RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/COMTD/M/39
10 July 2002
(02-3843)
Committee on Trade and Development
Thirty-ninth Session
NOTE ON THE MEETING OF 6 MARCH 2002
Chairman:  H.E. Mr. Nathan Irumba (U ganda)/H.E. Mr. Toufiq Ali (Bangladesh)
A. A DOPTION OF THE DRAFT AGENDA ...........................................................................................1
B. O BSERVERS ............................................................................................................................... ..1
(i) Request for Attendance for ad hoc ob servers .............................................................................1
(ii) Further Consideration of Requests for Obse rver Status by the League Of Arab States,
the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the GulfOrganization for Industrial Consulting, the Organization Internationale de la
Francophonie and the Common Fund for Commodities ............................................................2
C. E
LECTION OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE COMMITTEE ON TRADE AND
DEVELOPMENT ............................................................................................................................2
D. C OORDINATED WTO SECRETARIAT ANNUAL TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE ....................................2
E. O THER BUSINESS ......................................................................................................................14
A. ADOPTION OF THE DRAFT AGENDA
1. The Chairman said that airgram for the meeting was contained in document WTO/AIR/1729
of 25 February 2002, and that under "Other Business" the incoming Chair intended to take up the
suggestion to derestrict the document containing the background note of the Secretariat on the
International Conference for Financing Devel opment contained in document WT/COMTD/W/94.
2. The Agenda was adopted.
B. OBSERVERS
(i) Request for Attendance for ad hoc observers
3. The Chairman recalled that, at previous sessions of the CTD it had been agreed to invite the
following intergovernmental organizations on an ad hoc meeting by meeting basis:  the Arab Maghreb
Union (AMU), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Economic
Cooperation Organization (ECO), the Inter-Arab Investment Guarantee Corporation, the Islamic
Development Bank (IDB), the Organization of African Community (OAU), the Organization of
Islamic Conference (OIC), the South Centre, the South Pacific Forum, the United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP), the West African  Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), andWT/COMTD/M/39
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the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).  He proposed that these Organizations be
invited to the next formal meeting of the CTD.
4. It was so agreed.
(ii) Further Consideration of Requests for Observer  Status by the League Of Arab States, the
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the Gulf Organization for
Industrial Consulting, the Organization Internationale de la Francophonie and the Common
Fund for Commodities
5. The Chairman stated that at the last few meetings the Committee had had before it a number
of requests for observer status from the League of Arab States, OPEC, the Gulf Organization for
Industrial Consulting, the Organization International de la Francophonie and the Common Fund for
Commodities.  The position of delegations were well-known and on record.  He proposed that theCommittee reverted to those requests at its next formal meeting.
6. It was so agreed.
C. ELECTION OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE COMMITTEE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT
7. The Chairman said that, according to his understanding, the consultations held on the slate of
officers for the different WTO bodies had resulted in the proposal to nominate
Ambassador Toufiq Ali of Bangladesh to chair the Committee on Trade and Development in 2002.
He asked if the CTD could elect Ambassador Toufiq Ali as its chairperson.
8. The Committee so agreed, and Ambassador Ali presided over the remainder of the meeting.
D. COORDINATED WTO SECRETARIAT ANNUAL TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
9. The Chairman said that the Committee had before it the Coordinated WTO Secretariat Annual
Technical Assistance Plan for 2002 in document WT/COMTD/W/95/Rev.2.  It had been taken up at
the two formal meetings of the Committee on 22 January and 14 February 2002, as well as in a
number of informal consultations between the Secretariat and various groups of delegations.  TheSecretariat had revised the Plan on the basis of comments made.
10. Deputy Director-General, Mr. Paul-Henri Ravier expressed his appreciation to Members for
the opportunity to continue the dialogue on the Secretariat’s Technical Assistance Plan.  The actual
implementation of the Plan for 2002 had begun on 1 January 2002, and a little over 50 activities had
been executed over the past two months.  Operational activities were being implemented on the basis
of the new strategy welcomed and endorsed by Ministers in paragraph 38 of the Doha Ministerial
Declaration and on the basis of the clear mandate contained in the Doha Ministerial Declaration.Since implementation of the Plan began the Secretariat had been involved in exhaustive bilateral and
plurilateral conversations with Members, both beneficiaries and providers of technical assistance.  He
assured Members that the Secretariat welcomed the advice that it was receiving.  He said it was
through the Members persistence that the necessary improvements had been made in the Plan.  He
emphasised that both the Plan and its implementation was work in progress.  The Secretariat was stillsearching for the right approaches to respond to the new and unprecedented Development Agenda
established at the Doha Ministerial Conference.  It also meant that the Secretariat intended throughout
the year and the implementation period, to meet the real needs of the beneficiaries and of the
providers of the resources, in a flexible and dynamic manner.  The Secretariat had continuedWT/COMTD/M/39
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consultations, in various formats, since the last CTD meeting in order to fine tune and focus the Plan
more precisely around the substantive concerns that had been expressed by Members during the
previous meetings.  The results of the consultations were now embodied in the revised Plan.
