JOB/GC/258  
 
7 May 2021  
(21-3897) Page: 1/3 
General Council    
 
AGENDA ITEM 2 : IMPLEMENTATION OF THE BALI, NAIROBI AND BUENOS AIRES 
OUTCOMES – STATEMENT BY THE CHAIR  
WEDNES DAY, 5 MAY 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.  The 
report will focus only on those  areas where there have been developments since the March meeting 
of the General Council , and for those areas I do not mention today I would refer you to the previous 
report under this item.  
1.3.   Let's begin with the Work Programme on Electronic Commerce and the Moratorium.  You will 
recall that in a communication dated 1 April, I invited all Mem bers to consult on the Work Programme 
and the Moratorium, in preparation for MC12. Eighteen delegations responded to my invitation, 
including two group coordinators.  
1.4.   On 29 April, I convened an informal open -ended meeting where I reported on my 
consultati ons. My statement has been circulated as JOB/GC/257. The meeting was also an occasion 
to hear the views of those who had not attended the consultations and to hear views on possible 
ways forward ahead of MC12. In this regard, and based on what I heard from  the consultations, I 
asked whether Members would consider it useful to hold structured discussions, including the sharing 
of national experiences as suggested by some delegations.  
1.5.   Despite well -known differences in Members' positions, delegations confirme d their readiness 
to engage and deepen the discussions on e -commerce. On the Moratorium, some delegations 
reiterated the need to have clarity on its scope and revenue implication. Others noted the need to 
consider the broader benefits of the moratorium. A number of delegations also highlighted the need 
to broaden the discussions under the Work Programme to address not only issues related to the 
moratorium, but also the digital divide and the challenges limiting developing countries' ability to 
leverage the benefits of digital trade.  
1.6.   As I heard no objection to having structured discussions ahead of MC12, I concluded that I 
would reflect further on the next steps and reach out to Members as necessary.  
1.7.   Let me note that we had a rich and fruitful discussion at  last week's meeting. Given today's 
long agenda, I would like to encourage delegations not to repeat that discussion. However, if any 
delegation wishes its statement made on 29 April to be reflected in the record of this meeting, they 
should send it to the  Secretariat. I also note that we have a separate agenda item on the work 
programme and the moratorium – which is Item 7 of our agenda.  
1.8.   There are a few matters to report in the area of Agriculture. In particular, concerning the 
Ministerial Decision on Pub lic Stockholding for Food Security Purposes, as you will recall, the first 
recourse to the Decision was reported in 2020.  Recently the same Member notified  on 8 April to 
have exceeded the de minimis  level for rice for the marketing year of 2019 -2020, and s ought 
coverage of the breach of the de minimis  limit under the Interim Solution set out in the Bali Decision, 
and in the subsequent General Council Decision of November 2014. The notification will be on the 
agenda of the June meeting of the Committee on Ag riculture for review.  JOB/GC/258  
 
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  1.9.   As regards the follow -up to the Bali TRQ Decision, the  Committee continues to deliberate on 
the outstanding issue of the future operation of paragraph 4 of the underfill mechanism, with a view 
to finding an agreement within the agre ed deadline of December 2021. The Chair has already started 
consultations with Members on this issue.     
1.10.   Regarding the implementation of the Nairobi Decision on Export Competition by  Members with 
scheduled export subsidies commitments, fourteen Members hav e circulated their revised schedules 
- twelve of which have already been certified. One of the two remaining Members has recently 
informed the Committee to have completed the domestic process to approve the Nairobi outcome, 
paving the way for the circulati on of its draft schedule.  The Committee on Agriculture has initiated 
the second triennial review of the Nairobi Decision.  
1.11.   Let me also note that 2021 is the first year when all Members  are expected to reply to the 
annual Export Competition questionnaire, f ollowing the expiry of the grace period foreseen in the 
Nairobi Decision.  
1.12.   Turning now to the LDC Services Waiver, following  an initial proposal from the LDC Group, on 
5 March the Council for Trade in Services agreed to organize a virtual workshop on LDCs' services 
export performance and implementation of the preferences notified under the LDC Services Waiver.  
The event will be held during the first week of June.  
1.13.   Regarding Duty-Free Quota -Free market access for LDCs, a discussion  took place at the last 
CTD m eeting in March. A number of Members provided updates on their DFQF schemes for LDCs, 
and the LDCs once again stressed the importance to them of DFQF market access. The Committee 
will revert to this agenda item at its next meeting in June.  
1.14.   A brief update concerning Trade Facilitation, where the Committee has been  very active, 
including initiating discussions on the first four -year review of the Trade Facilitation Agreement. The 
rate of ratification remains at 93%, with 10 Members left to ratify the agreement.  
1.15.   And finally, regarding Aid for Trade, a stocktaking event took place on 23 to 25 March, and I 
am pleased to give the floor to Ambassador P iracha  of Pakistan, Chair of the CTD, to report on this 
event  (See Annex).  
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  JOB/GC/258  
 
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  ANNEX  
STATEMENT BY AMBASSADOR PIRACHA, CHAIR OF THE  
COMMITTEE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT ON  
AID-FOR-TRADE STOCKTAKING EVENT  
The Aid -for-Trade Stocktaking event was held on 23 -25 March 2021. The online event provided an 
opportunity to survey the on -going economic i mpacts of the COVID -19 pandemic – impacts that are 
falling particularly hard on least -developed countries and many small, tourism -dependent developing 
countries.  A total of 35 sessions were held.  Some 20 of these sessions were organized by Members 
or Group s of Members, including four sessions organized by the LDC Group.  More than 200 speakers 
participated, with 46% of those being female speakers. Several thousand trade and development 
professionals attended the three days.  
  
The conference generated a consi derable amount of analysis on how Aid for Trade can contribute to 
pandemic recovery, response and resilience measures.  The divergent outlooks of different parts of 
the world in terms of economic growth, indebtedness and access to finance was a theme evoked  in 
the high level plenary event at which the Director -General was joined by the Heads of the IMF, 
OECD, UNCTAD, WHO and World Bank.  
  
Equitable global COVID -19 vaccine roll -out was also identified as the best value global economic 
stimulus package availab le in that high level session. There was recognition too of the need to 
redouble efforts to promote global value chain integration and to address supply side capacity 
constraints if hard -won development gains were not to be permanently reversed by the pand emic.  
  
Keeping markets open was described as essential for vaccine delivery and to bring forth a strong 
and sustained recovery. Several sessions looked at adapting trade formalities to take account of the 
pandemic, both at a practical level in terms of us ing electronic tools to speed clearance and also how 
implementation of the Trade Facilitation Agreement provisions might help in this regard.  
  
Regional approaches to COVID -19 recovery were also discussed, including leveraging the African 
Continental Free Trade Area and PACER Plus agreement in the Pacific.  There was also a focus on 
promoting recovery among MSMEs and in the tourism sector. One bright spot in terms of resilience 
was the rapid growth of digital trade, but again there was concern that opportuni ties for recovery 
were limited by the digital divide. Two sessions took a gender -lens to the impact of COVID -19 on 
women's participation in trade and trade -related activities and many of the sessions examined the 
gender dimension to the issues at hand.  
  
Promoting an inclusive and green recovery was also a theme discussed and one that will be taken 
forward through further work in the ongoing biennial AfT Work Programme.  This work will culminate 
next year in the 2022 Global Review of Aid for Trade that will examine the theme of "Empowering 
connected, sustainable trade."  
  
This information, along with a more detailed summary report of the Stocktaking event, will be made 
available in due course on the WTO website at the Aid for Trade section.  
 
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