benefits of the multilateral trading system, along with the  question of the integration ofdeveloping countries into the multilateral trading system.  The CTD could also discuss difficulties in
the implementation of the Uruguay Round Agreements , along with the subjects of trade-related
technical assistance and the follow up to the Hi gh-Level Meeting on LDCs.  The CTD should take
into account the work of the World Bank and UNCTAD on the subject of implementation to avoid the
duplication of work.  He said that his delegation wa s a small one, and would not like issues that were
discussed in one particular forum to be discussed in a number of other fora.  He cited as an example
the issue of credit for autonomous liberalisation which was being discussed elsewhere than the CTD.
Regarding the work programme of the CTD, he was favourable to the idea of proceeding point by
point.
158. The representative of Japan said that his capital was still scrutinising the detail of the Informal
Note.  He said that the Secretariat Note was a good basis for discussion, and covered a wide range of
issues discussed at the informal session.  Further work needed to be conducted on the document,
possibly involving a reduction in the number of topics covered in order to keep within the mandate of
the CTD.  Regarding questions of procedure, he said that a substantive issue was taking place on
paragraph 9, which dealt with. inter alia , implementation issues and follow up to the High-Level
Meeting on LDCs.  Similarly, there had been an informal General Council session on the question of
credit for autonomous liberalisation.  The question consisted therefore of how  to integrate the CTD's
input into discussions in the General Council, and how to avoid conflict with the work of the General
Council.  He noted that as of autumn, the Gene ral Council would enter the phase of drafting the
Seattle Ministerial Declaration, and recalled the suggestion made by Mexico that a two-track
approach be avoided and that the CTDs contri bution be made by 30 September 1999.  Care was
needed, therefore, in dealing with questions relati ng to procedures followed by the CTD as it sought
to prepare a contribution to the General  Council.
159. The representative of Senegal thanked the Secretariat for the Informal Note.  His delegation
associated itself with the remarks made by the re presentative of Egypt to the effect that the CTD
should focus  on issues within its mandate.  The representative of Senegal addressed the issue of
technical cooperation, and said that it was incumbent on Members to ensure that technical cooperationactivities were relevant, visible, and had a concrete impact on beneficiary Members.  Ways needed to
be explored to ensure that the Seattle Ministeria l conference reaffirmed the importance of technical
cooperation as a fundamental means of achieving the goals of the WTO, and the integration of
developing countries into the global economy through international trade.  Such a reaffirmation at the
highest level of the value of technical cooperation would serve as a political support for the futuredirections taken by technical cooperation activities.  Another issue of importance was the integration
of LDCs into the multilateral trading system.  The excessive dependence of LDCs on the export of a
few primary commodities to a few  markets, combined with asymmetries between their export
revenue and expenditures on imports, was widely recognised as contributing to the fragility of their
economies.  The deterioration of terms of trade, and  the burden of debt, were two factors whichimpeded the growth of LDCs, and developing countr ies in general.  It was therefore necessary that
commitments Members had undertaken in relation to LDCs be honoured, and that new and ambitiousWT/COMTD/M/25
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initiatives be adopted in favour of LDCs.  He referred in this respect to a proposal made by the
delegation of Bangladesh to the General Council, and indicated that his delegation would consult with
the delegation of  Bangladesh as how best to take up  the proposal in the CTD.  Referring to the
question of regional and sub-regional arrangements, he said that the interpenetration of economic
areas was indispensable for counties like his which suffered from the fragmentation of markets andlack of scale.  He said this was a priority issue for his delegation, and said that the Seattle Ministerial
Conference should be the occasion to reaffirm the importance of such arrangements, and not an
occasion to throw into question what had already been established regarding this topic.
