RESTRICTED  
  
WT/COMTD/M/88  
 
26 August 2013  
(13-4540)  Page: 1/23  
Committee on Trade and Development 
Eighty-Eighth Session    
  
NOTE ON THE MEETING OF 17 JULY 2013 
  
Chairperson: H.E. Ms. Marion Williams (Barbados) 
A.
 ADOPTION OF TH E AGENDA .................................................................................... 2  
B. OBSERVERS ............................................................................................................. 2  
(i) Request for attendance of ad hoc observers  ................................................................. 2  
(ii) Further consideration of requests for observer status by the League of Arab States, 
the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting, the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie, the Common 
Fund for Commodities, the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) 
and the Groupe de la Banque Africaine de Developpement  ...................................................... 2
 
C. TECHNICAL COOPERATION AND TRAINING ............................................................. 3  
-  Annual Report on Technical Assistance and Training - 2012 (W T/COMTD/W/ 197) .............. 5  
-  Annual Report on Monitoring and Evaluation of Technical Assistance and Training - 
2012 (WT/COMTD/ W/199) ................................................................................................. 5  
-  Preparations for the 2014-2015 Technical Assistance and Training Plan - briefing by 
the Secret ariat ............................................................................................................... .. 8 
D. REPORT OF THE 47TH SESSION OF THE JOINT ADVISORY GROUP ON THE 
INTERNATIONAL TRADE CENTRE UNCT AD/WTO (ITC/AG( XLVII)/251)........................... 9  
E. TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT - WORK IN THE COMMITTEE ON THE BASIS OF 
THE CHAIRMAN'S CONCLUDING STATEMENT FROM THE EIGHTH MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE (WT/MIN(11)/11) ................................................................................... 11
 
(i) Special and differential treatment provisions in WTO Agreements and Decisions 
(WT/COMTD/W/196) - updated note by the Secretariat  ......................................................... 11 
(ii) Proposals by Members  ............................................................................................. 12 
-  Operationalization of the CTD's mandate: a proposal to deliver outcomes based on 
the MC8 mandate - proposal from China, Cu ba, Ecuador, India and the African Group 
(WT/COMTD/ W/192) ........................................................................................................ 12 
-  Supporting Ministers' guidance for focused work in the Committee on Trade and 
Development - proposal from Australi a, Chile, Colombia and Singapore 
(WT/COMTD/ W/191) ........................................................................................................ 15 
-  Strengthening of the Committee on Trade and Development - proposal from 
Barbados on behalf of the Group of Smal l, Vulnerable Economies (WT/COMTD/W/195) .............. 16 
F. ELECTRONIC COMMERCE - DECISION OF 17 DECEMBER 2011 (WT/L/843) ........... 16  
-  Report on the Workshop on "E-commerce, Development and SMEs" 
(8-9 April 2013) (W T/COMTD/W/198) ................................................................................. 16 
G. NOTIFICATIONS UNDER THE ENABLING CLAUSE .................................................. 17  
-  Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) notifica tion of Customs Union – communication 
from China, Egypt and In dia (WT/COMT D/W/175) ................................................................ 18 WT/COMTD/M/88 
 
- 2 - 
 
  -  Notification of the Agreement on Trad e in Goods between the Association of 
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Korea ........................................................................ 18 
-  Notification of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement  between India 
and Korea (Goods) ........................................................................................................... 19 
-  Generalized System of Preferences - notification by Norway 
(WT/COMTD/N/6/Add.5) ................................................................................................... 19 
-  Generalized System of Preferences - notification by the European Union 
(WT/COMTD/N/4/Add.6) ................................................................................................... 20 
H. NOTIFICATIONS UNDER THE TRANSPARENCY MECHANISM FOR 
PREFERENTIAL TRADE ARRANGEMENTS ........................................................................ 21  
I. REVIEW OF STEPS TAKEN TO PROVIDE DUTY-FREE AND QUOTA-FREE 
MARKET ACCESS TO LEAST- DEVELOPED CO UNTRIES ..................................................... 21  
-  Market information and analysis tools - presentation by the Secretariat and the 
International Trade Ce ntre UNCTAD/WTO ............................................................................ 21 
-  Better utilization of the market access prov ided to LDCs under duty free and quota 
free - communication from Nepal, on beha lf of the LDC Group (WT/COMTD/W/194) .................. 22 
J. OTHER BUSINESS .................................................................................................. 23  
 
A. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA 
1. The Chairperson said that the draft agenda for the 88th Session of the Committee on Trade 
and Development (CTD) was contained in document WTO/AIR/4149/Rev.1 circulated on 
26 June 2013.  
2. The agenda was adopted. 
B. OBSERVERS 
(i) Request for attendance of ad hoc observers 
3. The Chairperson recalled that, at previous sessions of the CTD, Members had agreed to 
invite a number of intergovernmental organizati ons on an ad hoc, meeting-by-meeting basis. 
These included the Arab Maghreb Union, the Econ omic Community of Central African States, the 
Economic Community of West African States, the Economic Cooperation Organization, the Inter-Arab Investment Guarantee Corporation, the Islamic Development Bank, the African Union, the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, the South Centre, the Pacific Islands Forum, the 
United Nations Environment Programme, the West African Economic and Monetary Union, and the 
World Intellectual Property Organization. These organizations had been invited to the present meeting. She proposed that the same organization s be invited to the next formal meeting of the 
CTD. 
4. It was so agreed. 
(ii) Further consideration of requests for observer  status by the League of Arab States, the 
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the Gulf Organization for 
Industrial Consulting, the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie, the Common Fund for Commodities, the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) and the Groupe de la Banque Africaine de Developpement 
5. The Chairperson said that the positions of delegations were on the record. She said that if 
there were no changes in positions to extend observer status to any of the applicants, the 
Committee would take note and revert to the requests at the next meeting.  
6. It was so agreed. WT/COMTD/M/88 
 
- 3 - 
 
  C. TECHNICAL COOPERATION AND TRAINING 
7. The Chairperson said that the Director-General would speak first under this agenda item. 
The Committee would then consider the Annual Report on Technical Assistance and Training for 
2012 - circulated in document WT/COMTD/W/197 - and the Annual Report on Monitoring and 
Evaluation of Technical Assistance and Training - circulated in document WT/COMTD/W/199. 
Finally, the Secretariat would brief Members on preparations for the Technical Assistance and Training Plan (TA Plan) for 2014 and 2015. 
8. The Director-General said that he had recently informed the Committee on Budget, 
Finance and Administration that 35% of the bu dget and resources of the WTO was focused on 
designing, implementing and monitoring trade ca pacity building including through Aid for Trade, 
trade-related technical assistance (TA), the Enha nced Integrated Framework (EIF), the Standards 
and Trade Development Facility (STDF), the trade facilitation needs assessments and the work of 
the International Trade Centre UNCTAD/WTO (ITC). He explained that since becoming 
Director-General in 2005, and building on the in itiatives of his predecessors, he had made all 
efforts to situate the trade-related capacity building of developing countries, especially the 
least-developed countries (LDCs), as one of the central pillars of the work of the WTO. He was confident that trade capacity building was now firmly embedded in the psyche of the organization. 
9. The WTO's TA was a key contribution to strengthening the human and institutional 
capacity of Members to take full advantage of the rules-based multilateral trading system, to deal with emerging challenges and to enforce Members' rights and obligations. It was as much an ownership boosting mechanism as it was a capa city building one. Increased knowledge of the 
multilateral trading system increased that owners hip. Increased ownership in turn clarified trade 
priorities and participation, while increased participation of developing countries in multilateral rule making improved the functioning of the multil ateral trading system and strengthened its 
legitimacy. The implementation of the WTO's TA programme had made steady progress over the 
past eight years. In 2006, the first external evalua tion of TA was conducted, the findings of which 
had inspired a number of improvements. Subsequently, in 2009, a new vision for TA was 
launched, with the objective of ensuring cumulative, progressive and sustainable capacity building 
and enhancing the efficiency and impact of the WT O's TA. He noted that the TA-related issues for 
discussion at the present meeting would cover how the WTO had delivered TA in the recent past, 
as well as how the Secretariat judged this delivery and what improvements it planned to make. In 
addition, the discussion would touch upon how the results-based management (RBM) framework 
and the discussions with Members were feeding into the crafting, programming and implementation of future TA activities. 
10. He went on to say that building capacity in developing countries and continuing to 
financially support the WTO's TA programmes was especially important in light of the changes that were occurring in world trade. The global debate was increasingly moving away from one based on 
tariff reduction and market access to one based on non-tariff barriers, including trade facilitation 
issues, compliance with standards of various type s, and services regulations. Developing country 
requests for TA reflected these changes and the WTO had to maintain enough flexibility to adjust its services to the changing needs of developing countries. In delivering on its TA mandate in 
2012, the WTO had managed to expand where needed, condense where required, move into new 
areas, and establish a structure to better monitor and evaluate the design and delivery of TA. This 
had been done under some budget strain, given that traditional donors had had their budgets 
squeezed by the global crisis. However, the need s of developing countries for more sophisticated 
TA in different areas had increased as a result of the same crisis. While this had meant some rationalization in the way that the WTO delivered TA, it had had no adverse effect on the quality of 
the services that were offered. In fact, it had le d to a more robust and transparent system at both 
the input and output streams.  
11. At the level of inputs, a multi-layered architecture of training modules had been created 
and the Secretariat had increasingly moved to the delivery of e-learning - a move that had allowed 
an exponential increase in the reach and depth of training at marginal additional costs. At the 
output level, the RBM system allowed a more transparent assessment of the impact of TA delivery. The Annual Report on Technical Assistance and Training had evolved from an activity-centred one 
to include a results-focused monitoring report. For the first time, a Logframe had been developed 
which encapsulated the outcomes and outputs to be achieved, as well as the indicators and 
baselines to assist in measuring progress. As more data was collected to measure against the WT/COMTD/M/88 
 
