RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/MIN(03)/SR/1
23 December 2003
(03-6746)
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
Fifth Session
Cancún, 10 - 14 September 2003
SUMMARY RECORD OF THE FIRST MEETING
Held at the Cancún Convention Centre, Cancún, Mexico
on Wednesday, 10 September 2003, at 10 a.m.
Chairperson:  H.E. Mr. Luis Ernesto Derbez (Mexico)
Subjects: 1. Opening Statements
2. Adoption of the Agenda
3. Order of Business
ANNEX:  Announcement by the Chairman on the Organization of the Informal 
Consultative Process
1. Opening Statements
The Chairman called the meeting to order, and declared the Inaugural Session of the Fifth
Session of the Ministerial Conference open.  He requested delegations to remain seated while he,
together with the Director-General, escorted the President of Mexico, the Honourable Vicente Fox
Quesada, into the room.
Welcoming the President to the meeting, he said that it was an honour and a privilege to do
so, and that the President's presence at this meeting was a demonstration not only of the latter's own
commitment, but also that of the Government of Mexico, to furthering Members' common goals under
the Doha Development Agenda with its potential for bringing substantial economic benefits to all
peoples.
The Chairman then delivered an opening address (WT/MIN(03)/9).
Dr. Supachai Panitchpakdi, Director-Gener al of WTO, then delivered an address
(WT/MIN(03)/10).
H.E. Mr. Pérez del Castillo, Permanent Representative of Uruguay and Chairman of the
General Council, then delivered an address (WT/MIN(03)/11).
Mr. Rubens Ricupero, Secretary-General of  UNCTAD, on behalf of Mr. Kofi Annan,
Secretary-General of the United Nations, then delivered an address (WT/MIN(03)/12).
The Honourable Vicente Fox Quesada, President of Mexico, then delivered an address
(WT/MIN(03)/13), and declared the Fifth Session of the Ministerial Conference open.
The Chairman, on behalf of the Ministerial Conference, expressed appreciation to President
Fox for his address, and hoped that all would be able  to live up to the President's inspired words andWT/MIN(03)/SR/1
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deliver the results that would make this Conference a success.  He then declared the Inaugural Session
closed and, together with the Director-General, escorted President Fox from the room.
2. Adoption of the Agenda
The Chairman drew attention to the proposed agenda for the Ministerial Conference in
document WT/MIN(03)/W/1.
The Ministerial Conference adopted the following agenda as proposed in WT/MIN(03)/W/1:
"1. Overview of Activities of the WTO
 2. Items Proposed by Members for Inclusion in the Agenda
– Poverty Reduction – Sectoral Initiative in Favour of Cotton – Joint Proposal 
by Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali
 3. Action by Ministers
 4. Date and venue of the Fifth Session
 5. Election of Officers."
3. Order of Business
The Chairman drew attention to the Proposed Order of Business in WT/MIN(03)/5/Rev.1,
and proposed that the Ministerial Conference agree to the organization of work for the Session as set
out therein.
The Ministerial Conference so agreed.
The Chairman then noted that, in accordance with the programme of work just agreed, the
Plenary meeting would resume at 2.30 p.m. with Ag enda Item 1 – "Overview of Activities of the
WTO".  At 6.10 p.m., the Ministerial Conference w ould take up Agenda Item 2: "Items Proposed by
Members for Inclusion in the Agenda – Poverty Reduction – Sectoral Initiative in Favour of Cotton –
Joint Proposal by Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali."  Delegations wishing to speak under Item 2
were invited to inform the Secretariat in order to establish a list of speakers, who would speak from
the rostrum.  They were also invited to provide th eir statements to the Secretariat.  On 11 September,
at 6.10 p.m., the Ministerial Conference would take up the Accessions of Cambodia and Nepal
together.  In view of the limited time available at that session, delegations were invited to address bothAccessions in one statement.  As before, delegations wishing to take the floor on this Item were
invited to inform the Secretariat in order to establish a list of speakers, who would speak from the
rostrum.  They were also invited to pr ovide their statements to the Secretariat.
The Ministerial Conference took note of the statement.
The Chairman then declared the Opening Ceremony closed.
The meeting adjourned at 11.30 a.m.1
                                                     
1 Following the closure of the Opening Ceremony, the Chairman informed delegations about the
organization of the informal consultative process to be conducted throughout the Conference.  The Chairman'sstatement is reported in the Annex.WT/MIN(03)/SR/1
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ANNEX
Announcement by the Chairman on the Organization of the Informal Consultative Process
Following the closure of the Opening Ceremony, the Chairman informed delegations that, as
at all previous Ministerial Conferences, he would be  organizing an intensive process of consultations
throughout this Conference in order to help produce a Ministerial text that could be put forward for
formal consideration and action under Ag enda item 3 - "Action by Ministers".
