RESTRICTED  
  
WT/GC/M/153  
 
2 December 2014  
(14-7020)  Page: 1/10  
General Council 
21 October 2014    
 
 MINUTES OF THE MEETING 
HELD IN THE CENTRE WILLIAM RAPPARD ON 21 OCTOBER 2014 
Chairperson: H.E. Mr Jonathan T. Fried (Canada) 
A formal TNC Meeting was held on 16 October. The minutes of this meeting are contained in 
TN/C/M/35. At the request of the Director-General , his statement together with the reports of the 
Chairs of the Negotiating Bodies (JOB/TNC/42), the statement of the Chairman of the General 
Council (JOB/TNC/43) as well as all statements made by delegations at the TNC meeting as contained in TN/C/M/35 are incorporated by reference into the records of the General Council 
meeting and shall form an integral part thereof. 
 Before the end of the meeting, the Chairman, on behalf of the General Council, bade farewell to 
Ambassador Stanislav KUBINEC (Slovakia), who was leaving his post at the WTO, and expressed 
appreciation for his valuable contribution during his time as Permanent Representative.  
Subjects discussed:
1 
1   REPORT BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE TRADE NEGOTIATIONS COMMITTEE .................... 1  
2   IMPLEMENTATION OF THE BALI OU TCOMES – STATEMENT BY THE CHAIRMAN ........... 3  
3   WORK PROGRAMME ON SMALL ECONOMIES – REPORT BY THE CHAIRMAN OF 
THE DEDICATED SESSION OF THE COMMI TTEE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT ............... 4  
4   TENTH SESSION OF THE MINISTERIA L CONFERENCE – DATE AND VENUE................... 4  
5   IMPROVING THE GUIDELINES FOR GRANTING INTERGOVERNMENTAL 
ORGANIZATIONS PERMANENT OBSERVER STATUS IN THE WTO – STATEMENT BY 
THE CHAIRMAN ................................................................................................................ 6  
6   COMMITTEE ON BUDGET, FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION – REPORT ON 
MEETING OF SE PTEMBER 2014 ........................................................................................ 7  
7   WITHDRAWAL OF NOTIFICATION UNDER ARTICLE XXVIII – STATEMENT BY 
UKRAINE ....................................................................................................................... ... 9 
8   AID FOR TRADE – STATEMENT BY THE DIRECTOR-GENERAL ....................................... 9  
9   CHAIRMANSHIP OF THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN GOODS – STATEMENT BY 
THE CHAIRMAN .............................................................................................................. 10  
10   ADMINISTRATIVE MEASURES FOR MEMBERS IN ARREARS – STATEMENT BY 
THE CHAIRMAN .............................................................................................................. 10  
 
1  REPORT BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE TRADE NEGOTI ATIONS COMMITTEE 
1.1.  The Chairman invited the Director-General, as  Chairman of the TNC, to report on the TNC's 
activities since his last report to the Council. 
                                               
