WORLD TRADE WT/GC/10/Add.1
8May1998
ORGANIZATION(98-1844)
General Council
GENERAL COUNCIL
Annual Report (1997)
Addendum1
Atthemeeting oftheGeneral Council inDecember 1997 itwasagreed thatthereport ofthe
General Council tothe1998 Ministerial Conference would consist ofthe1997 annual reports ofthe
General Council anditssubsidiary bodies together withabriefupdate report oftheGeneral Council
concerning developments inthefirstmonths of1998, andthatChairpersons ofsubsidiary bodies would
beinvited toreport orally totheGeneral Council onwork donesince December 1997.
Thepresent Addendum setsouttheactions taken bytheGeneral Council inthefirstmonths
of1998, andreproduces, intheAnnex, theoralreports oftheChairpersons ofsubsidiary bodies on
work donesince December 1997. TheGeneral Council hasheld3meetings since December 1997.
Theminutes ofthese meetings, which remain therecord oftheGeneral Council 'swork, arecontained
indocuments WT/GC/M/26 -28.
Thefollowing subjects areincluded inthisAddendum:
Page
1. Preparations forthe1998 Ministerial Conference andthecommemoration ofthe
50thAnniversary ofthemultilateral trading system ......................3
(a) Organizational matters ...................................3
(b) Participation ofleast-developed countries .......................6
(c) Attendance ofinternational intergovernmental organizations ...........6
(d) Attendance ofobservers atworking sessions .....................7
(e) Attendance ofnon-governmental organizations ....................7
(f) Report bytheDirector-General .............................7
(g) Progress reports bytheChairpersons ofsubsidiary bodies ............8
2. Committee onBalance-of-Payments Restrictions ........................8
- Consultations .........................................8
3. Committee onBudget, Finance andAdministration ......................8
- Reports ............................................8
1Footnote 8totheannual report inWT/GC/10 indicated thatanaddendum tothereport would reflect the
discussion atthereconvened meeting oftheGeneral Council suspended on14November 1997. Thatmeeting
wasnotreconvened,however,andon19February1998,theGeneralCouncilagreedtoaproposalbyitsChairman
thatthe14November meeting beconsidered closed.WT/GC/10/Add.1
Page2
4. Waivers under Article IXoftheWTO Agreement ......................9
(a) Harmonized System ....................................9
- Bangladesh, Nicaragua, SriLanka ......................9
(b) Renegotiation ofSchedule .................................9
- Zambia .......................................9
(c) Decision ontheintroduction ofHarmonized System changes intoWTO
schedules oftariff concessions on1January 1996 ..................9
5. Accession ................................................9
(a) Azerbaijan ..........................................9
(b) Laos ..............................................10
6. Ecuador -Commitments under theProtocol ofAccession ..................10
7. Outcome ofthemajor review oftheimplementation oftheAgreement onTextiles and
Clothing .................................................11
8. Notification obligations andprocedures .............................11
9. Global electronic commerce ....................................11
10. Transparency andderestriction ...................................12
11. Accreditation ofPermanent Representatives totheWTO ..................12
12. Comments being directed toindividual cases brought before thedispute settlement
system .................................................13
13. Premature disclosure ofdispute settlement panel reports ...................13
14. WTO Secretariat andSenior Management Structure .....................13
15. Conditions ofservice ofWTO staff................................14
16. WTO Daily Bulletin .........................................15
17. Observer status ............................................16
(a) Governments .........................................16
(i) Bhutan ........................................16
(ii) Cape Verde .....................................16
(b) International intergovernmental organizations .....................16
18. Appointment ofofficers toWTO bodies .............................16
19. Election ofChairperson .......................................17
ANNEX ......................................................18WT/GC/10/Add.1
Page3
1. Preparations forthe1998 Ministerial Conference andthecommemoration ofthe
50thAnniversary ofthemultilateral trading system
(a) Organizational matters (WT/GC/M/26, 272,28)
AttheGeneralCouncilmeetingon19February1998,theChairmanreadthefollowingstatement
fortherecord, identifying points onwhich consensus appeared tobeemerging andmatters onwhich
further discussion wasrequired:
"Points onwhich consensus appears tobeemerging:
1. Inaccordance with thedecision already taken bytheGeneral Council on
22October 1997, theMinisterial Conference willbegin onthemorning of18May
andwilllastthrough theafternoon of19May, followed bythecommemoration of
the50th Anniversary on20May with theparticipation ofHeads ofState or
Governments. Itisunderstood thatthese aretwodistinct events.
2. Thesubstantive agenda fortheMinisterial Conference willconsist oftwobroad areas
fordiscussion: implementation oftheWTO work programme andfuture activities
oftheWTO.
3. There willbeashort formal opening oftheConference onthemorning of18May,
followed bytwosessions fordiscussions among Ministers. Thefirstsession would
coverissuesrelatingtoimplementationoftheworkprogramme;asecondsessionwould
cover future activities oftheWTO. Discussions would begin onthemorning of18May
andcontinue through theafternoon ofthatdayandthemorning of19May.
4. Theformal closing session oftheConference would beheldintheafternoon of19May
where therelevant decisions would betaken, including election ofofficers, venue and
dateofthenextMinisterial Conference.
5. Ministers sowishing could provide ageneral statement totheSecretariat fordistribution
toother delegations andtothepress. These statements would cover twoitems:
implementation andfuture activities.
6. Thecommemoration ofthe50thAnniversary tobeheldon20Maywould beopen
totheparticipation ofallMembers oftheWTO.
Matters onwhich further discussion isrequired:
1. Whether discussion byMinisters onthetwosubstantive items oftheagenda should
berecorded inminutes oftheConference orshould betotally informal, andtheamount
oftimeandthepriorities tobeattributed tothediscussions inthese twoareas.
2. Thenature ofanyaction byMinisters concerning thesediscussions, i.e.thepreparation
ofaChairman 'ssumming-up, orofashort declaration, and/or ofadecision on
preparations forthenextMinisterial Conference.
2Seefootnote 3.WT/GC/10/Add.1
Page4
3. Thescenario forthecommemoration ofthe50thAnniversary withtheparticipation
ofHeads ofState orGovernment."
TherepresentativesofEgypt,Pakistan,Korea,Jamaica,Nigeria,India,Bangladesh,Madagascar,
andBrunei Darussalam onbehalf oftheASEAN Members spoke.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatements andthatthepoints raised bydelegations would
bediscussed further ininformal consultations.
Atitsmeeting on2and14April 19983,theGeneral Council further considered preparations
forthe1998 Ministerial Conference andthe50thAnniversary commemoration.
On2April, theDirector-General presented afirstreport onhisconsultations concerning
substantive aspects ofthepreparations fortheMinisterial Conference andinparticular thepreparation
ofatexttobeadopted byMinisters.
Therepresentatives oftheUnited States, Egypt, Uganda, Pakistan, Tanzania, Mauritius, India,
Japan, Jamaica, Mexico, South Africa, Morocco andAustralia, andtheChairman spoke.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatements.
Also on2April, theGeneral Council agreed thattheMinisterial Conference andthe
commemoration ofthe50thAnniversary beorganized along thefollowing points:
1. DiscussionsamongMinistersonthesubstantiveitemswouldbeheldinworkingsessions
oftheMinisterial Conference. Minutes ofthese discussions would beprepared and
circulated todelegations.
2. Therecords ofthe1998 Ministerial Conference would comprise thethree statements
attheformal opening session, thewritten statements submitted byMinisters, andthe
proceedings oftheformal closing session, which would, interalia,record adecision
onthedate, venue andofficers ofthenextMinisterial Conference.
3. Thesubstantive outcome oftheMinisterial Conference would bereflected inashort
textwhich would include cleardirectives, withatime-bound process, forpreparations
forthethird Ministerial Conference, andwould dealinabalanced waywithboth
substantive items i.e.implementation ofWTO Agreements andfuture activities. This
would beanegotiated text.
4. Thecommemoration ofthe50th Anniversary would beapublic event withthe
participation ofministerial delegations, observer governments andinternational
organizations, andattendance bynon-governmental organizations, thepress andother
personalities whomight beinvited.
Theworking sessions would beopentotheparticipation ofallMembers.
TheGeneral Council alsoagreed on2April toaproposal byitsChairman concerning the
initiation ofaprocess ofconsultations bytheDirector-General withallMembers onthepossible text
3Themeeting oftheGeneral Council of2and14April 1998 willremain insession until theMinisterial
Conference. Theminutes ofthismeeting willbecirculated subsequently asWT/GC/M/27, andanAddendum
tothisreport willreflect thediscussion atanyreconvened meetings beyond 14April.WT/GC/10/Add.1
Page5
ofthesubstantive outcome oftheMinisterial Conference. Thisprocess would becarried outinclose
consultation withtheChairman oftheGeneral Council. TheDirector-General would consult onan
open-ended basistoensure thatalldelegations hadanopportunity toregister theirviews. TheGeneral
Council would meetweekly ifnecessary toconsider progress reports bytheDirector-General. The
Director-General wasinvited toprepare adraftsubstantive outcome oftheMinisterial Conference for
circulation toMembers by20April; thisdraftwould bebased onthediscussions intheGeneral Council
andontheviews obtained bytheDirector-General inhisconsultations. TheGeneral Council further
agreed thatthepresent meeting would remain insession sothatfurther meetings could beorganized
atshort notice.
On14April, theGeneral Council agreed that,inthelightofrecent developments withregard
totheattendance ofHeads ofState orGovernment atthe50thAnniversary commemoration event,
thetwoevents nowbeorganized asfollows:
1. TheMinisterial Conference would openonthemorning ofMonday, 18Mayasplanned
forthethree opening presentations, namely bytheChairman oftheMinisterial
Conference,theDirector-General,andtheChairmanoftheGeneralCouncil.Following
these statements, theformal Ministerial Conference would beadjourned.
2. Theworking session onimplementation would begin ontheafternoon ofMonday,
18Mayandcontinue untilearlyevening. Thepossibility ofcontinuing thisdiscussion
inthemorning ofTuesday, 19Mayifnecessary could beenvisaged.
3. Tuesday, 19May would bedesignated asthedayforthe50th Anniversary
Commemoration. Accordingly, theMinisterial Conference would adjourn either on
theevening ofMonday the18thorthemorning ofTuesday the19th, toensure that
thetwoevents remained distinct.
4. TheMinisterial Conference would reconvene onWednesday, 20May. Theworking
session onfuture activities would beheldinthemorning, andtheclosing formal session
atwhich theresults would beadopted would beheldintheafternoon.
5. There would benochanges totheagreement regarding theother organizational matters
thatwasreached on2April.
Atitsmeeting on24April 1998, theChairman informed theGeneral Council thatinaddition
toSingapore 'sandSwitzerland 'sconfirmed attendance attheHead ofState orGovernment levelat
the50thAnniversary event, uptotwelve other Members wereactively considering attendance atthat
level, some ofwhich were atamore advanced stage. Heinvited Members whointended tobe
represented bytheirHeads ofState orGovernment tocommunicate details oftheirparticipation to
theSecretariat assoonaspossible andinanycasenolaterthan1May1998.