11. He then went on to comment on the content of the Plan and stated that the revision dealt not
only with the list of activities, but also with the structure of the Plan itself.  The Plan had now beenstructured around themes, issues and mandates.  The annexes on the Singapore issues and on trade
and environment had been removed and specific activities on those issues had been included in the
main list of activities.  More direct and visible links had been established between the WTO’s trade-
related technical assistance and capacity-building activities and the Doha Development Agenda.  The
number of activities had also increased to 514, an increase that had enabled the Secretariat to
accommodate the new, expanded and more elaborated needs of the Membership.  In response to
Members' emphasis on coordination with other agencies he reported that all the activities underinvestment and competition had been coordinated and would be jointly delivered by the WTO and
UNCTAD.  Active discussions were under way with other organizations and would be reported
continuously to the Committee.  As far as the least-developed countries (LDCs) were concerned a
meeting of the Integrated Framework (IF) Heads of Agency that took place in Washington had made a
significant contribution towards improving coherence and coordination amongst the six core IFagencies.  The final communiqué adopted at that meeting of the Heads of Agency was available and
would be reported on fully at a later meeting by the Director-General.  The donors, LDCs and the
African Group had already been briefed on the results of the meeting.  He emphasized that not only
had priority been accorded to the needs of the LDCs, but the WTO had also enhanced its efforts with
other core agencies to significantly improve intera gency coordination and coherence.  He said that in
the several informal consultations carried out by the Secretariat with various groups, beneficiary
Members had expressed satisfaction with the revision recognizing that while the Plan might not be
perfect, the Secretariat's assurances of flexibility in its implementation responded to their concerns.
12. He went on to inform the Committee about the results of some activities undertaken by the
Secretariat in relation to technical assistance a nd capacity-building.  First, agencies and country
providers of trade-related technical assistance had met in Geneva on 19 February 2002.  The purpose
of that meeting had been to explore the basis of coordinated action by agencies and country providers
of technical assistance for the creation and management of a trade-related technical assistance
database.  The group agreed to meet periodically to begin the creation and the management of the
database.  The next meeting would be held on 12 Ma rch in the WTO.  Since the first meeting of the
group, the Heads of the six core IF agencies had endorsed the proposal for the database.  Second, the
meeting of the IF Heads of Agency which had been convened by the Director-General in Washingtonon 26 February 2002 and hosted by Mr Jim Wolfensohn, President of the World Bank, had been a
success.  The Heads of Agency meeting had focused inter alia  on the implementation of the IF pilot
scheme and its extension.  A joint communiqué of the Heads of Agency had fully endorsed the
extension of the IF to other least-developed countries.  Third, the JITAP was a successful programme
involving three agencies:  ITC, UNCTAD and the WTO.  It was an integral part of the 2002 TechnicalAssistance Plan and was currently under evaluation.  Fourth, as a first step in the process of
establishing strategic alliances with regional institutions, the Director-General and the President of the
Inter-American Development Bank had signed, on 27 February 2002, a memorandum of
understanding under which the institutions would seek to deepen cooperation in order to provide
technical assistance on trade negotiations and capacity-building to countries in Latin America and theCaribbean.  Fifth, he said that the Committee had a tight and substantive programme before the
Pledging Conference.  He appealed to donor countries and invited agencies to ensure that the Pledging
Conference became a success. A success which would maintain the post-Doha momentum on the
central issue of technical cooperation.  He went on to say that the Annual Plan could not respond to all
the needs of the beneficiary countries. The Plan was only one of six basic elements in the overallarchitecture for responding to the Doha mandate on technical cooperation.  Those elements included
the interagency strategic partnerships; strategic partnerships with the bilateral donors; strategicWT/COMTD/M/39
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partnerships with regional banks, regional institutions and commissions; the IF for responding to the
needs and priorities of the LDCs, the WTO trade-related database and the Secretariat Annual Plan for
responding to the short-term needs focused on WTO Agreements, building knowledge on the
Agreements, explaining obligations, identifying the rights and enhancing trade negotiation and policy
capacity.  He said he hoped that it would be possible for the Committee to take note of the Revision 2of the Technical Assistance Plan and allow the Secretariat to accelerate the pace of  its
implementation.
13. Deputy Director-General, Mr. Andrew Stoler said that once all the figures were consolidated
the estimated costs for providing the planned technical assistance activities, including the related
programme support funds, came to around CHF 22,5 million.  Cost-sharing assumptions reduced that
total by CHF 4.7 million, and when another CHF 1.5 million in costs to be borne by the regular
budget of the WTO were deducted, the target for contributions to the Doha Development AgendaGlobal Trust Fund was around CHF 16.3 million.  That  figure was about CHF 1.3 million higher than
the CHF 15 million target agreed to the Genera l Council for the Doha Development Agenda Global
Trust Fund for 2002.  Since then further refinements had been made to the scope of the activities to be
financed and the Secretariat had tried to refine the costing of the activities included in the Plan.  The
Annex previously attached to the Plan had been eliminated and additional technical cooperationprojects had instead been incorporated in the Plan.  Refining the approach to costing and changing
certain assumptions with respect to cost-sharing arrangements had allowed the Secretariat to reduce
the anticipated cost of the planned activities even, while expanding the scope of the work.  That left a
net amount of around CHF 15.8 million to be borne by the Doha Development Agenda Global Trust
Fund on technical assistance activities which was about CHF 800,000 higher than the originallyagreed target for the Doha Development Agenda Gl obal Trust Fund.  He said that arriving at those
figures the Secretariat had used the same standard costing formula that he had referred to at  the
meeting.
14. He went on to say that there were various assumptions made on the basis of past experience
with respect to potential cost-sharing arrangements.  Those cost-sharing arrangement assumptionsdiffered according to partners and according to activities.  In most cases, the Secretariat had been
conservative in their estimate of cost sharing.  However, it was true that in some cases they had not
been able to determine the final capacity of thei r partners to deliver on the expected cost-sharing
arrangements.  That would be important, for example, in the case of joint activities planned with
UNCTAD with respect to investment and competition where UNCTAD had been expected to share in
the programme costs on the basis of fifty-fifty participation.  All the figures he had given therefore
assumed that on those important projects there would be a fifty-fifty cost-sharing participation.  Hesaid that if that assumption turned out to be in correct it would affect the overall costing from the
WTO standpoint.  He concluded by saying that he believed that now Members had before them fairly
reliable figures that should give them confidence that WTO would be able to accomplish the planned
activities within the forecasted levels of funding and he hoped that these details would help them be
better prepared for the Pledging Conference.
