00-4257 MOREPRESS RELEASE
PRESS/195
16 October 2000
 WTO ORGANIZES SECOND "GENEVA WEEK"
FOR NON-RESIDENT DELEGATIONS
An information week for WTO Members and Observers without permanent representation in
Geneva will take place from 21 to 27 October at the WTO. The "Geneva Week" is designed to bring
up to date on WTO activities those WTO Members and Observers who are unable to attend WTO
meetings in Geneva. The WTO, in cooperation with 13 other international organizations, is organizing
this Geneva Week to give representatives from these governments reports on different areas covered
by the WTO and to inform them about technical assistance in these fields.
"All countries participating in the WTO system, including rich and poor, large and small,
must be fully aware of the on-going work and discussions in the organization, and also the
possibilities for trade-related assistance that are available through the WTO and its sister agencies.
Through annual sessions of the Geneva Week and also through constant communication we are
helping our smaller Members and Observers to participate better in the WTO process. It is a way ofincreasing participation and transparency," said Mike Moore, WTO Director-General.
The Geneva week will start with a Seminar on Small Economies open to all WTO Members
and Observers. It will end with the 31
st session of the Committee on Trade and Development. During
the week, there will also be a discussion on electronic commerce open to all Members and Observers.
Thirty-seven WTO Members and Observers will attend the Geneva Week. Invitations were
sent both to their Trade Ministries and their permanent delegations in Europe. Their presence is
funded by the Swedish government, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the
International Trade Center (ITC).
A first "Geneva Week" was successfully held in November 1999. This year, the Geneva
Week will focus on the on-going work programme, including implementation of WTO agreements;
mandated negotiations in agriculture, services and intellectual property; electronic commerce; and
technical cooperation.PRESS/195
Page 2/3
MOREThe 28 WTO Members and 9 Observers participating in Geneva Week lack the resources to
maintain permanent offices in Geneva. They have difficulty accessing all the available information on
WTO's work and monitoring actions or issues th ey may need to consider. This information week
therefore intends to help non-resident WTO Members and Observers inform themselves about the
work going on in the WTO, and also expose them to the work of other relevant agencies in Geneva.
The 37 countries invited are: Andorra; Antig ua & Barbuda; Armenia;  Benin; Botswana;
Burkina Faso; Cambodia; Central African Republic; Chad; Democratic Republic of Congo;
Dominica; Republic of the Fiji Islands; Gambia; Grenada; Guinea Bissau; Guyana; Lao People's
Democratic Republic; Macau, China; Malawi; Maldives; Mali; Namibia; Niger; Papua New Guinea;
Samoa; St. Kitts & Nevis; St. Lucia; St. Vincent & the Grenadines; Seychelles; Sierra Leone;
Solomon Islands; Suriname; Swaziland; Togo; Tonga; Uzbekistan and Vanuatu.
Agencies invited to make presentations at the Geneva Week are: the African Caribbean
Pacific General Secretariat (ACP), the Agency fo r International Trade Information and Cooperation
(AITIC), the Commonwealth Secret ariat, the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), the Forum
Secretariat, the International Labour Organization (ILO), the International Telecommunications Union
(ITU), the International Trade Center (ITC), the United Nations Conference on Trade andDevelopment (UNCTAD), the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), the World
Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the World Bank and the World Tourism Organization
(WTO).PRESS/195
Page 4
MORE"GENEVA WEEK" FOR NON GENEVA-BASED DELEGATIONS
21 - 27 October 2000
TENTATIVE PROGRAMME
Day am (10.00-13.00) pm (15.00-18.00)
Sat.
21/10Committee on Trade and Development
(CTD)  Seminar on Small Economies(NB: 09.00-13.00)CTD Seminar on Small Economies
(NB: 14.00-18.00)
Mon.23/ 10Opening Remarks by the Director General.
Overview of WTO work in progress
(Presentations by Ch airman of General
Council, Chairman of CTD, DDG
Ouedraogo).
Questions/Answers.Presentations by Non-resid ents of their concerns
and perceptions (conti nuation of morning
session).