Therepresentative ofNorway announced thathiscountry 'sPrime Minister would attend the
50thAnniversary event.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatements.WT/GC/10/Add.1
Page6
(b) Participation ofleast-developed countries (WT/GC/M/274)
AttheGeneral Council meeting on2and14April 1998, theChairman made anappeal to
Members inaposition tocontribute toaTrust Fund tobecreated forthepurpose offinancing the
participationoftheleast-developedcountriesatthe1998MinisterialConferenceandthe50thAnniversary
commemoration, inkeeping withthepastpractice ofvoluntary contributions tocover thecostsofsuch
participation, tocontact theSecretariat assoonaspossible.
Therepresentatives ofUganda andEgypt spoke.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatements.
(c) Attendance ofinternational intergovernmental organizations (WT/GC/M/275,28)
Atitsmeeting on2and14April 1998, theGeneral Council agreed tothefollowing approach
withregard tointernational organization observers attheMinisterial Conference:
1. Theorganizations thatweregranted observer status attheMinisterial Conference in
1996 would beinvited tothe1998 Ministerial Conference pursuant toparagraph 10
oftheguidelines forobserver status forinternational organizations intheWTO
(WT/L/161, Annex 3).
2. Withregard toother organizations notalready invited asobservers totheMinisterial
Conference, thesameprocedure asfollowed forthe1996Ministerial Conference would
apply. Inother words, organizations thatwereobservers totheGeneral Council would
beinvited automatically; those thatwereobservers tosubsidiary WTO bodies andthat
requested attendance attheMinisterial Conference asobservers would alsobeinvited;
andconsultations would beheldonrequests received fromorganizations notpresently
observers toanyWTO body.
3. Since Ministers would notreadgeneral statements attheMinisterial Conference, but
would beinvited tocirculate written statements, international organizations would
beinvited todothesame. Thisapplied onlytotheMinisterial Conference, since the
format ofthe50thAnniversary commemoration event remained tobedecided.
AttheGeneral Council meeting on24April 1998, theChairman recalled thatataninformal
meeting on22April, hehadraised withdelegations arequest forobserver status attheMinisterial
Conference fromtheSouth Centre, anorganization notpresently anobserver toanyWTO body, and
asked iftherequest could begranted.
TheGeneral Council agreed togrant therequest bytheSouth Centre.
4Seefootnote 3.
5Seefootnote 3.WT/GC/10/Add.1
Page7
(d) Attendance ofobservers atworking sessions (WT/GC/M/276)
AttheGeneral Council meeting on2and14April 1998, theChairman saidthatsince most
ofthesubstantive discussions among Ministers would takeplace inworking sessions heldbetween
theformal opening andclosing plenary meetings, withthediscussions tobereflected intheminutes
ofthesesessions, heunderstood thatobserver governments andobserver international intergovernmental
organizations would beentitled toattend theworking sessions although, given thelimited amount of
timethatwould beavailable, itwasunlikely theywould beabletospeak.
Therepresentative ofEgypt spoke.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatements.
(e) Attendance ofnon-governmental organizations (WT/GC/M/26, 277)
AttheGeneral Council meeting on19February 1998, theChairman recalled that,inpreparing
forthe1996 Ministerial Conference, theGeneral Council hadagreed onthefollowing procedures
regarding theattendance ofNGOs: (i)NGOs would beallowed toattend onlythePlenary Sessions
oftheConference (without therighttospeak); (ii)applications from NGOs toberegistered would
beaccepted onthebasisofArticle V,paragraph 2oftheWTO Agreement, i.e.suchNGOs "concerned
withmatters related tothose oftheWTO"; and(iii)adeadline would beestablished fortheregistration
ofNGOs thatwished toattend theConference. Inorder toproceed withtherequests from NGOs
wishing toattend thenextMinisterial Conference inMay, andthe50thAnniversary commemoration,
heproposed thatthesame criteria asusedfortheSingapore Ministerial Conference beapplied. In
order toallow fortheprocessing ofthelistoftheNGOs having requested registration anditscirculation
fortheinformation oftheMembers, thedeadline forregistration would be31March 1998, and
confirmation ofregistration would subsequently besenttotheNGOs.
Therepresentatives ofEgypt andNigeria spoke.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatements andagreed toapply thecriteria enumerated
bytheChairman regarding theattendance ofNGOs.
Atitsmeetingon2and14April1998,theChairmaninformedtheGeneralCouncilthat151non-
governmental organizations hadrequested aregistration formtoattend the1998Ministerial Conference
andthe50thAnniversarycommemorationevent,andthatalistoftheseorganizationswouldbecirculated
toMembers on3April fortheirinformation before theconfirmation ofregistration wassentoutby
theSecretariat on15April.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthisinformation.
(f) Report bytheDirector-General (WT/GC/M/28)
AttheGeneral Council meeting on24April 1998, theDirector-General presented anoralreport
onthework undertaken thusfarinconsultations heldbyhimonadraftMinisterial text.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatement.
6Seefootnote 3.
7Seefootnote 3.WT/GC/10/Add.1
Page8
(g) Progress reports bytheChairpersons ofsubsidiary bodies (WT/GC/M/28)
InDecember 1997, theGeneral Council agreed thatChairpersons ofsubsidiary bodies beinvited
toreport orally totheGeneral Council atitsfinalmeeting before theMinisterial Conference onwork
doneintheirrespective areassinceDecember 1997. TheGeneral Council hadnoted thattheinformation
provided bytheChairpersons intheiroralreports would bereflected intheupdate oftheGeneral
Council 'sannual report tobesubmitted totheMinisterial Conference.
AttheGeneral Council meeting on24April 1998, theChairpersons ofthesubsidiary bodies
oftheGeneral Council aswellastheChairpersons oftheDSBandtheTPRB reported ontheprogress
ofwork inthose bodies.8
Therepresentative ofEgypt andtheChairman spoke.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteoftheprogress reports andofthestatements.
2. Committee onBalance-of-Payments Restrictions
- Consultations (WT/GC/M/26, 28)
AttheGeneral Council meeting on19February 1998, theChairman oftheCommittee on
Balance-of-Payments Restrictions introduced theCommittee 'sreports onitsconsultations withPakistan
(WT/BOP/R/39) andtheSlovak Republic (WT/BOP/R/40).
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatement andadopted thereports inWT/BOP/R/39 and
WT/BOP/R/40.
AttheGeneralCouncilmeetingon24April1998,theChairmanoftheCommitteeonBalance-of-
Payments Restrictions introduced theCommittee 'sreport onitsconsultation with Nigeria
(WT/BOP/R/41).
Therepresentatives oftheUnited States, theEuropean Communities, Canada, Australia, New
Zealand, Switzerland, Norway andNigeria spoke.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatements andadopted thereport inWT/BOP/R/41.
3. Committee onBudget, Finance andAdministration
- Reports (WT/GC/M/28)
AttheGeneral Council meeting on24April 1998, theChairman oftheCommittee onBudget,
Finance andAdministration introduced theCommittee 'sreport inWT/BFA/35.
TheGeneral Council took note ofthestatement, approved theCommittee 'sspecific
recommendation inparagraph 16ofitsreport inWT/BFA/35, andadopted thereport.
8TheprogressreportsbytheChairpersonsarereproducedintheAnnextothisreport.TheChairmanindicated
hisunderstanding atthemeeting thattheChairman oftheCommittee onBudget, Finance andAdministration
hadnothing further toreport atthepresent stage inaddition tohispresentation oftheCommittee 'sreport referred
toinpoint 3below.WT/GC/10/Add.1
Page9
4. Waivers under Article IXoftheWTO Agreement
(a) Harmonized System
- Bangladesh, Nicaragua, SriLanka (WT/GC/M/28)
Atitsmeeting on24April 1998, theGeneral Council considered requests byBangladesh
(G/L/227), Nicaragua (G/L/230) andSriLanka (G/L/229/Rev.1) forextensions ofwaivers previously
granted inconnection withtheirimplementation oftheHarmonized System, anddraftdecisions tothis
effect (Bangladesh -G/C/W/107/Rev.1; Nicaragua -G/C/W/110 andCorr.1; SriLanka -G/C/W/109).
TheChairman oftheCouncil forTrade inGoods, reported ontheconsideration oftheserequests
bytheCouncil.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthereport and,inaccordance withtheDecision-Making
Procedures under Articles IXandXIIoftheWTO Agreement (WT/L/93), adopted thedraftdecisions
(Bangladesh -WT/L/264; Nicaragua -WT/L/265; SriLanka -WT/L/266).
(b) Renegotiation ofSchedule
- Zambia (WT/GC/M/28)
Atitsmeeting on24April 1998, theGeneral Council considered arequest byZambia (G/L/228)
foranextension ofawaiver previously granted inconnection withitsrenegotiation ofitsschedule,
andadraftdecision tothiseffect (G/C/W/108).
TheChairman oftheCouncil forTrade inGoods, reported ontheconsideration ofthisrequest
bytheCouncil.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthereport and,inaccordance withtheDecision-Making
Procedures under Articles IXandXIIoftheWTO Agreement (WT/L/93), adopted thedraftdecision
(WT/L/267).
(c) Decision ontheintroduction ofHarmonized System changes intoWTO schedules of
tariff concessions on1January 1996 (WT/GC/M/28)
Atitsmeeting on24April 1998, theGeneral Council considered adraftdecision extending
thetime-limit oftheDecision ontheintroduction ofHarmonized System changes intoWTO schedules
oftariff concessions on1January 1996 (G/C/W/111).
TheChairman oftheCouncil forTrade inGoods, reported ontheconsideration ofthismatter
bytheCouncil.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthereport and,inaccordance withtheDecision-Making
Procedures under Articles IXandXIIoftheWTO Agreement (WT/L/93), adopted thedraftdecision
(WT/L/268).
5. Accession
(a) Azerbaijan (WT/GC/M/28)
InJuly1997,theGeneralCouncilestablishedaworkingpartytoexamineAzerbaijan'sapplication
foraccession totheWTO Agreement, andauthorized itsChairman todesignate theChairperson ofWT/GC/10/Add.1
Page10
theWorking Party inconsultation withrepresentatives ofMembers andwiththerepresentative of
Azerbaijan.
Atitsmeeting on24April 1998, theChairman informed theGeneral Council that
Mr.W.Höynck (Germany) hadagreed tochair theWorking Party.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthisinformation.
Therepresentative ofJapan, andtheChairman andtheSecretary oftheGeneral Council spoke.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatements.
(b) Laos (WT/GC/M/26, 28)
Atitsmeeting on19February 1998, theGeneral Council considered acommunication from
Laos (WT/ACC/LAO/1) concerning itsinterest inacceding totheWTO Agreement pursuant to
Article XII.
Therepresentative ofLaos(asanobserver), Brunei onbehalf oftheASEAN Members, Japan,
andAustralia spoke.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatements andagreed toestablish aworking party to
examine theapplication byLaos, andauthorized itsChairman todesignate theChairperson ofthe
Working Party inconsultation withrepresentatives ofMembers andwiththerepresentative ofLaos.
TheChairman invited Laos, onbehalf oftheGeneral Council, toattend meetings oftheGeneral
Council and,asappropriate, meetings ofother WTO bodies asanobserver during theperiod inwhich
theWorking Party wascarrying outitswork.
Atitsmeeting on24April 1998, theChairman informed theGeneral Council thatMr.G.Raby
(Australia) hadagreed tochair theWorking Party.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthisinformation andofthestatements byJapan, theChairman
andtheSecretary oftheGeneral Council made under sub-point 5(a).