15. The Chairman said that it was his understanding that the Secretariat had held several
consultations with groups of the Membership as well as with individual Members.  Based on the
reports it appeared that the Secretariat had been able to accommodate the core concerns of Members
in the Revised Plan.  He proposed that the Committee take note of the Plan.
16. The representative of Ghana sought clarification so that he could inform his Government
about what to expect.  His delegation had requested technical assistance in respect of the TRIPS
Agreement and Competition Law and Policy and trade negotiating skills.  It had  received a response
from the Secretariat indicating that the needs would be accommodated in the Plan, but now he saw the
regional agreements against the name of his country on page 23 of the Plan.  He asked whether it was
under the indicated regional activity that his delegation's request would be accommodated.  He alsoWT/COMTD/M/39
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asked whether on the WTO Agreements his country would be expected to indicate the specific
activities that they wished to be carried out under the regional agreements.
17. The representative of Egypt said that he was pleased that the Plan was considered as work in
progress because some fine tuning had to be done in the future.  In respect to that, he said that his
delegation wished to reinforce and reiterate the idea that JITAP should be part of the Plan as expresslymentioned in paragraph 39 of the Doha Ministerial D eclaration.  He said that the JITAP had been a
successful programme that had benefited many developing countries and further coherence with that
programme would be useful.  As a number of activities under the Plan still were to be confirmed, he
expressed his delegation's interest in hosting one of the activities in the competition policy area
mentioned on page 15 of the Plan.  The intensive training course mentioned at the top of the page
would be a useful addition to their programme.  He commented on Deputy Director-General Stoler's
concern as to the possibility, however remote, that other parties to the programme might notcontribute the expected financial resources on time, and asked whether the Secretariat could in any
way ensure that this eventuality did not become a reality.
18. The representative of the European Communities began by reminding the Committee of how,
at the last meeting, his delegation had been critical of the Plan and had expressed difficulty endorsing
it.  However, he was pleased that an fair amount of work had been devoted into the restructuring ofthe document and many of their points had been take n into account.  He however said that they would
continue to look for issues that they thought were  not fully addressed, for instance, the focus on Africa
and the focus on LDCs could be strengthened, the financing could be made clearer and the focus on
negotiating could also be clearer.  It was also important to point out the revised paragraph 2(i) where
Members had a clear commitment to work further on the strategic partnerships.  Much of the work inthat connection was work in progress, but the large amount of activities which was now included, in
particular with UNCTAD on investment and competition policy showed that it went in the right
direction.  He also hoped to see progress on trade facilitation.  He said that the his delegation was
pleased with paragraph 5 where it was made clear that any activity undertaken had to answer the basic
question as how it was related to the Doha Minist erial Mandate.  Those who executed the planned
workshops would have to look for specific request s related to Doha Commitments and that the work
in progress also meant that those activities would need to be structured differently from what they had
been in the past.
19. He went on to say that his delegation was willing to endorse the work on the basis of what
was in the Plan.  However, he urged the Secretariat to start consultations with Members early for 2003
in order to have a smoother debate then.  It was important to better identify needs and to have a better
approach to cooperation with other organizations.  He acknowledged that there had been a shortage oftime for such an approach in 2002.  However, Memb ers still needed a solid basis to continue their
work.  He concluded by saying that, in terms of costing, he was pleased that more work was being
proposed to be done in the Plan with less money.
20. The representative of the Philippines said the document was good because it showed the
efforts that were being made to try to enhance coordination.  There should be more coordination in the
delivery of technical assistance among all international organizations.  The layout of the document
was helpful because it focussed on specific countries and areas.  Another merit of the document was
that it was demand driven which meant that possible donors could be assured of the needs of
developing countries.  She was pleased that the Plan was work in progress and asked how a Member
should go about submitting or resubmitting requests.  Her delegation had some previous requestswhich could not be implemented due to budgetary constraints.  Those requests were not reflected in
the revised Plan.  Accordingly, she called the attention of the Secretariat to the previously requested
technical assistance.  Her delegation also indicated its interest in hosting a regional seminar on Trade
and Competition Policy.WT/COMTD/M/39
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21. The representative of Kenya noted that Members had perhaps not yet fully absorbed the
realities of what was specifically needed for the implementation of the Doha Development Agenda.
He was pleased that the Secretariat had noted that.  The Plan was work in progress and his delegation
noted that its execution would be combined with flexibility and that its implementation would give
Members the possibility to prioritise what they wished.  That was where timing became crucial.  HisGovernment was considering the Plan and what activities had been allocated to it.  His Government
would rather start with the activity on page 52, a seminar on trade policy, capacity-building and
research, as that was their priority and one that tied well with the Doha Development Agenda.  He
hoped a date for the that activity would be communicated soon.  He went on to say that being a
beneficiary of the JITAP had been a success story for his country as its benefits had been clearly
visible.  He agreed that it should command the same priority, if not more than the IF.  He said that the
Secretariat Plan gave prominence to the IF wh ich he understood to still be in the pilot stage.
However, the JITAP had been a success and it should be continued.  It was mentioned in the Doha
Ministerial Declaration and it would therefore be appropriate if it could also figure in the Plan so as to
make it more balanced.  He welcomed the proposed increase in the number of activities.  However,
the timing and the level of the technical assistance would also be very important.  His Government
wished to receive this capacity-building and tech nical assistance before the commencement of the
negotiations on the subjects mentioned in the Doha Ministerial Declaration.
22. The representative of Belize said that althoug h Deputy Director-General Ravier had indicated
that the Plan might not be  perfect  it did not mean that the implementation could not be near perfect.