- 4 - 
 
  baseline objectives, the Secretariat would have a clearer picture of where the greatest impact was 
being felt and where improvements could be made. A TA Monitoring and Evaluation team had been 
established within the Institute for Training and Technical Cooperation (ITTC) to consolidate the monitoring and evaluation skills and capacity of the Secretariat and ensure a sustained focus on 
results. This would be an important tool for both donors and beneficiaries. 
12. He said that the WTO had been delivering more than 300 TA activities annually in the last 
decade. Thousands of officials had gained valuable  knowledge and skills that had enabled them to 
carry out their roles more effectively. This assistance continued to evolve. In 2012 and 2013 
several new e-learning courses and training materials had been introduced. Technological 
advancement and access to information technology tools had allowed the WTO to widen its net in the area of e-learning, which he considered to be the most important TA innovation during his 
term as Director-General. The organization's e-learning strategy, introduced in 2012, had further 
contributed to the expansion of e-learning as the training tool for the 21
st century. The new 
e-learning platform would allow an even greater number of simultaneous users and an enhanced 
level of interaction with and amongst participants using a variety of innovations such as simulation 
exercises and video conference applications. The investment in e-learning and the e-campus had led to a number of positive results. For example,  the number of e-learning courses had increased 
from one in 2005 to 14 in 2013. In 2005 there were  approximately 250 enrolled participants, while 
in 2012 the figure had increased to almost 5, 000. By the end of 2012, the Secretariat had 
provided access to e-learning to over 20,000 participants. 
13. The centrality given to e-learning had also permeated other TA products. Through 
e-learning the Secretariat had been able to better incorporate the Progressive Learning Strategy 
(PLS), which had brought a welcome reorganization of the WTO's TA products. Participants could register for different training levels - introducto ry, intermediate or advanced - depending on their 
familiarity with the subject. They could also choose a generalist or a specialist path, according to 
their professional needs. All these changes had be en introduced with the purpose of making TA 
more relevant and useful and had enabled the Se cretariat to encourage progressive and sustained 
capacity building for existing and new clients. 
14. He said that the integration of LDCs into th e multilateral trading system continued to be 
one of the WTO's TA priorities. In 2012, LDCs were invited to more than half of all the organized 
activities and to three quarters of the activities organized in Geneva. Another priority was to 
increase the participation of women in the activities. In 2012, 45% of the participants - both in 
traditional activities and in e-learning modules - were women. The challenge was to continue to increase that figure and achieve greater gender parity in specific regions such as in Africa and in 
the Middle East. Africa, which remained a priority region for trade-related capacity building in 
2012, had benefited from the greatest number of activities and from the largest part of the 
budget. When looked at from the broader perspect ive of the institutional building led by the EIF 
and the private sector capacity upgrade supported by the ITC in Africa, it was clear that the WTO 
was delivering for those Members that required it the most.  
15. He went on to emphasize the importance of partnerships for the effective delivery of TA. 
He explained that partnerships allowed a pooling of increasingly scarce resources, as well as a 
combination and blend of expertise, experience and focus. Partnership was the WTO's path to 
better understanding on-the-ground needs and ensuri ng that TA would have the greatest efficacy. 
In 2012 about 30% of all TA activities had been implemented jointly with one or more partners 
and close to 10% had been co-funded. The ITTC had entered into nearly 20 formal agreements. 
Partnerships, which had been expanded to includ e collaboration with regional development banks 
and regional secretariats, allowed the ITTC to do more with less.  The WTO Chairs' programme, 
which was a partnership with academia, had recently been extended for an additional four-year 
period. He additionally emphasized the focus on results, interaction and ownership in the WTO-supported European Law Students' Association (ELSA) Moot Court Competition, and also mentioned that the re-launch in 2010 of the strategy for the WTO Reference Centres Programme 
had led to concrete dividends.   
16. Turning to the issue of funding, he said that the Doha Development Agenda Global Trust 
Fund (DDAGTF) was the main funding mechanism for the WTO's TA. To enable expectations 
regarding the WTO's TA to be met, there was a ne ed for secure funding. While the extra-budgetary 
funding requirements had remained at the same level for the last four years, contributions to the DDAGTF had started to decline since 2008. This meant a focus on doing more but with less. In this WT/COMTD/M/88 
 
- 5 - 
 
  regard, he credited the ITTC and the budget arms of the WTO for maintaining the standards and 
expectations with fewer resources. He noted, however, that there was very little space for 
manoeuvring and in this light called on develo pment partners to recommit to the DDAGTF as 
Members moved to endorse the next TA Plan. 
17. He concluded by reiterating his confidence that the WTO had delivered on its trade-related 
capacity building mandate. Institutionally, the organization was in a structurally sounder place than before, with the ITTC reorganized to reflect a focus on results. There was a robust 
results-based framework in place and e-learning had increased the reach of the WTO's TA services. 
In addition, several interns were exposed every year to WTO issues. He said that a sign of the success of the WTO's TA was the clear message that he had received recently from the G-90, which had called for TA in new areas such as non-tariff barriers and trade finance. The G-90 had 
also called for a greater focus on following the progress of the participants in TA activities, for 
expanded e-learning and for increased internship opportunities. He added that, after the 4
th Global 
Review of Aid for Trade held on 8-10 July 2013, he had heard calls for more exposure to value 
chain analysis and trade in value-added. In essenc e, the need was for a deepened and increasingly 
progressive and sophisticated approach to TA. He saw this as the greatest proof that the WTO had delivered on capacity building. 
- Annual Report on Technical Assistance and Training - 2012 (WT/COMTD/W/197) 
- Annual Report on Monitoring and Evaluation of Technical Assistance and Training - 
2012 (WT/COMTD/W/199)  
18. In introducing the Annual Report on Technical Assistance and Training for 2012, the 
Director of the ITTC said that the 2012 report wa s more analytical than was the case in previous 
years and provided Members with a better understan ding of the rationale guiding the WTO's TA. In 
2012, the Secretariat had continued to apply tight management of TA resources in order to 
maintain a stable volume of activities. Although slightly more activities were implemented than in 
2011, there had been a reduction in resources relative to the previous year. She explained that in 2011 the DDAGTF had received contributions from 19 Members, while in 2012 only 14 Members 
had contributed. She added that the year 2012 had seen a slight increase in soft earmarking for 
specific programmes. 
19. With regard to the PLS, she said that a rigorous selection process in 2012 had contributed 
to more homogenous groups of participants, making it easier to deliver the intended training at 
the planned level. The advanced level training offe red was enriched with the organization of three 
new courses. She added that the introduction of the PLS had led to changes in TA activities in 
order to incorporate progressivity in the training offered. The effectiveness of these changes was, 
however, difficult to assess at the present time in the absence of clear benchmarks defining the 
substantive content of each training level on a subject-by-subject basis. Establishing such benchmarks was one of the ITTC's priorities going forward.  
20. The year 2012 had seen the development of a new e-learning strategy, as well as the 
introduction of four new e-learning courses. She highlighted in particular the new innovative course titled "My Course", which was based on a modular approach relating to the individual participant's needs. The French and Spanish versions of the new courses introduced in 2012 were 
currently under development and would be available in 2013. Turning to the regional trade policy 
courses (RTPCs), she said that these had been refo rmed in order to improve their cost efficiency. 
The cost of an RTPC, which was previously about Sw F 900,000, now averaged about 
Sw F 420,000. The coverage of RTPCs had also been extended to all regions. The planned RTPC for 
the Caribbean region could not, however, take place in 2012, and would instead be held in early 2014. In addition, there was no RTPC for French-speaking African countries in 2012, as a host 
partner was being selected. In 2013, partners would be selected for the RTPCs for English-
speaking African countries and for the Latin American region.  
21. She went on to say that, as in previous years, the LDCs had remained a priority in 2012. 
For example, 44% of the WTO Reference Centres that  were upgraded were fo r LDCs, and a specific 
course for LDCs had additionally been developed. Africa also continued to receive priority in TA 
delivery at both national and regional levels. She informed Members that e-learning had trained about 40% of the total number of participants, bu t at a cost of only 4% of the total. The WT/COMTD/M/88 
 
- 6 - 
 
  proportion between national and regional activities  was the same across all the regions, with two 
thirds of activities being national and one thir d being regional. Regional activities represented 
more than two thirds of the expenses across all re gions. The bulk of the training was provided at 
the intermediate level. In terms of the language mix for face-to-face activities, English represented 
60% of the activities, Spanish accounted for 20% and French for 15%. With regard to the gender 
mix, the Caribbean region had the highest number of female participants followed by the Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Caucus (CEECAC) region and Latin America.  
22. The Head of the ITTC's TA Monitoring and Evaluation introduced the Annual Report on 
Monitoring and Evaluation of Technical Assist ance and Training for 2012. He said that the 
introduction of RBM for TA activities had led to the establishment of a monitoring and evaluation team within the ITTC. The existing evaluation sy stem was reviewed and some new elements were 
introduced in order to have a complete RBM monitoring and evaluation system, which was 
currently being implemented. The system would keep relying on a self-evaluation of immediate results by the trainers. Future reviews and ex-p ost evaluations of programmes to measure longer 
term results would have to be based on a deeper analysis of facts and would use key indicators of 
performance. 
23. He went on to say that the e-learning courses were very successful in 2012, with an 
average success rate of 81%. Courses on sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures and on trade 
and environment had traditionally been the most  successful among the e-learning courses. For 
face-to-face TA activities, he said that the Secretariat was designing better performance indicators to help measure immediate results. A pilot on the use of a final exam in two RTPCs confirmed that 
more objective indicators could also be used, as had always been the case for e-learning. The 
mid-term review of the WTO Chairs Programme sh owed that this programme had been successful 
in stimulating academic activity on trade-related issues, but less so in monitoring the quality of the 
output and in reaching out to business communities or policy makers. Changes and improvements 
had been suggested at the last meeting of the Ch airs Programme. A number of changes could also 
be noted since 2006 in the areas in which WTO TA had concentrated in Kenya and Senegal. 
However, these two pilot country reviews showed th e difficulty of gatherin g enough precise data. 
Synergies with Trade Policy Reviews needed to be explored to overcome this challenge. 
24. On recommendations and lessons learned, he stressed the importance of continuing to 
have contingency plans to deal with constraints in human and financial resources. He highlighted 
the need to benchmark each of the three levels of  progressive learning to ensure progressivity in 
the training activities. He also highlighted the need to improve needs assessments in order to ensure that TA activities were designed to better respond to the identified needs, while also 
promoting quality instead of quantity. Finally, he indicated that the WTO needed to continue to 
ensure that effective modes of delivery of TA were employed. In the coming years, the organization had to move from measuring outputs to measuring outcomes, with the full 
participation and support of the stakeholders. 
25. The representative of the United States said that his delegation continued to support work 
on the monitoring and evaluation framework. He noted the finding that e-learning was rated as the 
most effective form of TA, particularly in the areas of SPS and trade and environment. In this 
regard, he observed that while e-learning was effect ive at a certain level, it did not necessarily test 
for the application and implementation of a rule or regulation. He suggested that it could be useful to consider whether designing face-to-face trainings as follow-on to e-learning would help to 
measure impact more effectively. He also noted that participants conducted self-assessments of 
face-to-face training by answering questions such as, "how effective was the training?" or "how well did the objectives meet your needs?" His delegation encouraged the consideration of building 
in stronger criteria and measurements to determine if participants understood and knew how to 
apply what they had learned. 
26. The representative of Oman expressed apprecia tion for the TA activities her country had 
benefited from in 2012. Her delegation looked forward to continued cooperation with the ITTC in 
raising awareness and building capacity in Oman. Noting the high success rate of the e-learning 
programme, she said that in 2012 there were 28 Omanis out of 210 Arab participants who took part in e-learning courses. This increase in Omani participation relative to previous years was due 
to greater awareness among government officials, an d possibly also to the fact that the e-learning 
courses were pre-requisites for participation in other WTO activities. While the increase in participation from Omani officials was a positive development, she noted that the Arab region was WT/COMTD/M/88 
 