1 The Proposed Agenda was circulated in document WT/GC/W/685. WT/GC/M/153 
 
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  1.2.  The Director-General, Chairman of the TNC,  recalled that since his report to the General 
Council in July, the TNC held a formal meeting on 16 October. His remarks and the reports of the 
Chairs of negotiating bodies had been made available to delegations in document JOB/TNC/42. 
1.3.  He had no additional news to report since his statement at the previous TNC meeting and 
would not make a further, substantive statement. He had the sole intention of giving Members his 
honest assessment of what they currently faced.  
1.4.  The consultation process that he had outlin ed at the TNC would start the following day. He 
would be holding a series of meetings in a range of different configurations. A Heads of 
Delegations meeting would then be held on 30 October. 
1.5.  The questions he had raised at the previous TNC meeting had been intended as a guide to 
those discussions – along with any other questions that Members wanted to raise. This was going 
to be a very important conversation about the future – in particular, the future of the Bali 
decisions and the post-Bali work program.  
1.6.  Members would continue to work to solve the current impasse, but they also needed to 
establish how they could move forward. He would be convening meetings, but as always, the 
substance would be up to Members. Whether, and how, they made progress would be in their hands. 
1.7.  He had heard a lot of different views from Members. He thought there had been, at the very 
least, a willingness to engage in that conversation, and to do all they could to find a way forward which would mean facing up to some tough issues and answering some difficult questions. That was what the consultation process would be all about and he urged them to be ready. 
1.8.  The Chairman said that the statements ma de by the Director-General as TNC Chairman and 
the Chairs of the Negotiating Bodies during th e previous TNC meeting had been circulated in 
JOB/TNC/42. Those statements would be included in the records of the current meeting.2 Given 
that the meeting of the TNC had been a formal m eeting, its official records would reflect all the 
statements that had been made at the TNC by all delegations. In addition, as the Director-General 
had noted, statements made by the TNC would also form part of the records of the current General 
Council meeting.3 
1.9.  He also recalled that at the TNC meeting he had provided a detailed statement on the state-
of-play of the discussions in each of the regula r bodies in charge of implementing the Bali 
mandates. The statement had been circulated in JOB/TNC/43, and would also form part of the 
records of the meeting.4 Since the situation had not changed in regard to those matters either 
since the previous TNC meeting, he would not repeat any statement on the implementation of the Bali Package under Item 2. Rather, he referred delegations to the document he had just 
mentioned.   
1.10.  From his perspective and from the consultations he had conducted with the Chairs of the 
regular bodies, he wished to highlight the seriousness of the situation. The impasse was having 
profound implications not only on the work of the other bodies in charge of implementing the Bali 
mandates which were experiencing a "freezing effe ct" of varying degrees, but on the Organization 
as a whole and the principles it embodied. As  had been announced at the TNC meeting, the 
current General Council meeting marked the beginning of a period of reflection, in which Members 
needed to start considering how they collectively saw the Organization working in the future, as 
the Director-General had focused their attention on, particularly in regard to the negotiating 
function.  
1.11.  As the Chairman of the General Council, th e body entrusted to carry out the functions of 
Ministers, he would seek to facilitate, together with the Director-General, any future discussions in the regular bodies and would continue, as he had during his tenure, to give the utmost priority to 
any effort aimed at finding constructive solutions to the current situation. 
                                               
2 See introductory paragraph, page 1. 
3 As above. 
4 As above. WT/GC/M/153 
 
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  1.12.  The representative of Uganda, on behalf of the LDCs, noted that on 30 October the Board 
Meeting of the EIF would be held which, among other things, would consider the report of the 
comprehensive evaluation of the EIF. The meet ing was important for LDCs given the role EIF 
played in their respective countries. He requested that the interest of small and less resourced 
missions were taken into account while scheduling the next HODs meeting to enable them to 
attend both the HODs meeting and the Board Meeting of the EIF.5 
1.13.  The General Council took note of the Director-General's report and of the statements.6 
2  IMPLEMENTATION OF THE BALI OUTCOMES – STATEMENT BY THE CHAIRMAN 2.1.  The Chairman recalled that, at the July meeting, he had circulated a comprehensive report on 
the work undertaken in each of the regular bodies  in charge of implementing the Bali Decisions 
and Declarations which could be found in JOB/GC/70.  He had also announced in July that he 
would continue to provide regular reports to the Council on the status of implementation of all the 
Bali Decisions, in close coordination with the Chairpersons of the relevant bodies and with the Director-General as Chairman of the TNC. 
2.2.  He wished to focus on the five Decisions on regular work since the report on the 
implementation of the Bali Package in JOB/TNC/ 43 had already been covered and brought forward 
from the TNC. 
2.3.  Regarding TRIPS Non-Violation and Situation Complaints, the TRIPS Council had discussed 
the matter both in February and June, including a submission from the United States (IP/C/W/599) which it had received prior to the June meeting. It would continue those discussions at its meeting scheduled for 28-29 October, with a view to agreeing on its recommendations for the next 
Ministerial Conference. 
2.4.  On electronic commerce, he recalled that in July, in accordance with the Ministerial Decision, 
Members had undertaken a review of progress based on reports submitted by the WTO bodies 
entrusted with the implementation of the work programme.  Pursuant to that Decision, they would 
undertake their next periodic review in Dece mber. He would ask Ambassador Alfredo Suescum 
(Panama), who had been entrusted with the role of e-commerce Facilitator, to carry the work 
forward on his behalf to provide them with an overview of the ac tivities taking place within the 
framework of the work programme. 
2.5.  There would be a separate agenda item on the meeting which would provide a relevant 
update on the Work Programme on Small Economies.  
2.6.  Regarding the Decision on Trade and Transf er of Technology, the Chairman of the Working 
Group had informed him that there had been no meeting since the General Council in July. The next meeting, the 3
rd and the last one for the year, was scheduled on 4 November 2014 and 
Members would therefore consider an update on that work programme at their December meeting. 
2.7.  Finally, concerning Aid-for-Trade, he recalled that the General Council had taken note of the 
new biennial Aid-for-Trade Work Programme at its meeting on 12 May 2014. The centrepiece of 
the work programme was the 5th Global Review themed: "Reducing Trade Costs for Inclusive, 
Sustainable Growth". The CTD had discussed the mo nitoring and evaluation exercise that would 
underpin next year's Global Review at its 31st and 32nd formal meetings and at two informal 
meetings. He understood from the CTD Chai r that the exercise was already final. 
2.8.  The General Council took note of the Chairman's statement. 
 