He was confident that the Secretariat would do its best to ensure that the objectives were met. The
sense of the Secretariat being overwhelmed derived from what had now become an expandedprogramme.  That  would give insight into the challenges faced by small economies and missions in
Geneva.  His delegation welcomed the establishment of strategic partnerships and/or strengthening of
any previously existing ones and said he hoped that this would facilitate the creation of more direct
links between technical assistance and capac ity-building programmes as part of the Doha
Development Agenda.  Such partnerships should not be short term, but should become sustainable asthe needs for technical assistance and capacity-building would always remain.  The Secretariat Plan
had facilitated structuring and restructuring of the national plans for technical assistance and capacity-
building as it had allowed delegations to match any programme offers with their identified needs.  He
asked if any assurances had been made from any of the intended cost-sharing partners and to what
extent the Plan had adopted the successes from earlier technical assistance Plans delivered by the
Secretariat.  In particular, he mentioned the IF, as he was aware that it had been a success and that
there had been some changes in it, that might be good to take note of or even incorporate in the Plan.He concluded by asking whether any indication or pledges for funding for subsequent years had been
secured and whether such discussions were part of the ongoing negotiations or if the approach of the
Secretariat was to pursue them on a year-to-year basis rather than over a longer period.
23. The representative of Uganda said that he was speaking on behalf of the LDCs.  He stressed
that the LDCs Ministers had been apprehensive when the Doha Agenda had been expanded as the
LDCs lacked capacity.  The Doha Agenda was going to stretch their capacities to the maximum.  The
situation was likely to become particularly complex in the near future, hence the need for prioritised
capacity-building for the LDCs, which had been stress ed in the introduction to the Plan.  He agreed
with the representative of the European Communities that such a priority should also have been well
reflected in the operation of the activities.  The LDCs did not believe that their priority wasadequately reflected, but noted that the Plan was work in progress.  With regard to paragraph 7, he
was unsure how the Secretariat would accommodate additional requests when revisions were said to
be tightly controlled and flexible at the same time.  Some of the needs of the Members were being
assumed and there had to be a mechanism for addressing those needs.  With regard to the LDC needs
being mostly dealt within the context of the IF, he said that looking at the activities for the LDCs,
there were mostly for the pilot countries.  It was therefore not clear how issues specific to LDCs not
part of the pilot countries would be dealt with outside the IF.  That was an issue had to be drawn to theWT/COMTD/M/39
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attention of the Secretariat and he hoped that, in the costing of the programme, imaginative solutions
could be found.  He agreed with the representative of Kenya and Egypt with regard to JITAP.  The
LDCs, as consumers of technical assistance, had benefited from JITAP.  In Uganda, the public sector,
private sector and civil society had all found it to be  one of the most effective mechanisms of building
capacity.  He urged that its extension be agreed and that it be included in the Plan.  He said the LDCswelcomed the efforts to create synergies with the other agencies such as WIPO, FAO and UNCTAD.
However, there had to be more emphasis on market access.  There was an imbalance with the focus
being on only some of the issues.  Technical assistance and capacity building was part and parcel of
the Doha Work Programme and affected other parts of the programme as well.
24. He went on to say that his delegation wished the Plan established clear objectives with targets
to be achieved that would form the basis upon which the envisaged evaluation and auditing could take
place.  In doing so it should be taken into account whether the short seminars were effective in thebuilding of capacity and of any other goals set.  He  emphasized that the Doha Ministerial Declaration
recognized LDCs as the group of countries with the most acute technical assistance and capacity-
building needs.  That should be reflected in the operative part of the Plan through the balancing of
issues covered and through balanced geographical distribution.  The Plan was being administered
separately under a fund and presently only covered three out of the forty-nine LDCs.  He took note ofthe joint statement by the Heads of Agencies for the meeting in Washington and though it was
supposed to deal with the IF, it had dealt with a wider field and there had even been consideration of
extending the IF.  The IF had to first be effective and extended to all the LDCs.  Its extension should
not have negative consequences on the LDCs.  He c oncluded by saying that his delegation was willing
to take note of the Plan and hoped that it would be revised according to the comments made.  Henoted that there was only one activity specifically for Uganda by WIPO.
25. The representative of Venezuela said that her delegation had always understood that the Plan
was not to be adopted, but rather that Members would make comments which would bring the Plan up
to the level of its objectives which was primarily the strengthening of the national capacity of the
countries involved.  She agreed with other delegations that the implementation of the Plan could beimproved upon and that it should be done.  In order to improve it, the activities had to be determined
in close coordination with the recipient countries.  Experiences should be taken into consideration in
order to optimise the programmes so as to ensure the appropriate follow-up.  She gave the example of
a regional seminar on environment held in Latin Am erica, the organization of which she said had been
far from ideal.  The travel tickets had been made available to participants only about a day before their
proposed departure.  The seminar had been convened rather hastily, and her Government had  very
little time to nominate the participants.  It was essential that there should be better coordinationbetween the recipients, the donors and the WTO including on when that type of technical cooperation
was being provided.  She hoped that such difficulties would be overcome in the future and that the
experience would be used to improve future activities.  With regard to the capacity-building
programme she said that her delegation continued to believe that coordination with UNCTAD could
be strengthened.  She expressed her gratitude on the information provided on the budgetary aspect andthe funding for the implementation of the Plan and sa id that some delegations felt that the idea was
not to do more with less, but that the philosophy should be to do more and better, with more.
