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General Council 
10-11 December 2014   
 
MINUTES OF THE MEETING 
HELD IN THE CENTRE WILLIAM RA PPARD ON 10-11 DECEMBER 2014 
Chairperson: H.E. Mr Jonathan T. Fried (Canada) 
The Chairman, on behalf of all WTO Member and Observer delegations welcomed 
H.E. Mr Pierre Laporte, Minister of Finance, Trade and Investment, of the Republic of Seychelles 
and his entire delegation and H.E. Ms Amina Mohamed, Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kenya.  
 
Subjects discussed:
1 
 
1   ACCESSION OF THE REPUBLIC OF SEYCHELLES – REPORT OF THE WORKING 
PARTY ......................................................................................................................... ..... 3  
2   REPORT BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE TRADE NEGOTIATIONS COMMITTEE .................. 11  
3   IMPLEMENTATION OF THE BALI OU TCOMES – STATEMENT BY THE CHAIRMAN ......... 33  
4   WORK PROGRAMME ON SMALL ECONOMIES – REPORT BY THE CHAIRMAN OF 
THE DEDICATED SESSION OF THE COMMI TTEE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT ............. 35  
5   WORK PROGRAMME ON E-COMME RCE - REVIEW OF PROGRESS ................................ 39  
6   THE DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE AS PECTS OF COTTON - STATEMENT BY THE 
DIRECTOR-GENERAL ...................................................................................................... 42  
7   WTO ACCESSIONS: 2014 ANNUAL REPORT BY THE DIRECTOR-GENERAL – 
STATEMENT BY DIRE CTOR-GENER AL ............................................................................. 44  
8   WT/DS285: UNITED STATES – ME ASURES AFFECTING THE CROSS-BORDER 
SUPPLY OF GAMBLING AND BETTING SERVICES – COMMUNICATION FROM 
ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA ................................................................................................ 48  
9   TENTH SESSION OF THE MINISTERIA L CONFERENCE – DATE AND VENUE................. 55  
10   WTO TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY – STATEMENT BY THE DEPUTY DIRECTOR-
GENERAL ....................................................................................................................... . 61 
11   REVIEW UNDER PARAGRAPH 8 OF THE DECISION ON THE 
IMPLEMENTATION OF PARAGRAPH 6 OF THE DOHA DECLARATION ON THE TRIPS AGREEMENT AND PUBLIC HEALTH – REPORT OF THE COUNCIL FOR TRIPS ......... 63
 
12   WAIVERS UNDER ARTICLE IX  OF THE WTO AGREEMENT ......................................... 65  
12.1   INTRODUCTION OF HARMONIZED SYSTEM 2002 CHANGES INTO WTO SCHEDULES 
OF TARIFF CONCESSIONS – DRAFT DE CISION ..................................................................... 65 
12.2   INTRODUCTION OF HARMONIZED SYSTEM 2007 CHANGES INTO WTO SCHEDULES 
OF TARIFF CONCESSIONS – DRAFT DE CISION ..................................................................... 65 
                                               
1 The Proposed Agenda was circulated in document WT/GC/W/691. WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  12.3   INTRODUCTION OF HARMONIZED SYSTEM 2012 CHANGES INTO WTO SCHEDULES 
OF TARIFF CONCESSIONS – DRAFT DE CISION ..................................................................... 65 
12.4   REVIEW OF WAIVERS PURSUANT TO  ARTICLE IX:4 OF THE WTO AG REEMENT ................. 66 
12.4.1   Preferential treatment to services  and service suppliers of least developed 
countries, granted on 17 December  2011 until 17 December 2026 .......................................... 66 
12.4.2   Kimberley process certification scheme for rough diamonds, granted on 
12 December 2012 until 31  December  2018  ........................................................................ 66 
12.4.3   European Union - Application of auto nomous preferential treatment to the West 
Balkans, granted on 30 November 2011 until 31 December 2016 ............................................ 66 
12.4.4   European Union – Application of autonomous preferential treatment to Moldova, 
granted on 26 November 2013 until 31 Decemb er 2015 ........................................................ 66 
12.4.5   Cuba – Article XV:6 of GATT 1994, extension of waiver, granted on 
14 February 2012 until 31 December 2016 .......................................................................... 66 
13   IMPROVING THE GUIDELINES FOR GRANTING INTERGOVERNMENTAL 
ORGANIZATIONS PERMANENT OBSERVER STATUS IN THE WTO - STATEMENT BY 
THE CHAIRMAN .............................................................................................................. 66  
14   COMMITTEE ON BUDGET, FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION - REPORTS ON 
MEETINGS OF NO VEMBER 2014 ..................................................................................... 68  
15   INTERNATIONAL TRADE CENTRE UN CTAD/WTO - REPORT OF THE JOINT 
ADVISORY GROUP ON ITS 48TH SE SSION ..................................................................... 69  
16   AGREEMENT ON THE TRANSFER OF PENSION RIGHTS OF PARTICIPANTS IN 
THE WTO PENSION PLAN (WTOPP) AN D IN THE COORDINATED AGENCIES 
PLANS: NATO UPDATE .................................................................................................... 70  
17   REVIEW OF WT O ACTIVITI ES .................................................................................. 70  
17.1   General Council, Dispute Settlement Body, and Trade Policy Review Body ....................... 70 
17.2   Sector al Councils .................................................................................................... 70 
17.3   Committees on Trade and Development, Trade and Environment, Balance-Of-
Payments Restrictions, Budget, Finance and Administration, and Regional Trade 
Agreements ....................................................................................................................  70 
17.4   Working Groups on Trade, Debt and Finance and Trade and Transfer of Technology ......... 70 
17.5   Committees under the Pl urilateral Trad e Agreements ................................................... 70 
18   APPOINTMENT OF OFFICERS TO WTO BODIES – ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE 
CHAIRMAN PURSUANT TO PARAGRAPH 7.1(A) OF THE GUIDELINES ............................. 72  
19   ADMINISTRATIVE MEASURES FOR MEMBERS IN ARREARS – STATEMENT BY 
THE CHAIRMAN .............................................................................................................. 72  
20   INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AGREEM ENT – STATEMENT BY THE EUROPEAN 
UNION ......................................................................................................................... .. 73  
21   SECOND UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON LANDLOCKED DEVELOPING 
COUNTRIES – STATEMEN T BY PARAGUAY ...................................................................... 74  
ANNEX 1 – STATEMENT BY EGYPT ON THE ACCESSION OF THE REPUBLIC OF 
SEYCHELLES ................................................................................................................... 75  
ANNEX 2 – STATEMENT BY COTE D'IVOIRE ON THE REPORT BY THE CHAIRMAN 
OF THE TRADE NEGOTI ATIONS CO MMITTEE................................................................... 76  
ANNEX 3 – STATEMENT BY AUSTRALIA ON BEHALF OF THE CAIRNS GROUP ON 
THE 4 DECEMBER 2014 MEETING OF THE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE – 
SPECIAL SE SSION .......................................................................................................... 77  
ANNEX 4 – STATEMENT BY THE C-4 ON THE 21ST ROUND OF THE WTO 
DIRECTOR-GENERAL'S CONSULTATIVE FRAMEWORK MECHANISM ON COTTON 
ON 20 JUNE  2014 ........................................................................................................... 78  WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  ANNEX 5 – STATEMENT BY THE C-4 ON THE 22ND ROUND OF THE WTO 
DIRECTOR-GENERAL'S CONSULTATIVE FRAMEWORK MECHANISM ON COTTON ON 28 NOVEMB ER 2014 ................................................................................................. 80
 