                                               
5 At the end of the meeting, the Ch airman, on behalf of the Director-G eneral, announced that in order to 
accommodate the request of the LDC Group who also wi shed to attend the Board Meeting of the EIF on 
30 October, the Heads of Delegations meetin g would instead be held on 31 October. 
6 Including the statement of the Director-General and reports of Chairs of Negotiating Bodies in 
JOB/TNC/42, the statement by the General Council Ch airman in JOB/TNC/43 and all the statements by 
delegations made at the TNC meet ing as contained in TN/C/M/35. WT/GC/M/153 
 
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  3  WORK PROGRAMME ON SMALL ECONOMIES – REPORT BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE 
DEDICATED SESSION OF THE COMMITTEE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT 
3.1.  The Chairman recalled that, in line with th e framework and procedures agreed by the General 
Council in 2002, the Work Programme on Small Economies was a standing item on the General 
Council's agenda and the Committee on Trade and Development reported regularly to the Council 
on the progress of its work in Dedicated Sessions on the subject. At Bali, Ministers had also adopted a Decision re-confirming their commitment to the Work Programme, instructing the CTD 
to continue its work in Dedicated Sessions under the overall responsibility of the General Council. 
3.2.  The Chairman read out the report on work in  this area on behalf of Ambassador Pierre Claver 
Ndayiragije (Burundi), Chairman of the Dedi cated Session of the CTD, as follows: 
"I am pleased to report that on 10 October, the CTD held its 27
th Dedicated Session on the 
Work Programme on Small Economies. Members discussed the follow-up to the Decision on 
Small Economies taken at the WTO's 9th Ministerial Conference. The Decision instructs the 
WTO Secretariat to provide relevant information and factual analysis for discussion among 
Members concerning item "K" of the Small Econ omies' Work Programme and, in particular, 
the challenges and opportunities experienced by  small economies when linking into global 
value chains in trade in goods and services. 
Members may recall that in my last statement to the General Council in July, I reported that 
the proponents of Small Economies had begun id entifying relevant issues and possible areas 
of research concerning the integration of sm all economies into global value chains. These 
research topics were compiled in an outline and this outline was circulated to Members on 
13 October. Members agreed at their last meeting that the deadline to make any specific 
comments on the outline would be this Friday, 24 October, and that once all comments had been received and agreed by Members, the Secr etariat would start its work on the proposed 
research." 
3.3.  The representative of Guatemala, on behalf  of the SVEs, thanked the Director-General for his 
status report on his consultations on the implementation of the Bali Decisions and reiterated the 
Group's full support to his efforts aimed at finding solutions to overcome the impasse Members 
currently faced. The SVEs believed in the Multilat eral Trading System and hoped that consensus 
and solutions would be reached to continue the wo rk on the implementation of the MC9 Decisions 
and the formulation and adoption of the post-Bali work programme.  
3.4.  The SVEs also thanked the CTD Chair for his report on the SVEs Work Programme. As he had 
mentioned, and in accordance with the Ministerial Decision, the Group's proposal on a framework for a study on small economies and global value chains was already on the table. The SVEs hoped 
to get positive feedback from the Membership in or der to start the work on the proposed research.  
3.5.  The representative of the United States said that his delegation supported the MC9 Decision 
on small economies and was committed in advancing that work including the report called for in 
the Decision. The United States appreciated the work of the Secretariat to produce the draft 
outline of proposed research that had been circulated to Members on 13 October. In order to produce the best possible report, the guidance provided to the Secretariat should reflect a 
consensus among Members. If work proceeded from an outline that did not have the support of 
Members, the final report was unlikely to contribu te meaningfully to the work to implement the 
decision. His delegation was reviewing the draft outline and would submit its comments before the 
24 October deadline. 
3.6.  The General Council took note of the repo rt of the Chairman of the Committee on Trade and 
Development and of the statements. 
4  TENTH SESSION OF THE MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE – DATE AND VENUE 
4.1.  The Chairman recalled his announcement at the July Council meeting that, in light of the 
communications he had received from the Gove rnment of Turkey (WT/GC/160) and from the 
Government of Kenya (WT/GC/162), offering to ho st MC10 in December 2015, he had intended to WT/GC/M/153 
 