26. The representative of Senegal said that his delegation subscribed to everything that has been
said by the representative of Uganda on behalf of the LDCs.  His country believed that the main
points of the activities that his delegation had requested for had been reflected in the Plan. Hisdelegation saw that there was considerable improvem ent in the revision of the Plan with regards the
ease of reading the document, on the approach accord ing to the different topics included and also by
including to the different principles underlying the document.  For instance, the flexibility highlighted
in paragraph 7, was a highly important aspect which would certainly be required.  The activities
which had been reflected in the document stemmed from the technical assistance programme whichhad been elaborated in 2001 and with time there may be certain activities that may have to beWT/COMTD/M/39
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modified or even amended and other activities included.  There were many elements in the document
which his delegation welcomed, for example the creation of a database which would be another step
towards a greater coherence in technical assistance activities.  He asked for information on that idea
and said that the developing countries should be helped in ensuring access to the database, once the
operational stage of the database was reached.  With regard to the costing of the Plan, he said that hisdelegations concerns were justified since it saw that the estimates had gone beyond the
CHF 15 million target that set.  He hoped that that would be taken into consideration at the Pledging
Conference.  The Doha Development Agenda, which was in addition to the normal activities of the
WTO, would quite naturally require a lot of funds.  Members would be needing the support of the
Development and Economic Research Division for studies to be carried out in specific areas so that
Members had the necessary information to enable them to negotiate correctly.  He concluded by
asking to what degree the patent for technical assistance which had been established under such areasas customs valuation, technical barriers to trade had been taken into consideration in the overall
programme.
27. The representative of Barbados said that her delegation welcomed the Chairman's initial
comments that the Plan was flexible and like others noted that it was work in progress.  With regard to
paragraph 7, her delegation sought clarification as to what their expectations realistically could be andas to the degree of flexibility that could be applied to the Plan.
28. The representative of Canada said that her delegation was pleased to note that the Plan was
work in progress and looked forward to the inclusion of the JITAP programme as an important
instrument of the technical assistance and capacity building as had been noted by other delegations.
As the present donor coordinator for the JITAP programme, she said her delegation was pleased toannounce that the donors would be favourably disposed to using some of the funding to create toolkits
which would be of great use to the beneficiaries.  That process had already began under the JITAP
programme.  Her delegation noted that the evaluation which was presently under way was going to
look at the lessons learned and best practices of the programme as a point of assistance to other
countries.  She hoped that the IF, to which her Government was a major donor, would use thediagnostic tools that had been used by the World Bank and others in the process.  That would speed
up the process of allowing beneficiaries to make full use of all the mechanisms which had been
recently made available.  In that regard, her de legation supported the EC statement that, by working
together throughout the year, the process of  considering the technical assistance Plan would be
strengthened for 2003.  She highlighted paragraph 11 which dealt with monitoring and review, saying
that that would help Members learn from what had been done and what could be done to ensure that
the best instruments were used, so as to ensure the best use of the resources available for the Plan.
29. The representative of Zambia agreed with other delegates that the Plan was a working
document and that it was flexible.  His delegation asked for clarification on the concept of reciprocity.
He asked what it actually entailed.  He said that the observations made on the previous Plan by his
delegation had not been addressed.  He noted that an LDC focus was clearly missing and associated
himself with the comments made by the LDC coordinator.  It was his delegations hope that the Planwould provide a heightened visibility for LDCs in order for their concerns to be taken on board and be
clearly reflected in the Plan.
30. The representative of Japan said that his delegation believed that the Plan had been improved.
The Secretariat's efforts to respond to Members' concerns was visible.  His delegation was aware that
the document was not perfect and in that respect appreciated that the Secretariat had confirmed thatthe document was work in progress.  His delegation was prepared to contribute in that regard.  He said
his Government sought the possibility of hosting se minars in Geneva with the cooperation of WTO in
the field of the Singapore issues.  He said that though the document was important, the
implementation of it was even more so.  There could be a change of priority in the coming month and
therefore his delegation believed that it would be important to review, from time to time, theWT/COMTD/M/39
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capacity-building activities undertaken on the basis of the Plan.  He concluded by thanking Deputy
Director-General Stoler for the factual information provided by him on costing which his delegation
believed would help prepare for the Pledging Conference.
31. The representative of Mauritania said that the importance attached to technical assistance had
to be enhanced as it was  an instrument to enable the developing countries, and LDCs in particular, to
better integrate to in the multilateral trading system.  He welcomed the efforts made over the last few
years and which had made it possible for his Government to benefit from technical assistance and to
make progress.  His delegation believed that the interdependence between the Plan and the IF had not
been sufficiently highlighted.  During the diagnostic studies which had been undertaken in pilot
countries, his being one of them, precise needs had been flagged, in terms of technical assistance and
those were reflected in the matrix.  He believed that it would be useful to see to what degree the
technical assistance requirements reflected in the matrix could be better taken into consideration in theactual programme .  He said that it might be difficult to take them all into consideration, but as far as
his country was concerned, they believed that the strengthening of trade negotiating capacities in the
area of services and agriculture and the establishment of new schedules of concessions and for
example the implementation of notification requirements were all areas which should be taken into
consideration in the programme.  As had already been said in the Heads of Agencies Communiqué,his delegation believed that the time had come to consider a different approach to draw up projects
which could be presented to donors.  His Government was in fact preparing a project which would be
submitted to the Standing Committee of the IF at its meeting on 8 March 2002.  Those projects took
into consideration the priority requirements which had been identified in the course of the diagnostic
service that would be available and distributed to all partners that showed an interest in the area.
32. The representative of Paraguay said that, as it already was the end of the first quarter of 2002,
and as the discussion on technical assistance and capacity-building would also continue to be
discussed in different WTO bodies, the Plan should be approved.  Delegations could then dedicate
themselves to discuss procedures in order to fine -tune the Plan and to ensure the appropriate follow-
up and evaluation.