 
1  ACCESSION OF THE REPUBLIC OF SEYCHELLES – REPORT OF THE WORKING PARTY 
(WT/ACC/SYC/64 AND WT/ACC/SYC/64/ADD.1 AND WT/ACC/SYC/64/ADD.2) 
1.1.  The Chairman recalled that, in July 1995, the General Council had established a Working 
Party to examine the request by Seychelles for a ccession. On 17 October 2014, the Working Party 
had approved, ad referendum, the accession package of the Republic of Seychelles.  The Report of 
the Working Party was therefore before the General Council for consideration and adoption in documents WT/ACC/SYC/64 and Addenda 1 and 2. 
1.2.   Accordingly, he invited the Chairperson of  the Working Party, Ms Hilda Al-Hinai (Oman), to 
introduce the report and its annexes. 
1.3.  Ms Hilda Al-Hinai (Oman), Chairperson of the Working Party on the Accession of Seychelles, 
said that after a nineteen year process, that day was a historic day for the Government and People 
of the Republic of Seychelles. As with every new accession, that occasion also marked a significant 
moment for the WTO. With the acceptance of each new Member, the community of Most-Favoured 
Nations continued to grow stronger and moved even closer to becoming truly global.  
1.4.  The successful conclusion of WTO accession negotiations should not be taken for granted. 
Accession negotiations were painful and long-lasting. They entailed domestic, legislative and institutional reforms that were extensive and time-consuming, WTO-consistent and aligned to 
economic strategies and policies.  
1.5.  She recalled that she had been part of th e negotiating team for the Accession of Oman and 
had been honoured to chair the Working Party on the Accession of the Republic of Seychelles. She 
knew that accession negotiations were tough but from any perspective she could confirm that the 
benefits for the acceding government and the syst em were significant, positive and of lasting 
value. The resulting accession package therefor e represented a delicate balance. It had been 
painstakingly prepared over years of analysis, hard negotiations and detailed technical work.  
1.6.  For the Seychelles, like many others, the road had been long and sometimes daunting. Back 
in 1995, when a Working Party had been established to examine the Seychelles' request for accession, few observers would have predicted that the journey would take close to twenty years. 
But while the process had been lengthy, it was ultimately rewarding. 
1.7.  She was honoured to introduce the Accession Package of the Republic of Seychelles and to 
report on the conclusions and recommendations of that Package. She paid tribute to the work of 
her esteemed predecessors Ambassador Jaona Ravaloson from Madagascar and Ambassador 
Miguel Berthet from Uruguay who had steered the proceedings in the earlier stages. It had been a real privilege for her to follow in their footsteps and be associated with that process. 
1.8.  Five years before, in 2009, the WTO Membership had entrusted her with the Working Party 
Chairpersonship. In November 2010, she had chaire d the first meeting of the Working Party. That 
meeting marked the resumption of the process from ten years of dormancy and the start of the substantive part of the accession negotiations. Work had gathered momentum in late 2013. By the 
start of 2014, they had reached full speed which had carried them forward to that day. 
1.9.  She paid tribute to the Seychelles' team for having devoted and committed negotiators under 
the leadership of Minister Pierre Laporte; his Chief Negotiator, Mr Charles Morin; the Director-
General for Trade, Ms Cillia Mangroo and Chargé d'Affaires, Ms Rudy Rose. The entire team had 
done an exemplary job working diligently and effect ively, often around the clock, both in Victoria 
and in Geneva. 
1.10.  It was remarkable that over the course of the WTO Accession negotiations, the Republic of 
Seychelles had notified about 300 pieces of legisl ation to the WTO for multilateral review. 250 of 
those had been enacted during the accession process. The impressive progress on the domestic legislative front under the guidance of President James Michel and Vice President Danny Faure had WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  contributed greatly to the forward momentum in th eir work over the past two years. She had met 
them both during her visits to the Seychelles and praised them for their leadership.  
1.11.  Those efforts should not be taken for gr anted. Members knew the challenge of enacting 
legislation in their national province. The close involvement of the Seychelles' lawmakers had been 
critical to the success of that endeavour. She ex tended her appreciation to the national assembly 
of the Republic of Seychelles and the Attorney-General's office which had been key driving forces of the Seychelles' accession process. 
1.12.  As Chairperson of the Working Party, she also paid tribute to the continuous efforts, 
goodwill and spirit of compromise demonstrated  by Members. Those enabled them to overcome 
difficulties encountered in the accession process. The spirit of pragmatism had prevailed allowing 
the Working Party in key moments to conclude its work. Their success stemmed in no small part 
from the Seychelles' commitment to deep  and far-reaching domestic reforms.  
1.13.  As the Chairperson of the Working Party, she placed on record her deep appreciation to the 
WTO Director-General, Mr Roberto Azevêdo. His focus on WTO Accessions from the start of 2014 
had injected energy into all the work of the or ganization including on accessions. She commended 
relevant Secretariat colleagues in various divisions who always had an open door for the delegation of the Republic of Seychelles, and in particular Mr Chiedu Osakwe and Ms Petra Beslac 
in the Accessions Division who had led the effort.  
1.14.  The results of the negotiations known as  the Terms of Accession were contained in the 
following documents: first, the report of the Working Party circulated in document WT/ACC/SYC/64; second, the Schedule of Concessions and Commitments on Goods contained in 
document WT/ACC/SYC/64/Add.1 and the Schedule of Specific Commitments on Services 
contained in document WT/ACC/SYC/64/Add.2. 
1.15.  The Accession Package of the Seychelles ha d been adopted at the seventh and final Working 
Party meeting in October 2014 on an ad referendum  basis. By that action, the Working Party had 
completed its mandate and forwarded the documentation to the General Council for a decision. The Appendix to the report reproduced the draf t decision for the General Council and the draft 
Protocol on the Accession of the Republic of Se ychelles to the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing 
the World Trade Organization. The Accession Protocol incorporated by reference the specific commitments undertaken by the Seychelles in the report of the Working Party.  
1.16.  She paid tribute to the continuous efforts, positive approach and spirit of compromise 
shown all around particularly in the critical final stages. In her capacity as Chairperson of the 
Working Party, she had the privilege to recommend the Protocol on the Accession of the Republic 
of Seychelles for approval and the draft decision and the Report of the Working Party for adoption 
by the General Council. 
1.17.  The Chairman, on behalf of all delegation s, expressed his appreciation for Ms Al-Hinai's 
leadership as Chairperson of the Working Party to bring the long negotiation to a successful 
conclusion. He also very much appreciated her outlining the details of what she was proposing that 
Members would take up at the General Council level. 
1.18.  In light of the report presented by Ms Al -Hinai, and in keeping with the usual practice, he 
would begin with the Draft Protocol of Accession of  the Republic of Seychelles as contained in the 
report of the Working Party.  He invited the Ge neral Council to approve the Draft Protocol of 
Accession of the Republic of Seychelles as contai ned in the Report of the Working Party and, in 
accordance with the Decision-Making Procedures under Articles IX and XII of the WTO Agreement 
agreed in November 1995 (WT/L/93), to adopt the Draft Decision on the Accession of the Republic 
of Seychelles as contained in the report of the Working Party and the report of the Working Party 
as a whole in documents WT/ACC/SYC/64 and Add.1 and 2. 
1.19.  The General Council so agreed. 
1.20.  It was with great pleasure that he welcomed the decision Members had just taken on the 
Accession of the Republic of Seychelles to the WT O.  He extended his congratulations to Minister 
Pierre Laporte and his entire team, together with the People and Government of the Seychelles, on WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  the successful completion of the WTO process. A ccession to the WTO was a long and complicated 
process, but he thought Members would all agree that the final package reflected the constructive spirit with which Members and the Seychelles had shown in the process.  He said that the decision Members had just taken on the Accession of the Seychelles was another sign of the world's 
confidence in the WTO and the multilateral trading system. He strongly believed that through its 
future membership in the WTO, the Seychelles would have a stable and predictable framework for economic engagement with other nations which would boost trade and growth. 
1.21.  With regard to the further steps towards the Seychelles' formal entry as a WTO Member, he 
informed delegations that the ceremony for the signature of the Protocol of Accession by the 
Director-General and Minister Pierre Laporte woul d be held following the morning session of the 
present meeting. The Government of the Republic of  Seychelles would then submit the Protocol for 
ratification by its legislative assembly. In keeping with WTO provisions, the Republic of Seychelles 
would become a Member of the WTO thirty days following the date of the ratification of the 
Protocol. He then invited H.E. Mr Pierre Laporte, Minister of Finance, Trade and Investment of the 
Republic of Seychelles, to address the General Council. 
1.22.  H.E. Mr Pierre Laporte, Minister of Finance, Trade and Investment of the Republic of 
Seychelles, said that it was a great and historic day for the Seychelles and for the World Trade 
Organization. For the Seychelles, as it was the conclusion of a long and arduous accession process, 
and for the WTO, as having its first non-least developing African country to join the organization after the grandfather clause. It was also worth noting that the Seychelles was the only completed accession in 2014 and would, hopefully, become the 161
st WTO Member upon its accession. 
1.23.  It had been nineteen years since the Seychelles had first submitted its application to join 
the WTO and almost six years since it had re-initiated its accession process with the submission of its Memorandum of Foreign Trade Regime in 2010.  
1.24.  For the Seychelles, accession to the WTO ha d been like a relationship that started with 
courting, then engagement and ended up in marriage. In that process, the Seychelles had to make a lot of compromises, sacrifices and wooing. It was then in the final moment – its engagement 
period – where its relationship would be affirmed into “marriage” upon ratification of its Protocol of 
Accession. This courtship had not been an easy one, and during “marriage” his country would still need to ensure that it kept to the commitments that it had made.  
1.25.  The Seychelles Government and its People had been looking forward for so long to be part 
of the WTO. Membership to the organization was very important for the Seychelles since it would 
bring immense benefits to its economy, from businesses to consumers.  
1.26.  The reforms that the Seychelles had to undertake during the accession process had already 
brought about important benefits. Its laws and policies were then at par with best international 
standards and its private sector had already begun to reap the benefits of a more predictable and 
transparent trading system. His country then had a platform which provided it, as a small island 
nation, with an equal opportunity as its large counterparts to make its voice heard on trade issues. 
The Seychelles would increase its visibility on the international stage.  
1.27.  The Seychelles would not be the only one to gain from the process. As a small island nation 
which had transformed its economy and had gone through the long period of accession, it had a lot 
to contribute to the organization, especially in areas like environment and fisheries. 
1.28.  The leadership and guidance to the process of the President of the Seychelles, 
H.E. Mr James Michel, had been crucial. On his be half, he expressed his gratitude, and that of the 
Government and People of the Seychelles, to all the members of the Working Party for the support 
and flexibility granted during the negotiations. He conveyed his gratitude to all the bilateral partners for their support. It had at times been intense, but through understanding and 
cooperation, the Seychelles had made many life-long friends. 
1.29.  Accession would not have been a reality had it not been for the exceptionally hard work and 
absolute dedication of his staff. He also recognised the important contribution of his predecessor as former Trade Minister, Vice President of the Seychelles, Mr Danny Faure. He also thanked the WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  staff of other ministries, agencies and other institutions in the Seychelles for their commendable 
support toward the accession process.  
1.30.  On the side of the WTO, he expressed th e sincere appreciation of the Government of the 
Seychelles to the Director-General, Mr Roberto Azevêdo. He also thanked his team at the 
Secretariat, especially Mr Chiedu Osakwe and Ms Petra Beslac, for the invaluable support accorded 
to his team during accession, which had gone beyond and above what had been required of them. The Seychelles had been lucky to have such dedicated individuals working on its dossier.  
1.31.  He thanked the Chairperson of its Working Pa rty, Ms Hilda Al-Hinai. She had simply been an 
exceptional and a formidable Chairperson who always fought for the Seychelles’ cause and ensured that its agenda had always been kept in th e forefront. As he had said at the conclusion of 
the last Working Party meeting, Ms Al-Hinai had treated the Seychelles’ dossier as her own 
country, and she had treated his team as her own family.  
1.32.  The Chairman, on behalf of the General Council, expressed his warmest appreciation to 
Minister Laporte for his address. 
1.33.  The Director-General said that it gave him great pleasure to offer his sincere congratulations 
to the Republic of Seychelles on that historic achievement. He paid tribute to President James 
Michel for his leadership in pursuing WTO Membership, and for undertaking the far-reaching 
reforms that had made it possible to conclude the accession negotiations successfully. He also paid 
tribute to Minister Laporte, and his team, who had done so much to deliver that result. He was pleased to welcome him at the meeting.  
1.34.  It had been a long road – and it had not always been easy. Indeed, the process had taken 
nineteen years. But that just underlined how much work had been done – and what an 
achievement that was. Of course WTO Membership was not an end in itself. Rather it was a means of enhancing the Seychelles' integration into the global economy; boosting its growth and 
development; and, ultimately, improving the lives and prospects of its citizens. 
1.35.  By concluding its accession negotiations, the Seychelles had sent a clear signal to all its 
trading partners that it was ready to engage fully in the multilateral trading system and in the 
global economy. And the WTO could make a particularly significant difference for small economies 
like the Seychelles. 
1.36.  Indeed, that occasion was very timely as the world was celebrating the International Year of 
Small Island Developing States (SIDS). With WTO Membership, the Seychelles was building new 
bridges to the rest of the world and gaining a platform to make its voice heard at the global level. 
1.37.  While he thought that was an important moment for the Seychelles, it was also very 
important for the WTO. This accession was another sign of the continued importance of the 
multilateral trading system. In recent weeks,  Members had shown that they could implement 
important negotiated outcomes, and that acce ssion was a further vote of confidence.  
1.38.  Indeed, he thought the conclusion of the accession negotiations was a tribute to all WTO 
Members. He thought he could then speak for everyone when he congratulated the Seychelles and 
welcomed it to the WTO. 
1.39.  The representative of Lesotho, on behalf of the African Group, welcomed and congratulated 
Minister Pierre Laporte, his delegation and the Republic of Seychelles on that long and arduous 
journey of almost twenty years into accession to the WTO. The Seychelles had resilience in terms 
of getting through to the conclusion of the process. It was yet another African country coming into the family which would join the DDA negotiations and the African Group welcomed its entry. He 
called upon all Members to continue to support the Seychelles in the process and to continue to 
engage actively with the Seychelles and the rest of the membership. 
1.40.  The representative of Jordan, on behalf of  the Arab Group, congratulated the Republic of 
Seychelles on its accession to the WTO, which concluded after nineteen years of negotiations. The 
Group warmly welcomed the Republic of Seychell es as a new Member. This accession was a great 
event not only for the Republic of Seychelles but al so for the entire membership of the WTO.  He WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  congratulated Ms Hilda Al-Hinai for all her efforts as Chairperson of the Working Party and the 
WTO Secretariat particularly the staff of the WTO Accessions Division for their hard work. 
1.41.  The Arab Group believed that the historic event would add value to both the Government of 
Seychelles and the rules-based multilateral trad ing system. The Group had always supported new 
WTO accessions and hoped to see more new Members joining in the near future. 
1.42.  The representative of the United States joined others in welcoming Minister Laporte and the 
entire delegation from the Seychelles and those who had expressed their thanks to 
Ms Hilda Al-Hinai for all of her outstanding work in shepherding the process. His delegation was 
pleased to support approval of the accession of  the Seychelles to the WTO. The Seychelles had 
made a remarkable effort over the years to br ing its trade regime into conformity with WTO 
provisions and had taken strong commitments in firming liberal tariffs and broad access to its 
services market. 
1.43.  All Members should be impressed with the commitments the Seychelles had taken including 
several that went beyond what was generally expected of developing acceding countries. It was 
worth noting what the Seychelles had done. Its commitments included the removal of licensing for 
the right to import; joining the Information Te chnology Agreement and the Agreement on Trade 
and Civil Aircraft; taking commitments on transparency in the licensing of services; committing to 
initiate negotiations for accession to the Government Procurement Agreement within a year of 
accession; and, committing to the implementation of enhanced transparency measures within two 
years of accession for notification and comment for trade-related regulations and other measures. All of those were in addition to the implementation of WTO Agreements; elimination of other duties 
and charges; the substantial reduction of export licensing requirements; and, the replacement of 
import bans with a licensing process based on eval uation of the actual risk associated with the 
importation. The amount of work undertaken and legislation implemented by the Seychelles over 
that period was obviously substantial, as was the scope of the reform of its trade regime. The 
United States very much looked forward to co ntinue working with the Seychelles in the WTO. 
1.44.  The representative of Thailand, on behalf of ASEAN, congratulated the Republic of 
Seychelles on the conclusion of its WTO Accession Process and the approval of the Terms of 
Membership by the General Council. After 19 years of negotiations, this accession was a historical milestone for the Seychelles as well as for the multilateral trading system. 
1.45.  ASEAN was confident that the commendable achievement would contribute greatly to 
support significant economic growth in the Seychelles. It brought the Seychelles into a rules-based 
multilateral trading system and ensured its economic integration into the global economy. She again conveyed ASEAN's heartfelt congratulations to  the Republic of Seychelles for having reached 
the finish line and for becoming the 161
st Member of the WTO. 
1.46.  The representative of the Dominican Republic, on behalf of the IGDC, welcomed 
Minister Laporte and his delegation and congratulated the Seychelles for its successful accession to 
the organization. He also expressed the Group's sa tisfaction with the Accession Division for a job 
well done. 
1.47.  The representative of Kenya, on behalf of  the ACP, congratulated Minister Pierre Laporte, 
the Government and the People of the Republic of  Seychelles on their historical accomplishment. 
The ACP welcomed the adoption of the Seychelle s Accession Package which had been a fruit of 
extensive negotiation and compromise among Members and the subsequent admission of the Republic of Seychelles as a Member of the WTO. This was an important milestone for the WTO and 
an indorsement of global confidence in the WTO as the institution responsible for international 
trade and policy.  
1.48.  The ACP drew its full support behind the a ccession of the Seychelles in the recognition that 
WTO could play a vital role in facilitating the integration of its Members into the world economy. 
The ACP commended the Seychelles on the extensive domestic reforms undertaken during the process of accession. There was no doubt that those reforms had strengthened the domestic 
regulatory environment of the Republic of Seyche lles and its trading regime. The engagement of 
the Seychelles with the ACP Group had been of great benefit to them all. The Group looked 
forward to strengthen the solidarity with the Seychelles as a WTO Member. WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  1.49.  The representative of Guatemala, on be half of the SVEs, welcomed the Republic of 
Seychelles for concluding the accession process to the WTO. He congratulated Minister Laporte and 
his entire team for their great achievement. 
1.50.  The representative of the European Union gave a warm welcome to Minister Laporte and his 
entire team. Just as with the whole of the ACP region, the European Union had a very close 
relationship with the Seychelles as reflected through their Economic Partnership Agreement. The European Union had always made accession for th e Seychelles a priority and had supported the 
Seychelles throughout the process and was delig hted to welcome the Seychelles to the WTO.  
1.51.  The European Union had appreciated the great cooperation between their negotiating teams 
and warmly congratulated the Seychelles for their tireless commitment and determination. He also thanked the Chairperson of the Working Group and the Secretariat of the WTO for all of their work 
and support throughout the process.  
1.52.  The Accession Process had been long and the European Union commended the Seychelles 
particularly for all of the reforms that they had undertaken on an institutional, administrative and 
economic level, as with the legislative level, as had been reflected in the report of the Working 
Party. His delegation also congratulated the Se ychelles and all Members of the organization for 
having shown flexibility in order to make th at important accession process successful. He 
encouraged the Seychelles to reap the benefits o ffered by a multilateral trading system that was 
rules-based allowing everybody to play  a key role within the organization. 
1.53.  The representative of Trinidad and Tobago , on behalf of GRULAC, congratulated Minister 
Pierre Laporte, his delegation and the People of  Seychelles on the great accomplishment of having 
acceded to the WTO. As it entered the key phase of its integration into the global economy, 
GRULAC wished to reiterate its support to the delegation of the Seychelles. 
1.54.  The representative of the Solomon Islands, on behalf of the Pacific WTO Group, said that his 
statement was also supported by his Group's Paci fic neighbours Australia and New Zealand. He 
joined others in conveying his sincere congratu lations to the Government and People of the 
Seychelles on the completion of their accession process to the WTO. 
1.55.  The accession of the Seychelles was an important step towards the universal Membership of 
small island States to the WTO. For the Pacific Group, the Seychelles represented not just another new Member but also a new ally on issues of concern to small economies – a small State with a deep understanding of vulnerability and the struct ural impediments that SVEs were saddled with.   
1.56.  While the Pacific Group congratulated the Seychelles for braving what was an intense and 
arduous process, like the Pacific WTO Members that  had recently acceded, the implementation of 
their accession commitments would then begin alongside the negotiations for new trade rules 
under the DDA post-Bali work program.   
1.57.  The Pacific Group looked forward to workin g with the delegation of the Seychelles as they 
entered the next phase of their engagement and particularly in the negotiations of multilateral 
trade rules that took account of the situation of small, vulnerable economies.   
1.58.  The representative of Barbados welcomed congratulated the Seychelles, a fellow Small 
Island Developing State, on the completion of its accession process and looked forward to 
welcoming it as the 161st Member of the WTO. Her delegation also thanked Ms Hilda Al-Hinai for 
the important role she had played in the process. 
1.59.  The process of joining the WTO could be long and difficult. The Seychelles had only 
completed the process after nineteen years having first applied for accession in May 1995. 
However, as small states, the multilateral system could offer the best safeguard for equitable 
participation in the world trading system. It was therefore important that as Members sought to improve the multilateral trading system, there was the need to take into account the realities, 
concerns and limitations of small island states  and to ensure that their commitments were 
commensurate with their capacities.  WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  1.60.  Barbados looked forward to working closely with the Seychelles as they sought to ensure 
the adequate reflection in the modalities and proc edures of the concerns and interests of small, 
vulnerable States and of Small Island Developing States. She thought she could speak on behalf of all states in warmly congratulating the Seychelles on its important achievement, particularly so in 
the international year of the Small Island Developing States. 
1.61.  The representative of Mauritius was pleased to welcome Minister Laporte and his delegation 
at the General Council meeting as Members had adopted the report of the Working Party and had 
approved the Accession Package of the Seychelles. The Government of Mauritius had consistently 
supported an early accession of the Seychelles to the WTO. The Seychelles was a sister country to Mauritius in the Indian Ocean region, with similar history and shared vision for regional integration and enhanced participation in international trade. His delegation commended the Chairperson of 
the Working Party for her relentless efforts and the Seychelles for its unflinching determination and 
commitment to the accession process.  
1.62.  Mauritius was appreciative of the Members' active participation in the accession negotiations 
of the Seychelles and was happy that the Seychelles had reached the final stage and would be 
signing the accession package. His delegation looked forward to working closely with the 
Seychelles to the WTO on issues of common interest particularly in relation to the challenges 
facing Small Island Develo ping States like theirs. 
1.63.  The representative of China joined in co ngratulating the Seychelles for becoming the 161st 
Member of the organization. China looked forward to working closely with the Seychelles and stood 
ready to provide necessary assistance for its integration into the multilateral trading system. 
1.64.  The representative of Dominica, on behalf of CARICOM, congratulated through the Minister 
the Government and People of the Republic of Se ychelles on the acceptance of its Protocol of 
Accession to the WTO. CARICOM commended the Seyc helles on completing the journey and for all 
the legislative and other domestic reforms that it had undertaken.  CARICOM, as fellow small 
islands and small, vulnerable developing states, could fully imagine the monumental effort that would have been involved in achieving the given administrative and other resource constraints of a 
small country. CARICOM fully welcomed and looked forward to working with the delegation of the 
Seychelles as the 161st Member in the coming months. 
1.65.  The representative of Canada congratulated the Seychelles on its accession to the WTO as 
the 161st Member. Canada had been a supporter of the accession of the Seychelles to the WTO 
and noted that as part of its accession, the Seychelles had taken on ambitious commitments and 
had agreed to further open its markets and accelerate its integration into the world economy. Canada looked forward to working with the Seychelles to increase opportunities for doing business 
together in the near future. 
1.66.  The representative of Uganda added his voice to those already heard and congratulated the 
Seychelles on its accession to the multilateral trading system and the WTO. He recalled, as 
Chairperson of the COMESA Group, that he had advocated very strongly about the quick accession 
of the Seychelles. As Coordinator of LDCs, Uganda had realised that there were a number of countries of the LDC Group who were lining up for accession and said that Members should enable them also to quickly join the organization. Uganda congratulated the able negotiators of the 
Seychelles under the able leadership of Minister Laporte for the success they had attained. 
Members should make themselves available to work  closely together to achieve their objectives 
under the WTO system.  
1.67.  The representative of Morocco extended hi s warm congratulations to Minister Laporte and 
his delegation. It was a historic moment for the Seychelles and for the rules-based multilateral 
trading system. After a marathon of many years, th e finish line had been reached. He thought this 
accession would be beneficial to the Seychelles and the WTO. He expressed his satisfaction to the 
WTO Secretariat, particularly to the Accessions Division and thanked Ms Hilda Al-Hinai for her very important contribution as the Chairperson of the Working Group. All the efforts she had made went to enhance the accession process of The Seychelles.  
1.68.  Accessions should remain a priority for the WTO to reach universality in the organization. 
Broadening the multilateral trading system was an absolutely essential asset. The increasing WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  number of Members would strengthen the role pl ayed by the WTO and would guarantee stability 
and security of world trade, particularly in times of economic and financial crisis. The accession process of the Seychelles had been a long and difficult one. Many years had gone by since the process had started for this African country, which had always made considerable efforts to 
become a WTO Member. The Government of the Seychelles, at the highest level, had always 
shown how committed it had been to acceding to the WTO. In that respect, Morocco congratulated the Seychelles for all the efforts it had made to ensure that this accession process had been 
completed, despite its status as a small, vulnerable economy.  
1.69.  The representative of India was pleased to  extend her delegation's warmest congratulations 
to the Seychelles on its accession to the WTO. It was an important occasion as Members welcomed 
a new Member and took a further step towards making the WTO a more inclusive and universal 
organization. As a strong and consistent supporter  of the Seychelles’ accession to the WTO, India 
wished the Seychelles every success in future endeavours to accelerate its integration into the global economy and to benefit from its Membership in the multilateral trading system. 
1.70.  As part of its accession process, the Seychelles had overcome several challenges in aligning 
its regulatory and policy framework, foreign trade policy regime and domestic legislation with WTO rules and requirements. India applauded the leader ship provided by Minister Laporte in steering 
the accession process, especially during its final phase, leading to a successful accession.   
1.71.  India enjoyed close and friendly relations with the Seychelles based on their historical 
linkages and excellent people-to-people contacts. Her delegation looked forward to working with the Seychelles as a fellow Member of the WTO. India also wished to place on record its 
appreciation for Ms Hilda Al-Hinai for her leadership as the Chairperson of the Working Party in the 
successful conclusion of the accession process, and also wished to thank her predecessors who had served as Chairpersons of the Working Party and the Secretariat team led by Mr Osakwe for their 
contributions to the accession process. 
1.72.  The representative of Japan joined all those who had warmly congratulated the Seychelles 
for completing the accession process to this organization. Japan was looking forward to start 
working with the Seychelles in Geneva to further strengthen the multilateral trading system. 
1.73.  The representative of South Africa said his country was truly proud to welcome an African 
country to the WTO as its 161st Member. His delegation had walked shoulder to shoulder with the 
Seychelles on the long and often difficult road to accession. This accession marked yet another 
milestone in the objective to have a truly universal trade organization. His delegation thanked 
Ms Hilda Al-Hinai for her leadership and resolve since she had taken over the Chairpersonship of 
the Working Party. He also recognised the role th at had been played by Mr Osakwe and his team 
for the technical support that they had provided to the Seychelles. South Africa welcomed the 
Republic of Seychelles and looked forward to working with the new Member. 
1.74.  The representative of Oman thanked Minister Laporte for his kind words to her and all 
Members of the WTO who had expressed appreciation to her as the Chairperson of the Working 
Party. It was with great pleasure that she took the floor since it was a very happy day for many reasons. It was a happy day for the Republic of Seychelles for successfully completing the accession process. It was a happy day for the WTO completing one more accession and moving 
towards the goal of making it a universal organization. It was a happy day for all WTO Members 
embracing a new Member. It was a happy day for the RAMs Group strengthened by the addition of a new Member, the Seychelles. It was a happy day for Oman to see a new Member with which it 
had long and deep historical relations with.  
1.75.  Oman had made special efforts to accelera te and smoothen the accession of the Seychelles. 
Though on paper the accession had taken twenty ye ars from the date of original request in 1995, 
it took less than five years from the time the Seychelles had seriously activated its accession 
process in 2009. Credit for that went to the Government and People of the Seychelles for vigorously pursuing the accession process despite the small size of its administration. She offered her heartiest congratulations for that remarkable achievement to the delegation of the Seychelles 
led by Minister Laporte under the wise guidance of  H.E. President James Michel and Vice President 
Danny Faure. WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  1.76.  Accession to the WTO was a win-win situatio n for the Seychelles. It opened up the economy 
of the Seychelles by integrating it into the multilateral trading system. It would benefit investors, importers, exporters, business, labour, and consumers. It would result in the expansion of trade and growth of the economy. The accession wo uld lock in the economic reform programme 
undertaken by the Seychelles and it would enable a small country to share the negotiating table at 
par with the bigger and economically powerful countries.  
1.77.  The Seychelles would be complemented for a substantial and commercially meaningful 
package of concessions and commitments on g oods, agriculture and services. It had also 
undertaken many important normative and systemic commitments. Oman admired the WTO and its Membership for providing opportunities to small developing countries to join the WTO as full Members with the same rights and privileges as the bigger countries. Her delegation looked 
forward to working closely with the Seychelles not only in the RAMs Group but also in all other 
bodies and negotiating groups of the WTO. She assured that the Seychelles would be an active Member, would protect and promote its trade inte rests and would make useful contributions to 
further the aims and objectives of the WTO. 
1.78.  The General Council took note of the st atements and of the expressions of welcome and 
support. 
2  REPORT BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE TRADE NEGOTI ATIONS COMMITTEE 
2.1.  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. 
2.2.  The Director-General, Chairman of the TNC2, recalled that, less than two weeks before, 
Members had held a Special General Council meeting at which they had taken the decisions which 
had broken the impasse on the implementation of  the Bali Package, and had put their work back 
on track. The task before them then was to deli ver on the commitments that they had made there. 
He would not repeat what he had said at that meeting. Rather, he would simply report on the 
progress they had already made, and take a brief look at the work that lied ahead.  
2.3.  There were some good news, as the first valid instrument of acceptance for the Trade 
Facilitation Protocol been deposited on 8 December by Hong Kong, China. This was a very positive 
step — and he congratulated Hong Kong, China for mo ving so quickly. He thought this showed that 
Members were serious about delivering on the decisions taken in recent days and on regaining the momentum that they had earlier in the year. He hoped that other Members would gain inspiration 
from that and would soon be able to  follow Hong Kong, China’s lead.  
2.4.  In addition, Members had seen an increase in interest in the Trade Facilitation Agreement 
Facility since it was already operational — including from donors. And they were actively working 
with donor Members to raise additional funds. 
2.5.  A new website for the Facility was also in the process of being developed to provide greater 
transparency, better donor information, and easier access to the support on offer. The site should 
be up and running in early 2015. In the meantime, information would be posted on the Trade 
Facilitation page on the WTO website. 
2.6.  The partners in that work were continuing to offer support. The Worl d Bank, for example, had 
had approaches from 30 countries for its funds which were specific to the Trade Facilitation 
Agreement.  
2.7.  He wished to focus then on the work program on the remaining DDA issues. The new 
deadline for developing the work program of July 2015 already loomed large. As he had 
announced at the Special Meeting of the General Council, Members had restarted consultations 
through the Negotiating Bodies and he had met with the negotiating Chairpersons twice already since then.  
                                               