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  restart the consultative process on the matter of the date and venue for the Tenth Session of the 
Ministerial Conference. 
4.2.  On 1 and 15 September, he had sent a fax to all Members inviting any interested delegations 
wishing to discuss the date and venue for MC10 to  come forward and meet with him. Since the 
beginning the consultations in mid-May, he had met Group coordinators and individual Members in 
three different rounds. While it covered a wide ra nge of Members, he had received communication 
either face-to-face or in writing from only a little more than a third of the Membership. 
4.3.  Those who had communicated with him, partic ularly in the last round, had expressed genuine 
appreciation and gratitude to the Governments of Turkey and Kenya for their offers.  Some 
delegations had expressed support for one or the other potential host, including through written 
communications, while others had raised some concerns of various nature for one or the other. He 
also observed that although there was no nomina tion and no candidature, a number of delegations 
had expressed affirmative support for MC10 to take  place in Geneva since holding the Conference 
at the "home" of the Organization would offer some practical advantages. Therefore, although 
there were two candidatures and there was no formal proposal for MC10 to take place in Geneva, 
in effect, three preferences had emerged during his consultations. In light of the situation and of 
the different views being expressed, and although he had hoped in the name of effective logistics 
planning to bring forward a recommendation, Member s were still not in a position to decide about 
the venue for MC10.  
4.4.  He informed the Council that, in order to advance the technical and logistical preparations, a 
small technical team of the Secretariat had been sent to visit the venues proposed by Kenya and 
Turkey under the authority of the Director-General.  
4.5.  He stressed that time was running and high lighted the intensive and time-consuming nature 
of the preparations that such a complex and vast logistical operation required. A formal decision 
on the venue of the Conference was needed as s oon as possible, and it would not be wise for 
Members to leave the matter to the December General Council Meeting. He said he would continue consultations, encouraged delegations to talk to each other and strongly urged those who had not 
communicated with him to come forward, in order to advance the discussions and build consensus. 
4.6.  The representative of Turkey said that his delegation had always been a strong supporter of 
the Multilateral Trading System and was very apprec iative of the role that the WTO played in that 
context. Mindful of this, Turkey believed that hosting the WTO Ministerial Conference was not only 
a right for Members wishing to do so, but also an important occasion to promote the values that 
the WTO presented in its country, its region and be yond, and the existence of the right conditions 
and facilities would contribute to its success. Cons idering all those factors, Turkey had decided to 
propose hosting the MC10 and hoped that its offer, along with that of Kenya, would be treated on 
their merits. 
4.7.  However, the Chairman's remark that so me Members had suggested Geneva as the venue 
confused him. He stressed that there were two offi cial and eligible offers by two WTO Members. As 
the Chairman had rightfully said in his remarks, no third offer had been made by any Member to 
host the Ministerial Conference. Furthermore, it was not usual for Members to propose another venue during the consultations while there were official candidates. To his knowledge, this was a 
f i r s t .  G e n e v a  h a d  a l w a y s  b e e n  a n  o p t i o n  w h e n  there was no other candidate but with MC10, 
Members did not only have one candidate - they had two. 
4.8.  As the Chairman had already informed Members by way of fax and statements at General 
Council meetings, it had been understood that consultations were underway on the current 
candidates. Common sense suggested that the option s available to Members were either Turkey or 
Kenya and they should opt for one of them under normal conditions. Only when both offers were 
clearly blocked by any Member could they look for other options and solutions, but that did not 
seem to be the case.  
4.9.  Turkey therefore expected the Chairman to  complete the consultations on the two eligible 
candidates, and call on Members who had not yet in dicated their preferences in order to build a 
consensus around one of the candidates.  WT/GC/M/153 
 