6. Ecuador -Commitments under theProtocol ofAccession (WT/GC/M/26)
Atitsmeeting on19February 1998, theGeneral Council considered acommunication from
theUnited States (WT/GC/W/76) expressing concern thatEcuador hadnotyetimplemented certain
commitments initsProtocol ofAccession.
Therepresentatives oftheUnited States, Ecuador9andtheEuropean Communities spoke.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatements.
9ThefulltextofEcuador 'sstatement presenting itssecond annual report onthestatus ofimplementation
ofitsaccession commitments wassubsequently circulated asWT/GC/COM/4.WT/GC/10/Add.1
Page11
7. Outcome ofthemajor review oftheimplementation oftheAgreement onTextiles andClothing
(WT/GC/M/26)
Atthemeeting oftheGeneral Council on19February 1998, theChairman oftheCouncil for
Trade inGoods recalled thathehadinformed theGeneral Council inDecember 1997 thattheGoods
CouncilhadconductedthemajorreviewoftheimplementationoftheAgreementonTextilesandClothing
inmeetings heldfrom October toDecember, andthatinspiteofdetermined efforts bymany, ithad
notbeenpossible toarrive atsufficient common ground onthesummary ofthediscussions andon
asetofconclusions tothereview thatwould attract consensus. InJanuary 1998, consultations had
beenheldwithanumber ofdelegations and,asaresult ofthespirit ofcompromise andflexibility shown
bytheMembers thathadparticipated actively inthesubsequent informal consultations, ithadbeen
possible toreach substantive agreement onatextcontaining adetailed summary ofthediscussions
andconclusions, which hadbeenadopted bytheGoods Council on16February (G/L/224).
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatement.
8. Notification obligations andprocedures (WT/GC/M/26)
InNovember1996,theCouncilforTradeinGoods,havingconsideredthereportoftheWorking
GrouponNotificationObligationsandProceduresandtherecommendationscontainedtherein(G/L/112),
made thefollowing recommendations totheGeneral Council: "(a)TheCouncil requests theGeneral
Council totakethenecessary steps toeliminate thenotification obligations intheDecisions ofthe
GATT1947CONTRACTINGPARTIESrelatingtoimportlicensingprocedures(L/3756andSR/28/6);
(b)TheCouncilrequeststheMinisterialConferenceortheGeneralCounciltoconsidertheestablishment,
atanappropriate time, ofabodywithamandate toreview thenotification obligations andprocedures
throughout theWTO Agreement. Alternatively, consideration might begiven totheestablishment
ofabody, ortheextension/modification ofthemandate ofthecurrent Working Group, toconduct,
atanappropriate time, afurther comprehensive review ofthenotification obligations andprocedures
intheagreements inAnnex 1AoftheWTO Agreement. Itwassuggested thatfuture work also
encompassmattersrelatingtotheCentralRegistryofNotifications,electronictransmissionofnotifications
andfurther work onthenotifications handbook" (G/L/134, Section II).Atitsmeeting on7,8and
13November 1996, theGeneral Council hadapproved therecommendations oftheCouncil forTrade
inGoods andagreed torevert tothismatter atafuture meeting.
AttheGeneral Council meeting on19February 1998, theChairman proposed that(i)onthe
basis ofdiscussions heldbytheformer Chairman oftheWorking Group onNotification Obligations
andProcedures, therecommendation oftheCouncil forTrade inGoods insub-paragraph (b)bekept
under review, andreverted toatafuture dateasappropriate; andthat(ii)inpursuance ofthe
recommendation insub-paragraph (a),theGeneral Council adopt thedraftdecision intheAnnex to
WT/GC/W/75 inorder toeliminate thenotification obligations relating toimport licensing procedures
intherelevant Decision oftheCONTRACTING PARTIES totheGATT 1947.
Therepresentative oftheUnited States spoke.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatements andagreed totheChairman 'sproposals.
9. Global electronic commerce (WT/GC/M/26, 28)
Atitsmeeting on19February 1998, theGeneral Council considered aproposal bytheUnited
States regarding global electronic commerce (WT/GC/W/78).WT/GC/10/Add.1
Page12
Therepresentatives oftheUnited States, Egypt, Japan, Australia, theEuropean Communities,
Canada,NewZealand,Nigeria,Switzerland,India,Pakistan,BruneiDarussalamonbehalfoftheASEAN
Members, Norway, Turkey, Hungary andHong Kong, China, andtheChairman spoke.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatements.
Atitsmeetingon24April1998,theGeneralCouncilconsideredaproposalbyCanadaregarding
atariff standstill forelectronic commerce (WT/GC/W/82), andheard apresentation bytheEuropean
Communities regarding arecently circulated communication onelectronic commerce (WT/GC/W/85).
Therepresentatives ofCanada, theUnited States, Japan, theEuropean Communities, Norway,
Switzerland, NewZealand, Argentina, theCzech Republic, Pakistan, Brunei onbehalf oftheASEAN
Members, Australia, Egypt, India, Brazil, Chile, Korea, Hungary, Iceland, Poland andHong Kong,
China spoke.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatements.
10. Transparency andderestriction (WT/GC/M/26, 28)
AttheGeneral Council meeting on19February 1998, therepresentative oftheUnited States
saidthatthetimehadcome toevaluate theGeneral Council 'sdecision ofJuly1996regarding procedures
forthecirculation andderestriction ofdocuments (WT/L/160/Rev.1), paragraph 7ofwhich called
ontheGeneral Council toreview andifnecessary modify theprocedures notlaterthanJuly1998.
Inorder topermit theGeneral Council tocarry outitsresponsibilities inrelation totherequired review,
theUnited States proposed thattheGeneral Council agree toorganize informal open-ended consultations
amongst interested delegations withtheaimofconsidering possible modifications tothese procedures.
Therepresentatives ofCanada, theEuropean Communities, Mexico, Norway, IndiaandEgypt,
andtheChairman spoke.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatements andagreed thatitsChairman consider ways
andmeans toadvance theproposal bytheUnited States.
AttheGeneralCouncilmeetingon24April1998,therepresentativeoftheUnitedStatesrecalled
herdelegation 'ssuggestion atthe19February meeting forinformal open-ended consultations toconsider
possible modifications totheJuly1996 Decision onprocedures forthecirculation andderestriction
ofWTO documents, andasked iftheChairman could inform Members astohisideas onthismatter.
Therepresentatives ofCanada andMexico, andtheChairman spoke.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatements.
11. Accreditation ofPermanent Representatives totheWTO (WT/GC/M/26)
AttheGeneral Council meeting on19February 1998, theChairman saidthathehadbeen
veryencouraged tonotethatanumber ofMembers hadadjusted theirWTO accreditation practices
totheinternational practice inrespect ofrepresentation tointernational organizations --outlined in
aNotebytheSecretariat of4December (WT/GC/W/72) --andhoped thatmore Members would begin
tomove inthisdirection.WT/GC/10/Add.1
Page13
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatement.
12. Comments being directed toindividual cases brought before thedispute settlement system
(WT/GC/M/26)
AttheGeneral Council meeting on19February 1998, theDirector-General expressed concern
thatanumber ofcomments hadbeendirected overthepastfewmonths toindividual cases brought
before thedispute settlement system. While these comments hadnodoubt beenmade ingood faith,
insome cases theyhadnotbeenmade onthebasis ofalltherelevant facts. Comments based ona
lessthancomplete knowledge ofaparticular case,ormade while itwasstillinprogress, wereanunfair
challenge totheintegrity ofthedispute settlement system, totheWTO 'srule-based procedures, and
tothemultilateral trading system. Hewished toincrease theawareness ofthisproblem among all
Members, andwould callittotheattention oftheappropriate WTO bodies inthecontext ofthereview
ofthedispute settlement system thathadtobeundertaken before theendof1998.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatement.
13. Premature disclosure ofdispute settlement panel reports (WT/GC/M/28)
AttheGeneral Council meeting on24April 1998, theDirector-General expressed concern
thatthepremature disclosure ofdispute settlement panel reports threatened toundermine theWTO 's
Dispute Settlement Understanding, andhoped thatMembers would discuss thismatter inthereview
oftheDSU laterintheyear. Such premature disclosures caused twofundamental problems. First,
theythreatened thecredibility andimage oftheWTO asaninstitution and,second, theyundermined
thedispute settlement system. There wereseveral possibilities thatMembers might wishtoconsider
todealwiththismatter, andtheissuewashowtodealwithitinamanner thatminimized thedamage
totheWTO asaninstitution andtotheintegrity ofthedispute settlement system.
Therepresentatives oftheUnited States, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Tunisia, Thailand and
Colombia spoke.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatements.
14. WTO Secretariat andSenior Management Structure (WT/GC/M/28)
InApril 1997, theGeneral Council decided: (i)torequest theDirector-General tosubmit a
report withhisrecommendations notlaterthanOctober 1997 onhowthefunctioning andoperational
efficiency oftheSecretariat might beenhanced tomeetchallenges facing theOrganization, including
through arationalization ofthesenior management structure inthelightofMembers 'intention toreduce
significantly thenumber ofDeputy Directors-General; and(ii)thatconsideration ofthematters referred
tointheprevious paragraph would beinitiated before theendof1997, sothatdecisions might betaken
before theappointment ofthenextDirector-General andreflected inthe1999 Budget oftheWTO
(WT/L/207). InDecember 1997, theGeneral Council tooknotethattheDirector-General 'sreport
(WT/GC/W/74) hadrecently beendiscussed ininformal consultations andthattheChairman intended
toholdfurther consultations early thefollowing year.
Atitsmeeting on24April 1998, theChairman informed theGeneral Council thatalthough
ithadbeenhisintention topropose, onthebasisofconsultations hehadheld,thattheGeneral Council
agree toreduce thenumber ofposts ofDeputy Directors-General inthefuture senior managementWT/GC/10/Add.1
Page14
structure oftheSecretariat totwo,andthatother aspects oftheDirector-General 'sreport remain open
forfurther consideration, onedelegation wasfirmly oftheviewthatagreement onthisaspect should
onlybereached inconjunction withanunderstanding toundertake afurther study onhowtheSecretariat
should respond tothechallenges outlined intheDirector-General 'sreport. Given theimportance of
taking anearly decision onthenumber ofDeputy Directors-General, heproposed toconsult onthis
matter assoonaspossible andtorevert toitwhen themeeting of2and14April wasreconvened in
early May.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatement.
15. Conditions ofservice ofWTO staff(WT/GC/M/28)
Atitsmeeting on14November 1997, theGeneral Council invited theChairman oftheWorking
Group onConditions ofService toprepare arevised draftdecision onthismatter fortheconsideration
ofMembers taking intoaccount thelatest developments, andagreed thatitsmeeting beadjourned and
reconvened attheearliest possible datewithaviewtotaking adecision thereon. On19February 1998,
theGeneral Council agreed toaproposal byitsChairman thatthe14November meeting beconsidered
closed, andthatthequestion ofconditions ofservice betaken upagain atafuture meeting oftheGeneral
Council asandwhen itbecame ready forconsideration.
Atitsmeeting on24April 1998, theGeneral Council considered adraftdecision onthismatter
(WT/GC/W/83).
TheChairman readthefollowing statement withregard tothedraftdecision: "Inthecourse
oftheconsultations which Ihaveheldonthedraftdecision onConditions ofService Applicable to
theStaff oftheWTO Secretariat, anumber ofMembers haveraised questions withrespect tothe
intention ofcertain partsofthedecision. Thefollowing statement isintended toclarify those intentions.