- 7 - 
 
  under-represented in e-learning. The reports under consideration did not, however, mention the 
reasons for this under-representation or the challenges faced by the region. She suggested that some of the reasons could be related to limited access to technology and limited awareness, as well as the language factor.  
27. She went on to say that language would always put the Arab region at a disadvantage 
relative to other regions, whether in training or in negotiations. Ownership in the Arab region could never be achieved if TA was not conducted in Arab ic. In this light, her delegation requested the 
Secretariat to introduce an Arabic e-learning course. By doing so, the number of participants from 
the Arab region would increase. Also because of the language factor, the Arab region faced challenges in finding participants for the RTPC. He r delegation requested the Secretariat to conduct 
a pilot country review in the region, similar to th e ones that were conducted in Kenya and Senegal. 
The review could start with Oman, as well as with any other Arab country. Such a review would 
help to measure the longer-term results in indi vidual countries and the areas where there was a 
need for further improvements.  
28. Her delegation agreed with the recommendations for 2014-2015 mentioned in document 
WT/COMTD/W/199. While they were all important, she said that she wished to make some points on a few of them. With regard to the recommendation for the Secretariat to focus on face-to-face 
activities in areas and content where value could be added, she said that the participation of 
regional organizations such as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) or the League of Arab States would add value to regional activities. On the recommendation for the Secretariat to dedicate more resources to e-learning, she reiterated the importance of introducing an Arabic e-learning course. 
As for the future involvement of the WTO with th e academic world, her delegation believed that 
the focus should not only be on teachers or professors. A programme accommodating a mix of students and teachers could be envisaged. 
29. The representative of Nepal, on behalf of th e LDC Group, emphasized the importance of TA 
for developing countries and LDCs. He said that the LDC Group welcomed the efforts being made 
to make the WTO's TA activities more relevant an d responsive to the needs of beneficiaries. He 
appreciated that new areas had been identified fo r various courses, including for the course on 
LDCs’ interests and priorities. Noting that the Se cretariat acknowledged the importance of making 
courses more interactive, he inquired how this could be done, given that lectures dominated a large portion of the training time. On e-learning, he said that the subject coverage, outreach and 
interactivity needed be improved. In the meantime, he welcomed the recommendation for the 
Secretariat to focus on face-to-face activities wh ere value could be added. He also supported the 
identification of common needs at national, regional and global levels so as to avoid a duplication 
of activities. Given that the objective of TA activities was to enhance participants’ knowledge and 
understanding, he additionally supported the intr oduction of new means of testing participants' 
knowledge at the end of face-to-face activities.  
30. He went on to say that shrinking contributions to the DDAGTF was a cause for concern and 
could be a constraint in the effective implemen tation of TA activiti es. While the LDC Group 
appreciated the ITTC’s effort to ensure that results were delivered at less cost, it was nevertheless important to make additional resources availabl e to address increased needs. The reports under 
consideration indicated that, while the overall num ber of activities in 2012 had remained broadly 
similar to the number implemented in 2011, there was a reduction in some areas. For example, the number of national activities was reduced by 13%. He suggested that it was not sufficient to 
simply attribute this to a decrease in demand without delving into the reasons behind the demand 
reduction. With regard to interns, he observed  that the number of long-term interns from LDCs 
was lower in 2012 relative to 2011. He wished to know the reasons for this.  
31. The representative of Norway said that the reported figures relating to the participation of 
LDCs and the participation of women in WTO TA activities were positive. He encouraged the ITTC 
to continue its efforts in this regard. 
32. The representative of the European Union noted the continued decline in resources for 
WTO TA activities. In this regard, she expressed appreciation for the ITTC's efforts to do more with 
less, as well as the continued priority given to LDCs and to Africa in the TA activities. She also recalled the EU's continued and stable contributions to the DDAGTF. While welcoming the RBM 
monitoring and evaluation framework, she observed  that there was a need to put in place more 
objective performance indicators, especially with regard to face-to-face activities.  WT/COMTD/M/88 
 
- 8 - 
 
  33. The representative of Morocco, on behalf of the African Group, stressed the importance of 
TA for African countries and noted the positive evol ution in the WTO's TA in recent years. He said 
that the African Group had recently had a fruitful discussion with the Secretariat on several matters relating to TA. While the African Group was satisfied with the TA provided by the WTO, the 
Group also believed that improvements could be made  in terms of both quantity and quality. This 
could be achieved by more dialogue between th e Secretariat and the African Group before the 
implementation of activities. The objectives of TA could only be fully achieved if the beneficiaries 
were consulted during the design phase so that their needs were addressed. He noted the benefits 
of e-learning and encouraged the ITTC to continue to enhance the e-learning programme. He also suggested that a one-week training programme each September for newly arrived delegates in 
Geneva would be useful. In addition, the Secretariat could work with Members in undertaking 
national assessments of TA needs and impact.   
34. The representative of Australia welcomed the changes in the WTO's TA activities in recent 
years. He said that Australia currently had a mult i-year funding agreement to provide $A 6 million 
to the DDAGTF. This was in addition to funding for trade facilitation needs assessments, for the 
ITC and for the EIF. A priority for Australia wa s to ensure that the WTO’s TA supported the 
participation of Members and Observers from the Pa cific region in the multilateral trading system. 
The participation at a high level by Pacific Island delegations in the 4th Global Review of Aid for 
Trade reflected the level interest in the WTO and its work in the Pacific. The role of the internship programmes in helping to bring officials from the Pa cific region to the WTO was also very welcome. 
Given the distance from Geneva and the high costs involved, the importance of the internship 
programmes for the Pacific islands could not be overemphasized. His delegation strongly 
encouraged the ITTC to continue to use the internship programmes to bring Pacific officials to Geneva. He also noted the importance of activities focused on LDCs and the need to continue 
supporting LDC participation in the multilateral trading system. Turning to the two reports under 
consideration, he said that the preliminary assessment of his delegation was that the more robust and thorough monitoring and evaluation was supporting Australia's own monitoring and evaluation 
through the Australian Agency for International Development. His delegation would continue to 
work with the ITTC on the implemen tation of the WTO’s TA activities. 
35. The representative of Jordan said that his delegation supported the proposal from Oman 
for an Arabic e-learning course to be introduced. He believed that this would allow more officials 
and stakeholders from the Arab region to benefit from training on WTO issues.   
36. The representative of Iran said that, as an acceding country, Iran attached importance to a 
wide range of WTO-provided TA. He believed that the provision of reliable expertise to acceding 
countries would ease the process of their accession. He hoped that TA to acceding countries would 
continue to be provided and would be further enhanced. 
37. The Committee took note of the two reports and of all interventions. 
- Preparations for the 2014-2015 Technical Assistance and Training Plan - briefing by 
the Secretariat 
38. The Director of the ITTC said that effective capacity building required the involvement of 
beneficiaries and other stakeholders at every stage of the process. This ensured a sense of 
ownership and accountability by all parties so as to achieve the targeted results. In this context, 
the ITTC had held a series of consultations with various regional groupings to gauge views on what activities would best address beneficiaries' priorities. The consultations were conducted on the 
basis of the replies that had been received to the TA questionnaire that the ITTC had sent to 
Members. The results of the consultations, which were contained in document JOB/TC/6, were discussed at a meeting with the G-90 held in June 2013. The ITTC had also met informally with 
donors to share the results of the consultations and get their views on funding possibilities for 
proposed activities. 
39. She went on to summarize some of the results of the consultations. She noted firstly that 
beneficiaries had expressed strong appreciation and support for the quality and effectiveness of 
the WTO's TA over the 2012-2013 period. Some concerns were, however, raised about the WTO's 
"zero-growth budgetary approach", in particular in  light of the consequences that this would have 
on the TA activities. It was suggested that the I TTC should continue to provide TA programmes on WT/COMTD/M/88 
 