Information available to Non-residents about
WTO; presentation of support facilities for non-residents
(Presentations by Secretariat, AITIC,
Commonwealth Secretariat, ACP, Forum
Secretariat).
Questions/Answers.
Tues.
24/ 10Agriculture:
Introduction by Chairman of Committee on
Agriculture.
Briefing by Secretariat.
Presentations by FAO and World Bank
Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary Measures
Briefing by Secretariat.
Presentations by FAO and World Bank
Questions/Answers.TRIPS:
Introduction by Chairman of TRIPS Council.
Briefing by Secretariat
Presentation by WIPO.
Questions/Answers.
Competition Policy
Briefing by Secretariat
Presentation by UNCTAD
Questions/Answers.
Wed.
25/ 10Services:
Introduction by Director of Services
Division.Briefings by Secretariat.Presentations by ITU and World Tourism
Organization
Questions/Answers.E-Commerce:
Briefing by Secretariat
Presentations by ITU,  UNCTAD, ITC, WIPO
Questions/Answers.
(NB: This will be an informal session of the CTD
open to all Members and Observers  of the CTD )
Thurs
26/ 10Market access; Customs Valuation and Rules
of Origin
Presentations by Secretariat,  ITC
Questions/Answers.
Technical Cooperation and Capacity Building,
including the Integrated Framework:
Briefing by Secretariat.
Presentations by ITC and UNCTAD
Questions/Answers."Trade and…" issues:
Briefings by Secretariat
Presentations by international organisations:
Environmental issues.  (UNEP)
Investment issues.  (UNCTAD)Labour issues.  (ILO)Questions/ Answers.
Summing up and evaluation
1144..3300::  PPRREESSSS  CCOONNFFEERREENNCCEE  ((aatt  WWTTOO))
Fri.
27/1031st Session of the CTD 31st Session of the CTDPRESS/195
Page 5
MORESeminar on Small Economies
The Geneva Week will begin on Saturday 21 October with a Seminar on Small Economies.
The objective of the seminar is to explore issues related to the problems of small economies and
possible linkages to WTO provisions. Participation is open to WTO Members and Observers and
Inter-Governmental Organizations with observer status in the WTO Committee on Trade andDevelopment.
A first session will enable participants to identify the issues related with small economies
such as the particular features of the trade and production of small economies. The second session will
hear from representatives of small economies or regional organizations on their perspective on the
problems that they face. In the third session, participants will discuss how small economies can cope
better. Finally, A fourth session will look into how the WTO and other institutions can respond to theneeds of small economies.PRESS/195
Page 6
ENDKeeping non-resident delegations informed
Twenty eight WTO Members and nine WTO Observers do not have permanent delegations in
Geneva. Eighteen of them are least-developed countries, many are small economies. Because it is
vital for these Members and Observers to keep in touch with WTO matters, the WTO Secretariat has
established several information links with them.
First, the WTO is implementing a program of "Reference Centers". Under this programme,
the WTO provides computer equipment, an Internet connection and training for the operation of a
WTO Reference Center within each trade ministry of the countries benefitting from the programme.
In practice, this means access to the WTO Intern et site which contains up-to-date information
on all WTO activities and access to the Document Dissemination Facility which features all WTO
official documents. Reference Centres are also supplied with all WTO publications and trainingmaterials, both on paper and in CD-ROM format.
To date, equipment and/or training have been provided to 77 countries. The network of WTO
Reference Centres now extends to 33 of the 37 Members and Observers without permanent
delegations in Geneva. The establishment of Reference Centers was initiated in 1996 under the "JointIntegrated Technical Assistance Programme" (JITAP) operated by the WTO, UNCTAD and ITC.
Second, the WTO directly sends information to the European missions of the 37 WTO
Members and Observers which do not have permanent delegations in Geneva. To keep them up-to-
date on major trade developments, the WTO Secretariat sends missions outside Geneva daily tradenews summaries using wire agencies. The WTO Secretariat also faxes them the WTO Daily Bulletin,
a summary of all meetings. WTO publications are sent regularly to these missions.
Thirdly, in an effort to provide better and more focused information to non-residents, the
secretariat prepares, on a periodic basis, a set of briefing notes on selected issues handled by theWTO.