RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONTN/MA/M/1
30 July 2002
(02-4217)
Negotiating Group on Market Access
MINUTES OF THE MEETING
Held in the Centre William Rappard
on 11 April, 1 July and 19 July 2002
Chairman: Ambassador P-L. Girard (Switzerland)
Subjects discussed:             Page
1. Appointment of Chairperson................................................................................................... 1
2. Rules of procedure for meetings of the Negotiating group ...................................................1
3. Work programme for the Mark et Access Negotiations ........................................................2
4. Appropriate studies and Ca pacity-Buildin g Measures .........................................................2
(a) Appropriate  studies ......................................................................................................... ............3
(b) Capacity-build ing measures.................................................................................................. ......8
(c) Market Acces s Seminar ....................................................................................................... .....10
5. Observer status of Internationa l Intergovernmental Organizations .................................11
The agenda as contained in document WTO/AIR/1761 was adopted by the Negotiating
Group.
_______________
1. Appointment of Chairperson
1.1 The Negotiating Group elected Ambassador P.-L. Girard (Switzerland) as Chairman of the
Negotiating Group on Market Access.
2. Rules of procedure for meetings of the Negotiating group
2.1 The Chairman stated that on rules of procedure for meetings of this Negotiating Group, he
had indicated during his informal consultations that this was a horizontal issue which would be dealt
with by the Chairman of the TNC.  However, until such a time that the TNC Chairman had resolved
this matter,  he had proposed that in the interim this Group use the rules of procedure of the General
Council as a guide for the conduct of its meetings.  The proposal had seemed acceptable to alldelegations and he was now putting it before the Negotiating Group for formal approval.
2.2 The representative of India agreed with the Chairman's proposal to adopt, in keeping with the
usual WTO practice, the General Council's rules of procedures mutatis mutandis, and also to await the
outcome of the considerations of the TNC.  She recalled that at the first meeting of the TNC whichwas resumed on 1 February 2002, the TNC had noted and endorsed the principles and practices setTN/MA/M/1
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out in the statement of the Chairman. This dealt inter alia  with transparency and process and provided
guidance to Chairpersons of Negotiating Bodies in th e conduct of the negotiations i.e. that they should
be conducted in a transparent and inclusive manner in order to facilitate the effective participation of
all Members. It was her delegation's understanding and that these principles and practices were indeed
integral to the rules of procedures that the Group was adopting, but she sought confirmation.
2.3 The Chairman confirmed that these principles and procedures which had been adopted by a
body higher than this Negotiating Group, would apply to this Group.2.4 The Negotiating Group took note of the statements and agreed
 to the Chairman's proposal.
3. Work programme for the Market Access Negotiations
3.1 The Chairman stated that Negotiating Group had dealt with this manner in a substantive way
in the informal meeting which had immediately preceded the current meeting.  He intended to
continue informal consultations with a view to reaching an agreement as soon as possible, and
proposed that the Negotiating Group suspend the meeting on this item
3.2 The Negotiating Group agreed to the Chairman's proposal.
3.3 At the resumed meeting of the Negotiating Group on 1 July 2002, the Chairman reported that
there was no consensus on his proposed "Programme of meetings" as it was now called, and which
was dated 1 July 2002.  He proposed that pursuant to  Rule 2 of Chapter 1 of the Rules of Procedure of
the General Council (WT/L/161), the Negotiating Group take the decision to shorten from ten to fivedays the time-period required for convening a meeting, and then to suspend the meeting.  In the
meantime, he would continue consultations on his pr oposed "Programme of meetings".  If the results
were positive an airgram would be issued on 5 July 2002 which would convene the meeting of
11 July 2002 which was scheduled in his latest proposal of  "Programme of meetings" dated
1 July 2002.
3.4 The Negotiating Group agreed to the Chairman's proposal.
3.5 At the resumed meeting of the Negotiating Group on 19 July 2002, the Chairman reported
that there was a consensus on his proposal of a "Programme of meetings" dated 19 July 2002.  He
proposed that the Negotiating Group adopt this programme.