- 9 - 
 
  the DDA and on the WTO Agreements, but should al so design activities on new trade topics such 
as trade in energy and climate change. The consul tations had additionally brought out the need for 
the WTO to enhance or maintain cooperation with regional institutions and organizations in the delivery of TA and to increase engagement with other stakeholders such as academia, 
parliamentarians and the private sector. The Trade Policy Review process was identified as a tool 
that could be used for needs assessments and eval uations of the impact of TA. Appreciation was 
expressed for the PLS, with e-learning seen as th e best tool to deliver introductory training and 
face-to-face activities perceived as being more effective for intermediate and advanced training. 
The consultations highlighted the need to continue to consider experience as an equivalent prerequisite for participation in WTO activities. It was suggested that equal importance be given to accession and post-accession activities. All regions highlighted SPS measures, technical barriers to 
trade (TBT) and trade in services as priority areas.  
40. She said that the 2014-2015 TA Plan woul d take into account the outcome of the 
consultations, and would additionally take into account the lessons learned during the 
implementation of the 2012-2013 TA Plan. The new TA Plan would also be different from previous 
ones, as it would focus on results. An assessment would be made on whether government officials were implementing WTO Agreements and making full use of Member's rights, whether beneficiary 
countries were complying with WTO accession pr ocesses and procedures, whether Members were 
accessing and using information enabling them to raise awareness of WTO matters with all their stakeholders, and whether educational institutions  and the WTO-supported Chairs were applying 
WTO-related subjects in their courses and research. 
41. Going forward, the changing needs of Members would continue to determine the kind of TA 
provided. While this was particularly true at the national level, Members' needs would also guide the nature of the activities delivered at the regional level. There was, therefore, a need to move 
away from systematically offering regional semi nars across all regions on every subject. While 
some of the traditional Geneva programmes such as the internship programmes and the Geneva-based courses would continue, some evolutio n would also be observed in this respect. For 
example, in response to the needs expressed by beneficiaries, it was envisaged that the content 
and structure of the Advanced Trade Policy Cour se would be modified. Overall, Members could 
expect a mix of traditional products and new prod ucts. Africa and the LDCs would, however, still 
be given priority in the overall TA programme. She added that Australia's comments concerning 
the Pacific region would also be taken into account. In concluding, she said that the Secretariat 
intended to submit the new TA Plan for Members'  consideration at the last CTD meeting of the 
year. Consultations with Members would continue in the preparation of the Plan. She emphasized 
the need for flexibility in order to adjust the Plan  to the evolving needs of beneficiaries, and to 
possibly take into account any relevant outcomes  from the Ninth Ministerial Conference (MC9). 
42. The representative of China said that discussions were taking place in the Committee on 
Import Licensing on a possible workshop on notifications to be held in 2014. A number of 
developing countries, including China, had expressed their interest in holding such a workshop in order to improve their notifications concerning impo rt licensing regimes. His delegation hoped that 
this workshop could be reflected in the 2014-2015 TA Plan. 
43. The Committee took note of all interventions. 
D. REPORT OF THE 47TH SESSION OF THE JOINT ADVISORY GROUP ON THE 
INTERNATIONAL TRADE CENTRE UNCTAD/WTO (ITC/AG(XLVII)/251) 
44. The Chairperson said that the report of the 47th Session of the ITC's Joint Advisory Group 
was contained in ITC document ITC/AG(XLVII)/251.  She welcomed Ambassador Karen Pierce of 
the United Kingdom, the Chairperson of the 47th Session of the JAG, and Mr. Ashish Shah, the 
Acting Deputy Executive Director of the ITC. She invited Ambassador Pierce to introduce the 
report. 
45. The Chairperson of the JAG said that the Group had held its 47th Session on 6 and 
7 May 2013. The meeting was convened to  discuss the ITC’s Annual Report for 2012  and strategic 
orientations for the future. Government representatives had also announced their voluntary 
contributions to the ITC trust fund and had participated in the general discussion on the ITC’s activities and the future of the organization. WT/COMTD/M/88 
 
- 10 - 
 
  46. She went on to say that the Director-General of the WTO and the Secretary General of 
UNCTAD had in their opening statements reiterated the importance of the ITC’s work in supporting 
the private sector in LDCs. They had paid tribute to Ms. Patricia Francis, the ITC's Executive Director, for the manner in which she had guided the organization in the last seven 
years. They commended the ITC for its efforts to embed RBM and encouraged the organization to 
continue to deliver value for money. The Director-General of the WTO had identified four priorities for the ITC in the coming years, which were continued efforts in the area of non-tariff measures, 
investment in trade in services, assisting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) gain access 
to global and regional value chains, and South-South trade as a means to diversify exports towards emerging markets. The Director-General ha d noted that the element that tied these areas 
together was trade facilitation. The Secretary General of UNCTAD had highlighted the need for the 
ITC to continue promoting regional integration between developing countries and to focus on the 
link between export development, job creation an d poverty reduction. He noted that sustainable 
inclusive growth could only be achieved through growing the real economy and called for an 
honest study on the impact of global value chains on the participation of the most vulnerable 
countries in international trade. 
47. The Executive Director of the ITC had, in her statement, reviewed her seven-year term 
and the accomplishments of the organization in a ddressing the challenges identified in the 2005 
Danish Evaluation. It was noted that the ITC had moved from an organization which delivered most of its work through small one-off projects to an organization which used large multi-year integrated programmes to increase the value and impact of TA. The ITC had developed internal 
procedures for improved project management and delivery, and tools to better respond to 
beneficiaries' needs. These changes had contributed to a greater level of trust through consolidated partnerships with donors and beneficiaries. The organization had delivered 
US$40 million in TA in 2012, in line with predictions made at the 2012 JAG meeting. The 
organization had remained committed to the most vulnerable countries, which benefitted from 69% of country-specific and region-specific delivery. While this represented a slight decrease 
relative to 2011, the proportion remained higher th an in preceding years. The goal was to maintain 
o r  i n c r e a s e  t h i s  h i g h  r a t i o  o f  d e l i v e r y  t o  L D C s . The Executive Director had also highlighted the 
recent impact evaluation of the Ethical Fashion Initiative, the achievements of the ITC’s first 
generation of large programmes and the importan ce of the Women and Trade Programme. It was 
stressed that ITC had become a champion of wome n’s economic empowerment. In particular, the 
Global Platform for Action on Sourcing from Women Vendors had acted as a catalyst to generate opportunities for businesswomen in developing countries.  
48. The Deputy Executive Director of the ITC had then given an overview of achievements and 
challenges in implementing the ITC’s corporate strategy, which was adopted by the JAG in 2012. Significant progress was reported in implementing RBM, in the establishment of a quality control 
architecture, and in the upcoming integration of the ITC’s resource mobilization strategy with a 
novel approach to needs assessment and project de velopment. The Deputy Executive Director had 
noted that the first challenge was to regenerate the ITC’s pipeline of large programmes in order to 
maintain and increase the volume of delivery. The level of funding needed to sustain the ITC’s 
current level of performance was be tween US$40 million and US$45 million. 
49. The Group had broadly welcomed the Annual Re port for 2012 and had encouraged the ITC 
to continue building the export capacity of the private sector in developing countries and to 
support the integration of SMEs in global and regional value chains. The ITC was recognized as a 
model of good practice in RBM. Delegations t ook note of the ITC’s endeavour to progress on 
impact measurement methodologies for the next biennium and expressed support for the new 
processes that were being developed to improve needs assessments and to better integrate 
products and services across the organization. Support was also expressed for the ITC’s efforts to promote regional integration and intraregional trad e, and for the organization's strong emphasis 
on non-tariff measures and on trade intelligence  for LDCs. The ITC's Women and Trade focus was 
appreciated, as were efforts to further expand mainstreaming activities to promote an inclusive 
and sustainable model of development, focusing on poor communities, trade and the environment, 
and the empowerment of youth. Delegations co nfirmed the strategic importance of large, 
integrated programmes for the sustainability of the ITC’s impact-oriented strategy. There was a 
wide call for renewed support from donors for th e next generation of large programmes. The ITC 
was asked to not forget the challenges faced by middle-income countries that had the potential to 
contribute significantly to South-South trade. Fina lly, on behalf of the Group, the JAG Chairperson WT/COMTD/M/88 
 
- 11 - 
 
  thanked the governments of Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Norway, 
Sweden and Switzerland for their expressions of financial support to the organization.  
50. The Committee took note of the report of the 47th Session of the JAG and forwarded it to 
the General Council for adoption.  
E. TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT - WORK IN THE COMMITTEE ON THE BASIS OF THE 
CHAIRMAN'S CONCLUDING STATEMENT FROM THE EIGHTH MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE (WT/MIN(11)/11) 
51. The Chairperson recalled that, at the Eighth Ministerial Conference (MC8), Ministers had, 
inter alia , reaffirmed the link between trade and development and called on Members to fully 
operationalize the mandate of the CTD as a focal point for development work. The CTD had been directed to report the results of its work under the MC8 mandate to Ministers at the Ninth Session.   
52. She said that the MC8 mandate had been discu ssed at each of the formal CTD meetings 
since the beginning of 2012. In addition, several in formal consultations had been convened to hear 
Members' views and suggestions on what specif ically could be done by the CTD under this 
mandate. She recalled that she had particularly encouraged Members to consider submitting 
written proposals on concrete areas of work for the CTD, since written proposals were more conducive to a focused discussion and would also ensure a Member-driven process. Three 
submissions containing proposals for work under the MC8 mandate were currently under 
discussion in the CTD. One submission - by Chin a, Cuba, Ecuador, India and the African Group - 
was contained in document WT/COMTD/W/192. Another submission - by Australia, Chile, Colombia and Singapore - was contained in document WT/COMTD/W/191. The th ird submission under 
consideration by the CTD was by Barbados, on behalf of the Group of Small, Vulnerable Economies 
(SVEs).  
53. She went on to say that, at the 87
th Session, the Committee had agreed to one of the 
proposals in document WT/COMTD/W/192. The proposal was for the Secretariat to prepare an 
update to its document on the implementation  of special and differential treatment (S&D) 
provisions in the WTO Agreements and Decisi ons. The updated Secretariat note had been 
circulated in document WT/COMTD/W/196 and was the subject of the first sub-item for discussion 
under the present agenda item. She invited the Committee to address the first sub-item, after which Members could turn to the second sub-item which concerned the remaining proposals by Members. 
(i) Special and differential treatment provisions in WTO Agreements and Decisions 
(WT/COMTD/W/196) - updated note by the Secretariat 
54. The Chairperson said that the Secretariat compilation contained in document 
WT/COMTD/W/196 was an update of document WT/COMTD/W/77/Rev.1 of 21 September 2001 on 
the "Implementation of Special and Differential Treatment Provisions in WTO Agreements and Decisions". It built on a previous update prepar ed for the Special Session of the CTD, which was 
contained in document TN/CTD/W/33 of 8 June 2010. The focus was on the implementation of 
S&D provisions in the WTO Agreements and Decisions.   
55. Like its predecessor, the updated compilati on listed each S&D provision in the WTO 
Agreements, and provided a space for comments, particularly with regard to the implementation of 
each provision. The S&D provisions in the WTO Ag reements had been classified according to the 
typology developed by the Secretariat in 2001. Th is six-fold typology had been retained and 
included: (i) Provisions aimed at increasing the trade opportunities of developing country 
Members; (ii) Provisions under which WTO Members should safeguard the interests of developing 
country Members; (iii) Flexibility of commitments, of action, and use of policy instruments; (iv) Transitional time periods; (v) Technical assistance; and (vi) Provisions relating to LDC 
Members. A table in the Introduction of the do cument provided a numerical breakdown of S&D 
provisions by type and by Agreement. In addi tion, the update separately listed a number of 
Ministerial, General Council and other relevant Decisions that allowed for special treatment to developing countries and LDCs. Finally, she noted that the updated compilation identified the S&D 
provisions relating to which proposals had been made in the Work Programme on S&D under 
paragraph 44 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration. WT/COMTD/M/88 
 