2 The Director-General's statement was subsequently circulated in JOB/GC/71. WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  2.8.  The Committee on Agriculture in Special Session had met in an open-ended session the 
previous week to discuss the organisation of the future work programme across all aspects of its 
mandate. This included the Decisions taken by the Special General Council on Public Stockholding for Food Security Purposes. 
2.9.  The Chairperson concluded that intensive discussions would be required to advance work on 
a permanent solution for the public stockholding issue as well as on the work programme on all three Doha pillars of agriculture. He had asked Me mbers to reflect carefully over the break on the 
challenges for 2015 and to engage with each othe r and with their capitals on the issues that 
needed to be taken forward. 
2.10.  A more detailed report had been circulated in document JOB/AG/31 to update more fully the 
discussion at the previous week's  meeting. The Chairperson would be convening further meetings 
in 2015. 
2.11.  On Non-Agricultural Market Access, the Chairperson had scheduled an open-ended meeting 
on Monday, 15 December. To facilitate discussions at the meeting, he had also issued a report on 
the work done in the first half of the year, which had been circulated as document JOB/MA/114. 
He thought that many of the questions raised by the Chairperson during the first half of 2014, and 
which were reflected in the report, remained valid. Following the 15 December meeting, the 
Chairperson would plan for additional meetings and consultations in 2015. 
2.12.  In the Special Session of the Council for Trade in Services, the Chairperson had started 
consulting with Members in different configurations. An informal meeting would be held on 17 December to take stock of the current situation and exchange views. 
2.13.  The Chairperson of the Special Session of the Committee on Trade and Development had 
held a round of informal consultations with the proponents. He understood that they were then continuing their work towards finalizing a number of Agreement-specific proposals which they 
would wish to see as the basis of the work programme for the Special Session.  
2.14.  As a first step, the proponents intended to table a submission comprising a list of the 
provisions where they would like to see work being done. Substantive proposals explaining the 
rationale, and the problems identified, were expected to be submitted at the second stage. Given 
that they had very little time, the Chairperson urged the proponents to submit their list of provisions and the corresponding proposals as soon  as possible, so that substantive discussions 
could start in the CTD. 
2.15.  The Chairperson of the Special Session wa s planning to hold an informal open-ended 
meeting of the CTD-SS in the last week of January to take stock of the situation.  
2.16.  On the Special Session of the Council for TRIPS, an informal open-ended meeting would be 
held on 12 December. The meeting would discuss how delegations would like to move the GI 
Register negotiations forward, and how they should be reflected in the work program.  
2.17.  Turning to Rules, the Chairman had co nvened an informal, open-ended consultation 
meeting for 16 December. He had asked the Group to consider whether it should resume its work 
then — and, if so, in what format, and with what objective — keeping in mind that the Group could be expected to contribute to the overall progress on negotiations at any time.  
2.18.  Turning to the Special Session of the Committee on Trade and Environment, the 
Chairperson would convene an informal open-ended meeting on 17 December to discuss how 
Members could contribute to an effective and clearly-defined work programme.  
2.19.  On the suggestion of several delegations, the Chairperson intended to brief Members on the 
organization of an information session regarding the mandate on multilateral environmental 
agreements. In convening this meeting, the Ch airperson of the Special Session encouraged 
Members to keep in mind that 2015 would be a significant year for the environment as the UN 
Climate Change Conference would be held in Pari s, starting in November. And therefore it would 
be important for the WTO to send an appropriate signal in that regard. WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  2.20.  Lastly, work in the DSU negotiations was continuing, including in the autumn, as part of a 
Member-driven process to identify possible flexibilit ies and clarify the options in each area of the 
negotiations. Consultations would continue on how Members could translate the progress made in 2014 into concrete outcomes.  
2.21.  That concluded his review of activity in th e negotiating groups. He thought it was clear that 
Members were beginning to reengage and put their work back on track. By the end of December 
most of the Chairpersons would have convened meetings on the way forward — and further 
meetings were being planned for January. Members needed to keep building on that momentum. 
And in his view there were some ingredients which they would need if they wanted to be successful.  
2.22.  The first ingredient would be to maintain a se nse of urgency. If they were to meet their July 
deadline, they really did not have any time to spare.  
2.23.  Second, when it came to the substance, he thought Members needed to take an approach 
that was reasonable and pragmatic. He urged them to focus with a critical eye on what was truly, 
truly important for them then — but also to think about what was doable. He was not trying to 
suggest what they should do, or what materials they should use, but he was saying that Members should try to set reasonable goals. They could achi eve a great deal there, but if they over-reached 
then they would get bogged-down once again — an d he thought that was the worst-case scenario 
for everyone.  
2.24.  Third, Members needed a very high degree of engagement from all delegations. That 
included ensuring that their capitals were tuned in to their discussions. Their engagement and 
readiness to make important political calls on how they moved forward would be crucial.  
2.25.  Fourth, while Members’ engagement would need  to be deep and detailed, it should also be 
broad. Agriculture, Non-Agricultural Market Access and Services were all on the table then — and 
those continued to be their core issues. But, having said that, they should also make sure that 
they were fully engaged outside those core areas as well. 
2.26.  So instead of trying to sequence their engagement, he thought it was essential that 
Members sought then to meaningfully engage acro ss all of the issues and all of the negotiating 
groups. They needed to be exploring issues and looking at options for progress in all of their 
negotiating areas so that they were ready in all of them as July got closer.  
2.27.  In his view, those were the key ingredients that they needed at that stage if they were 
going to keep building momentum going into the New Year and create the conditions for success. 
2.28.  Members needed urgent, horizontal and reasonable but full engagement across the board. 
He would do all he could to facilitate this. To this end, he planned to hold informal TNC meetings in 
Room W at the Heads of Delegations level — starting on 21 January. How often and on which 
i s s u e s ,  t h e y  w o u l d  d e c i d e  a s  t h e y  w e n t  a l o n g .  H e  w a n t e d  t h o s e  m e e t i n g s  t o  b e  f o c u s e d  a n d  business-like, aimed at moving their work forward.  
2.29.  There would, of course, continue to be the regular TNC meetings and, as he had already 
outlined, the intensification of work taking place in each of the negotiating Groups would be vital to their ability to make progress. 2015 was goin g to be a big year for the WTO. Members had 
important work to do and real deadlines to meet. They would hold their Tenth Ministerial 
Conference and would celebrate their Twentieth Anniversary. He urged them to make sure that it 
was a year to remember. 
2.30.  All delegations that spoke thanked the Dire ctor-General, as Chairman of the TNC, for his 
report. 
2.31.  The representative of Indonesia, on beha lf of the G-33, welcomed the resumption of the 
negotiation with the adoption of the three Gene ral Council decisions. The Group expressed its 
appreciation to the Chairperson of the CoA-SS fo r convening the meeting the previous week to 
immediately start negotiations on developing the post-Bali work program on Agriculture and on a permanent solution on Public Stockholding for Food Security Purposes. WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  2.32.  The Group recalled the importance of the development aspect of the Doha Round. Special 
and Differential Treatment for developing countries should be an integral part in all elements of 
the negotiations to enable developing countries to effectively address their development needs including food security, livelihood security and rural development as enshrined in the Doha and 
Hong Kong Ministerial Decisions.  
2.33.  The G-33 believed that full implementati on of the Bali Package was an important step 
towards the conclusion of the DDA. The Package was the Members' collective resolve to advance 
negotiations with the view to achieving an outcome that would, among others, ratify some of the 
imbalances in the subsisting WTO rules on Agriculture.  
2.34.  As mandated by the General Council decision, the Group called for the immediate start of 
work in the dedicated session of the CoA-SS to  negotiate a permanent solution on Public 
Stockholding for Food Security Purposes. The Group urged Members to engage constructively and 
start on the G-33 Proposal on Public Stockholding for Food Security Purposes dated 14 July 2014.  
2.35.  The Group reiterated the need to have a balanced and development-oriented work program. 
Thus, its proposal on SP and SSM should be included as elements of the work program as there 
were critical S&D elements for food security, livelihood security and rural development in developing countries. He recalled that the proposal on SP had been a stabilized portion of Rev.4.  
2.36.  The G-33 reaffirmed that the Rev.4 should  be the basis for the post-Bali work program. 
Rev.4 was a result of Members' collective effo rts of almost decade-long negotiations and 
represented a delicate balance of compromises. Thus, the Group also called on Members to engage substantively and submit their proposals to reso lve the ten outstanding issues of the Rev.4 as 
highlighted in the Chairperson's Report of 2011.  
2.37.  The deadline for finalising the post-Bali wo rk program and the permanent solution on public 
stockholding had been indeed different. However, both processes should be undertaken in parallel 
and with a sense of priority according to what had been agreed by Members. Only in that way 
could Members ensure that all the deadlines as  decided by the General Council would be met. 
2.38.  The representative of Uganda, on behalf of  the LDCs, took note of and welcomed the Addis 
Ababa Declaration on WTO issues to be circulated by the Coordinator of the African Group. The 
Group had taken note of the principles that the Director-General had outlined and the focus on the need for a speedy and immediate resumption of work. The Group was happy to be in a state of business as usual. However, it should not be "business as usual" because that meant best 
endeavours for LDCs. All Members had a collective need to respond positively and meaningfully to 
the call of their Ministers in Doha to seek to brin g the issues of interest to developing countries at 
the heart of their work.  
2.39.  According to a paper presented by the Secretariat during the LDCs Sub Committee meeting 
on 6 November, the situation had remained more of the same. In 2013, the LDCs' share in world merchandise trade had been notoriously stuck at 1%, with a staggering deficit of US$60 billion. 
Their participation in world services exports had not been any better - a paltry 0.68%. The LDCs 
had a widening trade balance of commercial services and registered a deficit of US$41 billion. There was limited diversification and most of the LDC Members were net importers. The biggest challenge remained on how to integrate into world services trade. 
2.40.  From the foregoing, it was no secret th at the LDCs remained the weakest and the most 
vulnerable Members of the multilateral trading system. It was also unfortunately clear that the LDCs had fallen short of meeting the Doha De claration framers' development aspirations. 
2.41.  On the LDCs Services Waiver, he recalled that on 21 July 2014, consistent with the 
instruction of their Ministers in Bali, the LDC Members had submitted a collective request to the Council for Trade in Services. In their view the ultimate objective of that collective request on the 
operationalization of the LDCs Services Waiver was to help them increase their participation in 
services trade. Members had seen the numbers – ve ry desperate. They would recall that the date 
had to have been 21 January 2015 for the high level meeting in line with the Ministerial Decision, however in informal discussions held with Members, the Group had tentatively agreed on 5-6 of 
February 2015 taking into account so me already scheduled calendar events. WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  2.42.  The LDC Group looked forward to the hi gh-level meeting where non-LDC Members in a 
position to do so should indicate sectors and modes of supply where they intended to provide 
preferential treatment to LDC services and service suppliers, which had commercial value and promoted economic benefits to them. It was the Group's dedicated belief that all non-LDC 
Members would be in a position to do so. Members should recall that during the impasse, they had 
indicated that they would not seek to penalise LDCs  for the July events especially since the Round 
had been about development, as it should be. The Group therefore called upon Members to make 
this count and urged them to transform a legally  non-binding decision into a substantive and 
meaningful outcome that would impact the lives and livelihoods of millions of their poor people. The Group also called upon the General Council to take appropriate measures to ensure that the change of date was consistent with the laid down rules of procedure. 
2.43.  On the work program, the LDCs' views were well-known, sufficed it to note. While 
Agriculture would set the level of ambition in th e negotiations, there should be balance between 
Agriculture, NAMA and Services. Development should  be the centre of those negotiations and the 
principle of the Single Undertaking should be pres erved in line with paragraph 47. Members should 
focus on concluding the DDA without introducing ne w issues. The draft modalities texts should be 
the basis of the negotiations. Language on special and differential treatment for LDCs and 
developing countries should be preserved. The Group would be interested in discussions on 
domestic support especially those that distort the market as well as export competition in line with the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration.  
2.44.  On Special and Differential Treatment, wo rk should proceed along the lines of the mandate 
enshrined in paragraph 44 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration. The LDCs were currently carrying 
out intensive work among themselves and with others to table proposals to the CTD-SS.  
2.45.  He recalled the Director-General's statement on 27 November, when he had said that 
Members needed to find an easier way of doing things. While they had seen renewed commitment 
to the WTO, the truth was that they should avoid repeatedly putting themselves in that position. 
They had to think about how they could operate in a more efficient way. The size and diversity of 
the organization was not an impediment to that. The consensus rule — that people talked about so 
much and which would never disappear — was not an impediment either.  
2.46.  He stressed that the biggest problem Members had was the way they negotiated. Just as 
the Group had said on 31 October, the July even ts had been a symptom of a systemic underlying 
current. In responding to the call of the Director -General, Members needed to relook at the way 
they conducted their business. There was no balanc e. They still negotiated as though the curtain 
never fell down. This would not help. Until they addressed those issues from a political and 
ideological point of view, unfortunately, there would be many rising up to challenge the status quo. 
Those things were not impossible to resolve as they had seen in other negotiating fora. Things worked. Agreements were adopted. If they did no t move to having negotiated settlements that 
were reflective of a future that th ey all wanted, they were stuck.  
2.47.  The WTO's credibility should not, and could not be, looked at only from one perspective. The 
lights should not only shine in one part of th e room since all Members were in the process to 
deliver something for their people. For the LDCs, the WTO could only have meaning to the extent 
that it responded to the call to make positive efforts ensuring that developing countries, especially 
the least-developed among them, secured a shar e in the growth of world trade commensurate 
with the needs of their economic development. People were always asking what LDCs wanted – 
they wanted to harvest legally binding and mean ingful LDC-specific outcomes across the board. 
2.48.  The representative of Chinese Taipei, on behalf of the RAMs Group, welcomed again the 
three recently adopted General Council decisions which brought the impasse in the WTO to an end. 
The timely efforts of the Director-General and the negotiating Chairpersons to restart the post-Bali 
Work and to prepare the work program on the rema ining DDA issues were very much appreciated. 
The RAMs Group reaffirmed its full commitment to the rules-based multilateral trading system and considered that it was of paramount importance for all Members to complete the decade-long DDA 
and its mandate which included reaching a comprehensive final package.  
2.49.  The RAMs had already made exceptionally deep and extensive commitments in the course 
of their accession process, much deeper in fact than those made by Members that had joined in WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  previous rounds. This exceptional contribution by the RAMs to the strengthening of the multilateral 
trading system through their market access commi tments had been acknowledged in paragraph 9 
of the Doha Ministerial Declaration. It had also b een clearly mandated that the special situation of 
the RAMs was to be taken into account in the negotiations as stated in paragraph 58 of the Hong 
Kong Ministerial Declaration. 
2.50.  As for the post-Bali Work, the new deadline for agreeing on the work programme was 
July 2015. It was evident that Members did not have too much time. The RAMs Group would 
proceed immediately with a due sense of urgency to engage with other Members in a constructive 
and positive manner. The Group also saw it as the most sensible approach to build on the results and the foundation that Members had achieved up to the present so they could move forward without going back to square one, particularly those where foundation had been achieved through 
a lengthy and painstaking process. 
2.51.  It was in that spirit that the RAMs continued to believe that the 2008 Modalities Rev. 4 for 
Agriculture and Rev.3 for NAMA should be the basi s for Members' future work on those two issues. 
The Group considered that the three core issu es – Agriculture, NAMA and Services – were 
interconnected and should be tackled together. At the same time, they should be realistic and focus on the things that were doable. They had to find a balance between ambition and realism 
and set goals that were reachable. The RAMs Gr oup reiterated its commitment to the development 
of the multilateral trading system and stood ready to move forward together with all Members to 
complete the first stage of their task by July 2015. 
2.52.  The representative of Lesotho, on behalf of the African Group, took note of the Director-
General's report and looked forward to engaging with Members in the subsequent special sessions 
and committee meetings on DDA negotiations. The African Group welcomed the adoption of the 
three General Council Decisions taken recently setting the work of the DDA in motion. 
2.53.  The African Group said that the Conference of the African Union Ministers of Trade had been 
held during the previous week. The Director-Gener al had participated in the meeting and had met 
with high-ranking African Union Officials including the Chairperson of the African Union and some 
African Ministers. Lesotho, on behalf of the Af rican Group, had submitted the outcome declaration 
of the Committee of the African Ministers of Trade on WTO issues which would be circulated to the Members during the course of the day.
3 
2.54.   The African Group welcomed the establis hment of the dedicated website for the TFAF, and 
looked forward towards its full operation in order to facilitate the implementation. The African 
Group underscored that in light of the declaration, it looked forward to engaging with Members in 
the weeks to come. The African Group also wished to  align itself with the statements made by the 
ACP and LDC Groups. 
2.55.  The representative of Brazil, on behalf of the G-20, welcomed the three General Council 
Decisions that had enabled the resumption of the negotiations. The implementation of the full Bali 
Package within the updated timeframes was essential to successfully conclude the Doha Round. 
The G-20 reiterated its commitment to advance the Agriculture negotiations in accordance with the Doha Mandate fully respecting the principle of S&D Treatment for developing Members. 
2.56.  Agriculture remained as the key determinant of the level of ambition of the results of the 
DDA negotiations and the benchmark for possible landing zones in other areas. The G-20 had 
already made it clear that the revised draft modalities for Agriculture contained in TN/AG/W/4/Rev.4 remained the basis for a successf ul agreement. The document was a result of 
very extended and detailed negotiations and included compromises made by all Members.  
2.57.  Intensive work in different formats would be required to move the discussions forward and 
the G-20 was ready to engage constructively in the negotiations. The G-20 reiterated that a 
balanced and development-oriented work programme in Agriculture should aim and arrive at 
results in all three pillars – domestic support, market access and export competition.  
                                               