3.6 The Negotiating Group adopted the "Programme of meetings" dated 19 July 20021.
3.7 The Chairman stated that, as indicated in this programme, a meeting of the Negotiating Group
was scheduled for 2 August 2002, and the airgram convening this meeting would be issued shortly.3.8 The Negotiating Group took note of the statement.
4. Appropriate studies and Capacity-Building Measures
4.1 The Chairman stated that he wished to take up three points under this agenda item: 1)
appropriate studies; 2) capacity-building measures; and 3) the Market Access Seminar.
                                                     
1 Circulated as TN/MA/3.TN/MA/M/1
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(a) Appropriate studies
4.2 On appropriate studies, the Chairman recalled that during the course of his informal
consultations he had mentioned that as a first step he would request the Development and Economic
Research Division to prepare a list of publications on market access matters.   He had indicated that
this list would not be exhaustive but would provide a good basis for participants to work from.  Thislist had been circulated as document TN/MA/S/1 dated 5 April 2002.
4.3 A representative of the Secretariat (Mr. Bacchetta), in introducing the bibliography stated that
the Chairman of this Negotiating Group had requested the Development and Economic Research
Division to prepare this bibliography of research on market access in time for the first formal meeting
of this Group. It represented a first contribution towards meeting the requirement for 'appropriate
studies' as stated in paragraph 16 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration.  The bibliography was notcomprehensive and would be further developed over the course of the negotiations. It was illustrative
of the type of research that had been undertaken on the various topics within the mandate of this
Negotiating Group.  In preparing the bibliography within the specified time and resource constraint, a
number of decisions were taken.  First, it was decided to include primarily studies after 1995; second,
it was decided to include primarily applied studies; third, a taxonomy of studies that broadly reflectedthe issues in paragraph 16 was adopted; fourth, papers were allocated to the various categories based
on their primary emphasis.  The references were standardized according to year, author, title,
publisher and place of publication. If a reference was available through the internet the relevant link
as of 28 March 2002 was provided.
4.4 The bibliography distinguished between six categories of studies: I. General;  II. Tariff
Structure, Tariff Peaks and Tariff Escalation; III. Non Tariff Measures; IV. Market Access for LDCs;
V. Impact of Trade Liberalization; VI. Studies on specific regions or countries. Under General , there
were  studies which gave a general description of market access conditions for a broad sample of
countries, discussing both tariffs and other barriers; studies which explained market access negotiationprocedures and practices; studies which analyzed and interpreted the results of the Uruguay Round;
and studies which discussed the stakes in the upcoming market access negotiations.  Some of these
studies were not limited to non-agricultural market access issues and thus provided a broader
perspective on the issue of market access in non-agricultural products.  Under Tariff Structure , there
were studies which provided tariff statistics and in particular information on high tariffs, on tariff
peaks and on tariff escalation. Some of the general studies also provided tariff statistics as well as
information on tariff peaks, high tariffs and escalation.  As far as studies on Non Tariff Measures we re
concerned, three types of studies were found: studies which considered how non-tariff measures could
be measured; studies which provided estimates of certain specific NTMs or studies which looked at
the effect of certain specific NTMs.  In the fourth category, Market access for LDCs , there were
studies that focussed on market access conditions facing least developed countries, taking preferences
into account.  In the fifth category, Impact of Trade Liberalization , the Secretariat had included
studies which provided quantitative assessments of the welfare costs of protection or of the welfare
gains from trade liberalization at a relatively aggregate level; studies which proposed quantitative
assessments of the impact of trade liberalization on development and growth; studies which provided
quantitative assessments of the impact of trade liberalization on income distribution and poverty; and
last but not least, studies which provided quantitative assessments of the impact of trade liberalizationon government revenue.  The sixth and last category listed country studies or studies that only covered
specific regions.  Most of these studies were quantitative assessments of the welfare or growth impact
of liberalization in developing countries.  But, th ere were also studies which discussed trade policies
and others which looked at short run effects of trade liberalization or at the effect of liberalization on
the distribution of income.