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  4.10.  The representative of Kenya recalled that  his delegation had offered to host the Tenth 
Session of the Ministerial Conference. As one of  the founding Members, Kenya believed that the 
WTO had an important duty and obligation to de liver the benefits of the Multilateral System 
equitably among all its Members. WTO Ministerial Conferences were of outmost importance to the 
operations of the Organization, particularly in terms of their negotiations and policy guidance. The 
Government of Kenya would be both pleased an d deeply honoured if it was accorded the 
opportunity to host the Tenth Session of the WT O Ministerial Conference, marking the first time 
that a WTO Ministerial Conference would be held in Sub-Saharan Africa. It would clearly 
demonstrate to the world that the Members were working to integrate the economies of this region – the majority of which were still weak and vulnerable – into the Multilateral Trading System. 
4.11.  Kenya was offering to host the Conference in its capital, Nairobi – a major international air 
hub, easily accessible from any part of the world. Most WTO Members would need no more than 
two flights to reach it. Over the years since the 1970s, Nairobi had hosted numerous conferences of comparable magnitude to the WTO Ministerial Conference with resounding success. Most of 
those had been held at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre, the proposed venue for 
MC10. Two recent conferences of that scale we re the ACP-EU Ministerial Conference and the 
United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) – both of which took place in 2014 in Nairobi. 
4.12.  An exploratory mission to Nairobi had already been made by a team from the WTO 
Secretariat. Discussions and presentations for the team had been held from high-level Government 
officials regarding Kenya’s bid on a number of issues  such as conference facilities, transport, hotel 
accommodation, security arrangements, and logistical support facilities, among others. The team 
had also been assured of having a sufficient complement of trained personnel and mechanisms in 
place to cater for all medical needs, including possible emergencies. A meeting had also been held with His Excellency the Deputy President, who had assured the team that Kenya had firmly 
undertaken to provide the necessary budgetary resources to meet its financial obligation for the 
entire MC10 process, clearly demonstrating its level of commitment to host the highly prestigious event.  
4.13.  He conveyed the personal commitment of  Ambassador Amina Mohamed, a former eminent 
Chair of the General Council and Kenya’s current Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs and International Trade, to oversee the entire proce ss and to ensure a most successful MC10. He also 
stressed the need for the process of selecting th e venue for the MC10 to be fully transparent and 
urged the Chairman to ensure that a consensus to  host the Conference should emerge from those 
Members that had formally presented bids - Kenya and Turkey. 
4.14.  The Chairman said that he was in the hands of the Members. He encouraged further 
dialogue and those in the silent majority to come forward. He understood that some Members who 
had chosen not to come forward were implicitly saying they would go with the consensus and had no preference. It was worth recording to incorporate the views of as close to the entire 
Membership as possible. The consultations would continue and as appropriate, and a special 
meeting of the General Council could be called before December. 
4.15.  The General Council took note of the statements. 
5  IMPROVING THE GUIDELINES FO R GRANTING INTERGOVERNMENTAL 
ORGANIZATIONS PERMANENT OBSERVER STAT US IN THE WTO – STATEMENT BY THE 
CHAIRMAN 
5.1.  The Chairman recalled that the matter had been on the General Council's agenda since 
February 2012 because, at its November 2011 meeting, the General Council had agreed to initiate 
a process of consultations to consider the issue of Observer Status for IGOs in the WTO, further to a communication by the Arab Group entitled "Improving the Guidelines for Granting Observer 
Status to Intergovernmental Organizations in th e WTO" which had then been supplemented by a 
further communication in April 2012.  In July  2014, the Arab Group – in a communication 
contained in WT/GC/159 – had requested to re-circulate their original proposal on improving the Guidelines for Granting IGOs Permanent Observer Status in the WTO, contained in document 
WT/GC/W/643. WT/GC/M/153 
 