Inadopting thedecision indocument WT/GC/W/83 WTO Members willtakethedecision today to
establishapermanentWTOSecretariatwithitsownregulationsandrules.Thisisanextremelyimportant
step,building ontheMarrakesh Ministerial Decision, and,Iknow, hasonlybeenpossible because
ofthehardwork ofmany representatives andofficials bothinGeneva andincapitals. Inadopting
thisdecision today, theGeneral Council willstress, inthePreamble, theneedforefficiency gains,
improved priority-setting andothersavings toensure cost-neutrality intheWTO budget. Inthatrespect,
wemust remember thattheWTO budget reflects therequirements thatMembers place upon the
organization, including insuchessential areas astechnical assistance, translation, dispute settlement
andaccession ofnewmembers, allareasinwhich thepressure forworkhasconsistently beenincreasing
since theestablishment oftheWTO. Wearealsoputting increasing demands ontheDirector-General
andtheSecretariat withrespect tothefollow-up oftheHigh Level Meeting fortheLeast Developed
Countries. Moreover, various Members haveputforward ideasonimplementation andfuture activities
oftheWTO inthecontext ofthepreparation oftheMayMinisterial Conference, which maywellplace
further strains ontheresources oftheSecretariat.
"Inthislight, Iwould remind Members thatthedecision weshalladopt today isadecision
ontheconditions ofservice applicable tothestaffoftheWTO Secretariat. Itisnot,inanyway, a
decision onthebudget oftheorganization infuture years. Decisions onthebudget oftheWTO will,
ofcourse, betaken eachyearinaccordance withestablished procedures; Iknow thatallMembers
would expect thecurrent highlevelofservice oftheSecretariat tobemaintained. Insetting 1January
1999asthetarget datefortheestablishment oftheWTO Secretariat, itisimportant torecall thatthis
issuehasnowbeenonthetableforoverfouryears. Every effort should bemade toavoid anyfurther
postponement oftheestablishment oftheSecretariat beyond 1January 1999. Inother words, 1January
1999 should beseenasthedeadline. Thedecision weadopt today willrequire serious efforts fromWT/GC/10/Add.1
Page15
allofusinorder toestablish thepermanent WTO Secretariat by1January 1999. First, theWorking
Group onConditions ofService Applicable totheStaffoftheWTO Secretariat mustdraftadetailed
proposal thatmeets thecriteria specified inthisdecision. Second, itwillbesubject toactuarial review.
Third, theGeneral Council willhavetoadopt theproposal andauthorize theDirector-General toinform
theUnited Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund thattheICITO wishes toapply fortermination ofits
membership intheFund.
"Inorder thatwemaybegin thisprocess assoon aspossible andmeet ourdeadline of
1January 1999, Ihaveheldconsultations ontheappointment ofanewChairman oftheWorking Group.
With youragreement, Ipropose thatMr.R.Farrell (New Zealand) takeonthisChairmanship.10I
expect thatyouwillallreceive acommunication veryshortly from theChairman astothedateon
which theWorking Group willresume itswork. Thedecision provides guidance totheWorking Group
ontheparameters oftheproposal itistodevelop. Paragraph oneoftheAnnex provides thatatthe
outset theproposal mustnotprovide salary andbenefit levels thatintheaggregate exceed salary and
benefitlevelsintheUNCommonSystem,itbeingunderstoodthattheonlymeaningfulwayofmeasuring
those levels willbeincostterms. However, within those parameters, theproposal mayprovide for
redistribution ofbenefits, including within theproposed pension plan, provided thattheyaretargeted
atspecifically defined problems. While attheoutset theUNCommon System willserve asaceiling
withrespect tosalary andbenefit levels, itwillalsoserve asafloor. Nothing intheDecision orthe
Annex willworsen thesalary andbenefit levels thatpresent staffmembers oftheWTO Secretariat
enjoy. Pursuant toparagraph twooftheAnnex, theproposal mustcontain aprojection showing that
proposed salary andbenefit levels, including administrative andother related costs, willbecostneutral
overthenextfivetoseven years. Inother words, itmust beestablished thattheprojected costs of
theproposed system willnotexceed theprojected costs oftheUNCommon System during thistime
frame. Byremaining within these parameters, theproposal thatwewilladopt willbecostneutral
ascompared withtheUNCommon System. Inconclusion, Iwould liketopropose thattheDraft
Decision nowbeadopted inthelightofthisstatement."
TheGeneral Council adopted thedraft decision inthelight oftheChairman 'sstatement
(WT/L/269).
Therepresentatives ofGermany, theUnited Kingdom, theUnited States, France, Venezuela,
Egypt, Norway, Korea, Brunei onbehalf oftheASEAN Members, Bangladesh, theNetherlands, and
Hong Kong, China, andtheDirector-General spoke.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatements.
16. WTO Daily Bulletin (WT/GC/M/28)
InJuly1997, theGeneral Council agreed thattheSecretariat should issue aDaily Bulletin,
inEnglish only, foratrialperiod ofthree months beginning inSeptember 1997, andthattheissuance
oftheBulletin bereviewed inthelightofexperience andfinancial implications ifany. InDecember
1997, theGeneral Council agreed thattheBulletin beissued forafurther trialperiod ofthree months
inEnglish only, since itsissuance inFrench andSpanish would havefinancial implications thatwould
havetobeexamined bytheBudget Committee.
10TheGeneral Council agreed totheproposal.WT/GC/10/Add.1
Page16
AttheGeneral Council meeting on24April 1998, theChairman saiditappeared thatdelegations
regarded theissuance oftheDaily Bulletin asuseful, andproposed thattheDaily Bulletin continue
tobeissued bytheSecretariat.
TheGeneral Council soagreed.
17. Observer status
(a) Governments
(i) Bhutan (WT/GC/M/28)
Atitsmeeting on24April 1998, theGeneral Council considered arequest from Bhutan
(WT/L/262) forobserver status intheGeneral Council anditssubsidiary bodies, andagreed togrant
therequest.
Therepresentatives ofIndia, Bangladesh, Brunei onbehalf oftheASEAN Members, and
Pakistan, andtheChairman andtheobserver from Bhutan spoke.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatements.
(ii) Cape Verde (WT/GC/M/26)
Atitsmeeting on19February 1998, theGeneral Council considered arequest fromCapeVerde
(WT/L/258) forobserver status intheGeneral Council anditssubsidiary bodies, andagreed togrant
therequest.
(b) International intergovernmental organizations (WT/GC/M/26)
AttheGeneral Council meeting on19February 1998, theChairman recalled thatattheGeneral
Council meeting inDecember 1997, hehadreported thatconsultations hadrecently beenheldonthe
pending requests frominternational organizations forobserver status intheGeneral Council, andthat
further consultations would needtobeheldearlyin1998. Heurged delegations togivefurther thought
tothismatter sothatitcould besettled rapidly.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatement.
18. Appointment ofofficers toWTO bodies (WT/GC/M/26)
AttheGeneral Council meeting on19February 1998, theChairman saidthatinaccordance
withtheguidelines forappointment ofofficers toWTO bodies approved bytheGeneral Council in
January 1995 (WT/L/31), hehadheldinformal consultations onthismatter, onthebasis ofwhich
heconsidered thatthere wasaconsensus onthefollowing slateofnames:
General Council Mr.JohnWeekes (Canada)
Dispute Settlement Body Mr.Kamel Morjane (Tunisia)
Trade Policy Review Body Mr.AliSaidMchumo (Tanzania)
Council forTrade inGoods Mr.Ronald Saborio Soto(Costa Rica)
Council forTRIPS Mr.Istvan Major (Hungary)
Council forTrade inServices Mr.Nobutoshi Akao (Japan)WT/GC/10/Add.1
Page17
Committee onTrade andEnvironment Mr.Chak MunSee(Singapore)
Committee onTrade andDevelopment Mr.IftekharAhmedChowdhury(Bangladesh)
Committee onBudget, Finance andAdministration Mr.Wilhelm Meier (Switzerland)
Committee onBalance-of-Payments Restrictions Mr.Peter R.Jenkins (United Kingdom)
Committee onRegional Trade Agreements Mr.Jean-Marie Noirfalisse (Belgium)
Working Group ontheRelationship between Mr.Krirk-Krai Jirapaet (Thailand)
Trade andInvestment
Working Group ontheInteraction between Mr.Frédéric Jenny (France)
Trade andCompetition Policy
Working Group onTransparency in Mr.Werner Corrales Leal(Venezuela)
Government Procurement
Therepresentative ofNorway spoke.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatements andoftheconsensus ontheabove slateof
names.
19. Election ofChairperson (WT/GC/M/26)
AttheGeneral Council meeting on19February 1998, theChairman, astheoutgoing presiding
officer oftheGeneral Council, made astatement (WT/GC(98)/ST/1).
TheGeneral Council thenunanimously elected Mr.Weekes (Canada) totheChair.WT/GC/10/Add.1
Page18
ANNEX
Progress reports byChairpersons ofsubsidiary bodies
atthe24April meeting oftheGeneral Council
I. Dispute Settlement Body
II. Trade Policy Review Body
III. Council forTrade inGoods
IV. Council forTrade inServices
V. Council forTrade-Related Aspects ofIntellectual Property Rights
VI. Committee onTrade andEnvironment
VII. Committee onRegional Trade Agreements
VIII. Committee onTrade andDevelopment
IX. Committee onBalance-of-Payments Restrictions
X. Working Group ontheRelationship between Trade andInvestment
XI. Working Group ontheInteraction between Trade andCompetition Policy
XII. Working Group onTransparency inGovernment ProcurementWT/GC/10/Add.1
Page19
I. DISPUTE SETTLEMENT BODY (Chairman: Mr.K.Morjane -Tunisia)
Iwishtomake ashort report, under myownresponsibility, onthework donebytheDispute
Settlement Body aftertheadoption ofits1997 annual report contained indocument WT/DSB/10 and
Corr. 1.Since thentheDispute Settlement Body hasheldsixmeetings inthecourse ofwhich work
covered thefollowing areas:
(i) Establishment ofpanels
Fivenewpanels havebeenestablished andonerequest fortheestablishment ofapanel has
beenwithdrawn.
(ii) Adoption ofAppellate Body reports andpanel reports
InthreedisputesettlementcasesthepanelreportsandtheAppellateBodyreportswhichmodified
thepanels 'findings havebeenadopted bytheDispute Settlement Body. Intwoofthese cases, in
accordance withArticle 21oftheDSUtheparties tothedisputes havealready indicated theirintentions
toimplement therecommendations adopted bytheDispute Settlement Body. Inaddition, inafourth
case, apanel report wasadopted without recourse totheappeal procedure.
(iii) Mutually agreed solutions
Attherequest ofdelegations theSecretariat provided information onthestatus ofnotifications
ofmutually agreed solutions. Aninformal notetothiseffect wascirculated listing 21cases inwhich
amutually agreed solution hasbeennotified and36cases oversixmonths oldwhere nosolution has
beennotified. Iwould therefore encourage delegations tonotify theDispute Settlement Body ofsuch
information fortransparency purposes. Since December lastyear, sixnotifications regarding mutually
agreed solutions havebeenreceived bytheDispute Settlement Body.
(iv) Indicative listofgovernmental andnon-governmental panelists.
InDecember 1997, onthebasisofupdated curricula vitaeofpersons submitted bydelegations,
anewupdatedindicativelistofgovernmentalandnon-governmentalpanelistswascirculatedindocument
WT/DSB/12. Newnames proposed byMembers arebeing approved bytheDispute Settlement Body
onaregular basis.
