INF/IFD/W /44 
 
28 February  2022 
(22-1858) Page: 1/2 
Original: English  
 
 
WTO STRUCTURED DISCUSSIONS ON INVESTMENT  
FACILITATION FOR DEVELOPMENT  
NEGOTIATING MEETING OF 15 AND 16 MARCH  2022 
ANNOTATED AGENDA BY THE COORDINATOR  
The meeting will be held on Tuesday  15 and Wednesday  16 March , from 10:00 a.m. 
to 1:00 p.m. and from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.  CET (Geneva time)  – in-person at the WTO 
premises, as well as virtually over the Interprefy platform.1  
This annotated agenda aims to assist delegations in their preparation of the meeting.  In keeping 
with the Joint Initiative's open, transparent , and inclusive nature, all WTO Members are invited to 
attend and participate in this open-ended negotiating  meeting .    
1  REPORT BY THE FACILITATOR OF THE DISCUSSION GROUP ON 'SCOPE'  
The Facilitator of the above -mentioned Discussion Group will be invited to update the plenary on the 
Group's ongoing work on possible exclusions from the scope of the future Agreement  on Investment 
Facilitation for Development (IFD Agreement) ,2 as well as envisaged next steps i n the Group's work. 
Delegations are reminded that the Discussion Group on 'Scope' will meet in the afternoon of 
1 March  2022, from 3 :00 to 6:00 p.m. CET (Geneva time) .   
2  CONTINUATION OF THE DISCUSSION ON DEFINITION S  
Under this agenda item, Members will have the opportunity to continue discussing : 
a. First, t he definition of 'authorization' , which is particularly relevant for the scope of 
Section III of the future  IFD Agreement. The discussion will be conducted based on t he 
proposals on the definition of 'authorization' submitted by Members as contained in 
Section  I of the Annex to the 'Easter Text (Rev.6)'3 as well as  a proposal for a definition 
of 'authorization' submitted by Canada ;4 and 
b. Second, t he definition of 'invest or of another Member ' based on the text contribution 
submitted by the facilitator of the Discussion Group on Scope as  contained in Section I of 
the Annex to the 'Easter Text (Rev.6) '.  
When preparing their interventions for the discuss ion under this agenda item, Members are invited 
to also reflect on whether a definition of 'investment'  is needed or not in the future IFD Agreement.  
3  CONTINUATION OF THE DISCUSSION ON PROVISION 4 ON 'MOST -FAVOURED NATION 
(MFN) TREATMENT'/N ON-DISCRIMINATIO N 
Members will continue the discussion o n provision 4 on 'Most -Favoured Nation (MFN) 
Treatment/Non -discrimination ',5 as follows : 
 
1 See also the 'Schedule of Meetings' for the period of January – July 2 022 (INF/IFD/W/ 41) endorsed by 
participating Members at the negotiating meeting held on 24 November 2021.  
2 Based on Members' proposals as included in Section I of the Annex of the 'Easter Text (Rev.6)'.  
3 Document INF/IFD/RD/74/Rev.6 dated 9 February  2022, pp. 29 -30. 
4 Document INF/IFD/RD/9 5 dated 1 6 February  2022.  
5 Please refer to document INF/IFD/RD/74/Rev.6 , pp. 30-31, and the side-by-side comparative table . INF/IFD/W/ 44 
 
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  a. First, p articipants will be invited to address t he guiding questions  submitted by Chile and 
the EU on this provision ;6 
b. Thereafter, participants will have the opportunity to discuss and provide further comments 
on Canada's text proposal on an additional paragraph under the 'Most -Favoured Nation 
(MFN) Treatment' provision  concerning sub-central levels of government ,7 as well as 
Nigeria's text proposal on 'Non-discrimination' .8  
4  DISCUSSION O N PROVISION 30 ON RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS CONDUCT   
Under this agenda item, Members will discuss  a text contribution recently submitted by China  on 
provision 30 on ' Responsible Business Conduct ' (RBC) , after its introduction by the proponent .9   
5  CONTINUATION OF THE DICUSSION ON SPECIAL AND DIFFERENTIAL TREATMENT 
PROVISIONS  
Members will discuss provisions 26 on 'Categories of provisions, notification and implementation' 
and 27 on 'Other special and differential treatment provisions' in Section V of  the 'Easter Text 
(Rev.6)' , which ha ve been added as 'plain text' and include bracketed alternative text formulations 
showing the key difference s with the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) .10  
The objective  of the discussion is to focus on these provisions and their text formulation s as a whole , 
with a view to cleaning up remaining brackets  – and not  to focus on the lengths of implementation 
periods  at this juncture . 
6  REPORT BY THE WTO SECRETARIAT ON THE FIRST MEETING OF THE WORKING GROUP  
SET UP FOR THE DRAFTING  OF A N INVESTMENT FACILITATION  SELF -ASSESSMENT GUIDE   
Following the dedicated session  on 'Investment Facilitation Needs Assessment s' held on 14 February , 
participating Members supported the set-up of a Working Group  with the participation of relevant 
international organizations,  with the aim to develop a Guide for conducting Investment Facilitation 
(IF) needs assessment s. The WTO Secretariat will briefly report on the first, organizational meeting 
of the  Working Group , which will take place virtually on 4 March  2022, from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. CET 
(Geneva time) .11 Thereafter, Members will be invited to share any comments they may have on the 
process of developing  an IF Self-Assessment Guide .   
7  OTHER BUSINESS  
__________  
 
6 Document INF/IFD/RD/9 4 dated 1 4 February  2022.  
7 Document INF/IFD/RD/9 5 dated 1 6 February  2022.  
8 Document INF/IFD/RD/96 dated 21 February 2022.  
9 Document INF/IFD/RD/9 2 dated 1 1 February  2022.  
10 These provisions include provisions on 'Implementation', 'No tification and implementation of category 
A', Notification of dates for implementation of categories B and C', 'Early warning mechanism: extension of 
implementation dates for provisions in categories B and C', 'Expert group to support implementation of cat egory 
B and category C', 'Shifting between categories B and C', and 'Grace period for the application of the 
Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes' (DSU).    
11 An email inviting interested Members to participate in the first meeting of the Working Group was 
sent by the WTO Secretariat to all Members on 25 February 202 2.