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  5.2.  Since the July meeting, he had continued his consultations on the matter with a number of 
delegations. Unfortunately, he was not able to report any change in the positions previously expressed to date. As he had said numerous time s, he took the matter very seriously and he 
intended to continue consultations and to report to the General Council as appropriate. 
5.3.  The representative of Jordan, on behalf of the Arab Group, thanked the Chairman for his 
efforts and for continuing the consultation process. As Members were aware, a number of IGOs 
had been facing difficulty in having their reques t for Observer Status properly considered by the 
WTO. It would be crucial for Members to evaluate and revise the rules governing the process of 
granting IGOs Observer Status in the WTO. There was a real need to ensure that any request by an IGO to gain a permanent and/or ad hoc Observer Status in the WTO should have solely been based on the technical merits of such request. Objective and technical criteria needed to be in 
place to ensure the proper application of the guidelines applicable to IGO participation and 
representation in the WTO. Falling short of attaining that requirement would further risk 
jeopardizing the credibility of the WTO as a rules-based Multilateral Trading System Organization. 
Therefore, it was important for the WTO to revisit its cooperation with IGOs and on the conditions 
associated to the WTO mandate and activities. Thos e conditions needed to be clear and objective. 
The observership granting process should be neutral and transparent for all IGOs. The Arab Group 
remained open to further serious consultations with a view to seeing the matter concluded as soon 
as possible and sincerely looked forward to receiving positive news in that regard. 
5.4.  The representative of Dominican Republic, on behalf of the IGDC, requested that the item 
remained on the General Council's agenda until a satisfactory outcome was achieved. 
5.5.  The representative of the United States noted his delegation's long-standing objection to 
standing items on the agenda and would not support consensus in having that be one of them. 
5.6.  The General Council took note of the Ch airman's statement and of the other statements. 
6  COMMITTEE ON BUDGET, FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION – REPORT ON MEETING OF 
SEPTEMBER 2014 (WT/BFA/144) 
6.1.  The Chairman drew the Council's attention to the report of the Committee on Budget, Finance 
and Administration in document WT/BFA/144 and invited Ambassador Francisco LIMA (El 
Salvador), Chairman of the Committee, to introduce the report. 
6.2.  Ambassador Lima, Chairman of the Commi ttee on Budget, Finance, and Administration, 
reported that at the Committee meeting in Octobe r, the Director-General had presented an interim 
report on the Organizational Review taking place within the Secretariat. The Director-General had 
underlined the increase of the level of activity of Dispute Settlement and the actions taken by the 
Secretariat to allocate resources in that area. Members had expressed a great interest to be kept 
informed on the progress made on the Organizational Review process and had underlined the 
important need to invert the pyramid and monitor the grading structure. The Committee had also thanked the Secretariat for operating within a zero nominal growth. 
6.3.  The Committee had reviewed the WTO 2013 Financial Performance Report and the related 
report of the External Auditor and was making a recommendation to the General Council.   
6.4.  A member of the Secretariat had indicate d that the Secretariat had realised a budgetary 
savings of CHF 10 million in 2013. Improvements ha d also been done in the International Public 
Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) compared to the 1st year of implementation.  
6.5.  The President of the French Court of Audit, the external auditor of the WTO, had certified the 
2013 WTO financial statements, and had expressed reservation on consolidating the ITC accounts. 
He had also mentioned that the Secretariat had already implemented an activity-based budget.  
6.6.  The External Auditor had also conducte d a performance audit of the Human Resources 
Division by concluding that some recommendations had been applied and the remaining had been 
passed to the German External Auditor for the follow-up.  WT/GC/M/153 
 