33. The representative of Argentina said that, in connection with the revision of the Plan, he had
some questions for the Secretariat.  First, as there had been certain changes, he asked if there had been
elimination of, or modification to some of the activities proposed in the earlier versions, particularly
of those in Latin American countries.  Second, he asked if there was, as a result of carrying out more
activities with less resources, had been any qualitative modification in activities, especially with
respect to the regional seminars and if there had been a reduction in the logistic backup in terms of the
number of invited participants to regional seminars.  Turning to general comments on technicalassistance, he said that on evaluation of the implementation of the Plan would be important.  It might
therefore be worthwhile, as the end of the first quarter of the year was approaching, to have the
Secretariat draw up an evaluation of already-implemented activities.  Such a factual evaluation would
permit delegations to identify any problems that might have occurred, with a view to improving the
situation.  He said that he did not have any further information regarding the trade and environmentseminar for the Latin American region which should have been held in Colombia and which had been
mentioned by the representative of Venezuela.  If it had not been productive and had not yield the
desired results, there would unfortunately still not be any other seminar throughout the year.  There
were two other activities in the field of trade and environment, but they related to specific
environment protocols.  The seminar to which he had referred to was one on trade and environment ingeneral, covering a wide range of subjects in the field.  Lastly, with respect to implementation, he
suggested that the document which presented the activities on an item-by-item or subject-by-subject
basis should at the end, have a list of activities by date, including the subject, for delegations to get a
clear picture and an overview of how the implementation had advanced.WT/COMTD/M/39
Page 10
34. The representative of the United States said that her delegation supported the Committee
taking note of the Plan at the meeting, as a living document that would take into account the concerns
and needs of the beneficiary Members as its implementation proceeded.  The suggestion made by the
representative of Argentina concerning a stock-ta king type of approach would be useful.  Her
delegation supported continuing work on developing partnerships with other institutions that couldparticipate in the programmes outlined and any other programmes that would evolve.  She reiterated
the suggestion that her delegation had made in the last CTD meeting, that the CTD Chairman should
consult with the Chairpersons of other WTO bodies with technical assistance mandates, to enable the
CTD to take-stock of what was going on in the other bodies with respect to technical assistance.
35. The representative of Côte d’Ivoire said that, as had been pointed out, the Plan before the
Committee was not perfect.  However, it had taken into account the needs expressed and arranged
them into a consistent programme.  His delegation was pleased to find that the document had takeninto account concerns his delegation had raised.  His Government was experiencing a difficult period
and its priorities might fluctuate.  It might therefore need to take advantage of the flexibility contained
in the document to change priorities.  Other speak ers had said that the implementation of the Plan
would be the challenge.  However, with his know ledge of the Secretariat he was certain that the
implementation would be satisfactory.
36. The representative of Norway said that the importance of form and presentation in a
document like the Plan should not be underestimated.  An important part of the consultations over the
last few weeks had been dedicated to the presentation and the structuring of the information.
However, he acknowledge that content was even more important.  His delegation was somewhat
concerned by the priority given to the LDCs, which could be enhanced.  Nevertheless, he welcomedthe second revision of the Plan and said that it would be a good basis for the Pledging Conference.  He
asked if Deputy Director-General Stoler's cost calcul ation could be provided to delegations in writing
before the Pledging Conference.
37. The representative of Tanzania said that her delegation wished to associate itself with the
statement made by the representative of Uganda, as the LDC coordinator.  Her delegation hoped that
the flexibility which was said to be embedded in the Plan, would accommodate the missing LDC
priority.
38. The representative of China said that he hoped  that the Secretariat would take the comments
made by delegations regarding the implementation of the Plan into account.  His delegation agreed
that during the implementation of the Plan there should be enough flexibility for delegations to make
changes.  Some delegations might need to request more changes than others as had been heard.  There
might even be fluctuations in delegations' priorities for technical cooperation activities and that shouldbe allowed within the limit of the Secretariat's resources.  However, his delegation did not believe that
it was a good idea for the Committee to continue to debate the Plan.  Its implementation had to start
and additional improvements could be made during its implementation.  His delegation also had some
editorial issues which he would raise with the Secretariat later.  Other delegations could also do the
same so that the discussions could now stop and the implementation commence.  Delegations wouldalso have the opportunity during the stock-taking process or in the middle of the implementation
period to come up with further suggestions and proposals for improvements of the Plan.
39. The representative of India said that the representative of Senegal had mentioned the
importance of conducting some studies.  The Doha Ministerial Mandate was an ambitious Programme
and there were many issues that had to be analysed and understood in the upcoming months.  It wastherefore important that provisional studies be made in the CTD.  Apart from that small point, his
delegation did not have any particular problem with the document.  Many delegations had mentioned
the importance of flexibility as beneficiaries might have additional or changing requests as theWT/COMTD/M/39
Page 11
implementation proceeded.  His delegation was ready to adopt the document if such flexibility was
ensured in the document.
40. The representative of Haiti said that he was pleased to see the prominent place given to the
LDCs in the Plan.  The Plan was possibly the one WTO document which had been the object of the
greatest amount of consultations with a view to taking Members' concerns into account.  Thattransparency was reflected in the Plan.  The document was not only discussed in the CTD, its
financing had been pushed in the Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration.  His delegation
appreciated the importance attached to its evaluation.  A unit had been established to carry out the
evaluation and assist the Committee in that respect.  That would guarantee those concerned that all
activities would be implemented.  Members should trust that the proposed audit would evaluate and
conceivably fine-tune the Plan, that should now be adopted in order for its implementation to begin,
even though it could be subject to further improvement during its implementation.  He said that itshould be implemented with both rigour and flex ibility.  Deputy Director-General Stoler had
indirectly invited delegations to take the financing dimension into account.  The Pledging Conference
would present an opportunity for his Government s' development partners, who had been most
generous, to realize that the CHF 15 million re quested earlier would perhaps not suffice and that
additional funds may be required.  The Plan was quite balanced and should be adopted for itsimplementation to proceed, an implementation which was really ongoing as two missions had already
been undertaken to Haiti.
