WT/WGTDF/ W/71  
 4 September  2013 
(13-4665) Page: 1/3 
Working Group on Trade, Debt and Finance   
 
  REPORT OF THE WORKING GROUP ON TRADE, DEBT AND FINANCE (2013) TO THE 
GENERAL COUNCIL  
DRAFT   
(Please send comments/proposed changes to the Secretariat by October 3. Report built on already 
approved minutes of previous meetings)  
 
1  INTRODUCTION  
1.  The Working Gro up on Trade, Debt and Finance ("the Working Group") was established at the 
4th Session of the Ministerial Conference in Doha in November 2011 with the following mandate 
("the mandate)1:  
"We agree to an examination, in a Working Group under the auspices of  the General Council, 
of the relationship between trade, debt and finance, and of any possible recommendations 
on steps that might be taken within the mandate and competence of the WTO to enhance 
the capacity of the multilateral trading system to contribut e to a durable solution to the 
problem of external indebtedness of developing and least developed countries, and to 
strengthen the coherence of international trade and financial policies, with a view to 
safeguarding the multilateral trading system from the  effect of financial and monetary 
instability. The General Council shall report to the Fifth Session of the Ministerial Conference 
on progress in the examination".  
2.  This report describes the activities of the Working Group since the 8th Session of the Minis terial 
Conference in Geneva in December 2011.  
2  THE WORKING GROUP'S ACTIVITIES SINCE THE  8TH SESSION OF THE MINIS TERIAL 
CONFERENCE  
3.  The Working Group held five formal meeting between March 201 2 and October 2013: on 27 -28 
March 201 2 for a two days seminar, und er the Chairmanship of Mr. Martin Glass (Hong -Kong, 
China); on 1 5 June 2012 under the Chairmanship of Ambassador Hisham Badr; on 26 November 
2012, under the Ambassador Faizel Ismail (South Africa). The two meetings held in 2013, on 7 
May and on [..] Octobe r, have also been chaired by Ambassador Ismail.  
4.  As concluded in the Report of the Working Group to the 2011 Ministerial Conference 
(WT/WGTDF/10), Members wished to "continue exchanging views on trade finance in relation to 
market developments after the 8th Session of the Ministerial Conference, including on 
internationally agreed initiatives; and to continue to proceed with the work programme on the 
relationship between exchange rates and trade, by working at holding a seminar on the topic in 
the first qua rter of 2012". The la tter topic (exchange rates and trade) has been dominating the 
agenda of the Working Group in the past two years.  
5.  Accordingly, the Working Group met over two days on March 27 and 28, 2012, in a seminar 
format, to discuss the direct and indirect economic relations between exchange rates and trade. 
This seminar had been proposed by the delegation of Brazil in Document WT/WGTDF/W/53, and 
                                               