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  6.7.  The recommendation of the Committee was as followed: " The Committee recommends that 
the General Council approve the transfers between budgetary sections as outlined in paragraphs 2.22 and 2.29 of document WT/BFA/W/334. The Committee further recommends that the General Council approve the audited accounts for 2013 ." 
6.8.  The Chair of the Working Group on Af ter Service Health Insurance had updated the 
Committee on its on-going work. The Working Group had met with the Insurance Company Vanbreda to discuss ways of controlling medical inflations with the objective of finalising the 
recommendations on the long-term financial viability and sustainability of the medical insurance 
plan for WTO staff and retirees. The Working Group had already met four times since its establishment in April 2014 and the Committee looked forward to receiving the final outcome of the work of the Working Group. 
6.9.  The Chair of the second Working Group on WTO Financial Regulations had been reviewing the 
WTO Financial Regulations. He reminded the General Council that those regulations needed to be aligned with new requirements imposed by the impl ementation of the International Public Sector 
Accounting Standards (IPSAS) and to accurately re flect current policies and decisions taken by the 
General Council. The Working Group had already met five times since its establishment in April and its draft report had been shared with the French Cour des Comptes , before they had left, and 
the incoming External Auditor. 
6.10.  The two Working Groups would finalise thei r work by the end of the year and submit their 
recommendations to the Committee on Budget and then to the General Council for its approval. Members were still welcome to take part in the Working Groups. 
6.11.  The Committee had been updated on the administrative progress reports related to the 
budgetary and financial situation and the extra-budge tary funds. The budget remained on track at 
the second quarter of the year and the number of  Members subjected to Administrative Measures 
had continued to decrease in 2014. He would read  at the end of the meeting the updated list of 
the Members and Observers currently under Administrative Measures. 
6.12.  On the Extra-Budgetary Fund, the Secretariat was encouraging Members to consider some 
additional funds to ensure a good start for activities in 2015. 
6.13.  The Chair of the WTO Pension Plan Management Board had presented his report on the on-
going actuarial review of the WTO Pension Plan . The Committee would be informed and regularly 
updated on the work of the Management Board unt il formal recommendations would be presented. 
The board would meet on 25 November. 
6.14.  The Committee had reviewed the revised annual report on the overall grade structure and 
promotions within the Secretariat. The Secretariat was making progress on controlling staff costs, 
rationalising the grade structure by recruiting at lower grades, and encouraging the reallocation of 
staffing resources to respond to changing priorities. The Committee had highlighted the importance of working on the job profiling and th e inverted pyramid, and was scheduled to meet 
on 7 November. 
6.15.  The Chairman noted that the budget through the first half of the year was well on track: 
49% expenditure for 50% of the year. One item of over-expenditure was exactly what the 
Membership had wanted to see – a slight over-expenditure on temporary assistance because of 
the cost of hiring additional dispute settlement lawyers, something that the Director-General had 
highlighted in his report to the DSB.  He noted that Members were being asked to make a formal 
decision to approve transfers between the budget ary sections. It involved a transfer to cover 
excess expenditure over approved appropriations using savings – a recurrent practice that was 
done annually subject to the oversight and approval of the General Council. 
6.16.  The General Council took note of the st atement of the Chairman of the Committee on 
Budget, Finance and Administration, approved the Budget Committee's specific recommendation in 
paragraph 2.7 of its report and adopted the report in WT/BFA/144. 
 WT/GC/M/153 
 
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  7  WITHDRAWAL OF NOTIFICATION UNDER ARTICLE XXVIII – STATEMENT BY UKRAINE 
7.1.  The representative of Ukraine, speaking under "Other Business", said that in the spirit of 
transparency and of strengthening predictability of  the Multilateral Trading System, Ukraine wished 
to inform WTO Members of the withdrawal  of Communication G/SECRET/34, dated 
12 September 2012, concerning negotiations and consultations for modification of certain 
concessions included in Schedule CLXII – Ukra ine under Article XXVIII of the General Agreement 
on Tariffs and Trade 1994.  
7.2.  Ukraine expressed its deepest appreciati on and recognition to the WTO Members who had 
expressed interest in conducting negotiations and consultations in accordance with Article XXVIII of GATT 1994, especially to those WTO Members who had provided important support to Ukraine in an extremely difficult situation. Recent events  in Ukraine had seriously impacted the course of 
those consultations and negotiations. Economic conditions in Ukraine had deteriorated 
considerably since 2013. Industrial production had fallen drastically, and the national currency had devalued considerably. Unlawful annexation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea by the Russian 
Federation and its subversive activities in the southeast of Ukraine had had negative impacts on 
the economic activities of its enterprises and their trade. All those factors combined had made it necessary for Ukraine to reconsider its plans regarding negotiations under Art. XXVIII GATT 1994. 
7.3.  He said that Ukraine and other recently acceded Members had contributed far more to the 
WTO system than many other GATT/WTO Member s. Ukraine strongly hoped that this was 
recognised within the multilateral system and firmly believed in the WTO’s ability to accommodate the needs of its individual Members. Ukra ine underlined that Article XXVIII of GATT 1994 
"Modification of Schedules" was an integral part of the multilateral legal system, which served 
legitimate trade policy objectives, and reserved the right to use all the instruments of the WTO to pursue its trade interests. 
7.4.  The General Council took note of the statement. 
8  AID FOR TRADE – STATEMENT BY THE DIRECTOR-GENERAL  
8.1.  The Director-General, speaking under "Other Business", said he thought there was a wide-
spread appreciation of the value of Aid for Trad e in supporting development, and particularly for 
the LDCs. In his conversations with ministers and heads of other international organizations, he was already starting to hear a lot of interest in the Aid-for-Trade Global Review held every 2 years, 
with the next one in 2015.  
8.2.  2015 would be a very important year in the development calendar. The UN's post-2015 
development agenda and the sustainable develo pment goals would be finalised, and so he 
expected that interest in the Global Review woul d only increase. Therefore he wanted to take the 
opportunity of the meeting to give Members a quic k update on the Global Review. In doing so, he 
thanked the Chair of the Committee on Trade an d Development, Ambassador Pierre Ndayiragije 
(Burundi), for his excellent work in taking this initiative forward. 
8.3.  The Aid-for-Trade work programme, which had been before the General Council at its 
meeting in May, had set the theme for the 5th Global Review and had also scheduled it for mid-2015. He was pleased to confirm at the meeting that the exact dates for the Global Review would be from the 30 June to 2 July 2015. He would give Members those dates in writing very shortly in 
a letter to all delegations.  The letter would also include details of how to participate in the Aid-for-
Trade monitoring and evaluation exercise. The CT D Chair had already consulted extensively on the 
issue. Thus, Members were all aware that the moni toring and evaluation exercise was central to 
the Global Review. 
8.4.  Previous Global Reviews had been hugely enriched by Members' active participation. He was 
therefore counting on their continued engagement and requested that they transmitted details of 
how to participate in the exercise to their capita ls. Looking forward, he encouraged the CTD Chair 
to continue his good work and consult with all Members on the organization of next year's Global Review. By working together they would ensure that the process was a success. 
8.5.  The General Council took note of the Director-General's statement. WT/GC/M/153 
 