3 The Outcome Declaration was subsequently circulated in document WT/L/943. WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  2.58.  The G-20 recalled that in Bali, Ministers had agreed that issues in the Bali Package where 
legally-binding outcomes could not be achieved would be prioritised. In this regard, the total elimination of all forms of export subsidies was associated with the credibility of the WTO and should be achieved without delay in accordance with the Agriculture Modalities on export 
competition embodied in Rev.4. The G-20 urged all Members to engage constructively in the 
discussions regarding the finalisation of the work programme by July 2015. 
2.59.  On behalf of Brazil, he wished to warmly welcome the Seychelles as it joined the WTO - this 
was definitely a cause for celebration. As he had said two weeks before, Brazil very much 
welcomed the fact that Members were then ready to  again carry on with all the mandates that had 
emanated from Bali. This had been invariably Brazil's preferred way ahead. His delegation was never enthusiastic about the alternative courses.  Though aware that there was always room for 
improvement, Brazil believed that before devo ting Members' energy to discussions on how to 
improve the way they worked in the WTO, they sh ould first accomplish the task given to them by 
their governments since the Doha Ministerial thir teen years before, and culminating with those 
mandated by MC9 in December 2013. 
2.60.  For Brazil, defining the post-Bali work prog ram, along with the implementation of the other 
Bali outcomes was an essential challenge that should guide and concentrate Members' efforts in 
the course of the next seven months. They should aim at a work program as close as possible to 
negotiating modalities – a work program that could be an essential stepping stone in their way towards the conclusion of the Doha Development Round.  
2.61.  All Members would naturally have to work in accordance with their national interests and 
circumstances as well as with the broader international context. In the case of Brazil, it had only 
recently held elections that were then being fo llowed by adjustments in policies and government 
team. It would be incumbent upon continuing and new Members of the team in dialogue with their 
domestic constituencies to examine their specific positions, limits and demands in the multilateral 
trade negotiations they were fortunately about to restart. 
2.62.  Members' essential interests were directly linked to the profile of their economies and 
societies. Therefore, it would come as no surprise  that advancing on all three pillars of Agriculture 
would continue to be a top priority for Brazil because of its increasingly central role in its trade relations and its relevance worldwide as an engine for development. No other area of international trade was as far away as Agriculture from the notion of a level playing field and it was imperative 
that Members made up for the many decades lost. The WTO had a serious outstanding debt in 
Agriculture and it was high time it was settled. As always, Members could count on the fully committed and constructive engagement of Brazil. 
2.63.  The representative of Kenya, on behalf of the ACP, appreciated the Director-General's 
support and his expeditious resolve to bring Member s back into stride towards the goal of a post-
Bali work program by July 2015. He recalled the ACP's deep appreciation for the decisions taken in 
27 November on Food Security, Trade Facilitation  and the post-Bali work program. The decisions 
should help in restoring the lost momentum in the implementation of the Bali Package.  
2.64.  On the Bali Public Stockholding Decisi on, the ACP Group welcomed the improvements in 
clarifying the peace clause and the negotiations on that subject to be held in the CoA-SS in 
Dedicated Session. The ACP was concerned that some of its members already had public 
stockholding policies for food security purposes in place and a number of their schemes contained price support. While most ACP countries were well within the de minimis  commitments, they 
should not completely disregard in all the utility and certainty inherent in the peace clause. Where 
future schemes were a concern, the ACP could benefit from a permanent solution that took full account of the situation and specific challenges facing ACP countries. 
2.65.  As far as the Trade Facilitation Agreement Facility was concerned, Members should then 
move quickly to its operationalization. Their partners should make every possible effort to contribute resources to the Facility that would complement the efforts of the developing and least-developed countries in the implementation of their commitment under the Agreement on Trade 
Facilitation. This would greatly boost the momentum for the submission of notifications of 
Category A Commitments and the process of  ratification by individual Members. WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  2.66.  On the post-Bali work program, the ACP ha d then moved to the next phase of preparing a 
modalities-type work program as an input into th e work of the TNC and the negotiating groups. He 
hoped that the ACP's submission would demonstrate how its members saw their flexibilities and their preservation whatever the scenarios that could evolve in the coming months. 
2.67.  First, Members should deliver the mand ate on S&D treatment. The ACP Group looked 
forward to constructive engagement. An outcome on S&D was critical in enhancing the development content of the DDA and in concluding the Doha Round. 
2.68.  Second, as far as market access was concerned, the ACP Group emphasized that its interest 
should be safeguarded on the basis of Rev.3 for NAMA and Rev.4 for Agriculture. As for Services, the Group emphasized the need for tangible commitments in sectors and modes of supply of export interest to the Members of the ACP Gr oup including tourism, transport and travel, 
professional services and other business services, and Mode 4. In addition, Members needed to 
preserve the cardinal flexibility for developing countries and LDCs inscribed in the GATS in any approach that might surface. With regard to fi sheries subsidies, the ACP Group would seek to 
introduce proactive and defensive interests which were critical to assisting its members in 
addressing their food security challenges. Memb ers should also take a keen interest in the 
discussions on TRIPS, an issue which was also of great importance for many of the ACP Members. 
2.69.  The ACP Group also strongly urged Members in a position to do so to participate in the high-
level meeting on the LDC Services Waiver to be held in January 2015 and to come up with meaningful preferences in response to their collec tive request consistent with the timetable agreed 
upon by Ministers in Bali. 
2.70.  The ACP associated itself with the statements made by the LDCs and the African Group.
4 
2.71.  The representative of Australia, on behalf of the Cairns Group, welcomed the resumption of 
work on development of the post-Bali work prog ram. The Group looked forward to working with 
other Members in moving forward in this process. The Cairns Group statement delivered at the 
CoA-SS on 4 December had reinforced the core messages that had come out so far in discussions on a work plan and asked that the statemen t be read into the record of the meeting.
5 Essentially, 
discussions on the work program to date had confirmed the fundamental importance to the 
Membership of the WTO of achieving strong outcomes on Agriculture and had highlighted to the doability of an outcome on export competition. 
2 . 7 2 .   O n  b e h a l f  o f  A u s t r a l i a ,  h e  s a i d  t h a t  h i s  d e l e g a t i o n  a g r e e d  v e r y  m u c h  w i t h  t h e  k e y  
ingredients that the Director-General had set out at the beginning of the meeting. Those would be 
key in making progress over the ne xt few months. In developing a work program, it was necessary 
to focus on what was doable and aimed for a negotiating agenda that would deliver an outcome 
that was balanced overall. Australia did not believe it was necessarily a balance of Members' 
interests in each pillar of the negotiations since such a balance was probably not doable. 
2.73.  Australia wanted to work with other Members to develop a work program that could lead to 
the negotiation of substantial outcomes. His delegation wanted a work program that delivered 
those outcomes in a time-frame that was meaningful to both Ministers and to businesses involved in trade. 
2.74.  On the content of the work program, Australia encouraged Members to say clearly what 
they wanted from others. Work could move forward only if Members were willing to say what they 
would contribute to others as well. In doing so, Members needed to recognize that if they were asking for high levels of ambition in a particular  area, they would themselves need to be prepared 
to contribute at a high level. If they were not, there was no prospect of balance, meaning their 
demands were not doable. Australia looked forwar d to move ahead on the development of a work 
program that year and to deliver real outcomes as soon as possible. 
                                               