41. The representative of Morocco said that the revised Plan was clearer, particularly since the
technical assistance aspect had been greatly strengthened since the Doha Ministerial Conference.  The
technical cooperation activities were an important aspect of WTO’s work, particularly to help thedeveloping countries and LDCs better understand the mechanisms and rules of the Organization and
thus enable them to apply them appropriately.  The technical assistance already provided, although
fairly satisfactory, was nonetheless insufficient since the technical assistance needs of the developing
and LDCs countries had increased as a result of the multiplicity of new areas now being covered by
the WTO.  The creation of new working groups provided an example of that new growth.  Hisdelegation therefore believed that any annual technical assistance programme should be somewhat
flexibile in order to accommodate those new aspects.  His delegation attached importance to the
implementation which should be considerably strengthened, particularly in the area of negotiating
techniques.  His Government was pleased to be the host of an upcoming regional seminar for French-
speaking African countries which was being organized to enable developing countries to take
important decisions after the Fifth Ministerial Conference.  The role played by UNCTAD was
essential since that Organization had an undeniable comparative advantage on the Singapore issueswhich would be dealt with during the seminar.  The work in the WTO included new issues such as
environment, electronic commerce and different technology-related issues.  New ground had to be
broken as the WTO technical assistance programme could no longer be limited to the classic
organization of seminars and workshops.  Certain criteria, such as for example the multiplying effect
of training activities should be strengthened.  His delegation therefore reiterated, in a purelyexplorative manner, a suggestion for organizing with the Moroccan University, a whole round of new
studies which could have benefit many countries in the African region.  Such an activity would be in
line with the training activities undertaken by WTO and would be beneficial, since those receiving a
diploma as a result of such studies would be able to handle WTO issues both in the Government as
well as in the private sector.
42. The representative of Switzerland said that the new draft was an improvement over the old
version.  His delegation was particularly appreciative of the synthesis and more compact presentation,
achieved by subdividing the activities according to topics.  Evaluation or assessment should not only
be carried out at the end of the year in the form of the report which was to be made to the General
Council under the heading of Capacity-Building.  He welcomed the statements made by therepresentatives of Venezuela and Argentina who had suggested that evaluation should be carried outWT/COMTD/M/39
Page 12
as the Plan was implemented.  It was important to improve the Plan as it was implemented to refine
activities when either gaps or deficiencies were noticed.  That would ensure the most efficient use of
the resources available.  Evaluation also implied transparency and his delegation wished to stress that
transparency, which was currently apparent when reading the Plan, be also ensured with regard to
future requests from Governments, including feedback from those Governments which had alreadybenefited from certain programme activities.  That would give delegations a clearer picture of what
was being requested and how those requests would be followed up in the course of the year.  He
called for the inclusion of an item involving the JITAP.  The JITAP was a pioneer exercise in the
overall framework of coordination, in this case between three organizations active in the area of
technical assistance.  Even though it was not cl ear what the follow-up would be, positive lessons
could already be drawn.  His delegation welcomed the increased effort of coordinating technical
assistance activities since the Doha Ministerial Conference, with other organizations like UNCTAD,including the emphasis sought to be given to investment.  That coordination should also be attempted
in other areas where UNCTAD had an announced programme of activities, such as in the area of trade
facilitation for example and electronic commerce.
43. The representative of Nigeria requested the Secretariat to take account of the relevant
comments that had been made, especially on the need for flexibility, close coordination with
beneficiaries and evaluation.  However, what was most important was the effectiveness of the
technical assistance provided and the resulting impr ovement in the situation of the beneficiaries.  He
also said that his delegation was ready to adopt the Plan.
44. The representative of China sought a clarification on the status of the Plan since many
delegations had said that they were ready to adopt the Plan.  He asked whether the Plan would be
adopted or just taken note of.  His understanding was that the Committee should take note of it, since
its adoption could create problems for some delegations and set a precedent for the future, which was
not desirable.
45. The Chairman clarified that the intention was to only take note of the Plan.  He said that
Deputy Director-General Ravier had said in the beginning that it was an ongoing process.  However,
if the Plan was adopted, it would be difficult to incorporate changes in it.  The intention was therefore
to take note of the Plan and to work on it as its implementation proceeded.
46. The representative of the European Communities said that the Committee should endorse the
Plan.  Even though, concerns had been raised that this would mean the Committee was being forced to
have an unflexible Plan, there was an easy way out, and that was to ask the Secretariat to start
implementing the Plan.  Many delegations had accepted that the Plan was flexible and that the
Committee would not be bound to every letter of it.  It was clear that it was work in progress, and thatthe Committee should accept and advise the Secretar iat to implement it on such an understanding.
That was would be enough of an endorsement.  Just taking note would also set a precedent which his
delegation would not be able to accept.
47. Mr Osakwe, Director, Technical Cooperation Division said that he welcomed and deeply
encouraged the comments, criticisms and questions to the Secretariat which would all help in further
improving the perfection of the Plan.  The implementation of the Plan would also be guided by the
comments, questions, clarifications and the suggestions that had been made.  The Plan was currently
undergoing evaluation and the Secretariat would be reporting to CTD, at an appropriate moment, on
the results of the evaluation which had been undertaken by independent evaluators.  He confirmed
that the JITAP was an important and successful programme on which a report would follow.  He saidthat there were several requests for clarification regarding the last sentence of paragraph 7 of the
document WT/COMTD/W/95/Rev.2.  That sentence referred to ad hoc requests and the need to keep
them to a minimum.  There was no inconsistency between ad hoc requests and flexibility.  That last
sentence should therefore be read in the context of the overall setting of paragraph 7.  The purpose ofWT/COMTD/M/39
Page 13
paragraph 7 was to state that there would be both flexibility and dynamism in the Plan.  The last
sentence referred to that.  He said that within th e overall context of flexibly in the implementation of
the Plan, and accommodating the needs of the beneficiaries, there would minimal disposition to
requests of an ad hoc nature.  This was not intended requests that involved either the submission of
new or resubmission of technical assistance needs.  Ad hoc requests were strictly defined as those
activities that were submitted on the spur of the moment and which at times gave rise to conflicts
between the authorities in the capitals and their Geneva based missions.  This created innumerable
challenges and problems for the Secretariat.  He said that the Plan would be implemented in a flexible
manner.  He recalled that CARICOM had been quoted as an example at the last meeting.  They had
already submitted new requests on the basis of which the Secretariat had substituted some of the old
activities by new ones in the current Plan.  Such changes were possible and did not fall into the
category of ad hoc requests.  The importance of evaluation during the course of the implementation ofthe Plan had been mentioned.  He said that this was a good point as it would ensure that evaluation
was not back loaded at the end of the year.  An  independent technical cooperation audit had been
established within the Secretariat, but independent of the Technical Cooperation Division and all
other divisions.  There had been some specific questions regarding the details of the Plan.  Based on
the suggestion from the Chairman, he proposed to take up these individually with the concerneddelegations.  There had been several requests by delegations to host regional activities in the areas
where it had been indicated that the venue was "to be confirmed".  Such requests were welcome and
would be put to all the countries in the regions concerned.  The determination of venues for regional
activities was not a determination that the WTO Secretariat could make on its own.  This selection
was based on consultations with countries in the regions and with the regional organizations involved.