1 WT/MIN(01)/DEC/1, paragraph 36. WT/WGTDF/W /71 
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  agreed by Members. After consultations, the consensus reached for the main parameters of this 
seminar in cluded four half -days sessions to discuss the perspective of the various actors on the 
relationship between exchange rates and trade – the private sector, the government sector, 
international institutions and academia. Each session was introduced by a mode rator and a panel 
of four speakers, followed by statements, questions and answers. The Director -General's opening 
statement and presentations by most speakers have been posted on the WTO external website. 
The report of the meeting/seminar is contained in W T/WGTDF/M/24.  
6.  The Working Group met on June 15, 2012 to take stock of this seminar and to consider future 
steps. In principle, Members had shown willingness to continue the discussion mainly from an 
analytical point of view, as they had been emphasizing th e complexity of the relationship between 
exchange rates and trade flows. In this context, Members were encouraged to bring to the 
committee's attention  new literature on the subject, which the delegation of China did 
(WT/WGTDF/W/66). At the request of Memb ers, the Secretariat prepared a limited update of its 
previous literature survey (WT/WGTDF/W/65). To prepare for the next steps of discussions, the 
delegation of Brazil announced that it would submit a proposal based on national meetings and 
seminars. The Secretariat also report ed on a meeting of the Director -General's Expert Group on 
Trade Finance (WT/WGTDF/W/63). The report of the meeting is contained in WT/WGTDF/M/25.  
7.  The Working Group met on November 26, 2012. The delegation of Brazil presented its new 
submission, contained in WT/WGTDF/W/68. The proposal contained an analysis of existing WTO 
provisions on exchange rates and trade, and suggested a way forward for addressing the 
institutional and legal issues that had  been identified in "pillar two" of its  original proposal 
(WT/WGTDF/W/53). Members offered initial reactions to Brazil's paper. It was agreed that further 
discussion would take place in the first semester of 2013. At this meeting, the Secretariat also 
reported on a meeting of the Director -Gener al's Expert Group on Trade Finance 
(WT/WGTDF/W/67). The rep ort of this Working Group's meeting is contained in WT/WGTDF/M/2 6. 
8.  The Working Group reverted to the substance of Brazil's proposal (WT/WGTDF/W/68) at its 
meeting on 7 May 2013. As summarized in WT /WGTDF/M/26, Members expressed their willing ness 
to continue the discussion started at the November 2012 meeting, for several reasons. Some 
Members wished to express a more detailed opinion after having con sulted their capital regarding 
the substance of Br azil's proposal. Other Members had found merits in deepening Brazil's 
suggestions. Some other Members had shown interest in continuing the discussion on exchange 
rates and trade, albeit mainly from an analytical point of view and not with a focus on rules.  The 
Chairman had  suggested that such discussion be held on the basis of five questions that were part 
of its own summary of the November 2012 meeting. The Chairman had also invited the IMF to 
present recent progress in achieving exchange rates and macroec onomic surveillance , in an effort 
for the two organizations to be more "coherent". In summarizing the meeting, the Chairman 
highlighted the five points made by Members on the way to move forward. First, there was general 
interest for continuing the analyti cal discussion on the relationship between exchange rates and 
trade. Second, before any consideration of any work on rule -making, there was a need to better 
understand the issue itself. Third, the IMF presentation and participation at the meeting had been 
highly appreciated. Fourth, there was a need to build a stronger relationship between the IMF and 
WTO on the topic, in the context of the existing WTO coherence mandate. Members could clarify 
what the strengthening of the institutional relationship implied , for example for Brazil's proposal 
under the "second pillar". Fifth, Members were interested to receive from the IMF the new 
surveillance reports on a regular basis, and possibly have a discussion on it from the perspective 
of trade policies.  It was agree d that some of these points could overlap, and that the delegation of 
Brazil would present a revised submission on the basis of th ese suggestions.  The report of this 
Working Group's meeting is contained in WT/WGTDF/M/27.   
9.  The Working Group met briefly on [ …] October 2013, in particular to examine the Working 
Group's report to the Ministerial conference, to be agreed on a lapse -of-time basis.  
3  CONCLUSION  
10.  Members recommended that the Working Group continue to examine the relationship between 
trade, debt and fi nance, and to make appropriate recommendations on steps that might be taken 
within the mandate and competence of the WTO to enhance the contribution of the multilateral 
trading system to the alleviation of the external indebtedness of developing and least developed 
countries, and to strengthen the coherence of international trade and financial policies with a view WT/WGTDF/W/71   
 
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  to safeguarding the multilateral trading system from the effects of financial and monetary 
instability.  
11.  Members wished to continue exchanging vie ws on the relationship between exchange rates 
and trade after the 9th Ministerial Conference, in particular with a view to strengthen the coherence 
between the IMF and WTO. Members also wished to continue to exchange views on trade finance 
in relation to m arket developments and internationally agreed initiatives to improve the availability 
of trade finance in developing countries.   
12.  On [October .., 2013], the Working Group adopted its Annual Report (2013) to the General 
Council on a lapse -of-time basis.  
 
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