160. The representative of Mauritius thanked the Secretariat for producing the Informal Note.  He
said the title made clear that the contents of the note were tentative suggestions and not hard and fast
proposals.  He said that the role of the CTD was, inter alia ,  to monitor all aspects of the participation
of developing countries, including the implementation of special and differential provisions and thedelivery of technical assistance.  It was important not to lose sight of the past work of the CTD.  For
instance the CTD was recognised as having produced the work plan on LDCs for the Singapore
Ministerial Conference.  He said that the integration of developing countries into the multilateral
trading system raised a number of issues, including, inter alia , special and differential treatment,
technical cooperation, notification issues, and consideration of the effects of agricultural reform onnet-food importing developing countries.  Bearing this in mind, it remained for the CTD to decide
what was rational, feasible and acceptable for it to do.  He concluded by stating, in response to an
observation made by the representative of the United States, that his neither his delegation nor others
sought to create new categories in the WTO.  All that was sought was an examination of the concerns
of small and vulnerable economies.
161. The representative of Brazil said that there was agreement that the preparatory process for the
Seattle Ministerial Conference be handled by the General Council, and that there was little doubt as to
the process by which this was to be done. It was  agreed that the CTD had a role to play in the WTO
and that its work was of a horizontal nature.  It was also agreed that the CTD and other subsidiary
bodies should discuss issues that had some bearing on the Ministerial Conference.  It was theperception of her delegation that discussions held in the CTD would flow naturally to the
General Council through proposals brought by individual delegations.  As long as the CTD did not
seek to innovate or inaugurate a process, and as long as the discussion centred around focussing the
work programme of the CTD on preparations for the Ministerial Conference, her delegation did not
perceive there to be a problem.  She suggested that a pragmatic approach be taken, with a focus on
issues such as special and differential treatment, technical cooperation, anti-dumping, and so forth.
Her delegation shared the view expressed by the European Communities that the priority at thatmoment was to collect issues for discussion, with a view to deciding subsequently as to the specific
areas on which work was to be conducted.
162. The representative of Colombia said his delega tion agreed that the preparation of the Seattle
Ministerial Conference came under the mandate of the General Council.  Nevertheless, his delegation
viewed with sympathy the suggestion that the CTD make a contribution to the General Council.  Inthis perspective, his delegation looked favourably on the list of topics presented by the representative
of Egypt, and the complementary proposals made by  Morocco.  However, given that only six months
remained until the Ministerial Conference, a pragmatic approach which would focus on a few specific
issues was required.  In keeping with the suggesti ons made by the delegation of India, these issues
were the difficulties faced by developing countries in the implementation of Uruguay RoundAgreements; special and differential treatment; and technical cooperation.
163. The representative of Guatemala said his delegation was in full agreement with the statement
made by the representative of Mauritius to the effect that small and vulnerable economies were in no
way seeking to establish a separate category within the Membership of the WTO.  It was, rather,
necessary that the limitations faced by small and vulnerable countries in the appropriation of theWT/COMTD/M/25
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benefits of the trade liberalisation promoted by the WTO be properly understood, especially in the
context of the forthcoming negotiations, during which these limitations should be taken into account.
The representative of Guatemala said his delegation were in agreement with the themes mentioned by
the delegation of India, namely, implementation issues, technical assistance and special and
differential treatment.  However, small and vulnerable economies had further concerns in addition tothese, such as the restricted size of domestic markets and production; the concentration of their
production in certain agricultural commodities; and their insignificant level of industrial development.
It was important that these limitations be recognised, and that joint mechanisms be sought that
enabled small economies to share in the common bene fits of the multilateral trading system, and not
simply to incur obligation with which it was difficult to comply.  His delegation was perfectly aware
that the major responsibility lay internally, and Guatemala intended to fulfil its responsibility.
164. The representative of Panama supported the statements made by the delegations of Egypt and
Morocco.  Her delegation shared the view expressed  by the delegation of Switzerland that the CTD
should provide a contribution to the Ministerial Conference, and in this regard should seek to
prioritise themes for the Ministerial Conference.  One such priority was a contribution to the
declaration.  Her delegation supported  the holding of a seminar on special and differential treatment,
and concrete recommendations arising out of this could be brought to the Ministerial Conference.