48. He continued by welcoming the offer made by the delegation of the United States and the
similar offer made by the representative of Japan, to host technical assistance activities in Geneva for
which they would request support from the WTO Secretariat.  He confirmed that the Secretariat
would be in a position to support Members who wi shed to host technical assistance activities
complementary to the Plan.  He then referred to  the requests made for more information on the
proposed technical assistance database. A database would be created and managed by the WTO, but
with assistance by both agency and country providers of technical assistance.  The idea of creating a
database had also received strong support from all the agencies at the level of Heads of Agency at the
last IF meeting.  That could be seen in paragraph 10 of the Final Communiqué of the Integrated
Framework of Heads of Agency Meeting.  The database would contain a listing of all beneficiaries,  a
list of the agencies as well as country providers of trade-related technical assistance.  The agencies
and country providers would feed details of their ac tivities into the data-base, on the basis of agreed
trade-related technical assistance categories.  It would increase coherence and improve coordination,
minimize duplication and hopefully lead to a more even distribution of the delivery of technical
assistance to countries.  He said that the LDCs continued to be the priority focus of WTO technical
assistance as were the small economies and the non-residents.  The Plan should, in that respect, be
read in conjunction with a communiqué that had been circulated as part of the documentation for themeeting.  In addition, the LDCs would benefit from national activities in their countries as well as
from training activities in the WTO;  from the Trade-Policy Reviews;  and from regional seminars.
49. Deputy-Director General, Mr. An drew Stoler said that a copy of the remarks he had made
today was available in the room. There had been a question about whether or not the refinement of
costs had affected the quality of the programmes.  He did not believe it had.  What had happenedsince the 14
th of February was that there had been a downw ard revision of certain costs by about CHF
200,000 and an upward revision in cost-sharing of about CHF 225,000 francs.  The cost-sharing
arrangements had ensured savings to particular types of technical cooperation, for example in the
rules area.  Keeping that in mind and considering the question raised of what would happen if the
cost-sharing arrangements did not come through,  he said that first, the assumptions made with respect
to cost-sharing were based on WTO's past experience with these agencies.  Second, it had to be
remembered that, in addition to the funds raised through the Pledging Conference, the DohaWT/COMTD/M/39
Page 14
Development Agenda Global Trust Fund also had an associated one million franc Buffer Fund
designed to cover any temporary shortfalls that mi ght occur, including because of some of the cost-
sharing arrangements not working out as quickly as expected.  Thirdly, while the General Council had
set the overall level of the Doha Development Global Trust Fund for 2002 at CHF 15 million and
although he had said that the estimate of the amount the Secretariat wished to receive was CHF 15.8million, it was certainly hoped that donors would exceed that level of funding when they came to the
Pledging Conference.  However, no particular prob lems were expected in the area of cost-sharing.
Finally, it had been asked whether or not there were any provisions for multiyear funding.  The Doha
Development Agenda Global Trust Fund was an annual fund.  Targets were determined annually and
it was to be operated annually.  However, nothing in the rules of the fund prevented Members from
making multiyear contributions.
50. The representative of India said that while his delegation supported the comments made by
various delegations regarding flexibility and the dynamic character of the Plan, his delegation’s
understanding was that the Plan had to be adopted.
51. The Chairman suggested that the Committee agree that the Secretariat proceed with the
implementation of the Plan as it was presented in the second revision, while the Committee kept it
under review.
52. It was so agreed.
E. OTHER BUSINESS
53. The Chairman asked if the Committee could agree to derestrict document WT/COMTD/W/94
which contained the Secretariat Note on the International Conference on Financing for Development.
The reason why the issue was raised was that the Financing for Development Secretariat had
requested that the document be placed on the their website.  That website included a wide range of
documents on all the issues being discussed within the Financing for Development process, such as
overseas development assistance and trade.  Given the fact that the International Conference on
Financing for Development was less than two weeks away he proposed that the Committee agree toderestrict the document.
54. It was so agreed.
55. The Chairman said that he wished to outl ine how he intended to proceed with the work
programme on small economies.  He said it was important and in the interest of all Members to get
that work programme under way as agreed to in the General Council on 1 March 2002.  He intended
to begin by calling informal consultations before holding the first formal Dedicated session.
However, the calendar of WTO meetings in 2002 was already heavy.  Nevertheless, it would bepossible to arrange informal meetings soon and delegations would shortly be called to such
consultations.  If there were no objections he suggested to proceed accordingly.
56. It was so agreed.
57. The Chairman reminded delegations that a seminar on the revenue implications of
e-commerce would be held on Monday, 22 April 2002 and that he hoped that all delegations would be
able to attend.  Finally, he said that the following regular session of the Committee would be held
during the Geneva Week in order to enable the representatives from non-resident Members to be
present at that occasion.
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