The main forum for this consultative process would be informal open-ended meetings of all
Heads-of-Delegations.  The principal objective of this process would be to facilitate consensus-
building on a text in a fully transparent and inclusive manner, while maintaining the necessaryflexibility.  The informal HODs meetings would proceed in parallel with the formal Plenary Sessions.
They would be open to all WTO Members and participants in the negotiations, in a format of
Minister-plus-two officials per delegation.  A final informal HODs meeting would be organized just
prior to the concluding Plenary Session of the Conference, in order that delegations could collectively
review the results of work in all areas.  All meetings of the HODs would be held in Room Cancún I,on the third floor of the Convention Centre.  They would be chaired by himself and would be
convened as necessary, but at least once each day.  The first meeting would be held on Thursday,
11 September starting at 10 a.m.  Delegations would be kept informed of these meetings through
every means possible at the Convention Centre.
Building on the practice at the Doha Ministerial Conference, one hour in the morning – from
8.30 to 9.30 – and one hour in the afternoon – from 2.30 to 3.30 – would be set aside during which no
informal meetings of any kind would be scheduled.  The purpose of this was to allow delegations the
time they would require to consult among themselves and in regional groupings as necessary.
He believed that work should have a coherent focus if Ministers were to organize their very
limited time in an efficient manner.  He had therefore requested the assistance of a number of
Ministers who had kindly agreed to help him as Facilitators on key issues, as follows:
1. Agriculture – Minister Yeo (Singapore)
2. Non-Agricultural Market Access – Minister Tang (Hong Kong, China)
3. Singapore Issues – Minister Pettigrew (Canada)4. Specific Development Issues – Minister Kituyi (Kenya)
5. Other Issues – Minister Rohee (Guyana)
Concerning the issues to be addressed in the group on "Other Issues", he looked forward to
receiving suggestions from delegations in the course of work.  He was very grateful for the assistanceof the Facilitators, who would undertake work on th ese issues and report back to the HODs meetings
on progress.  The Facilitators would be free to organize their work as they judged most effective.
They were all aware of the need to do so with fu ll respect for transparency and inclusiveness.  In
pursuit of this, he would ask them to make themselves available to all delegations wishing to raise
issues of their particular concern, and to seek the views of all interested Ministers.  He believed thatone way to do this would be for them to specify a time and room where they would be available to all
interested delegations.  So as not to waste time, he was requesting the Facilitators to start work
already by holding informal bilateral contacts that day, and to report back to the first HODs meeting
on Thursday morning about how they intended to appr oach their tasks.  Throughout this process, the
Facilitators and he would also be able to draw on the experience and wisdom of the Chairman of theGeneral Council, and the Chairs of the Geneva Negotiating Groups and other WTO bodies, as
necessary.
Among the key issues, all knew that agriculture was viewed as extremely important by many
governments.  He wished to make clear from the outset how he saw the approach to this key area.WT/MIN(03)/SR/1
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First, he assured all Members that, as they would expect, all views would be taken into account and
taken very seriously.  Nothing would be ignored and no voice would be left unheard.  Second,
Members were not starting from zero.  The different contributions that had been put forward tended to
converge on a similar structure.  This structure should be used and completed with elements from the
contributions that had been made and that all could agree on.  This should help make progress towardsconvergence on substance.  With these assurances, to which he fully committed himself and the
Facilitators, he trusted that Ministers would be able to focus immediately on the major issues of
substance which confronted them and find a balanced and acceptable outcome which fully respected
the Doha Mandate.
He wished to emphasize that the assistance he would be receiving from the facilitating
Ministers – for which he was most grateful – would in no way be a substitute for the HODs process ordetract from the decision-making rights of any Member.  Their task was to facilitate work.
Delegations would at all times need to keep in mind that this process was aimed at resolving
differences and facilitating consensus, and that any decisions could ultimately be taken only by the
membership as a whole.
In a sense, all Ministers present at the Conference were facilitators, and he would be seeking
advice from other Ministers as well on a constant basis to get a better view regarding overall balance.
He knew that the Director-General would also be seeking inputs and advice which he would report to
him.  It was his hope that in this way, they could better enable these open meetings of all Ministers to
function and to deliver a result that reflected the needs of all countries and regions.
 As he had mentioned in his statement at the end of the July meeting of the General Council in
Geneva, all were involved together in a very important endeavour, and one on whose results the
welfare of millions depended.  If one failed to deliver on what was expected from all at Cancún, he
feared that one might eventually fail an entire generation by not allowing the trading system toproduce the results all were awaiting.  He urged all to keep their shared responsibility clearly in mind
over the next few days.
In view of the limited time available, he intended to follow a very intensive process, and he
asked for the understanding and cooperation of all in helping to keep to that schedule.
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