(v) Review oftheDSU
Asyouareaware, inaccordance withtheMinisterial Decision ontheApplication andReview
oftheUnderstanding ontheRules andProcedures Governing theSettlement ofDisputes, afullreview
ofdispute settlement rulesandprocedures under theWTO isrequired tobecompleted thisyear. Work
inthisareahasalready beeninitiated andshould continue aftertheMayMinisterial Conference.
II. TRADE POLICY REVIEW BODY (Chairman: Mr.A.S.Mchumo -Tanzania)
IshouldliketomakeabrieforalreportontheactivitiesoftheTPRBsincetheDecemberGeneral
Council meeting. Thisreport willcover boththework donebytheTPRB during theperiod todate
andtheBody'sprogramme fortherestof1998.
Since December 1997, theTPRB hasconducted three review meetings, covering seven WTO
Members. InJanuary, under theChairmanship ofMr.M.Akram (Pakistan), areview ofJapan wasWT/GC/10/Add.1
Page20
undertaken. Since Ihaveassumed theChairmanship, theTPRB hasconducted reviews ofIndia (on
16-17 April) andofthemembers oftheSouthern African Customs Union, SACU (on21-23 April).
Member countries involved inSACU areSouth Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia andSwaziland.
Thereview ofIndia gaveMembers anoccasion toseekclarification from representatives of
thenewGovernment onitsfuture tradepolicy stance; onitscommitment topursuing thereform process
initiated byIndiain1991, which hashadconsiderable success inpromoting economic growth inIndia;
andonspecific issues ofconcern, ranging fromthephasing outofquantitative restrictions tobroader,
development-related issues insuchareas asagriculture andservices.
Thereview oftheSACU member States, which hasjustended, hasbeennotonlythefirst
review everofBotswana, Lesotho, Namibia andSwaziland, butalsothefirstreview ofSouth Africa
since thepolitical transformation inthatcountry. Ithasfocused ontheevolution ofSouth Africa 's
trade policies, which aremoving inthedirection ofgreater openness andpredictability; theireffects
ontheother SACU members viatheoperation ofthecommon external tariff, andplans forits
renegotiation; therelations ofSACU asagroup withother regional entities, including theSouthern
African Development Community, withEurope, andwithother MFN trading partners; andspecific
issues ofconcern toWTO Members.
Ibelieve thatthese reviews continue tofulfil themandate oftheTrade Policy Review Body
asanengine fortransparency, non-confrontational discussion andanalysis ofmajor policy issues, and
encouragement ofMembers, byothers, tofollow theprinciples andprecepts oftheWTO.
TheTPRB hasanambitious programme fortherestof1998. Weshallconduct 13more review
meetings, covering 16WTO Members, withthree more "grouped" meetings. Intotal, 23Members
willhavebeenreviewed in1998; 17ofthesearedeveloping andsixleast-developed country Members.
However, thenumber ofreviews isnotthemainpoint atissue, butrather thatMembers under review,
andthemembership oftheWTO asawhole, should beabletoholdafree,friendly andfrank discussion
about theirrespective tradepolicies andthewayinwhich themultilateral trading environment affects,
orisaffected by,these policies.
TheSecretariat andIaregrateful forthewilling participation ofcolleagues whovolunteer as
discussants inthereview process. Theroleofdiscussants istofocus theminds ofMembers onmajor
issues ineachreview, andIbelieve thatcolleagues whohavetaken onthisdifficult taskhaveacquitted
themselves withdistinction. Lastly, Iamalsograteful fortheuntiring helpoftheSecretariat.
Iamalsoconscious ofthefactthatAnnex 3oftheWTO Agreement provides foranappraisal
oftheMechanism bytheTPRB notmore thanfiveyears aftertheentry intoforce oftheWTO
Agreement. Thisappraisal musttherefore becompleted during 1999, onthetenth anniversary ofthe
introduction oftheTPRM under GATT. Inthisregard, Ihopetobegin consultations withdelegations
leading uptothisappraisal, inthesecond halfofthisyear.
III. COUNCIL FOR TRADE INGOODS (Chairman: Mr.R.Saborio Soto-Costa Rica)
TheGoods Council hasheld5meetings since December 1997, andthediscussions atthese
meetings havelargely focused onthemajor review foreseen under Article 8oftheAgreement onTextiles
andClothing (ATC) andontrade facilitation.
Ontextiles, youmayrecall thatatitsmeeting on10December 1997, theChairman oftheGoods
Council informed thisbodythatthemajor review oftheATChadbeenconducted bytheGoods Council
overaseries ofsixmeetings between October andDecember 1997. Hehadreported, however, thatWT/GC/10/Add.1
Page21
inspiteofdetermined efforts bymany delegations, ithadnotbeenpossible toarrive atsufficient common
ground onthesummary ofthediscussions andonasetofconclusions tothereview which would attract
consensus. On19February 1998, theChairman updated hisreport andadvised theCouncil that,in
January ofthisyear, consultations hadtaken place withanumber ofdelegations asitwasapparent
thatMembers feltthattheprogress achieved hadbeenquitesubstantial andthematter should notremain
without apositive conclusion. Accordingly, aseries ofinformal consultations wereheldintheperiod
19January to10February ofthisyear. Asaresult ofthespirit ofcompromise andflexibility
demonstrated bytheMembers whoparticipated actively inthediscussions, itwaspossible toreach
substantive agreement onatextcontaining adetailed summary ofthediscussions andconclusions.
Thistextwasadopted bytheGoods Council atitsmeeting of16February 1998. Thiswasreported
totheGeneral Council on19February 1998.
Ontradefacilitation, youwillrecall thattheCouncil wasmandated byMinisters inSingapore
to"undertake exploratory andanalytical work, drawing onthework ofother relevant international
organizations onthesimplification oftrade procedures inorder toassess thescope forWTO rulesin
thisarea". On9and10March 1998, aTrade Facilitation Symposium washeldontheinitiative of
theCouncil forTrade inGoods. Theobjective oftheSymposium wastohelpidentify themainareas
where traders faceobstacles when moving goods across borders. Twenty-seven speakers fromprivate
enterprises andindustry groups gaveanoverview ofanumber ofkeyissues inthisrespect. Speakers
fromintergovernmentalorganizations(IMF,ITC,UNCTAD,UN/ECE,WorldBank,andWorldCustoms
Organization) reported ontheexperiences intheirwork ontrade facilitation. 350delegates from
75Members andmore than20observers were present overthetwodaysofthesymposium. Many
delegations included high-ranking capital based experts oncustoms andcommerce affairs, aswellas
interested private sector representatives. TheSymposium wasintended toassist WTO Members to
move tothephase ofanalytical work ontrade facilitation, inorder toassess thescope forWTO rules
inthisarea, assetoutintheSingapore Declaration. Themain concerns traders voiced during the
Symposiumcanbesummarizedunderfiveheadings:(1)Excessivedocumentationrequirements;(2)Lack
ofautomation andinsignificant useofinformation-technology; (3)Lackoftransparency; unclear and
unspecified import andexport requirements; (4)Inadequate procedures; especially alackofaudit-based
controls andrisk-assessment techniques; (5)Lackofmodernization of,andcooperation among customs
andother government agencies, which thwarts efforts todealeffectively withincreased trade flows.
AttheCouncil meeting of16March 1998, theCouncil requested theSecretariat toprepare assoon
aspossible afactual report ontheSymposium. Afirstpartofthereport, achecklist ofissues, was
distributed, andtheCouncil, atitsmeeting of21April 1998, agreed thattheChairman should hold
informal consultations todetermine theprocess totakethework forward.
Other work accomplished bytheCouncil:
- approvalofrequestsforextensionsofwaiversuntil31October1998fromBangladesh,Nicaragua
andSriLanka inthecontext ofthetransposition oftheirSchedules intotheHarmonized System,
andthatofZambia inconnection withtherenegotiation ofitsSchedule.
- approvalofthedraftdecisiongrantinganextensionofwaiverstothirty-sixMembersandwaivers
toanadditional fouruntil31October 1998, forthepurpose ofintroducing Harmonized System
1996 changes totheirschedules ofconcessions.
- approval oftherevised questionnaire onstatetrading forwarded bytheWorking Party onState
Trading Enterprises andcontained indocument G/STR/3.
- adoption oftheterms ofreference under which theCommittee onRegional Trade Agreements
istoexamine anadditional eightFreeTrade Agreements, theaccession ofSlovenia andRomaniaWT/GC/10/Add.1
Page22
totheCentral European FreeTrade Agreement, andthecustoms union between theEuropean
Community andthePrincipality ofAndorra.
- taking noteofthestatus ofnotifications under therelevant provisions ofAnnex 1AAgreements
andthecompliance withnotification obligations byMembers reflected indocument G/L/223
anditscorrigendum, andtaking noteoftheperiodic report bytheMarket Access Committee.
Turning totheCouncil 'ssubsidiary bodies, andbased ontheinformation received from the
ChairpersonsofthesubsidiarybodiesoftheCouncilonworkaccomplishedintheirrespectiveCommittee
orWorking Party since December 1997, Iwould liketoreport thefollowing:
(i) Agriculture
TheCommittee onAgriculture helditsfourteenth regular meeting on19-20 March 1998. As
partoftheCommittee 'son-going review ofprogress intheimplementation ofcommitments negotiated
under theUruguay Round reform programme, more thanseventy notifications intheareas ofmarket
access, domestic support andexport subsidies weresubject tomultilateral review. Inaddition, arange
ofdistinct implementation matters wereraised under theprovisions ofArticle 18.6oftheAgreement
orunder other business. TheCommittee alsotooknoteoftheposition withregard tolatenotifications
asitdoesateachregular meeting.
Interms ofitsNovember 1995 Decision inthisregard (G/AG/3) theCommittee isrequired
annually toreview theWTO listofLeast-Developed andNetFood-Importing Developing Countries
atitsregular March meetings. However, since there wereonthisoccasion norequests forinclusion
inthelist,itwasdecided thatthisreview should beheldoveruntiltheCommittee 'sMarch 1999meeting.
InlinewiththerecommendationsadoptedbytheSingaporeMinisterialConferenceontheimplementation
oftheMarrakesh Ministerial Least-Developed andNetFood-Importing Developing Country Decision
asitrelates tofoodaidmatters, therenegotiation oftheFood AidConvention iscurrently under way
inaWorkingGroupestablishedbytheLondon-basedFoodAidCommittee/InternationalGrainsCouncil.
Progress inthese negotiations istobereviewed inJunebytheFood AidCommittee, whose members
haveexpressed theirwishtomaintain, asappropriate, adialogue withfoodaidrecipients, potential
Food AidConvention members andrelevant international organizations.
TheCommittee alsoheldtwoinformal meetings, inJanuary andinMarch, tocontinue the
work oftheprocess ofanalysis andinformation exchange. Additional informal papers submitted by
Members onthefollowing topics wereconsidered atthesemeetings: special anddifferential treatment;
direct payments under production-limiting programmes; domestic support policy reform; export
subsides; thespecial agricultural safeguard; statetrading enterprises (single deskbuyers andsingle
desksellers); andsectoral trade liberalization. Additional background papers wereprovided bythe
Secretariat on:advalorem ,specific andother tariffs; onspecial anddifferential treatment provisions
relating totheAgreement onAgriculture; andonstudies ontheimplementation andimpact ofthe
Agreement onAgriculture ondeveloping countries. Further Secretariat background papers havebeen
commissioned onspecial anddifferential treatment andissues ofinterest todeveloping countries, on
Green Boxpolicies andonthespecial agricultural safeguard. Members havealsobeeninvited tosubmit
furtherinformalpapers,includingontheirexperienceintheimplementationandimpactoftheAgreement
onAgriculture inrelevant areas.
