JOB/GC/266  
 
28 July 2021  
(21-5863) Page: 1/2 
General Council    
 
AGENDA ITEM 2 : IMPLEMENTATION OF THE BALI, NAIROBI AND BUENOS AIRES 
OUTCOMES – STATEMENT BY THE CHAIR  
TUESDAY, 27 JULY 2021  
1.1.  This item remains on the agenda so that the General Council can continue to follow up, in a 
horizontal and transparent manner, on the Ministerial decisions adopted in Bali, Nairobi and Buenos 
Aires.  
1.2.  My report today is based on the information provided by the Chairs of the regular bodies on 
the implementation work taking place further to Ministerial mandates in their respective areas.  For 
some issues, including the Work Programme on Small Economies and the Work Programme on 
Electronic C ommerce we have separate items later in the agenda.  
1.3.  Regarding TRIPS non -violation and situation complaints, I understand that the re have been no 
new substantive developments to date. Members have largely reiterated their known positions 
regarding the applicability of NVCs in TRIPS, and the Chair will continue to seek engagement from 
Members ahead of the next TRIPS Council meeting.  
1.4.  There are a few matters to report in the area of Agriculture. In particular, concerning the 
Ministerial Decision on Public Stockholding for Food Security Purposes, the Committee on Agriculture 
reviewed notifications by a Member invoking the Decision for the  breach of the de minimis limit for 
rice for the marketing years 2018/19 and 2019/20, including at its latest meeting in June.  
1.5.  As regards the follow -up to the Bali TRQ Decision, Members have been engaged to find a 
solution to the outstanding issue of the f uture operation of paragraph 4 of the underfill mechanism 
within the agreed deadline of December 2021. The Chair of the Committee on Agriculture has held 
consultations on this issue in various formats, and Members have put forward some concrete textual 
suggestions.  
1.6.  Regarding the implementation of the Nairobi Decision on Export Competition, the Committee 
on Agriculture continued its deliberations on the second triennial review of the Decision at its June 
meeting. The Secretariat circulated few days ago the b ackground document that will serve as a basis 
for the next dedicated discussion on export competition planned during the September 2021 CoA 
meeting.  
1.7.  Turning now to the LDC Services Waiver, following an initial proposal by the LDC Group, the 
Council for Tra de in Services held a webinar on "Least Developed Country services export 
performance and facilitating implementation of preferences notified under the LDC Services Waiver".  
At the subsequent meeting of the Council, Members shared their reflections on the event.   
1.8.  All delegations who intervened expressed appreciation for the webinar. Many noted that the 
event had illustrated the opportunities and challenges faced by LDC suppliers in participating in 
global services trade, while also highlighting the signific ant gaps in LDC services trade data. The 
LDC Group put forward a number of suggestions for next steps and indicated that it would submit 
them in writing, for further reflection.  
1.9.  In the area of Preferential Rules of Origin for LDCs at the meeting of the Com mittee on Rules 
of Origin in May, a number of items related to the implementation of the Ministerial Decisions were 
raised.  In relation to transparency, almost all preference -granting Members, except two, have 
notified their preferential rules of origin fo r LDCs.  There has also been some progress on coverage JOB/GC/266  
 
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  of import statistics. Full notifications have been received from several preference -granting Members. 
I understand that there are still some important gaps in the statistics, which hinder the ability of  the 
Committee to comprehensively monitor the utilization of these preferences. On this, the Secretariat 
has continued to examine patterns in the utilization of trade preferences by LDCs and has presented 
a report analysing trends for a 5 -year period. In a ddition, a webinar took place in May on preference 
utilization. I would encourage delegations to visit the WTO website to review the available materials. 
Also in May, several Members updated the Committee on recent developments in their preference 
schemes.  
1.10.  Regarding Duty -Free Quota -Free market access for LDCs, at the last CTD meeting, a number 
of Members provided updated information on their DFQF schemes for LDCs. At the next meeting in 
November, the Committee will undertake its annual review of the steps t aken by Members to provide 
DFQF market access to LDCs.  
1.11.  Regarding the Monitoring Mechanism for S&D, the situation remains the same. The CTD Chair 
once again urged Members to come to a common understanding on how to move forward with the 
Mechanism. He also i ndicated his intention to work with Members in informal settings to explore 
ways to make the Mechanism operational.  
1.12.  Concerning the Working Group on Trade and Transfer of Technology, I understand that at the 
May meeting some Members stressed that advancing the work in this area had become imperative 
because of COVID -19, including in the context of assisting LDCs level up their development. The 
Chair has initiated a process of informal consultations to assess how to revive work and what could 
be done differen tly to fulfil the mandate.  
1.13.  Regarding Aid for Trade, a formal meeting of the CTD's Aid for Trade session was held to 
launch preparations for the 2020 -2022 monitoring and evaluation exercise. The CTD Chair gave an 
overview of the plans for the exercise in te rms of themes to be addressed, timelines and survey 
methods. The Secretariat has prepared draft monitoring and evaluation questionnaires, and 
Members have been invited to provide comments by the end of August.  A further informal session 
to discuss these co mments will be scheduled. The monitoring and evaluation exercise will then be 
launched, with a deadline for responses at the end of the year. The results of this exercise will be 
presented at the Eighth Global Review of Aid for Trade, which is envisaged fo r mid -2022.  
1.14.  And finally, on Trade Facilitation, the Committee continues its work on the four -year review 
of the TFA, and  aims to have it completed ahead of MC12. The rate of implementation commitments 
currently stands at just over 70% for the entire Membership and at 61% for developing country 
Members and LDCs. The rate of ratification remains at 94% with 9 Members still to  ratify.  
 
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