165. The representative of Malaysia, speaking on behalf of ASEAN, said ASEAN could generally
support the ideas put forward by the delegation of E gypt.  ASEAN agreed that the responsibility for
the scope, modalities and so forth of future negotiations lay with the General Council.  It was
nevertheless to recognise that the CTD had a vital role in providing inputs on developmental aspects
to the Seattle Ministerial Conference.  He said that it was difficult to avoid some degree of duplicationof the work of other committees given the horizontal  nature of the CTD's  work.  ASEAN were of the
view that the inputs of the CTD should be ready in  good time in order that they be considered and
incorporated before the Seattle Ministerial Conference.
166. The representative of Bolivia thanked the Secretariat for the Informal Note.  He said that his
delegation had repeatedly expressed in the General Council that the General Council was the only
appropriate forum to discuss preparatory work for the Ministerial Conference.  He said the
contribution of the CTD should therefore concentrate on the subject of implementation, taking into
account both the difficulties developing countries have experienced in implementing WTO
agreements owing to shortfalls in human and institutional capacity, and also difficulties experienced
in market access.  He said implementation covered th e issues of special and differential treatment and
technical assistance.  He said that implementati on also entailed working in accordance with the
Geneva Ministerial Declaration, in which concern was expressed at the marginalisation of LDCs.  He
said he fully agreed with the representatives of Guatemala and Mauritius that there was no intention to
create of separate categories of Members, but rather to ensure that the diversity of developing
countries be recognised.  An analysis of implementation would show that there were general
difficulties common to all developing countries, and some that were specific to certain countries as a
function of their level of development and particularities in their trade and economic structure.
167. The representative of Barbados thanked the Secretariat for the Informal Note.  She was unable
to support the proposals made by Egypt and Morocco owing to her absence from the CTD  at the
time, but looked forward to learning more about th e proposals.  She  said the whole issue of small
economies was one of different levels of development, rather than of categorisation, and she sought to
reassure the delegation of the United States in this respect.  She said that the issues of implementation,special and differential treatment, and technical assistance were of importance and should be the focus
of the work of the CTD.
168. The representative of Sri Lanka thanked the Secretariat for the Informal Note.  Her delegation
associated itself with statements made by other delegations that the CTD focus its work on theWT/COMTD/M/25
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suggestions made by Egypt and Morocco.  She said her delegation would go along with the consensus
that seemed to have emerged regarding procedure.  She said her delegation wished to flag the
following substantive issues:  first,  trade facilit ation, which was a subject that her delegation believed
fell within the purview of the CTD, and regarding which the CTD could  make specific
recommendations, particularly in the light of complications faced by developing countries in theimplementation of Uruguay Round Agreements.  Second, her delegation believed that Part IV of the
GATT provided the mandate for the CTD to look into trade problems faced by developing countries.
A situation had arisen where actions taken by countries had failed to address the concerns embodied
in Part IV.  Her delegation were of the view that a report on Part IV of GATT 1994 be considered,
given that it had been  drafted at a time when  rules covered only trade in goods, whereas presently
rules covered trade in agriculture and services as  well.  Third, she said that preference margins under
the GSP had been eroded, adding that her delegation, along with others, had submitted to the GeneralCouncil proposals regarding this issue.  While some argued that preferences had led to an inefficient
allocation of resources, Sri Lanka was of the view that preferences  had generated benefits.  Finally,
her delegation associated itself fully with the statements made by the delegations of Mauritius,
Guatemala, Barbados and Bolivia regarding the problem of  small economies.  The subject of small
economies should be included in the list of issues regarding a possible input to the Seattle MinisterialConference.  She drew attention to the specific issue of customs revenue, highlighting the importance
of such sources of revenue to small economies for the purposes of implementing development
programmes.  She said the  Sri Lankan government had undertaken research  which demonstrated the
revenue implications of trade liberalisation.  She said that Sri Lanka, like other small economies, did
not seek the creation of a special category within the WTO but rather the recognition of the concernsfaced by small economies.
169. The representative of the United States said that her delegation was pleased to hear that small
economies were not seeking the creation of a special category.  She looked forward to hearing
proposals that would maintain that perspective.