4 While taking the floor under this item, the ACP Grou p, with regards to the following agenda items 4, 6 
and 8, expressed in advance the Grou p's support for the statements to be  made by the SVEs Group on item 4 
and that of the Cotton-4 Group under item 6. The Group also expressed its solidarity  with Antigua and Barbuda 
in the resolution of the outstanding dispute.  
5 At the request of Australia, this statement has been incorporated in the records of this meeting as 
Annex 3. WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  2.75.  The representative of Switzerland, on behalf of the G-10, said that as already stated at the 
CoA-SS meeting the previous week, the G-10 very much welcomed the end of the impasse in the 
WTO through the adoption of the three decisions by the General Council on 27 November. The G-10 was deeply attached to the multilateral tr ading system and had become very concerned by 
the paralysis which had endangered the credibility an d the negotiating function of the organization.  
2.76.  Since Members were back on the Bali track, the G-10 was keen to re-engage constructively 
in discussions and undertake all efforts necessary to meet the July 2015 deadline for the 
establishment of a clearly defined work programme on the remaining DDA issues in view of 
concluding the Doha Round. The G-10 recalled that some issues within the three agriculture pillars 
remained of particular sensitivity to its Members. For the G-10, the three pillars and other issues in Agriculture were closely interconnected and had to  be seen as part of the overall Doha Agenda. 
This would need to be taken into account in the discussion in the coming month towards a 
balanced and realistic work program. 
2.77.  On behalf of Switzerland, he congratulated the Republic of Seychelles in its perseverance 
and successful conclusion of the accession negotiations to the multilateral trading system. 
Switzerland would be honoured to work closely with the Seychelles in the organization. He said that, with the formal adoption of the Trade Facilitation Agreement, Members had sent out a strong 
signal that the WTO was back in business. It would then be essential to proceed with the 
ratification and implementation of the TFA including on capacity-building and technical cooperation. Switzerland congratulated Hong Kong, China for having deposited their instrument of 
acceptance of the TFA Protocol on 8 December 2014. In this context, he was happy to report that 
Switzerland had launched its internal procedures for ratification on the day following the General 
Council Decision of 27 November. He was pleased that work was currently being reactivated in all negotiating groups. An informal meeting of  Ministers from around 25 WTO Members on 
24 January 2015 would be held in Davos and would hopefully inject further momentum to their 
journey.  
2.78.  What would be critical was a common commitment of all Members to finish the Doha Round 
on the basis of a work program to be completed imperatively by July 2015. In order to advance 
with the necessary speed, it would be very help ful to remember and abide by the principles the 
Director-General had suggested in February, namely – interconnectivity of the big DDA issues, centrality of development, doability, inclusiveness, transparency, sense of urgency and open-
mindedness, as well as the ingredients mentioned by the Director-General at the meeting on 
urgency, pragmatism, capital involvemen t and parallel work on all issues.  
2.79.  To move beyond the generalities, to give flesh to the principles and ingredients, and to build 
convergence towards the destination, Switzerland believed that the process would need to be filled 
w i t h  c o n c r e t e  i n p u t s  f r o m  a n  e a r l y  s t a g e  i n  t e r m s  o f  w h a t  M e m b e r s  w e r e  a b l e  t o  o f f e r  o n  substance. Through connecting different tracks, informal and formal groups, and by concrete 
inputs which Members should be able to do on a without prejudice basis, they would hopefully be 
able to identify what was achievable. That was what they had to go for. As the Director-General had said, Members should be pragmatic and solution-oriented on the DDA. 
2.80.  In 2015, Members might have a unique opportunity to confirm the results of Bali at real 
value for economic growth and development and put the WTO on a solid ground as the world's 
pre-eminent body for future tr ade policy and rule-making. He urged Members to seize that 
opportunity fully aware of the importance of concluding a Round that had dragged on for much too 
long already and acknowledging that if they succeeded, it would not have been the last one. 
2.81.  The representative of Guatemala, on be half of the SVEs, said that, regarding the way 
forward on the post-Bali work program, the SVEs believed Members needed to advance on the 
process and finalize the basis for the negotiations towards concluding the DDA as Ministers had 
mandated in MC9. 
2.82.  SVEs had always been an active group within  the negotiation pillar of the WTO. As countries 
with a special economic situation, it was of the Group's interest that its particular circumstances 
and concerns were taken into account at all stages of the negotiations, and that were also 
reflected in the final outcome of such negotiations. This was why the Group strongly supported a transparent, inclusive and bottom-up process that  would allow all WTO Members, including SVEs, WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  to participate effectively in the multilateral negotiations. For SVEs, the development dimension 
should remain as the main objective of any future process of negotiations. 
2.83.  SVEs also placed great importance on having meaningful results in Agriculture as an integral 
part of the Doha Development Agenda, since this represented the balance for all the negotiations 
under DDA. As a group, the SVEs believed that the Draft Rev.4 Modalities Text should be the basis 
for further negotiations, as it was a result of collective undertakings and reflected an enormous amount of negotiations and understandings since the launch of DDA negotiations. Any future 
negotiation should take into account the recogn ition of the special circumstances of SVEs and 
preserve the flexibilities reflected for those Members in the Draft Rev. 4 Modalities Text.  
2.84.  In NAMA negotiations, the flexibilities of the SVEs which had been stabilised and contained 
in Draft Rev.3/Add.1 Modalities Text should not be  reopened. For the SVEs, the recognition of their 
particular circumstances in those negotiations should be preserved in any future negotiation 
process in that area. 
2.85.  In Services, the SVEs reiterated their preference for a multilateral approach based on 
Annex C of the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration which remained the cornerstone of their work on 
Trade in Services, and very carefully charted the objectives and approaches to be undertaken. Any future process should be guided by the GATS principles. Flexibilitie s should be given to developing 
countries and due consideration should be given to proposals on trade-related concerns of small 
economies and their developmental needs.  
2.86.  The SVEs reiterated that targeted technical assistance as agreed in paragraph 10, Annex C 
of the Hong Kong Ministerial should enable developing countries to participate effectively in the 
negotiations. The SVEs looked forward on the work to come and expected real, constructive and 
meaningful engagement from all Members. 
2.87.  The representative of the Dominican Repu blic, on behalf of the IGDC, asked that the 
statement he had made on behalf of the IGDC at the Special Meeting of the General Council on 
27 November also be reflected in the records of this meeting under this agenda item.6 
2.88.  The representative of Jordan, on behalf of the Arab Group, welcomed the three decisions 
adopted on 27 November 2014. He thanked the Ch airman of the TNC for the updated assessment 
report on the recent consultations undertaken to overcome the impasse in the negotiations allowing Members to work immediately and constructively on all DDA issues. 
2.89.  He reaffirmed the position of the Arab Group in the previous TNC and GC meetings, and 
wished to emphasise the following: the Arab Group supported finalising a work program that was 
realistic, balanced and achievable, and the view of not adding "new issues" to the WTO mandate 
before concluding the DDA; the relevance of Single Undertaking as the only principle that could 
ensure the right balance among the outcomes of  the Doha Round, as confirmed by paragraph 47 
of the Doha Ministerial Declaration; the importance of maintaining the principle of S&D treatment for developing and least-developed countries; the importance of Agriculture, where it had been 
linked to the achievement of food security consider ations and its role in the eradication of poverty 
and hunger, and its contribution to the achievement of sustainable development; and the recognition and acknowledgement of exte nsive commitments made by the RAMs.  
2.90.  The Arab Group stood ready to engage constructively, as it had always done, in the 
continuous negotiations, and on the future work program towards a successful and balanced 
conclusion. 
2.91.  The representative of Hong Kong, China thanked the Director-General for his words about 
Hong Kong, China's ratification of the TFA. Hong  Kong, China deemed it its responsibility to 
implement all Bali Decisions. Her delegation ratified the TFA in the first instance as a way of honouring its commitment and showing support for th e multilateral trading system. She hoped this 
would contribute to an expeditious implementation process. 
                                               