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  9  CHAIRMANSHIP OF THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN GOODS – STATEMENT BY THE 
CHAIRMAN 
9.1.  The Chairman, speaking under "Other Business", recalled that as he had announced at the 
July General Council meeting, in light of the departure of Ambassador Joaquim Reiter (Sweden), 
Chairman of the Council for Trade in Goods, he had conducted consultations to appoint a new 
Chair for the Goods Council for the remainder of the term.  
9.2.  In accordance with Paragraph 7.1(b) of the Guidelines for the Appointment of Officers in 
WT/L/510, he had conducted those consultations with the able assistance of Ambassador Fernando 
De Mateo (Mexico), Chairman of the Dispute Settl ement Body. In undertaking the process set out 
in the Guidelines, they had put into effect the practical steps to improve their implementation 
agreed by the General Council in July 2012, and contained in JOB/GC/22. He was pleased to report 
that having followed those guidelines and practi cal steps built by them, consensus was reached on 
the appointment of Ambassador Atanas Atanassov Paparizov (Bulgaria) as Chairman of the Council for Trade in Goods for the remainder of the term. Ambassador Paparizov would formally be 
appointed at the next meeting of the Goods Council.  
9.3.  The General Council took note of the statement. 
10  ADMINISTRATIVE MEASURES FOR MEMBERS IN ARREARS – STATEMENT BY THE 
CHAIRMAN 
10.1.  The Chairman, speaking under "Other Business", recalled that the new revised 
Administrative Measures for Members in arrears, contained in WT/BFA/132, Annex I, had entered 
into force on 1 January 2013.   
10.2.  Those measures included a requirement th at, at the end of each meeting of the General 
Council, the Chairman of the Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration should provide information with regard to which Members and Ob servers were under Administrative Measures. He 
invited the Chairman of the Budget Committee, Ambassador Francisco LIMA (El Salvador), to 
provide the Council with the information. 
10.3.  Ambassador Lima, Chairman of the Commi ttee on Budget, Finance, and Administration, 
recalled that the General Council had approved the new rules for Members and Observers subject 
to Administrative Measures. Those rules had been implemented effectively on 1 March 2013 and as had been required by the decision of the Gene ral Council, he should list Members and Observers 
under all categories of Administrative Measures as at 31 October 2014. There were 3 Members in 
Category 1: Cameroon, Tanzania and Vanuatu. There were 3 Members in Category 2: Antigua and 
Barbuda, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and The former Republic of Macedonia. There were 5 Members and 1 Observer in Category 3: Centra l African Republic, Dominica, Grenada, Guinea-
Bissau, Mauritania and Sao Tomé and Principe (Observer). 
10.4.  The Chairman said he was also required at each Council meeting to request those Members 
and Observers that Ambassador Lima had named in Categories II and III to inform the Secretariat 
as to when their payment of arrears might be expected.  
10.5.  The General Council took note of the statement. 
 
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