4.5 The representative of Malaysia enquired as to the possibility of the Secretariat preparing a
tariff profile and a non-tariff measures profile of all WTO Members.TN/MA/M/1
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4.6 The representative of Brazil stated that with regard to the issue of appropriate studies to be
conducted within the context of negotiations on modalities as mandated by the Doha Ministerial
Declaration, he wished to thank the Secretariat for the extensive bibliography. There had not been
sufficient  time to go through the list in depth to see exactly how this bibliography could help his
delegation, but notwithstanding this Brazil was of th e view that they were some areas which would
merit further consideration.  An evaluation of the im pact of the previous round of trade liberalization
on the economies and on the productive structures of developing countries would be useful. This was
a point that had been raised by Kenya in the run up to Doha, and Brazil felt that it did deserve some
consideration.  An evaluation of the specific consequences of each type of possible modality for
market access negotiations would also be useful.  It had been mentioned at the informal meeting that
these modalities were not new, and his delegation was aware of that, but an evaluation undertaken of
the impact of each of these modalities would be useful. One other area which deserved someconsideration was the conceptual aspects of tariff peaks and high tariffs. There appeared to be no clear
understanding on the part of delegations as to what exactly constituted a tariff peak and high tariff.
Another area where his delegation wished to see some work was the identification of tariff peaks and
non-tariff barriers that affected products of export interest to developing countries. Another area of
work which could help his delegation was identification of non tariff measures that were currently notdisciplined by a specific WTO Agreement.
4.7 The representative of Canada stated that Malaysia's request underscored one important point
which was that every Member needed to ensure that its submission to the Integrated Data Base (IDB)
was complete and up to date.  Malaysia had requested very useful information, unfortunately therewere a lot of gaps in the available information. So, he wished to underline the importance of Members
fulfilling their IDB obligations in terms of submissions they needed to make.  In this regard, he
thanked the Secretariat for the technical assistance being given and encouraged further technical
assistance. As to the information requested by Brazil, it was very useful, but Brazil might wish to add
evaluation of "tariff walls" as well as "tariff p eaks".  Additionally, he w ondered how one would go
about identifying non-tariff measures not covered by existing agreements. In that regard, perhaps the
Secretariat could think about how this issue might be addressed.
4.8 The representative of Kenya, speaking on behalf of the African Group, stated that the African
Group had a particular interest in negotiations on market access on non-agricultural products because
it believed that further liberalization commitmen ts in this area would have tremendous future
implications on Africa's economic and development strategies and in particular the industrialization ofthe continent.  He recalled that a number of African countries had submitted a proposal on market
access for non-agricultural products before the Doha Ministerial Conference in which the group of
countries had requested a study process to assess the impact of the previous liberalization before
embarking on new negotiations.  Paragraph 16 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration made reference to
include appropriate studies and capacity-building measures to assist least-developed countries (LDCs)to participate effectively in the negotiations.  The African Group's preference would still be
consideration of studies to be the first order of the business.  The studies should not only cover LDCs
but also other low income developing countries that shared the same characteristics and problems in
their industrial sector.  The studies should assess the effects that previous liberalization and tariff
reductions have had on  inter alia  domestic firms, employment and government revenue; the effects
that tariff peaks and tariff escalation in the developed countries have had on the trade prospects of
developing countries and the implications of these for future policies. The studies based on an
examination of these elements, might make recommendations for guidelines and modalities for the
new negotiations.  The objectives of the negotiations on market access for non-agricultural products
should be to facilitate and enable the development and industrialization process in developingcountries particularly those of Africa. The modalities of the actual negotiations should have this goal
at the centre and this goal should thus be central aspect of the work programme. Further improvement
in market access should be seen as a possible means towards this goal, and for many developing
countries, further liberalization where their industries were vulnerable and frail would beTN/MA/M/1
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counterproductive to this overriding development goal.  Since the Doha Ministerial Declaration
launched what was touted to be a development agenda, the African Group believed the Negotiating
Group on Market Access would prove sceptics wrong by conducting studies along these lines which it
had proposed and feeding this resource into the negotiating process.