6 The statement can be found under paragraph 1.48 in  document WT/GC/M/154 an d is incorporated by 
reference to the Minutes of th is General Council meeting. WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  2.92.  Back home, Hong Kong, China had also tried its best to improve its performance targets, 
such that it was then able to issue all permits for importing dutiable commodities within half a day.  If air cargoes ever had to be detained, Hong Kong, China would clear them within 80 minutes.  Clearance at its land border for goods and vehicles took only 20 seconds on average. 
2.93.  But speed was only one aspect of Hong Kong, China's operation. Her delegation had set 
high standards for itself in providing a wide range of services to the trading sector because it wanted to be as trade facilitative as possible. It was doing this for all its trading partners – for all 
the Members. 
2.94.  She always thought Hong Kong, China was privileged, not the least because it occupied a 
strategic location, as it was the gateway to many valuable markets. Hong Kong, China might be a small dot on the map but it was the world's sixth largest exporter and the fifth largest importer of 
goods. It was connected to many WTO Members, directly or indirectly, in the global value chains. 
2.95.  A multilateral TFA, which could significantly enhance trade flows, was very important to 
Hong Kong, China and she believed it was no less so for other economies. Ultimately, the 
Agreement would benefit all Members but that was only possible when it actually came into effect. 
With Hong Kong, China's ratification and the availability of the TFA Facility as announced by the Director-General, Members were two steps closer to operationalising the TFA. She hoped many 
Members would soon be joining Hong Kong, China so that together they could share the benefits of 
a remarkable multilateral achievement. 
2.96.  The representative of Mexico welcomed the Republic of Seychelles as a new Member of the 
WTO. All Members should also be congratulated for having adopted the Protocol of Amendment 
and he welcomed the first ratification of the TFA. The Bali results went beyond the TFA. The 
decisions on Public Stockholding for Food Security  and on TFA were indeed the first step towards 
the greater goal – concluding the Doha Round.  
2.97.  Members should redouble their efforts to  ensure that they pushed the work program 
forward in time for the July 2015 deadline. A well-defined work program clearly meant exactly the same thing as establishing negotiating modalities to conclude the Doha Round. This necessitated 
tackling issues such as Market Access and other related matters and having a defined text on 
disciplines concerning these relevant issues. Those should be included in the work program which should be deliverable by July 2015 so that by MC10,  it would be possible to conclude the Round or 
at least to build a foundation for its prompt conclusion.  
2.98.  Members should not waste time discussing issues regarding documents Rev.4 and Rev.3, on 
whether they would form the basis of the negotiat ions. What they should establish and emphasize 
was that a great deal of content of those do cuments should be accepted by Members. For 
example, they should respect the terms of tr eatment agreed for LDCs and SVEs. He urged 
Members to start discussing as soon as possible what formal or substantive changes were required to achieve consensus. The meetings that the Director-General was intending to hold were of 
course very welcome for the negotiating groups. 
2.99.  Negotiations on Market Access required a great deal of highly-qualified manpower. It was 
very labour-intensive and very time-intensive in terms of meetings in various configurations. What Members needed to establish for July were negoti ating modalities. The only way they could move 
forward with that was to put concessions on Serv ices, Agriculture, NAMA and Rules on the table. 
They should also work simultaneously and in parallel. 
2.100.  Those were the principles Members needed to maintain in order to achieve their objective 
of establishing a clear work program for July. As had been mentioned by the Director-General, 
from January they would have Ambassador-level meetings in Room W. This was most welcome and was indeed the way that they would manage to  move forward in as efficient way as possible. 
For Mexico, it was of the outmost importance that solutions were found as soon as possible to the 
issues regarding LDCs. This was an issue of great concern and a matter that needed the contribution of all Members. 
2.101.  The representative of India associated her delegation with the statements made by Brazil 
on behalf of the G-20 and Indonesia on behalf of  the G-33. Members were entering an important WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  phase in the negotiations. It was their shared respon sibility to step up work for the preparation of 
a clearly defined post-Bali work program on the remaining DDA issues central to the conclusion of the Round, as mandated in paragraph 1.11 of the Bali Ministerial Declaration, as well as advancing the discussion on all Bali Ministerial and related subsequent Decisions.  
2.102.  The ambition levels on market access under Agriculture, NAMA and Services, and in 
clarifying and improving disciplines in various negotiating areas would need coherence. It was understood that the level of ambition across the negotiating areas would be governed by 
Agriculture. A search for the right level of ambition was an important exercise, which would require 
a frank exchange of views among Members in the co ming days and weeks. This would need to be 
done respecting the existing mandate and progress  already achieved in the negotiations so far. 
2.103.  Members had an opportunity in this Round to correct the inequities and imbalances in 
global trade rules, particularly in Agriculture. Equally important would be to ensure outcomes that 
delivered on the promise of development in the most effective manner and ensured that trade worked as an engine of growth and developm ent with substantial benefits for the weakest 
Members of the WTO. 
2.104.  Most importantly, Members should seek equitable, balanced and development-oriented 
outcomes through an inclusive and transparent proce ss, while respecting the spirit of paragraph 47 
of the Doha Declaration. Her delegation had never been enthusiastic about selective segmentation 
of the negotiating mandate. They should, therefor e, desist from any temptation towards cherry-
picking issues for early harvests. Instead, Me mbers should work towards seeking balanced 
progress in all areas of the negotiations so as to arrive at an early conclusion of the Round. In this 
common endeavour, she assured the Chairman of  the TNC of India’s full cooperation and 
constructive engagement. 
2.105.  The representative of Japan was pleased to see that Members were back on the Bali track. 
Convergence of the views on the da te of a high-level meeting on the LDC services waiver reflected 
this general positive mood. The way before them was a short and winding road. If they tried to agree on a too-detailed work program on remaining DDA issues as Ministers had tried in vain in 
July 2008, he could barely be optimistic about the outcome. They should learn from the past – the 
past failures on the basis of bitter experiences in  the 2008 and 2011 processes. They needed to be 
pragmatic and realistic as had been pointed out by the Director-General if they were really serious to define a work program by July 2015. The level of  ambition should be adjusted within that given 
time-frame. 
2.106.  The representative of Cuba endorsed th e statements made by the G-20, G-33, ACP and 
the SVEs. Cuba welcomed the resumption of the post-Bali work and reiterated its commitment to 
continue working constructively to fulfil the mandates adopted in Doha in 2001 taking as a 
reference the new dates that had been set for the coming year. She stressed that the negotiations 
needed to be guided by the principles of transp arency, inclusiveness, and non-discrimination, and 
decisions should continue to be made by consensus. Regardless of the topic of negotiations, 
development issues and the priorities of that im portant group of countries should guide all post-
Bali work. 
2.107.  Agriculture remained the key determinant of the level of ambition of  the results of the DDA 
negotiations, and the benchmark for possible la nding zones in other areas. The Rev.4 Draft 
Modalities Text of 2008 should form the basis for the negotiations, and the principle of S&D treatment for developing countries should be full y respected. Generally speaking, a balanced work 
programme in Agriculture should address the three pillars – domestic support, market access, and 
export competition – simultaneously. Cotton also required immediate attention. Export subsidies should be eliminated, as agreed in the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration. Export credit disciplines 
should take account of the special situation of  the NFIDCs and the LDCs. Cuba reiterated its 
interest in moving ahead on the proposals submitted last July by the G-33 on special products, the special safeguard mechanism, and public st ockholding for food security purposes. 
2.108.  In NAMA, the negotiations should be guided by the principle of less than full reciprocity and 
the necessary flexibilities should be maintained fo r all the developing countries that required them. 
Rev.3 of 2008 should be the basis for the negotiat ions or the starting point for Members' work in 
2015 and the sectoral negotiations should remain totally voluntary. The post-Bali work program WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  should include in its mandate the elimination or significant reduction of non-tariff barriers affecting 
developing countries whether or not they were for business reasons. 
2.109.  Cuba attached great importance to the ongoing negotiations on the improvements and 
clarifications of the DSU. Concluding the Doha Mandate on this issue, which had been pending 
since 2003, should be considered a priority. It wa s the Members' responsibility to ensure, through 
the reform of the DSU, that the Dispute Settlem ent System could become a mechanism that was 
accessible to all WTO Members and that was effective in terms of compliance with the DSB rulings. 
It was particularly important that those two aspects should be considered among the issues of vital 
interest defined by the group of developing countries in the framework of those negotiations. 
2.110.  She reiterated Cuba's commitment to working within the framework of the multilateral 
trading system that the WTO represented. But, that system should not be adulterated by 
plurilateral initiatives. The DDA should preserve its multilateral mandate, and on that basis Cuba 
was committed to working constructively and pragmatically on any challenge that lied ahead. 
2.111.  The representative of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia thanked the Director-General for his 
report and for his tireless efforts to promote the success of the multilateral trading system. He also 
extended his thanks to the Chairpersons of the Negotiating Groups for their constructive engagement in facilitating a dialogue among Members on the organization of future work across all 
aspects of the post-Bali work program. The Kingdo m of Saudi Arabia associated itself with the 
statements made by Jordan on behalf of the Arab  Group and by Chinese Taipei on behalf of the 
RAMs Group.  
2.112.  The adoption by the General Council on 27 November of the three decisions on Public 
Stockholding for Food Security Purposes, on Trade Facilitation, and on post-Bali Work, had been an 
important step towards restoring the credibility and confidence of the multilateral trading system and reviving a positive spirit at the WTO. This showed how a commitment to mutual understanding 
and trust among the WTO Membership could place them on track to yield meaningful results. 
2.113.  However, time was short. Significant additi onal effort would be required to finalize the 
post-Bali work program. Members should intensify their work and use their current momentum to 
define their work program by July 2015. This wo rk program should balance the interests of all 
WTO Members, take into account the level of development and the special needs for developing and least-developed countries, and satisfy the special needs of the RAMs who had undertaken 
extensive market access commitments at the time of their accessions. 
2.114.  In this context, Members should build on the work undertaken in the last decade and 
ensure that the negotiated outcome was balanced. They should also maintain the constructive spirit and momentum and respect the mandated deadlines. 
2.115.  Members could then confirm that MC9 had been a meaningful event, and that the 
multilateral trading system was then able to forg e ahead. With MC10 approaching, his delegation 
emphasized the need for Members to pick up the pa ce of negotiations and redouble their efforts so 
that the next Ministerial Conference could build on the success of Bali.  
2.116.  As Members looked back on the Ninth Mini sterial Conference in Bali, it was evident that 
they could not take its success for granted or assume that future progress was inevitable. The negotiating function of the multilateral trading system had been severely tested but had emerged 
in a positive position due to the strength and resilience of the WTO and the commitment of its 
Members. Considering that they might well be test ed again, they should focus on two objectives 
going forward: defining a work program well in advance of July 2015 and respecting all deadlines 
to capitalise on the current momentum to ensure that MC10 was another success story. The 
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia remained ready to work closely with WTO Members to ensure the success of the DDA, and encouraged all Members to contribu te positive spirit and innovative ideas on how 
to keep the system moving ahead on schedule in their collective interest. 
2.117.  The representative of Zimbabwe welcom ed the General Council decision on Public 
Stockholding for Food Security Purposes, post-B ali Work and Trade Facilitation and called upon 
Members to constructively engage and implement the decisions within the agreed timelines.  WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  2.118.  His delegation stressed that the development dimension should remain central in the DDA 
negotiations which should be concluded before any new issues were introduced. Agriculture should set the level of ambition in the DDA negotiat ions and Zimbabwe hoped that Members would 
engage constructively to ensure that the issues of interest to developing countries, LDCs and SVEs 
in all pillars were fully addressed in order to achieve the much needed balance in negotiations. 
2.119.  Zimbabwe also called upon Members to urgently carry out substantive work on issues 
where legally binding outcomes could not be achieved. Work on the elimination of all forms of 
export subsidies including Cotton subsidies and a permanent solution to the Public Stockholding for 
Food Security Purposes should commence without delay. His delegation supported the G-33 proposals on a Permanent Solution on Public Stoc kholding for Food Security Purposes, on Special 
Safeguards and on Special Products. Zimbabwe welcomed the Trade Facilitation Agreement Facility 
and requested that the scope of the Facility be br oadened to cover funding of hard infrastructure 
to enable it to fully implement the Agreement. His delegation remained committed to the success of the multilateral trading system and would not be supportive of any plurilateral efforts if that 
undermined the very existence of the multilateral trading system. 
2.120.  The representative of Colombia said that  Members had experienced some rather turbulent 
months and were trying to then follow the mandate set out by their Ministers in Bali to set out a 
very clear work program on the remaining issues  of the Doha Development Agenda. He recalled 
the original mandate because their Ministers had already set out the path for them to follow. They needed to try to achieve such a detailed programme – as close to modalities as possible – within the deadline. His delegation thought that the objective was not only to establish a roadmap to 
conclude the Round but also to establish a roadmap that would be so valuable for all Members that 
they would manage to reach an agreement. 
2.121.  Therefore, it was of utmost importance that Members began substantive work as soon as 
possible. They could not only talk about what ea ch of them hoped to achieve from the Round but 
they should also express their willingness to contribute to each area of the negotiations. Obviously, they were facing major challenges but they had finished 2014 with very good news and it was 
clear that when the multilateral trading system was strengthened through the willingness and 
goodwill of Members, they could indeed achieve huge results. Members could count on Colombia's active and constructive participation throughout the work that lied before them in the next few months. It would not be easy but Colombia firmly believed that it would be worthwhile. 
2.122.  The representative of China thanked the co mprehensive report of the Director-General and 
associated itself with the statements made by Braz il on behalf of the G-20, Indonesia on behalf of 
the G-33 and Chinese Taipei on behalf of the RAMs Group.  
2.123.  For thirteen years, development had been  the centrepiece of the DDA and should remain 
as such in the post-Bali work program. It should be remembered that the developing Members, especially the LDCs and small, vulnerable economies had made unique and significant 
contributions in the process of achieving the Bali Package including the TFA. In that sense, it was 
reasonable and logical to effectively address their legitimate concerns, both in terms of the implementation of the Bali Decisions and the formulation of the work program. The ultimate objective was to make such work program accessible and operational for those countries in 
promoting their development.  
2.124.  They should not also lose sight of the coherence between the post-Bali work program and 
the Post-2015 Development Agenda. The work pr ogram should meet the special needs of the 
developing Members and should be conducive to narrowing the development gap. 
2.125.  If one wanted to respect oneself, then one had to start with respecting history. The 
existing outcomes and modalities were part of the history and the basis for future work. It was 
neither desirable nor acceptable to simply deny or ignore the real values of history.  
2.126.  Negotiation was an exercise of give and take. Members should strike a proper balance 
between the level of ambition and the level of cont ribution. When making requests to others in the 
negotiations, one should first indicate what it could offer them. It was not fair play that one was 
only pressing other people to offer and sacrifice. In order to make negotiations more constructive 
and effective, one should first tell the tale of oneself and refrain from reporting other people’s WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  stories. To evaluate the contribution of a Member, they had to look at how much concessions one 
could make, not at how much requests one had lowered down.  
2.127.  While fully pressing ahead with such pillar issues in the post-Bali work program as 
Agriculture, NAMA and Services, it was also essential to pay due attention in tackling the other 
remaining DDA issues. Only in that way could Members amply assess the gains and losses.  
2.128.  2015 was just around the corner marking the Twentieth Anniversary of the WTO. Proving 
that the WTO could deliver and deliver more would be the season’s best gift for this organization. 
However, Members only had seven months left to do so, and a sense of urgency was most 
essential. Close interactions between capitals and Geneva was needed, but also between the Secretariat and delegations. In that regard, some technical workshops by the Secretariat would be useful for Members to re-familiarise themselves with the issues. 
2.129.  As the largest developing trading nation, China, as always, would continue to give its full 
support to the Director-General and the Chairpersons of relevant negotiating bodies. China would actively participate in all forms of discussions and join efforts with all other Members to complete 
the work program by July 2015. 
2.130.  The representative of the Plurinational Stat e of Bolivia associated his delegation with the 
statements made by Brazil (G-20), Indonesia (G-33) and Guatemala (SVEs).  
2.131.  Bolivia on several occasions had expressed its disappointment with the results of the Ninth 
Ministerial Conference in Bali where the develope d countries had harvested free of charge a high-
impact economic agreement on Trade Facilitation without, in exchange, important results for most 
developing countries as far as economic measures were concerned. The demandeurs of Trade 
Facilitation, mainly developed countries, had achieved this result only eight years after it had been 
included in the DDA whilst reform in Agriculture for the elimination of trade-distorting subsidies had been waiting for more than twenty years. This  scenario could not be repeated in the future. 
2.132.  At the Ninth Ministerial Conference and in the 27 November 2014 Decision taken by the 
General Council, it had been decided that priority should be given to issues in the Bali Package where legally binding outcomes could not be achieved. Bolivia hoped that the decision would be 
fully respected in the work program which had to be developed by July 2015– in particular on the 
issue of export competition. 
2.133.  On the work program, Bolivia had repeatedly reminded Members that the DDA was about 
Development as explicitly stated in paragraph 2 of the Doha Declaration. Therefore, the work 
program should be consistent with that objective and the DDA's core elements.  
2.134.  Issues relating to development should be given priority because development was the 
objective and market access was only a means.  Special and differential treatment for developing 
countries in all the areas of the negotiations continued to be crucial. As a Development Round, 
special and differential treatment should be strengthened and solutions to matters relating to implementation should be offered.  
2.135.  Agriculture continued to be the engine of the Round. Without the reforms promised on 
Agriculture, there would be no Doha Development Round. Therefore, Agriculture should be prioritised. The level of ambition in Agriculture would determine the level of ambition given to the other areas of negotiations.  
2.136.  One of the priorities was to ensure negoti ations on market access, both agricultural and 
non-agricultural, services and areas where special and differential treatment had also been granted. Different methodologies to ensure tariff reduction should be tantamount to the 
asymmetries and levels of development. The Single Undertaking Principle should be respected 
because the focus in Bali had been unbalanced and should not be repeated.  
2.137.  Bolivia wished to highlight the risks of wh at plurilateral negotiations represented. Members 
knew that they destroyed the very principles of the multilateral trading system. Bolivia reiterated 
that as long as effective responses to the imbalances left by the Uruguay Round and the decisions taken in MC9 at Bali were not found, the so-called "21st century issues" should not be taken up. WT/GC/M/155 
 
- 26 - 
 
  No new elements should be included in this Round. Members needed to solve the problems of the 
past century first. Otherwise, attention would be taken away from priority issues which were awaiting a response from the WTO such as Agriculture. 
2.138.  The representative of Nepal aligned his de legation with the statement made by Uganda on 
behalf of the LDCs. Being a part of the LDC Group, Nepal saw its future in a robust multilateral 
trading system which inherently included the provisions and targeted measures in favour of poor, marginalised and vulnerable communities of the world. His delegation emphasized and was 
determined to promote multilateralism despite challenges as it felt that the plurilateral approach to 
negotiations tended to marginalize the conc erns of a large number of poor countries.  
2.139.  Nepal was of the view that the decisions taken by the General Council on 27 November on 
Public Stockholding for Food Security Purposes, on Trade Facilitation and on post-Bali Work bore 
historic importance in safeguarding the future of  the WTO and its objectives. With the addition of 
those three decisions, WTO had been revitalized and was back on track. The reinvigorated arm of the WTO then needed to be utilised to prepare the post-Bali work program collectively and 
constructively and to conclude the remaining DDA issues expeditiously. 
2.140.  Needless to say, LDCs constituted the most vulnerable and disadvantaged group in the 
present world. Pervasive supply-set constraints coupled with geographical and other handicaps had 
crippled many LDCs to be meaningfully integrated in world trade. To make the multilateral trading 
system truly inclusive and capable of delivering commensurate benefits to the poor, marginalised and vulnerable people of the world, due attention should be had to resolve the problems and challenges faced by the LDCs and to give them enough room for constructive engagement. 
Therefore, in concluding the DDA, it was indispensa ble to put LDC concerns and interests at heart.  
2.141.  The TFA was a milestone decision in the twenty-year history of the WTO. Alongside it, 
Nepal underscored the need for technical assistance and capacity building as a pre-requisite for 
many of the LDCs to implement TF measures effectively. His delegation thanked the Director-
General for initiating the launch of the TFA Facility to support developing Members with all the international agencies and grant partners to render their support to further consolidate the Facility. 
2.142.  In view of looming uncertainty and the anticipated longer time to be taken to conclude the 
DDA, full and faithful implementation of LDC special decisions related to Duty-free and Quota-free market access, Services Waiver, Cotton and Preferential Rules of Origin as contained in the Bali Package were of utmost importance. Members' best endeavour for global inclusiveness in trade 
could be found in all of the LDC Special Bali Ou tcomes. They then needed to make them legally 
binding and operational as provided in the mandate.  
2.143.  As highlighted by the LDC Coordinator, the LDCs had already submitted their joint request 
proposal to their partners on the operationalization of the Services Waiver. The LDCs were 
preparing to convene a high-level meeting on that  subject in the early part of 2015 when they 
expected voluntary announcements by non-LDC Memb ers of their preferential schemes to the LDC 
Services and Service Suppliers.  
2.144.  Given the high relevance of the EIF programme in many of the LDCs in mainstreaming 
trade into the development process and in building an institution to enhance trade-related capacity, Nepal emphasised that the EIF programme should be further continued. As 
recommended by the comprehensive evaluation of the EIF, his delegation unequivocally supported 
the extension of the EIF programme to the second ph ase. The EIF trust fund should also be further 
up-scaled to meet new needs and demands of the re cipient Members. As a vehicle of Aid-for-Trade 
for many of the LDCs, EIF needed to be further refurbished on the solid foundation put in place in 
its post-phase. Nepal called donors and core agencies to extend their support not only to continue but to further invigorate the EIF programme. 
2.145.  Nepal extended its full support to the common cause of developing the post-Bali work 
program within the set time-frame. His delegation remained committed to working with other delegations closely and creatively to deliver meaningful outcomes by the Tenth Ministerial 
Conference in 2015.  WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  2.146.  The representative of the Russian Federati on was honoured to deliver a strong message of 
support from his delegation to the adoption of the Protocol of Amendment for Trade Facilitation. 
His delegation would take all the necessary steps to complete the internal procedures on the acceptance of the Protocol. Russia also welcomed two other important decisions namely on Public 
Stockholding for Food Security Purposes and on  post-Bali Work. His delegation was ready to 
proceed with further actions in their respective context without delay and called upon all WTO Members to act in the same way. 
2.147.  On the 27 November General Council meeting, Members had just gotten themselves out of 
the crisis that had been deep and dangerous. He associated his delegation with those Members who had stressed that they were not in the positi on to relax. Emphasis on the importance of a 
good start sounded timely and promising. Members could then say that what did not kill them 
made them stronger. He urged them to feel stronger and wiser while facing the task to put the 
negotiations back on track and to fulfil the mandate given to them by their Ministers in Bali.  
2.148.  Russia reiterated that the Bali Package shou ld be implemented duly, multilaterally, entirely 
and unconditionally. His delegation was firmly  convinced that the keys to success of any 
negotiation were mutual respect, awareness and tr ust. He confirmed that the Russian Federation 
was ready for further cooperation and constr uctive engagement with its WTO partners. 
2.149.  The representative of Pakistan said that  the post-Bali endeavour had to include market 
access issues in Agriculture, Industrial Goods an d Services with development as the central plank 
of the outcomes. Although there was a differenc e of opinion regarding the 2008 texts, Members 
generally acknowledged that those modalities were a good basis for further work as they generally 
incorporated stabilised outcomes and a balance of  market access commitments and flexibilities for 
the developing countries. 
2.150.  Members should be expected to contribute  according to their level of development. While 
aiming for an ambitious outcome, there should be a balance between the core areas of global 
trade and development aspirations in a doable and agreeable manner. A need for filling gaps in the data in terms of the present situation had been ex pressed - yet this should not deflect them from 
their main course. In order to avoid stall, Members' focus should be on concluding the DDA. 
Introducing any new issues had the potential of prolonging the negotiations.  
2.151.  The work program should be substantive in nature and this should be carried out with the 
ultimate aim of concluding the Doha Round and advancing the multilateral trading system. 
Members needed to simplify their approach to adjust  their expectations and to approach the issues 
with an open mind. While asking from others, Memb ers should be willing to contribute in achieving 
balanced outcomes. 
2.152.  He associated with the statements of the G-20 and the G-33. A positive move in 
Agriculture would create momentum for other difficult issues. Trade distortion in Agriculture lied at the core of the WTO's development deficit. Do ha Round was about substantive reduction in 
domestic support and trade liberalization for a fair and market-oriented trading system. Members 
would be going against the Doha Principles if they  started seeking space for trade distortion. Rev.4 
had addressed some of the systemic imbalances inherent in the Agreement on Agriculture.  
2.153.  The interest of the net-food importing developing countries and the issue of food security 
had to be satisfactorily addressed. Members needed to develop time-specific flexibilities to address 
market failure and structural constraints of the developing countries to address food security concerns. An effective and regular coordination mechanism would be required to ensure that such 
flexibility led to availability, access and affordability of food through well-functioning markets.  
2.154.  In NAMA, the flexibilities for the developing countries as stabilised in Rev.3 should not be 
re-opened. Meaningful market access should be reflected in commitments beyond mere tariff cuts 
to include outcomes in NTBs and other trade barriers. Rev.3 had reflected the principle of 
differentiation of coefficients through the Sw iss Formula between developing and developed 
countries. WT/GC/M/155 
 