(ii) Customs valuation
TheCommittee onCustoms Valuation heldaninformal meeting on6March toreview the
responses toits"Request forInformation onTechnical Assistance Activities". ThisRequest for
Information hadbeencirculated inthecontext oftheCommittee 'sworkontechnical assistance designedWT/GC/10/Add.1
Page23
tofacilitate andexpedite implementation oftheAgreement forthosedeveloping country Members which
haveinvoked thefive-year delay period. Sixresponses hadbeenreceived andtheCommittee heard
fromtwoadditional delegations thattheirresponses wereforthcoming. TheSecretariat circulated an
inventory oftechnical assistance activities toassist Members inunderstanding whattypes ofactivities
hadbeenconducted ineachofthecountries which haveinvoked thefive-year delay period. The
Secretariat hasalsooutlined atechnical assistance programme oncustoms valuation thatitisorganizing
forthese Members. Thisprogramme willmake useofWTO expertise andprivate expert consultants
toconduct theactivities. TheCommittee agreed thatclose coordination between thisprogramme and
itsowndiscussions ontechnical assistance would beessential.
(iii) Import licensing
TheCommittee onImport Licensing hasreceived additional notifications fromeleven Members
relating tolaws, regulations andadministrative procedures relevant toimport licensing, pursuant to
Articles 1.4(a) and/or 8.2(b) oftheAgreement, aswellasunder Article 7.3which requires allMembers
toprovide annually replies totheQuestionnaire onImport Licensing Procedures. Thisbrings thetotal
number ofnotifications received under each ofthese provisions to49(counting theEuropean
Communities anditsmember States asoneMember). TheCommittee hasalsoreceived, pursuant
toArticle 5oftheAgreement, notifications relating totheinstitution ofnewimport licensing procedures
orchanges inexisting procedures from fouradditional Members.
(iv) Market access
TheCommittee onMarket Access meton26March andtooknoteofthesituation withrespect
tothestatusofwaiversrelatedtotheintroductionon1January1996ofHarmonizedSystem(HS)changes
andtothetransposition ofpre-Uruguay Round schedules. Todate, 40Members areunder waivers
inconnection with theintroduction ofHS96 changes inorder tocarry outpossible
consultations/negotiations inrelation tothesechanges. FourotherMembers haverequested anextension
oftheirwaivers forthetransposition oftheirpre-Uruguay Round schedules intotheHarmonized System
nomenclature. Thewaivers aretoexpire on31October 1998. Ontheintegrated database(IDB),
theCommittee noted thatsofaronlysome twenty Members haveprovided therequired IDBdata
submissions andtheneedfortheother Members tosupply IDBsubmissions wasstressed. Delegations
supported theSecretariat 'splans toestablish adatabase using Internet technology. Members tooknote
ofadocument outlining atechnical assistance programme fortheIDBandexchanged initial views
onpractical matters concerning thedissemination oftheIDB. Onthepreparation ofconsolidated loose-
leafschedules ongoods, delegations supported theidea, onthebasis ofapaper prepared bythe
Secretariat, ofestablishing adatabase ofMembers 'tariff concessions which could beeventually
incorporated intotheIDB. Itwasagreed thattheSecretariat carry outapilotproject fortheschedules
oftwoMembers inorder toobtain anestimate oftheresources needed andother problems thatmight
beencountered.
(v) Rules oforigin
TheCommittee onRules ofOrigin hascontinued tofocus onthework programme forthe
harmonization ofnon-preferential rulesoforigin. Thedeadline forcompletion ofthework programme
is20July1998. Asthisdeadline approaches, theCommittee iscontinuing, inatightschedule, its
examination ofproduct-specific rules. Todate, Members have reached consensus onabout
2,000 product-specific rules attheHSsubheading level. Since thetotalnumber ofHSsubheadings
is5,113, asimple calculation mayindicate thattheCommittee hasdonetwo-fifths ofthetotalwork.
Thiswould, however, disregard thefactthatsome ofthemostcontentious andsensitive items areonly
nowentering thenegotiating stage. TheCommittee iscontinuing itsworkinalmost continuous session,
together withtheTechnical Committee onRules ofOrigin, withtheaimofcompleting theworkWT/GC/10/Add.1
Page24
programme bythedeadline. Todate58Members havemade notifications ofnon-preferential rules
oforigin and60Members havenotified preferential rules oforigin.
(vi) Trade ininformation technology products
TheCommittee ofParticipants ontheExpansion ofTrade inInformation Technology Products
hasfocused onthereview ofproduct coverage, discussions onnon-tariff barriers, anddivergences
inclassifying information technology products. With respect tothereview ofproduct coverage,
participants haveheldanumber ofmeetings andconsultations todiscuss theproducts thathavebeen
proposed under thereview inorder totakeadecision whether torevise theproduct coverage bythe
30June1998 deadline. Thediscussions onnon-tariff barriers haveledtotheissuance ofasurvey
onstandards-related matters forinformation technology products. Inaddition, theCommittee has
reviewed thestatus ofimplementation andnoted theinterest ofgovernments thathavesought tobecome
newparticipants.
(vii) Sanitary andphytosanitary measures
TheCommittee onSanitary andPhytosanitary Measures helditstenth regular meeting on
12-13 March 1998, where itdiscussed anumber ofspecific tradeconcerns including traderestrictions
related tobovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), andaproposed ECregulation onlevels ofaflatoxin
incertain foods. TheCommittee began tomonitor theuseofinternational standards onthebasis of
relevant standards identified byMembers. Further consideration wasgiven tothetechnical assistance
needs ofMembers. TheCommittee agreed onaresponse totheFAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius
Commission regarding thestatus ofvarious Codex texts. TheWorld Health Organization (WHO)
provided information totheCommittee regarding itsrecommendations ontrade from countries
experiencing outbreaks ofcholera, andontheproposed revision oftheInternational Health Regulations.
Itwasagreed thatinformal consultations onthelatter matter would beheldwiththeWHO prior to
thenextmeeting oftheCommittee. Ataninformal meeting, theCommittee further considered the
development ofguidelines tofurther practical implementation ofArticle 5.5.Inaccordance withagreed
procedures, atanother informal meeting prior toitsregular meeting, theCommittee began itsreview
oftheSPSAgreement asmandated inArticle 12.7. Onthebasis ofissues identified byMembers,
theCommittee considered matters related tothetransparency andnotification provisions ofthe
Agreement, andagreed tocontinue withthese issues andwithmatters related totheimplementation
ofspecial anddifferential treatment andtechnical assistance atitsnextinformal meeting.
(viii) Technical barriers totrade
TheCommittee onTechnical Barriers toTrade helditstwelfth meeting on27March 1998
where itheard statements ontheimplementation andadministration oftheAgreement andontechnical
assistance.ItcarriedoutitsThirdAnnualReviewoftheImplementationandOperationoftheAgreement
under Article 15.3anditsThird Annual Review oftheCode ofGood Practice forthePreparation,
Adoption andApplication ofStandards inAnnex 3oftheAgreement. Itstarted itswork programme
arising fromtheFirstTriennial Review oftheOperation andImplementation oftheAgreement under
Article 15.4.
(ix) Trade-related investment measures
TheCommittee onTrade-Related Investment Measures, atitsmeeting of16March 1998,
discussed notifications submitted under Article 5.1oftheTRIMs Agreement. Responses wereprovided
toquestions previously putandfurther questions wereasked, including inregard totheimplementation
ofArticle5.2oftheTRIMsAgreement.StatementswerealsomadeoncertainmeasuresrecentlyadoptedWT/GC/10/Add.1
Page25
orproposed tobeadopted bysome Members. TheCommittee tooknoteofthecurrent situation
regarding notifications under Article 6.2oftheAgreement.
(x) Textiles Monitoring Body
TheTextiles Monitoring Body hasheldfourmeetings since theDecember 1997 meeting of
theGeneralCouncil,duringwhichitreviewedseveralnotificationsreceivedfromMembers,inparticular
thenotifications oftheir integration programmes. TheTMB hasalsocontinued toreview the
communicationsreceivedfromMembersconcerningtheverificationofwhetherthestatisticalinformation
provided regarding integration referred, where appropriate, tothose portions oftheHSlinescovered
bytheATCandnottotheentire respective HS6-digit lines. Furthermore, theTMB hasalsoreviewed
theissues brought toitbyaMember regarding themaintenance ofarestraint measure which had
previously beenagreed withanother Member.
(xi) State trading
TheWorkingPartyonStateTradingEnterprisesadoptedon2April1998arevisedquestionnaire
onstatetrading (contained indocument G/STR/3), thusfulfilling oneofthethreemandates withwhich
itwascharged byMinisters atMarrakesh, i.e.toreview theadequacy ofthequestionnaire onstate
trading andthecoverage ofenterprises notified. Therevised questionnaire wasapproved bytheCouncil
forTrade inGoods andwillbethebasis forstatetrading notifications starting withthenewandfull
notifications tobemade in1998. While approving thequestionnaire, atthesamemeeting, theWorking
Party agreed tocontinue itswork, consistent withitsmandate, onpossible further information needed
toenhance transparency, andtoreconvene asearly aspossible tothisend. Italsoagreed thatthe
deadline forsubmission ofthe1998 newandfullnotifications bemoved to30September from
30June1998, inorder totakeaccount ofthepostponement incirculating therequest fornotifications
necessitated bythedateofadoption oftherevised questionnaire.
Regarding themandate todevelop anillustrative listofrelationships between statetrading
enterprises andgovernments, andtheactivities conducted bythese enterprises, theWorking Party has
conducted anumber ofinformal meetings inwhich work hasadvanced considerably onthetextof
suchalist.Afirstrevision ofaChairman 'stextiscurrently under discussion, andafinaltextisforeseen
within thecoming months.
With regard totheWorking Party'songoing taskofreviewing thenotifications made under
Article XVIIandtheUnderstanding onArticle XVII, threenewandfullnotifications andeightupdating
notifications havebeenreviewed atthemeeting of2April.
(xii) Preshipment inspection
The1997 Report oftheWorking Party onPreshipment Inspection totheGeneral Council
identified inparagraph 8arange ofissues onwhich theWorking Party istoexchange views overthe
course of1998. Atthemeeting oftheWorking Party on19March 1988, theChairman invited Members
tosubmit written communications ontheissues identified inthatparagraph. Healsoexpressed the
viewthatthislistofissues wasnotabsolute andheinvited delegations torefertoother issues asthey
sawfit.ThedelegationofSwitzerlandpresentedaproposalofamodelagreementbetweenuserMembers
andpreshipment inspection companies. Thiswaswelcomed bytheWorking Party asafirststepin
whatMembers would liketoseeasconcrete andpractical work during thisyear. During aninformal
meeting on20April 1998, theUSdelegation circulated apaper addressing thevarious issues asabasis
forfurther discussions. Thesituation withrespect totheIndependent Review Entity established under
theAgreement onPreshipment Inspection remains unchanged since December 1997; ithasreceived
norequests foranindependent review.WT/GC/10/Add.1
Page26
(xiii) Safeguards, subsidies, anti-dumping
TheSafeguardsCommitteemettwodaysago,andtheCommitteeonSubsidiesandCountervailing
Measures metyesterday andiscontinuing tomeettoday. These arethefirstformal meetings ofboth
Committees following theirregular autumn meetings in1997, andneither Committee hastaken any
action intheinterim. TheCommittee onAnti-Dumping Practices anditssubsidiary bodies havenot
metsince theirautumn meetings inOctober 1997, andhaveotherwise taken noaction since those
meetings.