- 12 - 
 
  56. The representative of Cuba welcomed the updated Secretariat paper, which in the view of 
his delegation satisfied the request that had been  made by China, Cuba, Ecuador, India and the 
African Group in the first proposal contained in document WT/COMTD/W/192.   
57. The representative of Egypt expressed appreciation for the updated Secretariat paper, 
which his delegation would study in detail. He added that that there were three proposals in 
document WT/COMTD/W/192, and the update of the Secretariat document only satisfied the first 
proposal. The proponents wanted Members to consider the three proposals as a package.    
58. The representative of the United States added his delegation's voice in expressing 
appreciation for the updated Secretariat paper.   
59. The Committee took note of the updated Secr etariat paper and of all interventions. 
(ii) Proposals by Members 
- Operationalization of the CTD's mandate: a proposal to deliver outcomes based on the 
MC8 mandate - proposal from China, Cuba, Ecuador, India and the African Group (WT/COMTD/W/192) 
60. The Chairperson recalled that there were three proposals contained in document 
WT/COMTD/W/192. The request in the first prop osal had already been satisfied through the 
preparation of the updated Secretariat paper on th e implementation of S&D provisions in the WTO 
Agreements and Decisions. Under the present sub-item, the Committee would continue its 
consideration of the second and third proposals in the submission. The second proposal was for the CTD to report on the development-related work of other WTO bodies and make recommendations to the General Council on achieving better coordina tion on development issues. The third proposal 
was for the CTD make a recommendation for parties to regional trade agreements (RTAs) to 
submit their notification and information requiremen ts jointly. She invited the proponents to take 
the floor. 
61. The representative of Egypt said that he wished to outline certain aspects of the two 
remaining proposals in document WT/COMTD/W/192. He recalled the first paragraph of the CTD's 
terms of reference, which specified that the CTD served as a focal point for the consideration and 
coordination of development-related work in the WTO. He then recalled that Ministers at MC8 had 
called on Members to fully operationalize the mandate of the CTD as a focal point for development work. He explained that the second proposal  in document WT/COMTD/W/192 was in direct 
response to the instructions from Ministers. Turning to the third proposal, he clarified that the 
proponents were not aiming to change any WTO rules through the proposal. He urged Members to 
consider the two remaining proposals positively.      
62. The representative of Cuba supported the in tervention by Egypt and expressed his hope 
that the Committee could agree to the two remaining proposals.   
63. The representative of Venezuela said that her delegation supported the proposals in 
document WT/COMTD/W/192.   
64. The representative of the United States said that he had comments on both the second 
and third proposals in document WT/COMTD/W/192.  On the second proposal, he said that his 
delegation remained concerned about how it would operate and continued to question its impact. His delegation also shared the concerns voiced pr eviously by other Members regarding difficulties 
in delineating development activities, given the broad range of work in WTO bodies. It was 
additionally unclear what specific problem needed to be addressed through recommendations to the General Council. While the US had previously requested the proponents to identify specific 
examples of problems they had encountered that would call for the proposal, no examples had yet 
been provided.  
65. Given that the CTD already had the ability to make recommendations to the 
General Council, his delegation questioned the need for a proposal that directed the Committee to 
do so. Mandating the CTD to make recommendations would not bring Members any closer to finding ways of improving coordination. More importantly, the US did not understand what problem WT/COMTD/M/88 
 
- 13 - 
 
  existed that would suggest that better coordination was necessary, as there did not appear to be a 
lack of coordination. The CTD already worked on issues addressed by other Committees. For example, the Annual Report on Technical Assistan ce and Training addressed TA needs related to 
Agreements covered by other Committees. While some Members claimed that the CTD was not 
informed on all development-related work taking place in the WTO, the US had difficulty 
understanding this concern given that the same Members were represented in other WTO bodies. In this light, his delegation saw no reason to mandate the CTD to report on all development-
related activities. 
66. With regard to the third proposal, he said that his delegation maintained its view that 
parties to an RTA should work together to the extent possible so that individual RTAs could be reviewed in a timely manner, thereby providing valuable information to the membership as a 
whole. His delegation had been very clear that it had no quarrel with any developing country 
notifying a qualifying agreement under the Enabling Clause.  However, not all RTAs qualified under 
the Enabling Clause. Ultimately, it was up to individual Members to comply with WTO notification 
and reporting requirements, including those in the Transparency Mechanism (TM) for RTAs. 
Although the proposal was stated as a recommendation, in so much as it could be used to push all developing countries to notify their RTAs under th e Enabling Clause, the US could not agree to it.  
67. He also indicated that the CTD was not the appropriate place to modify the RTAs TM. The 
RTAs TM outlined a procedure for both the CTD and the Committee on Regional Trade Agreements (CRTA), and the CTD therefore only implemented a piece of the Mechanism. Even though the 
CTD's implementation of the RTAs TM was only with regard to RTAs falling under paragraph 2(c) of 
the Enabling Clause, the proposal had a broader re ach and would also affect RTAs notified under 
GATT Article XXIV. Since the RTAs TM was negotiat ed in the Negotiating Group on Rules (NGR), 
changes to the Mechanism would need to be agreed to in that body. Furthermore, the US 
continued to see this proposal as unnecessary. He explained that the vast majority of Members 
already notified their RTAs jointly and that th ere was no need for a recommendation suggesting 
that Members do so. The proposal would not pr ovide a fix to the issues relating to dual 
notifications that had been discussed in the Committee. 
68. The representative of Nepal said that he wished to reiterate his delegation's support for 
the proposals contained in document WT/COMTD/W /192. The adoption and implementation of the 
proposals would greatly contribute to operationalizing the mandate of the CTD as the focal point 
for development issues in the WTO. He noted that  the Secretariat had satisfied the request made 
in the first proposal. It was now important to resolve issues relating to the remaining two proposals. 
69. The representative of South Africa expressed support for the proposals in document 
WT/COMTD/W/192. She noted that the proposals contributed to operationalizing the mandate of 
the CTD as a focal point for development-related issues in the WTO, as called for by Ministers at 
MC8. She suggested that the proposals be considered for endorsement as a package. 
70. The representative of the European Union reiterated the concerns that her delegation had 
previously raised on the second proposal. She said that it was unnecessary and impracticable to 
give the CTD the mandate to report on the development-related activities of other WTO bodies and 
make recommendations to the General Council. It was unnecessary because the CTD already had 
a mandate to look into development issues and report where necessary. It was impracticable in light of the difficulties in delineating deve lopment issues from non-development issues. 
Furthermore, her delegation was concerned that implementing the proposal might interfere with 
the work of other WTO bodies, which would be counterproductive. Finally, she said that her delegation did not see how the proposal responded to the call from Ministers at MC8 for the CTD to 
undertake focused work, since it was a rather broad proposal. 
71. The Chairperson suggested that the Committee conclude its discussion on the second 
proposal in document WT/COMTD/W/192 before moving to the third proposal. She noted that 
there was no consensus on the second proposal. That being the case, she said that she wished to 
inform the Committee that she had met with a legal counsel in the Legal Affairs Division to discuss 
matters relating to the CTD's mandate. The legal counsel's view was that the CTD already had the mandate to report on development-related work in the WTO. WT/COMTD/M/88 
 
- 14 - 
 
  72. The representative of Egypt agreed that the CTD already had the mandate to report on 
development-related work in the WTO. This was laid out in the CTD's terms of reference, which 
specified that the CTD was a focal point for the consideration and coordination of development-related work in the WTO. However, what was lacking was a mechanism to 
operationalize the CTD's role as a focal point. This was what the second proposal in document 
WT/COMTD/W/192 addressed. The proposal was a re sponse to the call from Ministers at MC8 to 
fully operationalize the mandate of the CT D as a focal point for development work. 
73. The representative of the United States no ted the legal counsel's view that the CTD's 
mandate already permitted it to report on the development-related work of other bodies. He said 
that this raised the question of why the propon ents had made the second proposal in document 
WT/COMTD/W/192, given that the proposal was for an existing text to be amended. He requested 
that the view of the legal counsel be shared with Members in writing.   
74. The Chairperson clarified that the legal counsel's comments were made in relation to the 
CTD's mandate, and not in relation to the se cond proposal in document WT/COMTD/W/192.  
75. The representative of Egypt, in response to  the comments by the US, explained that the 
proponents were suggesting an amendment to an ex isting text in order to fully operationalize the 
CTD's mandate as a focal point for development work. At the present time, the Committee was not 
provided with the information that would enable it to report on development-related work in the 
WTO. It was necessary for other WTO bodies to provide the relevant information to the CTD. While this had been done in specific cases, for example for the updated Secretariat paper on the implementation of S&D provisions in WTO Agreements and Decisions, it had never been done in a 
systematic way for the WTO's development-related work as a whole.   
76. The Chairperson said that she would follow up on matters relating to the CTD's mandate to 
see if any further clarifications could be provid ed to Members. She invited the Committee to move 
on to the third proposal in document WT/COMTD/W/192. 
77. The representative of Egypt, building on his earlier comments on the third proposal in 
document WT/COMTD/W/192, recalled that his delegation, along with the delegations of China and 
India, had raised several concerns in the CTD relating to the three RTAs notified under both the 
Enabling Clause and GATT Article XXIV. The proposal  had the objective of avoiding such problems 
in the future with other RTAs. He added that the proposal did not specify that the CTD should work to resolve issues relating to dual notifications, even though the view of the proponents was that 
the CTD had the right to do so. This was a compromise on the part of the proponents. 
78. The representative of Cuba expressed support for the intervention by Egypt.   
79. The representative of the European Union said that it was desirable for the parties to an 
RTA to jointly submit their notification and information requirements. However, it was not 
appropriate for the CTD to make a recommendation in this regard. In the view of her delegation it was the NGR that had the mandate to discuss issues relating to dual notifications. Furthermore, 
notifications remained the responsibi lity of Members.         
80. The representative of Egypt, in response to the intervention by the EU, said that the 
systemic issues relating to dual notifications needed to be dealt with. However, Members had 
different views on the body in which such issues should be addressed. Furthermore, it would take 
time for a solution to be found. Until a solution was found, it was important to avoid similar 
problems arising with other RTAs. This was the rationale behind the third proposal in document WT/COMTD/W/192. He indicated that if there were concerns with the CTD issuing the proposed 
recommendation by itself, alternative approaches could be explored. 
81. The Chairperson encouraged Members to consid er what possibilities might exist to move 
forward on the third proposal in document WT/COMTD/W/192, including through any possible 
collaboration between the CTD and the CRTA.   
82. The Committee took note of all interventions.   WT/COMTD/M/88 
 