4.9 The representative of the United States stated that access to information and the tools to
evaluate tariff negotiations were critical to all Members, and to a successful dialogue in the future. His
delegation was committed to supporting further work in this area throughout the negotiations.  On the
list of studies, he encouraged Members to take a closer look at what was available to see if existing
studies did not already respond to some of the needs that had been expressed. On the request for tariff
profiles of all Members, he agreed with Canada that it was going to be critical that Members provide
the necessary data so that this type of analysis could be undertaken.  At the end of March 2002 theapplied rates for 2002 should have been submitted to the IDB by each Member.  However, he doubted
whether that had been the case.  On Brazil's request, he urged the Secretariat to be careful about pre-
defining certain types of modalities whether they be formulas or peaks until the Members themselves
had started to address the issue. What was important and what he thought would be seen in the Market
Access Seminar would be a day dedicated to existing databases.  Many of them would be set up sothat Members could do their own type of analysis  of the various modalities and make their own
assessments. It was important that the tools be provided but equally important that Members took the
decisions.
4.10 The representative of Bangladesh, speaking on behalf of the LDCs, supported the statements
made by the representatives from Brazil and Kenya.  LDCs were interested in market access
negotiations, however, to take effective part  in the negotiations, the group needed a study on the
impact of trade liberalization specifically on the LDCs. Such a study was required for the following
reasons: LDCs' share of world trade had been continuously declining; these countries had been
marginalized since their joining the WTO; as a re sult of their lack of industrial development and
product diversification, they faced serious macro-economic imbalances particularly in respect of
balance of payment and the budget; their tariff revenue had been falling in the past years; the LDCs
were unable to protect even their infant industries  which they needed to protect in order to generate
employment. In the work programme of the LDCs, the group had asked the Sub-Committee on LDCs
to conduct a study on market access. Copies of this study should be submitted to the Negotiating
Group. The Group was not against the negotiations but before it took take part in the negotiations, it
needed to assess its position. It needed to understand where it was coming from, where it was nowand how far it could go. On technical assistance and capacity building, the group appreciated the
understanding shown by the membership regarding the need to build capacity for negotiations and to
make use of the opportunities provided for the multilateral trading system. However, under the
negotiations for market access there was one seminar planned for this year in this regard. While this
seminar would be important, he doubted that this would be sufficient to prepare the LDCs enough tobe able to meaningfully participate in the negotiations.
4.11 The representative of the European Communities stated that she had looked at the titles
contained in the bibliography and some of the titles were well known to her.  In fact, a number of the
requests made at the meeting appeared to be already addressed by the studies mentioned in the list. Asregarded more specifically the request made by the representative of  Malaysia, he had identified an
issue of concern to her.  All Members should contribute to the IDB because the IDB was a
fundamental tool for the success of the forthcoming work.  Notifications to the IDB was a difficult
task, made all the more complicated with the HS amendments.  However, she noted that the UK had
done a lot for developing countries to catch up on the Consolidated Tariff Schedules (CTS) database,and she wished to see the IDB situation also improve. It would be difficult to commence negotiations
without a complete IDB.  While, it might be possible to extrapolate missing data  from TPRM
documents, for example, that was not the ideal situation.  As to the requests made by Brazil, some of
them deserved attention. However, she was more sceptical about the request for an identification ofTN/MA/M/1
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non-tariff measures not disciplined by any WTO Agreement.  It would be a daunting task for the
Secretariat, which had limited resources.
4.12 The representative of India requested the Secretariat to update the bibliography as the
Negotiating Group progressed in its work.  On the studies proposed by Kenya, Brazil and Malaysia,
her delegation believed that these studies were very useful and of direct relevance to the work at hand.
She thought it would be very useful for the Group to endorse that these studies be conducted so that it
could get down to substantive work at its next session fully guided by both the proposed seminar and
such studies. A comment had been made that  the IDB needed to be updated. She fully endorsed that
comment.  She also recalled that the IDB contained a requirement not just on applied tariffs but also
on bound rates and as far as she was aware in some cases no bindings had been submitted.  In this
regard, she urged that notifications to the CTS database which was the electronic version of the boundrates be submitted in order to make available the database to Members. The WTO was about
commitments and Members' commitments related to tariff bindings. So her delegation attached
importance to the updating of all data on tariff bindings.