IV. COUNCIL FOR TRADE INSERVICES (Chairman: Mr.N.Akao -Japan)
Since theCouncil forTrade inServices lastreported totheGeneral Council on
28November 1997, anumber ofdevelopments havetaken place. TheCouncil hascontinued topursue
theimplementation oftheworkprogramme approved bytheSingapore Ministerial Conference. Insofar
astheCouncil itself isconcerned, thework programme contains three elements:
- Aninformation exchange exercise onservices regulations.
- Thedevelopment ofdisciplines under Article VI:4oftheGATS toensure thatdomestic
regulatory measures donotconstitute unnecessary barriers totrade.
- Theconsideration ofguidelines andprocedures forthefuture negotiations mandated
under Article XIXoftheGATS.
TheCouncil, sinceitslastreport, hasfocused itsdiscussions onthefirstitemoftheSingapore
Work Programme, namely theexchange ofinformation exercise. Aconsiderable amount ofuseful
work hasbeendoneonthebasisofsubmissions bydelegations andpapers produced bytheSecretariat.
Aninformal consultation process onthemodalities forthatexercise hasbegun. Theaimoftheexercise
istofacilitate access ofallMembers, andinparticular developing country Members, toinformation
regarding laws, regulations, administrative guidelines andpolicies affecting trade inservices inorder
tocontribute totheassessment oftrade inservices which would assist future negotiations inservices.
Atthesame time, alldelegations aremindful thatthestructure ofthisexercise must besimple and
avoid anynecessary burden toMembers ingeneral anddeveloping country Members inparticular.
(i) Financial services
On12December 1997 theCouncil heldaspecial meeting toconclude thenegotiations on
financial services, inwhich itadopted aprocedural decision which would enter intoforce onlyiffor
some unforeseen reason theProtocol doesnotenter intoforce.
On26February 1998 theCouncil concluded thetechnical verification oftheschedules of
commitments andMFN exemption listsresulting fromthenegotiations. TheFifthProtocol wasopened
foracceptance bytheMembers concerned on27February 1998, andwillremain sountil
29January 1999. Withtheentry intoforceoftheProtocol, thenumber ofMembers withcommitments
infinancial services willincrease to102. Together withthewithdrawals orreductions inthescope
ofMFN exemptions, these results constitute amajor achievement ofWTO Members.
(ii) Basic telecommunications
Asyouareaware, theFourth Protocol relating tobasic telecommunications hadbeenopen
foracceptance bytheMembers concerned until30November 1997. Bythatdate,outof70MembersWT/GC/10/Add.1
Page27
concerned, only50Members hadaccepted theProtocol. According totheterms oftheProtocol, upon
thelapse ofthedeadline foracceptance, onlythose whohadaccepted hadtherighttodecide onthe
entry intoforce oftheProtocol. On19December 1997, theCouncil adopted aDecision extending
thedeadline foracceptance oftheFourth Protocol relating tobasic telecommunications until
31July1998. Subsequently, those Members whohadaccepted theProtocol decided thatitwould enter
intoforceon5February 1998. TheCouncil tooknoteofthatdecision atameeting on26January 1998.
TheProtocol isnowinforce.
(iii) Working Party onProfessional Services
TheWorking Party onProfessional Services continues towork towards thefinalization ofthe
draftofnewdisciplines ondomestic regulatory measures intheaccountancy sector. Thedisciplines
aimtoensure thatmeasures relating toqualification requirements andprocedures, technical standards
andlicensing requirements andprocedures donotconstitute unnecessary barriers totradeinaccountancy
services. Substantial progress hasbeenmade onthetextsince lastDecember. TheWorking Party is
alsodiscussing thelegalformthatsuchdisciplines might takeandtheprocedures through which they
would enter intoforce.
(iv) Working Party onGATS Rules
TheWorking Party onGATS Rules continued itswork onthethree negotiating mandates:
emergencysafeguardmeasuresunderArticleX,governmentprocurementunderArticleXIIIandsubsidies
under Article XV. Itwillberecalled thattheCouncil forTrade inServices adopted aDecision on
26November 1997toextend thenegotiations onthequestion ofemergency safeguard measures until
30June1999.
(v) Committee onSpecific Commitments
Under theCommittee onSpecific Commitments, consultations arecontinuing withaviewto
finalizing theprocedures forthemodification ofschedules pursuant toArticle XXIoftheGATS. Other
discussions oftheCommittee focused onthree main items: (i)classification issues relating tothe
examination ofthestructure oftheongoing revision ofthecentral product classification system
established bytheUNStatistical Commission, (ii)theinstitution ofasystem ofelectronically
consolidated andupdated schedules ofcommitments and,(iii)thepossible revision ofthescheduling
guidelines.
V. COUNCILFORTRADE-RELATEDASPECTSOFINTELLECTUALPROPERTYRIGHTS
(Chairman: Mr.I.Major -Hungary)
Thefirstmeeting oftheCouncil in1998 tookplace on24February 1998. Atthatmeeting,
theCouncil tooknoteofseveral newnotifications oflegislation under Article 63.2oftheAgreement,
including notifications ofamendments tolegislation thathadbeennotified earlier.
TheCouncil alsotookupthereview ofoneMember 'slegislation intheareaofenforcement
outstanding fromitsmeeting inNovember 1997, when national lawsandregulations of32Members
intheareaofenforcement werereviewed; theCouncil willcontinue thisreview atitsnextmeeting.
Atthatmeeting, theCouncil willalsoreview thelegislation offiveMembers intheareaofcopyright
andrelatedrightsandthelegislationoftwoMembersintheareasoftrademarks,geographicalindications
andindustrial designs. Inaddition, theCouncil willrevert toanumber offollow-up questions posed
inthecontext ofthereview ofnational implementing legislation in1996/1997, answers towhich are
stillpending.WT/GC/10/Add.1
Page28
TheChair informed theCouncil ofthestateoftheconsultations, heldpursuant tothemandate
given totheChair attheNovember 1996 meeting oftheCouncil, onpossible advance reviews ona
voluntary basis andwithout prejudice totransition entitlements under Article 65oftheAgreement,
indicatingthatconsensushadnotyetbeenreachedamongMembersonthegroundrulesforsuchreviews.
TheCouncil continued itsconsideration oftheimplementation ofArticle 70.8and70.9ofthe
Agreement andnoted thatitwasopen todelegations toputquestions onthismatter onthefloor of
theCouncil orbilaterally.
TheCouncil tooknoteofrecent developments regarding dispute settlement intheTRIPS area
andofstatements bydelegations inthisconnection.
Updated information wasprovided totheCouncil ontechnical cooperation activities.
TheChair reported onfurther consultations heldontheissue ofthereview oftheapplication
oftheprovisions oftheSection ongeographical indications under Article 24.2. Delegations had
supported theapproach ofdeveloping achecklist ofquestions about national regimes fortheprotection
andenforcement ofgeographical indications, towhich Members would beasked toreply. Adraft
ofsuchachecklist would beprepared onthebasisofquestions suggested bydelegations, which would
bethesubject ofinformal consultations bytheChair prior totheCouncil 'smeeting inMay1998.
TheChair reported thatfurther informal consultations would beheldastowhatthenextstep
should beforcarrying forward work concerning negotiations fortheestablishment ofaninternational
system forthenotification andregistration ofgeographical indications under Article 23.4asagreed
inparagraph 34ofthereport oftheCouncil forTRIPS totheSingapore Ministerial Conference, now
thatbackground information asrequested bytheCouncil inFebruary 1997 hadbeenmade available
totheCouncil.
TheCouncil noted thatanewrequest forobserver status hadbeenreceived fromtheAfrican
RegionalIndustrialPropertyOrganization(ARIPO).Itagreedtoreverttothenoweightpendingrequests
forobserver status from international intergovernmental organizations atitsnextmeeting.
VI. COMMITTEE ONTRADE AND ENVIRONMENT (Chairman: Mr.C.M.See-Singapore)
Asagreed intheReport totheGeneral Council inDecember 1997(WT/CTE/2), theCommittee
onTrade andEnvironment hascontinued tobroaden anddeepen theanalysis ofallitems ofthework
programme setoutintheMarrakesh Ministerial Decision onTrade andEnvironment. Inorder to
advance thediscussions in1998, theCTEagreed tobaseitsanalysis onthe"cluster approach" under
thethemes ofmarket access andthelinkages between themultilateral environment agenda andthe
multilateral trade agenda.
Assetoutinthework programme andschedule ofmeetings fortheCTEin1998, which was
adopted attheCTE'smeeting on19-20 March, theCTEwillholdthree meetings thisyear, keeping
opentheoption ofanadditional meeting ifthought necessary bytheCommittee.
The19-20 March meeting addressed those items relevant tothetheme ofmarket access and
included asubstantive, sector specific discussion ofthefollowing sectors: agriculture, energy, fisheries,
forestry, non-ferrous metals, textiles andclothing, leather andenvironmental services. Thewillingness
ofdelegations toengage infocused sector-by-sector discussions based onnational experiences should
move forward theprocess ofidentifying situations where removing traderestrictions hasthepotential
tobeofeconomic andenvironmental benefit.WT/GC/10/Add.1
Page29
Infulfilment oftherecommendation intheReport oftheCTE totheSingapore Ministerial
Conference (WT/CTE/1), attheMarch meeting, theCTEestablished aWTO Environmental Database
according towhich theSecretariat will:
(i) onanannual basis, undertake aComprehensive Review ofallenvironment-related notifications
tocontinuously up-date theEnvironmental Database, which willbeavailable toMembers
electronically through theDocument Dissemination Facility; and
(ii) onanannual basis, conduct anInterim Review oftheglossary ofsearch words usedinthe
compilation oftheEnvironmental Database, which willbemodified asnecessary.
ThedevelopmentofthisEnvironmentalDatabaserepresentsanimportantsteptowardsincreasing
thetransparency oftrade-related environmental measures which arenotified byWTO Members.
Mygeneral objectives asChairman thisyearwillbetofurther theanalysis intheCTEofall
items onitswork programme inorder toincrease theunderstanding oftheissues involved. Ialso
feelitisimportant tocontinue tobroaden theparticipation insupport oftheCTE'sanalysis byinviting
Secretariats ofthose Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) relevant tothework oftheCTE
toinform Members ondevelopments intheirrespective agreements inorder tocontribute totheanalysis
intheCTEofthelinkagesbetweenthemultilateralenvironmentagendaandthemultilateraltradeagenda.
Aninformation session withselected Secretariats ofMEAs willbeheldattheCTE'smeeting on
23-24 July.
Withrespect totheissueofbroader participation, Iwould liketonotethattheSecretariat has
successfully organized, under itsownresponsibility, anNGO Symposium onTrade, Environment and
Sustainable Development andon17-18 March. TheSymposium included theparticipation of
approximately 50NGOs, theDirector-General oftheWTO, theSecretary General ofUNCTAD, the
ExecutiveSecretaryofUNEP,theDeputyAdministratorofUNDPandalargenumberofWTOMember
governments.