- 15 - 
 
  - Supporting Ministers' guidance for focused work in the Committee on Trade and 
Development - proposal from Australia, Chile, Colombia and Singapore (WT/COMTD/W/191) 
83. The Chairperson recalled that the proposal in document WT/COMTD/W/191 was for 
Members to share their trade and development experiences in the Committee. She also recalled 
that interventions by Members in earlier CTD meet ings had suggested that it could potentially be 
useful if the ideas in document WT/COMTD/W/191 were merged with some of the ideas in the 
proposal by Barbados on behalf of the SVE s contained in document WT/COMTD/W/195. Her 
understanding, however, was that the proponents' preference was to keep the proposals separate. 
The two proposals would, therefore, be consider ed separately by the Committee. She invited the 
proponents of document WT/COMTD/W/191 to take the floor. 
84. The representative of Australia said that, since the 87th Session, the co-sponsors of 
document WT/COMTD/W/191 had benefited from discussions with other delegations. Several 
delegations had indicated their interest in the propos al. He drew attention to copies of an informal 
document that had been placed in the meeting room by the proponents, which provided some 
further information on how the proponents envisaged the country presentations to take place. He explained that a Member that wished to make a presentation would request that an item be 
included on the CTD's agenda, in accordance wi th existing rules and procedures. The informal 
document also laid out some indicative questions that a Member could draw on, including "What is the role of trade in your development?", "What challenges do you face?", "What successes have been achieved?" and "What lessons would you identi fy for other Members?". However, it would be 
for individual Members to decide the topic of their presentations, including with regard to any focus 
on a particular sector. He said that the proposal was intended to be modest, but would still add value to the work of the CTD. It was designed to  maximize flexibility and minimize the burden on 
small delegations with capacity constraints. With regard to the relationship between the proposal 
under consideration and the proposal by Barbados on behalf of the SVEs, he said that the two 
proposals were distinct but could be complementary. 
85. The representative of Chile expressed suppo rt for the intervention by Australia. 
86. The representative of the United States said that the proposal was helpful. His delegation 
appreciated that the proposal left Members with significant flexibility to discuss their individual 
experience of using trade in the service of develo pment. The proposal could also provide a useful 
platform for Members to gain valuable insights on the relationship between trade and 
development. 
87. The representative of Barbados, on behalf of  the SVE Group, said that the SVEs and the 
proponents of WT/COMTD/W/191 had had exchanges on their respective proposals and had 
decided to keep them separate. She said that the SVEs were not opposed to the idea of experience 
sharing, but believed that the proposal under consideration could benefit from additional 
clarification. The informal document that had be en made available would be studied and discussed 
within the SVE Group. She hoped that the information in the informal document could be incorporated into a revised proposal. 
88. The representative of the European Union said  that the proposal under consideration would 
add value to the work of the CTD, and in partic ular would allow focused discussions on trade and 
development.   
89. The representative of South Africa said that there were positive aspects to the proposal 
under consideration, which could be merged with  other proposals relating to the MC8 mandate. 
However, the proposal under consideration would not, on its own, fulfil this mandate. More concrete work would be required to assist developing countries enhance their development 
prospects and their participation in the multilateral  trading system. She suggested that it would be 
useful if the points contained in the informal document could be incorporated into a revision of the proposal. 
90. The representative of Venezuela said that the proposal and the additional information 
provided would be forwarded to her capital for review.      WT/COMTD/M/88 
 
- 16 - 
 
  91. The representative of Nepal said that some questions still remained on the proposal. For 
example, the outcome of the proposed discussion s and the follow-up process were unclear. His 
delegation also wished to know how and to what extent the country presentations would contribute to ensuring the CTD's effective coordination  of development-related work in the WTO. 
92. The representative of Australia said that the proposal on its own could not fulfil the MC8 
mandate. However, the proponents believed that the proposal would add value to the CTD's work 
and would therefore make a contribution to fulfilling the mandate.   
93. The Chairperson noted that a number of Members had raised questions on the proposal 
and that further discussions on the proposal would be required.   
94. The representative of Barbados requested that any further information on the proposal be 
shared with all Members. 
95. The Committee took note of all interventions.  
- Strengthening of the Committee on Trade and Development - proposal from Barbados 
on behalf of the Group of Small, Vulnerable Economies (WT/COMTD/W/195) 
96. The Chairperson recalled that the proposal by Barbados, on behalf of the SVE Group, was 
for workshops to be held under the auspices of the CTD. She invited the proponents to take the 
floor.  
97. The representative of Barbados, on behalf of  the SVE Group, said that the SVEs were of 
the view that a systematic approach to facilitat e the identification and discussion of issues and 
areas relevant to trade and development would be  useful. Only two workshops had been organized 
under the auspices of the CTD in the past 11 years, which pointed to the need for a systematic 
approach in organizing such workshops. She said that the SVE Group had been consulting with 
Members since the last CTD meeting. On the ba sis of these consultations and the concerns 
expressed by some Members, the Group had formulated a revision to its proposal, copies of which 
were available in the meeting room.1 The amendments explicitly recognized the trade and 
development link as well as the concerns that had been raised on the periodicity of the workshops. 
She looked forward to Members' positive feedback on the revised document. 
98. The representative of the United States said that the revised proposal would be forwarded 
to his capital for review. He noted that some questions remained on the proposal, which he hoped 
could be discussed further with the proponents. For example, he noted that the proposal called for 
the topic or focus of a workshop to be responsi ve to the requests and inputs from developing 
country Members.    
99. The representative of Venezuela said that the revised proposal would be sent to her capital 
for review. 
100.  The Chairperson noted that Members would need to consult with their capitals on the 
revised proposal. Further discussions on the proposal were therefore required.  
101.  The Committee took note of all interventions.  
F. ELECTRONIC COMMERCE - DECISION OF 17 DECEMBER 2011 (WT/L/843) 
- Report on the Workshop on "E-commerce, Development and SMEs" 
(8-9 April 2013) (WT/COMTD/W/198) 
102.  The Chairperson said that the CTD's discussion on electronic commerce (e-commerce) 
since the beginning of 2012 had been in relation to the 17 December 2011 Decision taken at MC8, 
which was contained in document WT/L/843. 
                                               
1 The revision was circulated after the me eting in document WT/COMTD/W/195/Rev.1. WT/COMTD/M/88 
 
- 17 - 
 
  103.  She recalled that, at the 86th Session, the Committee had agreed that a Workshop on 
"E-Commerce, Development and SMEs" would be held on 8 and 9 April 2013. She believed that Members would agree that the workshop had turned out to be a successful event. The report from 
the workshop which had been prepared by the Secretariat was contained in document 
WT/COMTD/W/198. She said that she wished to highlight some of the main outcomes of the 
workshop which were mentioned in the report. 
104.  One main outcome of the workshop was the interplay of e-commerce with customs 
clearance issues, trade facilitation and Aid for Trade. Also highlighted was the need for an 
increased awareness by governments in developing and least-developed countries to learn more about the challenges and opportunities posed by e-commerce, and especially the important role e-commerce played in assisting SMEs gain access to domestic and international markets. It was 
clear that a main focus of current and future work had to be on assisting the "least-connected 
countries". Presenters and participants had also helped increase awareness of the variety of tools which existed on the internet - many of them free of cost - and which could greatly assist 
entrepreneurs and SMEs in bringing their businesses online. 
105.  She went on to highlight some of the challe nges that remained for developing countries. 
Infrastructure problems were a major hurdle and much time was spent during the workshop 
discussing the need to upgrade power grids to counter the lack of regular electricity supply, 
difficulties with the physical dist ribution of products bought online and a general lack of electronic 
payment systems in developing countries. Another ke y handicap in many countries in Asia, Africa 
and Latin America was the lack of a reliable access to broadband, high speed cables. A further 
message from the workshop was the need for an entrepreneurial spirit when it came to 
overcoming the challenges posed by e-commerce. The refrain "Where there are problems, there are opportunities" was heard several times by private sector presenters keen on convincing 
reluctant government officials of the benefits of using e-commerce to help stimulate the sale of 
online food products, fish or hand icrafts by poor, rural villagers. 
106.  She informed the Committee that, in her capacity as CTD Chairperson, she had made an 
oral report at the Workshop on Services and E-commerce - held on 17 and 18 June 2013 - on 
some of the main outcomes of the April 2013 CTD workshop, so as to ensure that Members were informed about work under way on the development-related issues in the Work Programme on E-Commerce. On the way forward, the CTD's activities under the Work Programme on 
E-Commerce - and in particular the outcomes of the workshop - would need be reported to the 
General Council, as specified in the Ministerial Decision of 2011. In keeping with the Decision, she said that she would make an oral report on her own responsibility on the CTD's work on 
e-commerce at the General Council meeting of 24 July 2013. She also noted that the CTD's 
activities, as well as the activities of the other WTO bodies implementing the Work Programme on E-commerce, would feed into the process leading to MC9. In this regard, she believed that the 
outcomes of the Workshop on "E-Commerce, Deve lopment and SMEs" provided some interesting 
possibilities for future work in the CT D, which Members would need to define. 
107.  The Committee took note of the report of the workshop and of the Chairperson's 
comments concerning the Work Programme on E-Commerce.  
G. NOTIFICATIONS UNDER THE ENABLING CLAUSE 
108.  The Chairperson said that she wished to provide Members with a brief update on the RTAs 
notified under the Enabling Clause that were to be considered in the CTD's Dedicated Sessions on 
RTAs. 
109.  She firstly informed the Committee that the goods aspects of the India-Malaysia 
Agreement would be considered in a Dedicated Session of the CTD on 16 September 2013. This 
Dedicated Session of the CTD was being held back-to-back with the 70th Session of the CRTA, 
where the services aspects of the Agreement would be considered. The factual presentation on the 
India-Malaysia Agreement had been circulated in document WT/COMTD/RTA/5/1 and WT/REG329/1. Members had been requested by fax to submit any written questions on the 
Agreement by 6 August 2013.  WT/COMTD/M/88 
 