4.13 The representative of Chile stated that one of the important tools available for developing
countries was the IDB and Members had been urged to keep the IDB up to date.  The representative
of India had also stated that this updating should not just be on applied rates but also on bound rates.
Import flows were also important. Another important tool was the CTS database, and in this respect
his delegation wished to thank the UK for providing funds and resources to the Secretariat to do the
work for developing countries. This was an indisp ensable tool as Members began to negotiate, and it
would be part of capacity-building work for de veloping countries. On the studies, he wondered
whether there existed any studies which showed the present level of trade on the basis of MFN tariffs
and the trade conducted through regional agreements, integration agreements and special systems
where tariff preferences applied.  In this way Members would know exactly how much real trade was
involved.
4.14 The representative of Mexico stated that he endorsed the US comments namely that the
Secretariat should be careful with the studies that it might undertake, such as pre-defining negotiating
modalities. The EC had also stated how important the IDB was and this had been emphasized by other
Members. With respect to the statement by the EC representative that Members could not start
negotiations until there was a complete IDB, while he understood her message it was not to be taken
literally.
4.15 The representative of Malaysia, speaking on behalf of the ASEAN Members, stated that with
respect to the studies suggested by Kenya and Brazil, in principle this group of Members could
support the requests subject to there being no duplication of work. The Secretariat could examine the
situation and inform Members whether certain aspects were not already covered in existing studies.There were some comments made on Brazil's request pertaining to modalities. He agreed that there
should not be any predefining of modalities for the present negotiations, but it would be useful to
learn about the modalities used in the past. A study on this subject, in addition to the seminar, would
be of assistance to Members. On Malaysia's earlier request on tariff profiles, he wondered whether
information missing from the IDB was not available elsewhere in the Secretariat, perhaps in the
Development and Economic Research Division. The CTS database should be made operational as
soon as possible, and in this regard he urged Members who had yet to submit the necessary
information to do so as soon as possible.
4.16 The representative of Djibouti stated that he had two questions which related to LDCs, and in
particular on market access and technical assistance. Did the Secretariat have the possibility of
evaluating what LDCs had obtained as regarded market access? How could technical assistance be
improved in order to better integrate LDCs in the trade negotiations?TN/MA/M/1
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4.17 The Chairman thanked Members for their statements and their ideas. He added that Members
had to take into account the fact that this selective bibliography was issued only on 5 April 2002.
From the comments made, it appeared that most delegations did not have the opportunity to study the
bibliography and even fewer had time to go through the original literature mentioned in this paper.
He encouraged Members to make that effort for two reasons. The first was because it would be a goodpreparation for the seminar which was planned in the near future. In this connection, and as a former
negotiator, he would recommend Mr. Hoda's study.  The second reason was that a number of the
points raised at this meeting were already addressed in some of studies cited in the bibliography.  As
to the question of the definition of the tariff peak, there was a lot of discussion during the Uruguay
Round on this subject, and delegations might benefit from information on past discussions.  However,
in the end it would be for the Members to define a tariff peak.  Also, one had to be careful about
asking the Development and Economic Research Division for studies which the bestuniversity/research institute had not been able to produce so far.  While full confidence could be had
in this team, there were resource and budgetary restraints.  So, he would request Members to be
selective and focussed regarding the studies they requested.  Where gaps existed, studies would be
useful and these studies should be based on the practical work that this Negotiating Group was going
to undertake.  He proposed that the delegations who had requested studies contact the Secretariat inorder to clarify the situation with respect to the po ints raised by them. Finally, he informed the Group
that the Chairman of the TNC had sent a letter to all Members reminding them of their IDB and CTS
database obligations and urging rapid compliance.
4.18 A representative of the Secretariat (Mr. Bacchetta) stated that the Secretariat would examine
to what extent the studies listed in the bibliography responded to the requests that had been made.
The Secretariat would also try to update the bibliography as soon as possible. The Secretariat would in
close collaboration with the Members concerned try to see how some of the requests might be
satisfied.