- 28 - 
 
  2.155.  On Services, developing countries needed adequate preservation of regulatory space in a 
functional way. Any negotiation on Services needed to tackle areas of interest for developing countries, particularly in Mode 4.  
2.156.  Pakistan welcomed the Bali Ministerial Decision on the establishment of a Monitoring 
Mechanism on S&D. Work should proceed on S&D in line with the mandate enshrined in paragraph 
44 of the Doha Ministerial that mandated to bring S&D provisions with a view to strengthen them and make them precise, effective and operational. They had to ensure that the need for specific 
flexibilities in favour of RAMs, SVEs and LDCs shou ld be translated into concrete S&D treatment.  
2.157.  The Services Waiver for LDCs should ensu re extending preferences to LDCs Services that 
had meaningful commercial value to promote their economic development. Cotton should also be a priority in the post-Bali work program. It was important to underline the fact that while 
negotiations would be held in NAMA, Agriculture and Services and possibly Rules, the scheduling of 
meetings should not ignore the meagre manpower capabilities of small missions to ensure their full participation. 
2.158.  Members could count on Pakistan's unswerving commitment to the conclusion of a 
balanced, realistic and equitable outcome of the Doha Round. Pakistan stood ready to engage proactively with an open mind.  
2.159.  The representative of Ecuador said that the post-Bali work program should be based on 
the results already achieved. In practical terms, the 2008 Agriculture and NAMA modalities texts, 
Revs 4 and 3, respectively, should be the basis on which to move the work forward and to build 
final agreements. Qualifying or marginalising those gains or worse, still disregarding them would 
not lead to a successful conclusion of the Round. 
2.160.  Agriculture was the decisive factor in dete rmining the level of ambition on the results of 
this Round and the work programme needed to address the key elements across its three pillars. 
In that area, the special safeguard mechanism was particularly important to Ecuador as it played a 
key role in supporting food security and rural de velopment policies. Ecuador also attached great 
importance to the treatment of special products and welcomed the latest proposal submitted by 
the G-33. His delegation considered that export subsidies should be eliminated without delay, as 
agreed in the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration. Domestic support, particularly the measures placed in the "Green Box" in recent years, should be subjected to clear disciplines to ensure that it was genuinely non-distorting. He also drew attention to the issue of liberalization for tropical and 
diversification products, on which concrete  commitments had already been undertaken. 
2.161.  The NAMA negotiations were of particular importance to Ecuador as it had bound all of its 
tariffs and had no "water" between its bound and applied tariffs: two results of the strong 
commitments undertaken during the accession proc ess. The NAMA negotiations should therefore 
be guided by the principle of less-than-full-recipr ocity and be based on facts such as the level of 
economic development, needs and the participation of developing country Members in the relevant 
areas of trade. 
2.162.  On Services Negotiations, Ecuador highlighted the extensive and deep liberalization 
commitments it had undertaken during the accession process and believed that a balance should be achieved between the different elements of such  negotiations. The level of ambition in market 
access would depend on the application of emergency safeguard measures and of effective 
subsidies disciplines. His delegation also believed that disciplines on domestic regulation, the level of ambition of which could compromise the polic y space required by Members to achieve their 
development objectives, might prove highly intrusive, given their implications in terms of the right 
to regulate. It was essential to recognise and preserve exclusive public sector decision-making and control on sectors and public services that were deemed to be strategic and the transcendence and 
scale of which gave them a decisive economic, social, political or environmental influence. Those 
sectors and services should be oriented towards full development of rights and social interest. 
2.163.  On Rules, Ecuador gave priority to the negotiation of disciplines on fisheries subsidies. His 
delegation reaffirmed its commitment to the implementation of the Hong Kong mandate in order to 
strengthen disciplines in that area, including the prohibition of certain forms of subsidy that 
contributed to overcapacity and overfishing, an d the granting of effective S&D treatment for WT/GC/M/155 
 
- 29 - 
 
  developing countries. He reiterated Ecuador's conviction that highly mechanised, industrialised 
fleets were chiefly responsible for the crisis faced by many fisheries worldwide and should therefore be the main focus of the subsidies prohibition. 
2.164.  Looking at matters from a broader perspective, Ecuador highlighted that it would be 
necessary to move forward and build future agreem ents on the basis of the balance between trade 
and non-trade concerns, as reflected in the Marrakesh Agreement. This was particularly important in the area of Services where room would have to be effectively preserved for national regulation 
in a functional way consistent with Members' constitutional principles and development goals. 
2.165.  The negotiation and provision of flexibilities and the application of special and differential 
treatment for developing countries were instruments aimed at ensuring that the multilateral trading system generated the conditions necessary for effective participation by all its Members. 
They were indispensable tools in a world where deep inequalities were inherent to the system. 
Ecuador therefore attached particular importance to the flexibilities for the RAMs and the SVEs. 
Any results that might be achieved should take a ccount of the flexibilities that had already been 
established in the 2008 modalities documents. 
2.166.  The strict observance of the principles an d rules of the multilateral trading system was one 
of the WTO's cornerstones. Any plurilateral initiati ve should be subject to the express obligations 
of the Marrakesh Agreement, in particular the obligation contained in Article X:9. 
2.167.  Full transparency and inclusiveness in th e process of defining the work programme were 
essential means of strengthening and renewing the credibility of the multilateral trading system. 
2.168.  Ecuador referred to the process in the DSB in Special Session. In light of the discussions in 
previous years, between June and November 2012, a large group of developing countries had 
submitted proposals, together with revised legal te xts on timeframes, mitigation of high litigation 
costs, and effective compliance. Any outcome of this process would have to include these issues, 
especially those concerning effective compliance, the purpose of which was to give substance and 
concrete significance to the S&D provisions already contained in the DSU. 
2.169.  The representative of the United States looked forward to engaging with Members in the 
coming months to enable them to draw some conclusions about the most sensible ways of moving 
forward with the outstanding elements of DDA. Th e progress made by Members in the last month 
to unlock the deadlock confronting negotiating work of the WTO offered them another chance to re-establish the credibility of that important function of the WTO's mandate.  
2.170.  He congratulated Hong Kong, China for its announcement that day about ratification of the 
TFA. That was very exciting and the United States  appreciated its leadership. He also appreciated 
Minister MOHAMED's suggestion about a goal of ac hieving a two third ratification or better before 
Nairobi.
7 
2.171.  The US Government was fully engaged in evaluating the core areas of the DDA – 
Agriculture, Industrial Goods and Services. The United States was committed to bringing forward 
its creativity and fresh thinking. If Members were  to succeed in developing a work programme for 
the DDA by July, it seemed imperative to go abou t that work in different ways than those that 
characterised their efforts in the first half of the year. 
2.172.  The uncomfortable truth was that at the time Members' work was interrupted at the end of 
July, they had made no progress in coming to terms with what a work program would look like, 
what levels of ambition it would entail, or what degrees of detail it would contain. They had virtually nothing tangible to work with and that remained the case to that day. So it seemed clear 
that moving into a new year, they would need to approach the task of developing a work program 
in very different ways from what before.  
2.173.  Important work clearly needed to be done  within each of the three main pillars of the 
negotiation. It also seemed clear that Members would quickly need to develop some means for 
considering issues in a horizontal fashion. Perhaps most importantly, they would need to tackle 
                                               
7 See item 9, below. WT/GC/M/155 
 
- 30 - 
 
  critical and very tough questions oriented towards striking a balance between ambition and 
doability and he noted that many Members had made similar comments. Again, the United States committed itself to contributing constructively to conversations that could help them to begin to tackle those and other important issues.  
2.174.  He wanted to say a very brief word about ITA negotiations because he thought it related 
very much to the signal ITA Participants would send at the end of the year as Members moved into that conversation about the DDA. This was a critical week for ITA, as ITA Participants knew. 
Members were going to know whether or not ITA expansion was a success or not. If the ITA 
expansion was a success, Members were going to have something very significant to build on top of the success of Bali as they headed into the new year. Bali had been the first fully multilateral trade agreement in the twenty-year history of th e WTO. If they succeeded, ITA expansion would 
be the first successful WTO tariff liberalization in seventeen years. That would be a very significant 
achievement. 
2.175.  He had heard some of the comments that day about plurilaterals which had struck him. 
There was one very multilateral aspect of the Information Technology Expansion Agreement and 
that was the benefits. The benefits of ITA expansion were offered or would be offered, if they were 
successful, on an MFN basis which meant that there would be multilateral benefits to that trade 
agreement even for those countries that did not participate. That was something very important 
for all Members to keep in mind in working together towards a successful outcome on ITA expansion.  
2.176.  As much as success on ITA would be a positive signal though, failure on ITA expansion 
would send a negative signal as Members went in to the new year. ITA expansion compared to DDA 
was a lot easier. It was a smaller group. It was a more focused negotiation. There was a greater degree of like-mindedness in the ITA plurilateral discussion than there was in a broader discussion 
in that room about DDA. So, if ITA Participants were not able to succeed even in that more limited 
area of ITA expansion, he thought that would send  a very negative signal about Members' ability 
to grapple with more difficult i ssues in DDA in the year ahead. 
2.177.  Finally, he wanted to reiterate very strongly that the United States was fully committed to 
making progress in implementation not only of the Bali Mandate to develop a DDA work program but also of all the decisions taken at Bali. 
2.178.  The representative of Argentina supp orted the statement made by the G-20 and by 
Australia on behalf of the Cairns Group. Regarding the definition of a post-Bali work program by 
July 2015, Argentina stressed that the inter-link promoted between the broad areas of negotiations should not be aimed at the parallelism of initiatives and results in the three areas. 
The levels of ambition among Services, Agriculture and NAMA were not equal, and the composition 
of the walls among those three areas was asymmetrical. 
2.179.  Agriculture was lagging far behind the two other areas. If Members were seeking 
parallelism among the results or balance among those areas, they had to make a very major effort 
in Agriculture. The Uruguay Round included Agriculture in the multilateral trade rules with the view to establishing an agricultural trading system which was more effective and economic through commitments to reduce distortion and protecti on in the areas of domestic support, export 
subsidies and market access. The Uruguay Round had marked the beginning of a process which 
had been conceived as continuous, on-going, and that had to be completed.  
2.180.  The producers in developing countries an d LDCs could not compete with the Agricultural 
support policies of developed countries which distor ted markets to the extent that they cancelled 
their competitive advantage. It was absolutely essential to correct those distortions rapidly that impeded the developing countries and the LDCs from fully developing their Agricultural potential, 
their sustainable growth and their effective participation in Agricultural trade with their competitive 
advantages. Despite the progress made with the Ur uguay Round, there was still political space for 
practices which were more distortive and protectionist. That scenario could not be ignored. It was absolutely crucial to make substantive progress in Agriculture. This was why Agriculture was the 
backbone of development.  WT/GC/M/155 
 