Lastly, atitsmeeting on19-20 March, theCTEagreed toextend observer status totheWorld
Intellectual Property Organization.
VII. COMMITTEEONREGIONALTRADEAGREEMENTS(Chairman:Mr.J.-M.Noirfalisse-
Belgium)
TheCommittee onRegional Trade Agreements adopted its1997Report totheGeneral Council
on27November 1997 (document WT/REG/3).
Iwould nowliketoupdate youontheprogress ofwork sincethen. TheCommittee heldformal
meetings on4-5December 1997andtwoinformal open-ended meetings wereconvened laterthatmonth.
In1998, theCommittee 'sSixteenth Session tookplace intheweek beginning 16February andan
informal meeting wasconvened inMarch.
Regarding theexamination ofregional trade agreements, theCommittee isdealing withthe
examination of52agreements. Seven newly notified agreements havebeenreferred totheCommittee
forexamination since the1997 Annual Report wasadopted. Currently consultations areunder way
ondraftreports foreleven examinations. Reports arebeing drafted for15agreements whose factual
examinations have finished. Factual examinations areinprocess for14other agreements, and
examinations fortheremaining twelve agreements which havebeenreferred totheCommittee will
begin inthecourse oftheyear.WT/GC/10/Add.1
Page30
TheCommittee alsohasthemandate "toconsider howtherequired reporting ontheoperation
ofsuchagreements should becarried outandmake appropriate recommendations totherelevant body".
AtitsFebruary Session, theCommittee wasabletotakeadecision ofprinciple toadopt procedural
recommendations totheCouncil forTrade inGoods, theCouncil forTrade inServices andthe
Committee onTrade andDevelopment onthismatter.
TheCommittee isalsomandated "toconsider thesystemic implications ofsuchagreements
andinitiativesforthemultilateraltradingsystemandtherelationshipbetweenthem,andmakeappropriate
recommendations". Todeepen itsunderstanding ofmatters identified inthe"checklist ofsystemic
issues", theCommittee began work according toa"three-pronged approach", entailing alegalanalysis
ofrelevant WTO provisions, horizontal comparisons ofRTAs, anddebate onthecontext andeconomic
aspects ofRTAs. Anupdated listofnotified RTAs, containing information ontheGATT/WTO process,
wasprepared bytheSecretariat anddistributed toMembers inFebruary. Initslastmeetings, the
Committee hascontinued itslegalanalysis oftheterms "other regulations ofcommerce" (andrelated
sub-topics) and"substantially allthetrade". InFebruary, theCommittee requested theSecretariat
tobegin preparations forhorizontal comparison work, drawing upaninventory ofnon-tariff provisions
contained intheregional trade agreements notified totheWTO andidentifying variations insuch
provisions, especially between customs unions andfree-trade areas. TheSecretariat hasheldan
information meeting toindicate howitisdrawing together thisinventory. Once theinventory is
produced, theCommittee willdeliberate onhowtousethismaterial.
VIII. COMMITTEE ONTRADE AND DEVELOPMENT (Chairman: Mr.I.A.Chowdhury -
Bangladesh)
Since thelastreport oftheCommittee onTrade andDevelopment totheGeneral Council in
December 1997, twomeetings eachoftheCommittee andtheSub-Committee onLeast-Developed
Countries havebeenheld.
Atthemeeting oftheCommittee onTrade andDevelopment on6March, thefollowing three
issues were addressed:
1. (i) Technical cooperation andtraining
TheCommittee adopted aManual ontechnical cooperation andtraining, anddiscussed areport
bytheSecretariat ontechnical cooperation andtraining. General satisfaction wasexpressed byMembers
onthese papers andtheSecretariat 'sactivities inthisarea. Suggestions astobroadening thescope
oftechnical assistance andcooperation anddeveloping aneffective mechanism formonitoring and
evaluation were raised atthemeeting. Concern wasraised about theinadequacy, uncertainty and
dependence ondonor generosity forthetechnical assistance fund. Iintend toinitiate informal
consultations withdelegations onthisissue, andshallapprise Members ontheoutcome induecourse.
(ii) Implementation ofspecial anddifferential treatment provisions infavour ofdeveloping
countries
Members evinced keeninterest onthissubject andexpressed anumber ofconstructive views.
AnotebytheSecretariat (WT/COMTD/W/35) wasreviewed byanumber ofdelegations. Itappeared
tomethatMembers needed more timetoreview thisimportant paper tobeabletomake substantive
comments onitsvarious components. Itherefore intend tocarry oninformal consultations andhave
reverted tothisissue forfurther discussion intheCommittee inaninformal session.WT/GC/10/Add.1
Page31
(iii) Electronic commerce
Apaper prepared byEgypt formed thebasis ofdiscussions. TheUnited States circulated a
paper ithadpreviously introduced attheGeneral Council onthissubject. Some Members gaveearly,
tentative reactions. Considering theimportance ofthesubject andthekeeninterest shown byMembers
onit,Iintend toholdfurther in-depth discussion inthenearfuture andhavereverted tothisissue in
theCommittee inaninformal session.
Alsoatitsmeeting on6March, theCommittee noted anoralreport bytheSecretariat onthe
issueofthefollow-up activities totheHigh-Level Meeting onLeast-Developed Countries, andformally
elected itsnewChairman. Atthemeeting oftheCommittee on23April, thenewChairman ofthe
Sub-CommitteeonLeast-DevelopedCountrieswasformallyelected,andtheUNDPwasgrantedobserver
status.
Atthemeeting oftheSub-Committee onLeast-Developed Countries on1December 1997,
theprogress ofwork inrelation tothefollow-up activities totheHigh-Level Meeting onIntegrated
Initiatives forLeast-Developed Countries wasreviewed. Atitsmeeting on23April, theSub-Committee
received anupdate bytheSecretariat onthefollow-up totheHighLevel Meeting onIntegrated Initiatives
forLeast-Developed Countries. Inthedebate, special stress wasputontheimportance oftechnical
assistance andmarket access forleast-developed countries.
IX. COMMITTEEONBALANCE-OF-PAYMENTSRESTRICTIONS(Chairman:Mr.P.Jenkins-
United Kingdom)
TheBalance-of-Payments Committee hasmetonlytwice since Ireported onitsactivities on
10December 1997.
On17December theCommittee completed consultations withtheSlovak Republic, andadopted
theconclusions contained inWT/BOP/R/40. TheSlovak Republic hassince notified theCommittee
ofareduction onitsimport surcharge from 5percentto3percenton1April 1998, inaccordance
withtheundertaking itgaveduring theconsultations.
On11and12February theCommittee completed consultations withNigeria which hadbeen
suspended onfourprevious occasions. TheCommittee wasunable tocome toagreed conclusions on
aNigerian proposal toeliminate asmall number ofBOPrestrictions overaperiod offiveyears. I
havetherefore produced areport ontheconsultations (WT/BOP/R/41), which records thedifferent
views expressed intheCommittee, inaccordance withparagraph 13oftheBOPUnderstanding.
X. WORKING GROUP ONTHERELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TRADE AND INVESTMENT
(Chairman: Mr.K.Jirapaet -Thailand)
Thefirstmeeting in1998 oftheWorking Group tookplace on30-31 March 1998. Atthis
meeting,theWorkingGroupcontinueditsconsiderationofitemsI-IIIoftheChecklistofIssuesSuggested
forStudy, which isannexed totheGroup 's1997report, andstarted work onitemIVofthisChecklist
bydiscussing thefactual aspects ofthefirstindent ofthatitem. Newsubmissions havebeenreceived
since December 1997 from Bolivia; Australia; theUnited States; Switzerland; theEuropean
Community anditsmember States; Costa Rica; Hong Kong, China; Japan; Cuba; andCanada,
andfromUNCTAD andtheOECD. TheWorking Group hasalsorecently received background notes
bytheSecretariat onbilateral, regional, plurilateral andmultilateral agreements, theavailability ofWT/GC/10/Add.1
Page32
statistics onforeign direct investment andforeign affiliates trade, andoutward foreign direct investment
from developing countries.
XI. WORKING GROUP ONTHEINTERACTION BETWEEN TRADE AND COMPETITION
POLICY (Chairman: Mr.F.Jenny -France)
TheWorking Group helditsfourth meeting on11-13 March 1998. Asagreed atits
November 1997 meeting, theWorking Group tookupitemIIIoftheChecklist ofIssues attached to
theGroup 's1997 report, starting withageneral discussion oftheinteraction between trade and
competition policy andaconsideration ofthefirstindent oftheitem, namely theimpact ofthe
anti-competitive practices ofenterprises andassociations oninternational trade. Italsohadafurther
discussion ofitemIIoftheChecklist, namely thestocktaking andanalysis ofexisting instruments,
standards andactivities regarding tradeandcompetition policy, taking upthethreeindents ofthatitem
inthefollowing order: existing WTO provisions; bilateral, regional, plurilateral andmultilateral
agreements andinitiatives; andnational competition policies, lawsandinstruments astheyrelate to
trade. Written submissions onthese items were received from Peru(twosubmissions); Australia;
European Community anditsmember States (twosubmissions); Argentina; Hong Kong, China;
Norway;UnitedStates(twosubmissions);Japan;Poland;Canada(twosubmissions);CzechRepublic;
andtheRepublic ofKorea. Anon-paper waspresented byTurkey. With regard totherelationship
oftrade andcompetition policy todevelopment andeconomic growth, oneofthepoints under itemI
oftheChecklist,theWorkingGroupagreedtorequesttheSecretariattoprepareapaperdrawingtogether
thework doneonthisissue, taking account ofthework doneinUNCTAD andother IGOs andthe
discussions intheWorking Group. With regard torequests forobserver status, theWorking Group
agreed torevert torequests made bySELA andtheOrganization oftheIslamic Conference atitsnext
meeting. Atitsforthcoming meetings, theWorking Group willcontinue withthework programme
asannexed toits1997 report totheGeneral Council.
XII. WORKING GROUP ONTRANSPARENCY INGOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT
(Chairman: Mr.W.Corrales Leal-Venezuela)
Thefirstmeeting in1998oftheWorking Group tookplace on19-20 February 1998. Atthat
meeting, theWorking Group continued itsdetailed discussion oftransparency-related provisions in
existing international instruments ongovernment procurement andnational procedures andpractices
onthebasis ofaninformal notebytheChair listing theissues thathavebeenraised, together with
thepoints made onthese issues attheGroup 'sNovember 1997 meeting. TheWorking Group took
upinturneachoftheheadings tothisnote, which correspond tothose usedintheSecretariat note
"Synthesis oftheInformation Available onTransparency-Related Provisions inExisting International
Instruments onGovernment Procurement Procedures andNational Practices", withtheaddition ofa
heading ontechnical cooperation andspecial anddifferential treatment. TheWorking Group willresume
itsdiscussion ofthese topics atitsnextmeeting onthebasis ofanupdated version oftheChairman 's
note. Written submissions havebeenreceived since November 1997 containing factual information
onnational procedures andpractices inHong Kong, China; theCzech Republic; Uruguay; and
Australia. Australia, theUnited States, andtheAPEC Government Procurement Expert Group through
itsChair, havealsomade contributions relating toelements oftransparency ingovernment procurement.
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