4.19 A representative of the Secretariat (Mr. Bora) commented on the requests from Malaysia,
Brazil, Kenya and Djibouti. On Malaysia's request, he stated that the Secretariat would be pleased to
work with the delegate from Malaysia on refining the request.  For example clarification was required
on whether the tariff profile related to bound tariffs or applied tariffs.  Additionally, was Malaysia
requesting an average for a particular Member or averages across various industry categories? A
second issue was a general one on databases. There were a number of databases that were available
for research purposes.  A discussion was required on the kind of data that Members would wish theSecretariat to access in terms of developing these profiles. For example,  there was a fairly limited
requirement on Members to submit data to the IDB, in the sense that even if all Members fulfilled
their IDB notification obligations, there would still not be a complete data set which would meet the
requirements for studies. In the context of the request from Brazil, Kenya and Djibouti the Secretariat
stood ready to discuss the terms of reference for those studies and the time-frames. He confirmed thepoint made by the Chairman that a lot of work was already available and that future studies should
build upon existing work. In particular, the study released by the WTO last year on unfinished
business had a lot of information on bindings and m.f.n. applied rates. There had been a number of
studies published by UNCTAD that addressed issues of non-tariff measures using the TRAINS
database.  There was also an inventory of control measures in the TRAINS database which classifiedand measured non-tariff measures. In addition, he drew attention to the bibliography in which through
the Committee on Trade and Development a number of studies had been prepared on market access
issues for LDCs. UNCTAD had done a number of studies on LDCs. One relating to the utilization rate
of preferences and another one looking at both the scope of preferences and the gains to LDCs should
preference schemes such as that of the EC be extended to the US, Canada and Japan.
4.20 The Negotiating Group took note of the statements and agreed to the Chairman's proposal set
out in paragraph 4.16.TN/MA/M/1
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(b) Capacity-building measures
4.21 The Chairman stated that on capacity-building measures, in his consultations he had referred
to document WT/COMTD/W/95/Rev.3 which was comp iled following intensive consultations and
which was demand-based.  He had also indicated th at he would request a senior member of the
Technical Cooperation Division to provide an overview of the technical assistance that was planned inthe area of market access.
4.22 A representative of the Secretariat (Mr. Osakwe) stated that he had six points that he wished
to make.  First, WTO technical assistance had undergone significant positive changes in the past few
months.  It was more focused, specialized, and efficient.  It was now geared to the negotiations
underway as well as to assist, where requested, complementary domestic reform efforts that would be
inevitable if countries were to benefit from consequent improvements in market access arising from
the negotiations.  The Technical Assistance Plan was not perfect.  It would never be, but theSecretariat was certainly confident that it responded to the needs and priorities of Members in the
negotiations.  Furthermore, the Secretariat was committed to keeping it flexible and dynamic to
respond to changes in the negotiating dynamics and Members' needs and priorities.  Second, several
means would be used in the delivery of Secretariat technical assistance.  These would include
seminars, national technical workshops, specialized workshops, intensive negotiation-orientedtraining for negotiators, WTO trade policy reviews, the accession support that the Secretariat offered,
and multilateral inter-agency intervention, such as for the Integrated Framework (IF) for LDCs, and
other inter-agency cooperation agreements under design.  The Secretariat was still thinking and
seeking more creative ways to  enhance its activities, involve the beneficiary countries and secure
their greater ownership.   Third, he believed that it was relevant for this Group to know that thefundamental objective of WTO technical assistance, as set out in the New Strategy endorsed in
paragraph 38 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration, was market access-focused namely, to achieve
Growth and Integration, to enable developing and least developed countries to participate in the new
negotiations; and to stimulate appropriate supply-side responses.  This objective was being pursued
through several means: trade-related technical assi stance; institutional capacity-building; diagnostic
trade integration studies with other IF agencies for LDCs, which identified the competitive
weaknesses in any economy that impeded it from meaningful integration into the global economy.