- 18 - 
 
  110.  Turning to the India-ASEAN Agreement, she sa id that the factual presentation on the 
Agreement was being drafted and would soon be sent to the parties for comments. She went on to say that for a number of RTAs - namely, RTAs between India and Nepal, India and Afghanistan and India and Bhutan – the full set of data needed to  complete the factual presentations had not been 
submitted by the parties. The Secretariat was also still waiting to receive some data relating to the 
accession of Rwanda and Burundi to the Protocol on the Establishment of the East African Community Customs Union. She urged the parties to these Agreements to provide the data as 
soon as possible.  Finally, she said that that there remained one RTA notified under the Enabling 
Clause that had not been ratified by all the parties. This was the Pacific Island Countries Trade Agreement (PICTA). Following the procedures of the CRTA, a factual presentation of an RTA falling in this category would only be drafted after the Ag reement had been ratified by all the parties. The 
parties to PICTA were urged to inform the Secretariat as soon as all ratifications were complete. 
- Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) notification of Customs Union – communication from 
China, Egypt and India (WT/COMTD/W/175) 
111.  The Chairperson said that the first sub-item under the present agenda item concerned the 
GCC Customs Union notification. The sub-item also referred to the communication from China, 
Egypt and India which was circulat ed in document WT/COMTD/W/175. 
112.  The representative of the United States said that his delegation continued to have 
concerns with the present sub-item being listed on the agenda. The sub-item had fulfilled its 
purpose of informing Members of the notification made, and needed to be removed from the agenda. He regretted that this matter had taken up so much of the Committee’s time over the 
past few years. These were the types of issues that took time, resources, and attention away from 
other pressing development matters. The US had stated its position on this issue clearly and there was no need to rehash those points. He expressed hope that, in line with his delegation's earlier 
interventions, the Committee could move forward constructively, recognizing that the GCC 
Customs Union was not an issue of dual notificati on, but rather something to be addressed under 
the RTAs TM in the CRTA. His delegation looked forward to the transparency review of the GCC 
Customs Union in the CRTA. 
113.  The representative of the European Union ex pressed support for the intervention by the 
US.    
114.  The representative of China said that his de legation's position on this matter remained 
unchanged. He noted that the representatives of Egypt and India were not present for the 
discussion under this sub-item, and requested that the sub-item remain on the agenda for further 
discussion when the key stakeholders were present.    
115.  The Committee took note of all interventions.   
- Notification of the Agreement on Trade in  Goods between the Association of Southeast 
Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Korea 
116.  The Chairperson said that the second sub-item under the present agenda item concerned 
the notification of the ASEAN-Korea Agreement. 
117.  The representative of the United States said  that his intervention related to both the 
second and third sub-items. He said that his delegation continued to have concerns with these 
sub-items being listed on the agenda. The sub- items had fulfilled their purpose of informing 
Members of the notifications made, and should have already been removed from the agenda. The issue of dual notifications was directly linked to  the functioning of the RTAs TM and went beyond 
the CTD alone.   
118.  The Committee took note of the intervention by the US. WT/COMTD/M/88 
 
- 19 - 
 
  - Notification of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement  between India 
and Korea (Goods) 
119.  The Chairperson said that the third sub-item under the present agenda item concerned the 
notification of the India-Korea Agreement. 
120.  The representative of the European Union said that her delegation continued to have 
concerns with the second and third sub-items be ing listed on the agenda. These sub-items needed 
to be removed from the CTD's agenda, as they had fulfilled their purpose of informing Members of 
the notifications made.  
121.  The representative of Australia indicated his support for the interventions by the EU and 
the US under the second and third sub-items. He noted that he had not heard any requests for 
these sub-items to be retained on the CTD's agenda.   
122.  The Chairperson informed the Committee that a written communication had been received 
from the delegation of Egypt, requesting that the first three sub-items under the present agenda 
item be retained on the CTD's agenda for the next meeting.  
123.  The representative of China expressed support for the request by Egypt.  
124.  The Committee took note of all interventions. 
- Generalized System of Preferences - noti fication by Norway (WT/COMTD/N/6/Add.5) 
125.  The Chairperson said that Norway's notification concerning its Generalized System of 
Preferences (GSP) scheme was contained in docu ment WT/COMTD/N/6/Add.5.  She invited Norway 
to introduce the notification. 
126.  The representative of Norway said that No rway’s GSP scheme had been revised several 
times since its establishment in 1971. Some amendments had been introduced on 1 January 2008, 
when the provision establishing duty-free and qu ota-free (DFQF) market access to the Norwegian 
market for all goods from LDCs was extended to include 14 low-income countries (LICs) with a 
population of less than 75 million.  
127.  She went on to say that Norway had made several more improvements to its GSP scheme 
with effect from 1 January 2013. In terms of the background to these changes, she said that in 
2011 the Norwegian Institute of International Affa irs had carried out a study of Norway’s GSP 
scheme. In the first half of 2012, an inter-ministerial working group made its recommendations regarding a revised GSP scheme. These were endorsed by the Government, and the Parliament made the necessary decisions as part of the State Budget for 2013. The most extensive change 
under the recent revision was to establish a new category of GSP beneficiaries. The new category 
of beneficiaries, which were lower-middle income countries and territories (LMICs) with a population of less than 75 million, had been es tablished on the basis of the OECD’s Development 
Assistance Committee (DAC) list of recipients of  official development assistance (ODA). This 
category of beneficiaries was granted more pr eferential market access than ordinary GSP 
beneficiaries as part of a new sub-scheme called "GSP+". One of the intentions behind the 
establishment of the GSP+ group was to soften th e transition for countries graduating from an 
income group which benefited from DFQF market access to an income group for which ordinary GSP preferences applied. She explained that th e provision of DFQF market access through the 
"GSP zero" sub-scheme remained limited to LDCs, as well as to LICs with a population of less than 
75 million. 
128.  The benefits of GSP+ included duty-free acce ss for all industrial goods. In addition, 
improvements in tariff preferences for agricult ural goods had been made, including duty-free 
access for an additional 49 tariff lines and a 50% reduction on 15 tariff lines. Improvements had 
also been made to the ordinary GSP scheme, which benefitted upper-middle income countries and LMICs with a population exceeding 75 million. As  part of these improvements, preferences on 
administratively reduced tariffs on cereals and soy bean oil cakes for animal feed had been 
increased from 10% to 20%. In addition, duty-free access was offered on fish oil for animal feed WT/COMTD/M/88 
 
- 20 - 
 
  and a duty-free quota for molasses had been established. Existing quotas for preserved ham, 
beans and green beans had also been made more flexible.  
129.  The list of GSP beneficiaries would continue to be based on the DAC list of ODA recipients, 
though beneficiary countries entering into a free trade agreement with Norway would be 
withdrawn from GSP preferences. Clear routines fo r dealing with changes to the DAC list had been 
established. In particular, in the case of a count ry that graduated to a higher income group, the 
preferences that applied to the higher income group would take effect at the beginning of the year 
after the country had been placed in a higher income group in two successive DAC revisions. 
Countries that moved to a lower income group would be granted the same preferences as other countries in the lower income group from the begi nning of the following year. In conclusion, she 
indicated that the Norwegian Government would continue to reach out to beneficiaries to allow 
them to better understand the functioning of the GSP scheme. 
130.  The representative of Uruguay expressed appreciation for Norway's GSP scheme and 
indicated that his delegation would study the recent changes closely.   
131.  The Committee took note of the notification by Norway. 
- Generalized System of Preferences - notification by the European Union 
(WT/COMTD/N/4/Add.6) 
132.  The Chairperson said that the EU's notification concerning its GSP scheme was contained in 
document WT/COMTD/N/4/Add.6. She invited the EU to introduce the notification. 
133.  The representative of the European Union sa id that the EU's revised GSP scheme would 
enter into force on 1 January 2014, which was 14 months after the publication of the relevant EU 
Regulation. This gave ample time for countries and economic operators to adapt. He said that an 
analysis of the current GSP scheme had revealed that, while the scheme was working properly, it 
was apparent that the time had come to take stock of recent developments in international trade. 
Notably, a number of economies had successfully in tegrated into world trade, while others were 
still lagging behind. The revised GSP scheme therefore focused on those countries which needed GSP benefits the most, taking into consideration their financial, development and trade needs. The 
new scheme was more dynamic and would adapt to th e changing needs of developing countries by 
using objective and clear economic and trade criteria. The revised scheme was also more predictable and stable.  
134.  He went on to say that the revised scheme maintained the arrangement of a standard 
GSP, a GSP+ sub-scheme and the Everything but Arms (EBA) initiative for LDCs. However, the 
standard GSP and the GSP+ sub-scheme now had a validity of 10 years, instead of three. The 
EBA, which granted DFQF market access to the EU market for all products from LDCs apart from 
arms and ammunition, remained open-ended. The GSP's potential for the support of sustainable 
development has been strengthened by the revision. The GSP+ was now more generous with countries which ratified and effectively implemen ted international conventions in the fields of 
human rights, core labour standards, sustaina ble development and good governance. The GSP+ 
monitoring mechanism had been enhanced and clarified, so as to allow a better understanding of how the effective implementation of these conventions could be ensured. More countries could also apply for the GSP+, and could do so at any time.  
135.  The revised scheme also improved the transparency of procedures, making it easier for 
economic operators and beneficiary countries to make use of the system and understand its mechanisms. This was particularly true for withdrawal and safeguards procedures, which would not 
change much in substance but were now more clearly detailed. The revision had been done in full 
and continued accordance with WTO requirements . The scheme was also compliant with the GSP's 
scope, which was to support economic growth and diversification in developing countries through 
enhanced trade opportunities.  
136.  The Committee took note of the notification by the EU. WT/COMTD/M/88 
 