170. The Chairperson said that 24 delegations had intervened on this agenda item, demonstrating
its importance.  She said the Informal Note had provided a useful basis for discussions.  On the basis
of the deliberations that had been held, it was necessary to identify the points that could be submitted
to the General Council in order that useful cont ribution to the Seattle Ministerial Conference be
prepared.  It was also necessary to consider the longer term work programme.  She requested the
Secretariat to produce a new Informal Note as soon as possible on the basis of a number of
suggestions made by delegations, following from the statements made by the delegations of Egypt and
Morocco, to facilitate discussions during the 26th Session of the CTD scheduled for 7 July 1999.  She
expressed the hope that the contribution made by the CTD to the General Council would be as
important as that made by the CTD prior to the Singapore Ministerial Conference.
171. The representative of the European Communities noted that one delegation had refered to the
preparation of recommendations by the CTD.  The representative of the European Communities
reiterated that recommendations would be prepared by the General Council.  One possibility for theCTD was to gather the points made by various delegations regarding possible inputs, and structure
them according to paragraphs 8, 9 and 10 of the Geneva Ministerial Declaration.  He noted that there
appeared to be a large degree of consensus regarding the issues of implementation, special and
differential treatment, and technical  assistance, and said that the CTD should begin work on this
forthwith.
172. The representative of Argentina underscored the point made by the representative of the
European Communities that the CTD's work should focus on inputs into the preparatory process for
the Third Ministerial Conference, rather than on formulating recommendations.  The representative of
Argentina said his delegation supported the statement made by India to the effect that the CTD should
focus on implementation issues, special and differential treatment and technical cooperation.WT/COMTD/M/25
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173. The representative of Brazil said it was the understanding of her delegation that there had
been agreement that the CTD would work on and disc uss issues that potentially had a bearing on the
work of the General Council.  There was no agreement, however, that the CTD should present a
formal contribution to the General Council.  She re iterated her delegation's view that the statements
made in the CTD would also be brought up in the General Council.  Consequently, her delegationwere of the view that the CTD should not make a submission to the general Council unless
specifically mandated to do so.
174. The representative of Mexico said his delegation was of the view that specific
recommendations were to be made by the General Council.  He said the work of the CTD cut across
all aspects of the WTO, and that the CTD could make a contribution to the General Council.
175. The representative of Egypt thanked those delegations that had commented on the proposals
made by his delegation.  He said that there had been strong support in favour of updating the
Secretariat Note on the participation of developing countries in international trade, and said that there
would not be any objection were the Secretariat to begin work on the paper.  He expressed the hope
that that the paper to be produced by the Secretariat regarding possible inputs into the preparatory
process for the Seattle Ministerial Conference would take into account the discussion Members had
had in the  25th Session of the CTD.  He requested that informal consultations be held prior  to the
26th Session of the CTD so as to allow Members to seek agreement on the analytical work to be
carried out by the CTD in connection with the preparatory process.
176. The representative of Mauritius said that the General Council had mandated the CTD to carry
out certain tasks, and he requested that information on these tasks be made available to Members.
177. The representative of Morocco said, with reference to the statement by the representative of
Brazil, said that if the work  undertaken by the CTD was to be of any use, it needed to be presented
formally through the General Council to the Third Ministerial Conference.  He refered to the
Singapore Ministerial Conference, for which the CTD had made a specific proposal concerning the
Action Plan for Least Developed Countries through the General Council, and urged the delegation of
Brazil to go along with the idea that the CTD present a formal contribution.
178. The representative of Brazil said she wished to further explain the position taken by her
delegation.  Her delegation had already taken a similar position on the Council on Trade in Services,
where it had , made known its view that no specific  tasks were to be undertaken in subsidiary bodies
and presented to the General Council in the context of preparations for the Ministerial Conference.
Nothing precluded delegations from bringing to the General Council specific proposals that were the
result of work carried out in subsidiary bodies such as the CTD.  However, unless the General Council
specifically mandated the CTD to undertake a specific task regarding the preparation of theMinisterial, her delegation were of the view that the CTD should not attempt to make such a
contribution, as this would create a precedent which could lead other subsidiary bodies to do likewise.