The Diagnostic Trade Integration Studies were still focused on LDCs.  Some developing countries
had requested such studies.  These studies, at least for LDCs, were being conducted by the six
multilateral agencies of the IF.  As mentioned earlier, training was a key part of what the Secretariat
did.   Fourth , while there were positive and significant benefits to the technical assistance that the
Secretariat delivered, there were also limits.  WTO technical assistance was strictly focused on theeleven operative paragraphs of the Doha Ministerial Declaration with specific technical
cooperation/capacity building (TCCB) commitments, indicated in the table below.
Paragraphs Mandate
16 Tariff negotiations:  non-agric. market access
21 Trade and investment
24 Trade and competition
26 Transparency and government procurement
27 Trade facilitation
33 Trade and environment
38 Mainstreaming/Implementation/New Strategy
39 IF/JITAP – coordination with bilateral
donors/agencies
40 Predictable funding for TA activities
42 LDCs' accessions
43 Integrated frameworkTN/MA/M/1
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4.23 Fifth, in this context, he referred delegations to the Coordinated WTO Secretariat Annual Plan
of Technical Assistance for 2002 (WT/COMTD/W/95/rev.3), and the activities included therein in the
area of market access negotiations. Technical assistance in this area was designed in two directions:
first, preparation for the negotiations, and second, support for the participation in the negotiations. In
the area of preparations, 18 activities had been pr ogrammed, most of them directed to training and
explanation of the IDB and its utilization for and during the negotiations. These could be identified
under the section on Market Access in the Technical Assistance Plan.  In the area of participation in
the negotiations, a number of (11) training workshops, seminars and courses on trade negotiating
skills were envisaged, on a regional and subregional basis. These could be identified under the section
on Trade Negotiations Skills in the TA Plan.  Furthermore, the work on the development of a Toolkit
for Negotiators was proceeding on an urgent basis (See Section on the TA Plan on "Tools for
Technical Assistance"). It would consist of three modules on the following aspects:  (i) background tonegotiations and simulations; (ii)  textual database for enabling the comparative analysis of
negotiating texts proposed by delegations; (iii) development of a user-friendly software to allow
market access negotiators to analyze trade and tariff information. This toolkit was not a substitute for
training in negotiations, but would facilitate them. Given the priority attached to capacity-building
efforts particularly in the mandated areas of negotiations, the WTO Secretariat intended to boost andredouble its capacity-building activities from previous levels. It had in the past provided technical
assistance to Members and Observers in market access, for example through training and
dissemination of the IDB or through the developmen t of trade negotiation skills. A larger number of
activities in these and related areas was now envisaged. Also, the Secretariat stood ready, if so
requested, to organize advisory missions to  assist Members in preparing draft schedules ofconcessions at the appropriate time. Furthermore, also here in the Secretariat in Geneva, the relevant
operational divisions and the TCD always were ready to offer technical advice and respond to queries
by delegations on a daily basis.  Sixth, developing countries and LDCs had a key interest in these
negotiations. Helping developing countries reap the benefits of these negotiations required support to
build their negotiating capacity.  But this alone was insufficient.   Developing countries and LDCsalso needed to be able to develop a competitive export sector to take advantage of market access
openings. This required significant policy action by developing countries, in terms of trade policy
reform,  but also in terms of "behind the border measures" relating to customs procedures and trade
facilitation. Technical assistance activities to support domestic reform efforts were therefore of
relevance in assisting those developing countries (which required such assistance) to benefit from
market access openings.
4.24 In this regard, collaboration with other agencies and development partners was necessary to
deliver technical assistance in support of domestic reform efforts, and this was recognised in the Doha
Ministerial Declaration.  Many forms of assistance such as upgrading customs software, setting up of
food safety inspection systems, or support for infrastructure, to mention a few examples, fell outside
the remit of the WTO. For this reason, in order to underpin the effectiveness of WTO technicalassistance, mainstreaming trade policy into overall economic development policy was essential so as
to ensure that trade reform was an integral part of national development plans and Poverty Reduction
Strategy Papers.
4.25 The representative of Djibouti stated that since his country had became a WTO Member, it
had benefited enormously from technical assistance. In fact a seminar on trade and environment was
going to be organized in Djibouti for LDCs at th e end of the summer. He stressed the importance for
the LDCs and for Africa to understood how the WTO functioned, and in this respect a follow-up of
meetings dealing with subjects of importance to LDCs was essential.