- 21 - 
 
  H. NOTIFICATIONS UNDER THE TRANSPARENCY MECHANISM FOR PREFERENTIAL 
TRADE ARRANGEMENTS 
137.  The Chairperson said that she wished to pr ovide Members with a brief update on the 
preferential trade arrangements (PTAs) that we re to be considered in the CTD's Dedicated 
Sessions on PTAs.  
138.  With regard to the EU's trade preferences fo r Pakistan, she said that the draft factual 
presentation had been sent to the EU for comments and it therefore appeared that the PTA could 
be considered in a Dedicated Session of the CTD broadly within the timelines indicated in the TM 
for PTAs. Turning to new notifications under the PTAs TM, she informed the Committee that, on 28 March 2013, the Russian Federation had noti fied its GSP scheme. The notification was 
circulated in document WT/COMTD/N/42. The Secretariat was waiting to receive the required data 
from the Russian Federation which would allow th e factual presentation of the GSP scheme to be 
prepared. She urged the Russian Federation to  provide the data as soon as possible.  
139.  Finally, for the three PTAs previously notified under the PTAs TM - PTAs being implemented 
by India, China, and Chinese Taipei - she said that there had been no significant developments 
since her last report to the Committee. In particular, the full set of data required for the preparation of the factual presentations of the three PTAs had not yet been provided to the 
Secretariat. She urged the Members that had notifi ed these PTAs to provide the required data as 
soon as possible.   
I. REVIEW OF STEPS TAKEN TO PROVIDE DUTY-FREE AND QUOTA-FREE MARKET 
ACCESS TO LEAST-DEVELOPED COUNTRIES 
140.  The Chairperson said that an item concerning the Hong Kong Decision on DFQF market 
access for LDCs had been on the CTD's agenda since early 2006. Under this item, delegations had 
provided information on the steps they were taking , or had already taken, to provide DFQF market 
access to LDCs. Written communications by some Members had also been considered.    
- Market information and analysis tools - presentation by the Secretariat and the 
International Trade Centre UNCTAD/WTO 
141.  The Chairperson said that a representative of the Integrated Database (IDB) Section would 
make a presentation on behalf of the Secretariat. From the ITC side, she welcomed Mr. Yvan 
Decreux and Ms. Helen Lassen, who were both Senior Market Analysts in the ITC's Market Analysis and Research Section. 
142.  The representative of the IDB Section presented the WTO's Database on PTAs 
(http://ptadb.wto.org ). He recalled that the PTAs Database had been set up as an outcome of the 
General Council Decision of 14 December 20 10, contained in document WT/L/806, which 
established the TM for PTAs. He demonstrated the various types of information on the PTAs being 
implemented by Members that were contained in th e PTAs Database, including the beneficiaries of 
each PTA, regulations and other documentation, as well as preferential national tariff duties. He 
drew particular attention to the data concerning  imports by duty scheme that could be viewed 
from the Database. He explained that the provision of this type of data, which was now a requirement under the PTA TM for Members implementing PTAs, allowed a calculation of the utilization of each PTA by beneficiaries. The PTAs Database was also linked to the WTO's Tariff 
Analysis Online tool ( http://tao.wto.org ), which provided detailed information at the tariff line 
level. Finally, he reminded Members of their ob ligations to submit to the Secretariat the data 
specified in the PTAs TM.  
143.  The representatives of the ITC presented the ITC's Market Access Map tool 
(http://www.macmap.org ). They informed the Committee that Market Access Map had been 
developed by the ITC to support the needs of ex porters, trade support institutions, trade policy 
makers and academic institutions in developing countries. It provided information on tariffs applied 
by 191 countries and faced by 239 countries and territories. It also covered tariff rate quotas, trade remedies, rules and certificates of origin, WTO bound tariffs, non-tariff measures and trade 
flows to help users prioritize and analyze export  markets as well as prepare for market access 
negotiations. Users could also find ad valorem  equivalents for all non ad valorem  duties and WT/COMTD/M/88 
 
- 22 - 
 
  perform aggregations of products and countries as  well as simulate tariff reduction scenarios. In 
their presentation, they made several demonstrations of how Market Access Map could be used in various types of searches concerning particular products and markets.      
144.  The representative of Australia noted the useful market information and analysis tools that 
were available to Members, and in particular to LDCs. He inquired what information existed on the 
users of these tools, and whether training was offered on how to make the best use of the tools.  
145.  The representatives of the ITC responded that the ITC collected user data through the 
registrations that were required for the use of their tools. There were around 320,000 users of 
their tools across the world. Annual surveys were conducted to assess the usefulness of the tools. The ITC organized regular training activities in Geneva, as well as in other locations across the world. In this regard, they expressed appreciation for the financial support that was being provided 
to fund activities relating to Market Access Map and other tools developed by the ITC. They 
informed the Committee that online training was also conducted. For this purpose, the Committee was directed to the website http://www.itc-learning.org . In addition, free seminars over the 
internet were offered. 
146.  The representative of Nepal noted the usefulness of the tools presented and suggested 
that efforts should continue to be made to promote them to stakeholders.        
147.  The Committee took note of all interventions.  
- Better utilization of the market access pr ovided to LDCs under duty free and quota 
free - communication from Nepal, on be half of the LDC Group (WT/COMTD/W/194) 
148.  The Chairperson said that  the communication from Nepal on behalf of the LDC Group, 
circulated in document WT/COMTD/W/194, was introduced and discussed at the 87th Session. 
Nepal had requested that the communication remain  on the agenda for the present meeting. She 
invited Nepal to take the floor to make any further comments on the communication. 
149.  The representative of Nepal, on behalf of the LDC Group, said that the Hong Kong Decision 
specified that Members would notify the implementation of DFQF schemes annually to the CTD. 
The CTD was to annually review the steps taken to provide DFQF market access to LDCs and 
report to the General Council for appropriate acti on. He recalled that the LDC Group had requested 
Members that had not already done so to submit full and complete information on their implementation of DFQF market access for LDCs, including their plans for implementing the Hong Kong Decision. The purpose of the request was to maintain transparency and to be better 
informed. Many Members that offered DFQF market access to LDCs had met the notification 
requirements of the Hong Kong Decision. However, full and complete information was not available, which was why the LDC Group had made the request. He said that the LDC Group had 
taken note of the suggestions made by Members in the discussion on this matter at the 
87
th Session. Members had recognized the usefulne ss of enhanced transparency regarding the 
implementation of DFQF schemes being offered to  LDCs. It had been suggested that the PTAs 
Database and other existing databases already contained the detailed tariff line information that 
the LDCs were seeking.  
150.  In light of the suggestion, the LDC Group had requested the Secretariat to provide detailed 
information on the line-by-line tariff treatment in  LDC-specific preferential schemes, and on any 
dutiable tariff lines and existing quotas. The Grou p had also requested information on the value of 
imports under LDC-specific preferential schemes, as well as the value of imports under dutiable tariff lines. He expressed appreciation to the Secretariat for having provided the requested 
information and indicated that the information co uld be shared with interested Members. The 
information received showed that all developed countries, with one exception, granted full or close to full DFQF market access to LDC products, thus fulfilling the terms of the Hong Kong Decision. In 
the case of one developed country, the DFQF coverage under its GSP scheme stood at 82.5%, 
which did not satisfy the Hong Kong Decision. At present, DFQF market access was being considered in the context of deliverables for MC9, at which the LDC Group hoped to achieve a 
meaningful outcome on the matter.  WT/COMTD/M/88 
 
- 23 - 
 
  151.  He went on to say that DFQF market access was an important tool to help LDCs expand 
their trade, meaningfully integrate into the international trading system and address poverty and hunger through increased export earnings. Enhanced market access had been a continued call of the LDCs. Without easy market access, LDCs ' trade volumes could not improve and their 
marginalization would not be reversed. Given the continued concentration of LDCs' exports on a 
limited number of products, enhanced market acce ss conditions were of fundamental importance. 
He called for a timely and expeditious implementa tion of the Hong Kong Decision and expressed 
his hope that MC9 would make a significant contribution to further enhance market access 
opportunities for LDCs. 
152.  The representative of the United States said that his delegation fully supported efforts to 
promote transparency with regard to trade pref erence programmes. In this light, he expressed 
appreciation for the information provided by the presenters from the Secretariat and the ITC under 
the previous sub-item. He said that, in implementing DFQF market access consistent with the Hong Kong Decision, it was important for the US to carefully consider the potential negative 
impact on other LDCs, including those LDCs that already had considerable access to the US market 
through preference programmes. The US had long held the view that LDCs and low-income countries were unique and that one size did not fi t all. It had therefore tailored its preference 
programmes and technical assistance to target specific development needs. Any potential negative 
impact on LDC and developing country trading partners that already had access to the US market would need to be carefully weighed against the potential benefits to LDCs that did not currently have such access.  
153.  The Committee took note of the communication from Nepal on behalf of the LDC Group, 
and of all interventions.     
J. OTHER BUSINESS 
154.  No matter was raised under "Other Business".  
155.  On behalf of the CTD, the Chairperson expresse d appreciation for the work of the outgoing 
Director-General.  
156.  The meeting was adjourned.  
 
__________