This would be problematic for developing countries who typically had small delegations and who
consequently would not be able to control  work across a number of different subsidiary bodies.  She
said that the Geneva Ministerial Declaration clearly mandated the General Council with the task ofpreparing the Third Ministerial Conference, and hence the work should be conducted in the General
Council, at which all delegations could be present all the time.  She said that the CTD had an
important role, and should discuss issues pertaining to the Third Ministerial  Conference, and should
help developing countries to prepare their positions for the Ministerial Conference.  Delegations could
then bring to the General Council their proposals that stemmed from the discussion of the CTD, buther delegation could not agree to a formal, structured proposal on the part of the CTD.WT/COMTD/M/25
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179. The representative of the United States said that the Brazilian delegation had made a
compelling point which, and that the Chairperson's conclusions should take into account the concerns
expressed by the Brazilian delegation.
180. The Chairperson said that all positions made known by members would ne taken into account.
She said it was now up to the CTD to decide, on the ba sis of consensus, as to how it would proceed on
this agenda item.  She requested the Secretariat  to structure the discussions held on this agenda item
through an Informal Note, in order to facilitate work on which there was  agreement.  She said the
possibility of holding informal consultations prior to the 26th Session of the CTD of 7 July 1999
would be examined.
181. The representative of the United States said her delegation had no objection to the holding of
informal consultations, providing these did not clash with meeting of major WTO bodies that had
already been programmed.
182. The Chairperson said that the Secretariat would take this into account when scheduling
meetings.
183. The representative of Sri Lanka said that the TRIPS Council had already scheduled informal
consultations for the 7 July 1999 which posed problems for small delegations like hers.
184. The Chairperson said that the CTD's 26th session had been scheduled for 7 July 1999 for quite
some time.  She added that at that meeting, representatives of the World Bank and the Commonwealth
Secretariat would be presenting to the CTD their work on small economies, and that it would be
exceedingly difficult to reschedule the 26th Session of the CTD.
185. The representative of the United States said her delegation recognised that the 26th Session of
the CTD had been planned for a long time, and added that she only wished to request that were
informal consultations or any other meeting to be planned, that the timing of other meetings within the
WTO be taken into account.
186. The Chairperson said that the timing of other meetings would indeed be taken into account.
X. OTHER BUSINESS
187. The Chairperson confirmed that the 26th Session of the CTD was scheduled for 7 July 1999.
188. The Director of the Development Division confirmed that the special representative of the
Commonwealth Secretary-General and the Special Representative of the President of the World Bank
would be present at the 26th Session of the CTD to present the draft report on of the Joint Task Force
on Small States.  The two special representatives intended to submit a document to the Secretariat
which was to be circulated to Members.
189. The Chairperson said  the agenda for the 25th Session would include a discussion of the
Secretariat document on the implementation difficulties, if any, faced by members in the
implementation of provisions for special and differential treatment, including related Ministerial
decisions.  A further possible item was the report by the Joint Administrative Group of the
International Trade Centre at its 32nd Session.  Finally, it was expected that the CTD would achieve
closure on its discussion of the CTD's contribution to the General Council regarding the workprogramme on Electronic Commerce.WT/COMTD/M/25
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190. The representative of Mexico said that his delegation wished to make a correction  to
document WT/COMTD/M/24 of 27 April 1999.  Referring to in paragraph 114, lines 5 and 6, he said
one should read "ECE", instead of "ACP".
191. The Chairperson said that she was forced to ad journ the meeting before the Director of the
Technical Cooperation Division had had the chance to make his presentation on the budgetary
situation.  She said that the question of technical cooperation would be  carried over to the next
possible opportunity.
192. The representative of Egypt said his delegation  wished to include an agenda item for the
26th Session of the CTD regarding the participation of developing countries in international trade, in
order that the CTD might accept formally the updating of the paper.
193. The Chairperson said that this request would be taken into account.  She thanked all
delegations for their contributions and brought the meeting to a close.
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