4.26 The representative of Kenya stated that on capacity-building it should be noted that
developing countries and LDCs had reluctantly agreed to negotiations on market access among other
issues on the understanding the technical assistance and capacity-building were going to be provided
prior to the commencement of negotiations. The Doha Declaration attested to this fact.  It wouldTN/MA/M/1
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therefore be important to provide technical assistance and capacity-building not only on how to
negotiate but also on what to negotiate. It was in the interest of the developed countries to be able to
negotiate with informed developing country partners. Just as it was in their interest that developing
countries trade more. This required a coordinated effort during a period of time to produce desired
results. This time round it was the wish of African countries to participate fully and effectively in theprocess.
4.27 The Negotiating Group took note of the statements.
(c) Market Access Seminar
4.28 The Chairman stated that the current programme on Market Access Seminar had been
distributed to participants at the informal meeting of the Negotiating Group on 8 April 2002.  The
seminar was scheduled to take place from 29-31 May 2002.  He informed the Group that the WTO
technical assistance budget would fund the attendance of one capital-based representative from each
least-developing country to this seminar.   Additionally, the Secretariat was looking into the
possibility of making a video of this seminar as had been suggested by certain delegations.   The draft
agenda and the finalized agenda as it developed would be placed on the WTO Member homepage inorder to keep Members abreast of developments both here and in capitals.  Members also had to sign
up their delegations so that appropriate rooms and seating arrangements could be made. This
information would also be available on the Members' homepage and a fax to this effect would also be
sent.
4.29 The representative of Korea sought clarificat ion on item D of the programme of the seminar
entitled "Art of Negotiating".  He enquired as to the name of the speaker and the purpose of this
section.  He wondered whether this kind of skill could be learnt in this very brief session. The second
point related to the last line in the last page which indicated that the presentation would be made
available in electronic form.  He proposed that the whole programme be made available in video form
and possibly though webcast.  In this way the seminar would become a very much value-addedprogramme.
4.30 The representative of the European Communities hoped that this programme was still in draft
form because she had comments on the wording of the titles and the subjects covered.4.31 The representative of Djibouti wondered as to the amount delegations could learn from
seminars of such limited duration especially in the area of WTO, which was complicated both from a
juridical and technical point of view.
4.32 The Chairman responded that this seminar was only one step in the bigger plan of technical
assistance as had been described.  The limited duration of such a seminar was because for some
delegations it would be an introduction, and for others a repetition. This was neither the beginning northe end of the process of technical assistance which had started sometime ago and which would be
continuing.
4.33 A representative of the Secretariat (Mrs Probst), in response to the questions raised stated that
the programme of the seminar was  in draft form. The Secretariat was still identifying a few last
speakers and clarifying the titles and contents of their presentation.  The item "Art of Negotiating",
had been included for two reasons. First, it was a subject that had not been covered in previous WTO
seminars.  Although it had been touched upon by the Training Institute in their ongoing work.  It was
meant to address the less tangible and more philosophical aspect of negotiating strategies which
played a critical part in the negotiations. The speaker still had to be confirmed. On the pointconcerning the  presentations in electronic form, the idea was to post the power point presentations of
the speakers on the WTO website, subject to approval by the speakers. She had also understood that aTN/MA/M/1
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number of Members had made requests with respect to making a video of the seminar.  The
Secretariat was examining this issue.  The complication was linked to how the information would be
delivered to Members. A three-day seminar meant approximately 30 hours of recording  either on 6
DVDs or 30 CDROMS.  The question was did all Members have the required technical facilities? The
possibility of the internet was also being examined, but once again the question of availability oftechnical facilities arose.  So for the moment, the Secretariat was unable to provide a definitive
answer, but would keep delegations informed.
4.34 The Negotiating Group took note of the statements.
5. Observer status of International Intergovernmental Organizations
5.1 The Chairman noted  that the question of the observer status of international organizations
was a horizontal one which was being addressed by the Chairman of the TNC.
5.2 The Negotiating Group took note of the statement.
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