- 31 - 
 
  2.181.  Therefore, the objectives designed in Doha  should be preserved in drafting the post-Bali 
work program: substantive reduction in domestic  support, great improvement in market access 
and elimination of export subsidies. Elimination of export subsidies was the first matter which had to be solved according to what had been decided by the Ministers in Bali. The constant drop in 
prices over the past month could jeopardise th e commitments taken on at the Ninth Ministerial 
Conference. This situation was urgent. Members had to adopt the decision on the immediate elimination of export subsidies in all their forms. Argentina repeated that the chapter on export 
competition in draft modalities was stabilised and was absolutely doable. 
2.182.  Interconnection between the three main areas of the negotiations – Agriculture, NAMA and 
Services – could be a false premise, a parallel focus that aimed at covering up the imbalances that existed. Consequently, Members would not be dealing with what had been decided in Bali – doing 
away with subsidies first. 
2.183.  For Argentina, development having been enshrined in the Doha Mandate to be at the very 
heart of the Round meant that any work programme should start from the basis that there would 
be binding results in Agriculture according to the priorities defined in the Bali Ministerial 
Conference. Members should also guarantee developing countries a margin for the implementation of their growth policies in the industrial area. Argentina repeated that the focus of development 
meant that developing countries should be able to adopt decisions on the commitments that they 
considered were consistent with their development, financial and trade needs, and should not expect from them to take on the commitments which were not consistent with their needs, their situation and their particular problems.  
2.184.  Regarding Services, in the Hong Kong Declar ation, it had been decided that a final draft of 
commitments could only be submitted after the modalities in Agriculture and NAMA had been 
decided upon, and the final commitments had been tabled. In other words, the negotiations in 
Services would only be completed after the conclu sion in the negotiations in the two other areas 
and as long as there was clarity in the level of commitments adopted by the Members. Without 
clear progress in Agriculture it would be very difficult to start any discussion in NAMA or Services. 
2.185.  For Argentina, a post-Bali work program should focus on achieving progress in Agriculture 
as set out in the Doha mandate in accordance with  the priorities established in the Bali Ministerial 
Conference. It was urgent to adopt a decision on the immediate elimination of export subsidies in all their forms. Any discussion in other main areas of negotiations should be determined by the 
progress made in the area of Agriculture and aimed at addressing the asymmetry as far as 
liberalization was concerned – which did exist. Members should also ensure that there was the 
necessary political margin so that the developing countries and LDCs could move forward in their 
development policies. 
2.186.  The representative of the European Union said that Members were then starting a 
particularly intensive period of consultations with tremendous systemic potential. If they 
succeeded, they would take a decisive step toward s the conclusion of the DDA. The EU attached a 
very high priority to the multilateral trading sy stem and considered the conclusion of the DDA to 
be a strategic objective. The imperative of concluding the Doha Round was shared by each and every WTO Member. The question on everyone's mind, as also reflected in the comments at that 
meeting, was how to move forward under the best possible conditions.  
2.187.  When Members had started their debate on  post-Bali Work at the beginning of the year, 
the Director-General had set out a number of parameters to guide their conversations. At that 
meeting, he had developed them further stressing the sense of urgency, the need to be realistic 
and pragmatic focusing on what was truly important then and what was doable, the need for a high degree of engagement including from capi tals and the need for a broad and horizontal 
approach including all areas of negotiation. The EU fully agreed with and supported the parameters 
as had been presented which had also reflected to a very great extent the EU's own thinking. 
2.188.  It might also be useful to recall a number of additional concepts that had surfaced earlier 
in 2014 including simplification, parallelism, respecting each other's real red lines and building step 
by step convergence in the Membership. Over the next few months until July 2015, Members 
needed to translate those parameters and principles into concrete ideas of substance on how to move forward in individual negotiating areas and horizontally. This would be difficult but not WT/GC/M/155 
 
- 32 - 
 
  impossible. They all had elements of information and overall an almost intuitive understanding on 
what was doable. They then needed to concentrate on translating that into a negotiated outcome. 
2.189.  The representative of Bangladesh associated with the statements made by Uganda on 
behalf of the LDC Group and Nepal. He appreciated the Director-General for his report on the state 
of play and was truly heartened to note the encouraging development. Ministers in Bali had 
emphasised that priority should be given to issues in the Bali Package where legally binding outcomes could not be achieved. He pointed out that all decisions relating to LDCs by construct 
and operation were non-binding in nature. Hence,  any future work programme should focus on 
making all the LDC-related decisions legally binding and operational. 
2.190.  The present scenario to his delegation's understanding was also not consistent with one of 
the fundamental and enshrined principles of the multilateral trading system – predictability. 
2.191.  No inter-linkages with LDC issues had been envisaged in Doha but Members were then on 
a different hard ground. The LDCs' ambition and th e issues were well-known to all. Those issues 
were neither tied with nor would hold up the prog ress of other issues. As such, LDC issues should 
be put on a fast and clear track in the coming work programme. For Bangladesh, this was the best 
way to do justice to the most vulnerable and we akest group of the house. Bangladesh stood ready 
to participate in all future work with an open mind. 
2.192.  The Director-General listened carefully to everything that Members had said. He thought 
he had detected overall a broad strong commitmen t to move their work forward – which was very 
positive. At the same time, he had not heard anything new, just a rehash of the positions that they had been saying since five years ago – which was not good news. But he had not expected 
anything different. They were just starting the process again and he was hopeful that in 2015 they 
moved on to another kind of dynamic. 
2.193.  He stressed that, on 21 January, Members would be starting the Room W process at the 
Ambassador's Level. He hoped that that would be a completely different kind of engagement and 
to have an interactive conversation. They could come with their list of wishes which would be very comprehensive, from A to Z, going in one direction and they would also hear on the other side of 
the table their list from A through Z but going in the completely opposite direction. He would ask 
them, then what? They would have to answer that. 
2.194.  He did not know what the solution was but Members had to figure it out. They had heard 
that day and they were going to hear in 2015 completely opposing views on several very 
important issues. What would be before them was what then? Should they stop? Should they give 
up? Should they continue trying? And if they continued trying, on what basis were they going to continue trying? He was absolutely open. He wa s willing to go in whichever direction Members 
wanted to go. But, they would have to face it in one point in time. Members had to answer the 
questions. Those were going to come.  He thou ght that Members should use the break over the 
winter to think about them. They could choose what they wanted to do but they should face those 
questions in 2015. 
2.195.  He recalled that he had suggested that Members should keep the sense of urgency. Come 
January, this was not going to be, " Let's warm up the engines again ". Rather, it was going to be 
full-steam ahead. They should read the files agai n. They should reacclimatise themselves with the 
issues because there would be technical questions that they would have to answer at the 
Ambassadors' Level. They should talk to their technical experts and be ready for that. 
2.196.  Another thing that he had suggested was that Members should focus on their priorities. He 
recommended that they concentrated on the item s that were truly important to them. If they 
moved on with the negotiations and they were not going to get an outcome which covers A through Z, they should at least make sure that they had prepared the stage for outcomes which 
were viable, possible and realistic on the items that were truly important to them. He 
recommended that they did the exercise of filter ing what they really wanted to see happen.  
2.197.  He had also suggested that while doing that, Members should be realistic. They all knew 
where the red lines were on everyone's side so they should try to be realistic. They should try to 
figure out what they could actually get and see whether they could prepare the stage and WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  negotiate in a way that delivered the kind of things that they wanted. Delegations had talked 
about the fact that LDCs issues were priority issues – and that binding commitments should be 
achieved in areas where they had not been achieved  in Bali. He thought those were all doable. He 
did not think they were impossible at all. But if they went from A to Z with a very high level of 
ambition on all those areas then they would become impossible.  
2.198.  He had also asked Members to try not to sequence the work. He knew that most of the 
time it was useful to know what was going to happen in the critical areas before deciding what to 
put on the table in the other areas of negotiations. However, that was not going to work. For 
example, Rules was very difficult but if everyone waited until the core issues were decided before 
they even began to talk about whether there were any potential outcomes in Rules, there would be no outcome. Members should start to engage in other areas without necessarily committing to 
outcomes; they should begin to think realistically and in a pragmatic way about which were 
potential outcomes for all those areas. 
2.199.  Members should think about it and work would begin in 2015. How often meetings would 
be held in the kind of Room W scenario, on which issues they were going to focus, whether one 
issue at a time or a horizontal discussion with more issues on the table at the same time, they would decide that as they went along. This was not meant to substitute the work of the 
Chairpersons of the negotiating groups. The Chairp ersons were going to continue with their work 
and those two kinds of meetings and dynamics would complement each other. 
2.200.  The General Council took note of the Director-General's report and of the statements. 
3  IMPLEMENTATION OF THE BALI OUTCOMES (G/RO/76) – STATEMENT BY THE 
CHAIRMAN 
3.1.  The Chairman8 recalled that, both at the July and October General Council meetings, he had 
provided a report on the implementation of all the Bali Decisions. As he had noted earlier, the 
adoption of the three fundamental decisions on 27 November had effectively put Members back on 
track in implementing all the mandates that their Ministers had given them in Bali. 
3.2.  In that spirit, he had convened a meeting with Chairpersons of regular bodies – in particular 
those with direct Bali mandates – on 3 December, to review work in all areas and in particular the 
work taking place in direct follow-up to the mandates in the Bali Ministerial Decisions. 
3.3.  He gave Members an overview of where things stood in all areas, starting with the five 
decisions on regular work. 
3.4.  On TRIPS non-violation and situation complaints, the TRIPS Council had discussed the matter 
at its meetings in February, June and October. Ba sed on a submission from the United States, the 
Council had an intensive exchange of views on the merits of applying such complaints to the TRIPS 
Agreement at its last meeting. However, delegations still needed to address the Ministerial 
mandate – to prepare recommendations on scope and modalities for that kind of disputes. The Council would revert to that matter at its next meeting with the aim of being in a position to agree 
on and submit its recommendations in a timely  manner for the next Ministerial Conference. 
3.5.  On the Work Programme on E-Commerce, there was a separate item on the agenda on the 
review of progress in the work programme in line with the Bali Ministerial Decision. There was also a separate item on the Work Programme on Small Economies on the General Council agenda which 
was a standing one, so relevant updates would be provided under those two respective items. 
3.6.  On Aid-for-Trade, work was continuing in line with the Work Programme for 2014-2015. An 
integral part of the biennial work programme wa s the Fifth Global Review of Aid-for-Trade which 
would be held at the end of June 2015. The th eme of the Review was "Reducing Trade Costs for 
Inclusive, Sustainable Growth". The Director-Gen eral had officially launched the monitoring and 
evaluation exercise that underpinned the Review at  the General Council meeting of 21 October. It 
was an extensive exercise based on a series of self-assessment questionnaires, addressed to 
partner countries, donors, regional economic communities and transport corridors, and South-
                                               
8 The Chairman's statement was subsequently circulated in JOB/GC/72. WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  South partners, as also a call for case stories – and he noted that the deadline for the submission 
of responses to the questionnaires and for submitting case stories was the end of December.   
3.7.  On Trade and Transfer of Technology, work had continued in the Working Group, in 
accordance with the Bali mandate. The Chairman of the Working Group had informed him that the 
work undertaken, including a well-received Work shop which had been held in June, was fully 
reflected in the Annual Report, which Members would take up later in the Agenda. 
3.8.  He then moved to the Decisions in the DDA Bali Package – and started with Agriculture. 
3.9.  The regular meeting the Committee on Agriculture had held on 13 November had included an 
item on "Implementation of Bali Outcomes". Under that item Members had considered the follow-up on Bali outcomes on TRQ administration and export competition.  
3.10.  The Bali Decision on TRQ administration requ ired the notification of TRQ fill rates. In 2014 
the CoA had discussed options for notification of TR Q fill rates in March, June, July and November. 
Based on those discussions, at the request of the Chairperson, the Secretariat had circulated on 26 
November a modified Table MA.2 notification format (G/AG/W/137). Some Members had already 
started to report TRQ fill rates using the proposed format. 
3.11.  According to the Bali Declaration on Expo rt Competition, dedicated discussions on export 
competition should occur on an annual basis. The 2014 dedicated discussion had taken place in 
June and had concluded with the circulation of the revised Secretariat document in September and 
subsequent addendum in October. In the November CoA meeting, the Chairperson had announced the launch of preparations for the second dedicated discussion on export competition which should take place during the 2015 June meeting of the Committee on Agriculture. On 26 November 2014 
the Chairperson had circulated the export competition questionnaire along with a summary of 
suggestions she had received on how to increase the number and improve the overall quality of replies to that questionnaire. Members' replies to the questionnaire and relevant notifications 
would be compiled in a revised Secretariat background document which would form the basis of 
discussions in 2015. 
3.12.  Regarding Cotton, in line with the Bali Mi nisterial Decision, that work took place in the 
Special Session of the Committee on Agriculture, and it was therefore under the umbrella of the 
TNC. On the more specific development assistance  aspects of Cotton, Members would hear shortly 
from the Director-General – under item 6 of the Agenda. 
3.13.  On Trade Facilitation, he would like to very much welcome the announcement that Hong 
Kong, China had just deposited its instrument of acceptance for the Protocol of Amendment. This 
was certainly a very positive sign, and fully in the spirit of the Decision that the General Council had adopted on 27 November. 
3.14.  On Development and LDC matters, and starting with the Monitoring Mechanism on S&D 
Treatment, the Bali Decision stipulated that the Monitoring Mechanism would act as a focal point within the WTO to analyse and review the implementation of S&D provisions. The Monitoring 
Mechanism operated in a Dedicated Session of th e CTD, which was to meet twice a year, with 
additional meetings convened, as appropriate. Th e monitoring of S&D provisions in the Mechanism 
was to be undertaken on the basis of written inputs or submissions made by Members, as well as on the basis of reports received from other WTO Bodies to which submissions by Members could 
also be made. Two dedicated sessions had been held in 2014: one in July and the second more 
recently on 27 November. No written proposals had as yet been submitted by Members. While highlighting the elements of the Bali Decision, the Chairperson had called on Members at both 
meetings to make written submissions in order to make the Mechanism operational. 
3.15.  On LDC matters, and regarding Preferential Rules of Origin for LDCs, as mandated by 
paragraph 1.10 of the Bali Ministerial Decision, the Committee on Rules of Origin had, at its 
30 October meeting, reviewed the developments in  preferential rules of origin applicable to 
imports from LDCs. In the context of the revi ew, the Committee had taken note of the rules 
associated to a preferential scheme being implemen ted by Chile and had also heard a presentation 
about the WTO database on Preferential Trade Ag reements. A report of that review had been 
circulated for consideration by the General Council in document G/RO/76.   WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  3.16.  Still on Rules of Origin, on a matter not related to the Bali Outcomes but to the 
Harmonization Work Programme, he highlighted th e exchange of letters between the Chairperson 
of the Committee on Rules of Origin and himself, which had been circulated in G/RO/W/152. In that exchange, he had informed the Chairperson of the consultations he had with Members on the 
issues raised in his letter, and that the general sense from his consultations had been that 
Members would wish the Committee on Rules of Origin to continue its work on all the issues as it deemed necessary, without the matter being referred to the General Council at that stage. 
3.17.  The Decision on Duty-free Quota-free market access for LDCs called upon developed-
country Members that had not yet provided DFQF access for at least 97% of products originating from LDCs to improve their existing DFQF coverage, prior to MC10. Developing countries had also been encouraged to provide DFQF access to LDC products. The Bali Decision also instructed the 
CTD to continue to annually review the steps taken to provide DFQF market access to the LDCs, 
and report to the General Council for appropriate action. To aid in its review, the Secretariat, in close coordination with Members, had prepared a report on Members’ DFQF market access for 
LDCs at the tariff line level based on their notifications. The CTD had conducted this annual DFQF 
review at its 27 November meeting on the basis of the Secretariat report. This report, the first of its kind, had been well received by Members. It contained the current status of DFQF access 
provided by all developed Members to the LDCs, as well as the DFQF coverage provided by the five 
developing countries that had so far adopted LDC DFQF schemes. The report demonstrated that most developed Members granted either full or significant DFQF access to the LDCs and that the degree of access provided by the develo ping countries was also significant. 
3.18.  Concerning the operationalization of the LDCs Services Waiver, he reported that the 
Services Council deliberations on the organization al arrangements of the high-level meeting had 
been advancing quite considerably – through an in formal meeting earlier that week; and with an 
open-ended informal meeting scheduled on 12 December to finalize the organizational 
arrangements. Notionally, at least at the informal level, as one Member had noted in the previous discussion, a date had been proposed for a high-l evel meeting – 5 February 2015, if agreeable to 
all Members. The LDC Coordinator had highlighted however that the meeting, if it proceeded as 
scheduled would be technically more than six months from the date the collective request had been submitted – 21 July. To avoid any suggestion from any quarter that somehow they were not respecting the Ministers' direction to ensure that the high-level meeting should be held six months 
after submission of the collective request, he wo uld work with the Chairperson of the Council for 
Trade in Services, to absolutely ensure that there was a consensus that deemed the date of 
5 February for the high-level meeting to be fully compliant with the Ministers' wishes.
9 
3.19.  This concluded his update on the implementation of the Bali Decision. Shortly, Members 
would go into the specific items of their agenda, all of which, at first glance, might look as being different pieces. However, taking a closer look, it became clear that they were actually pieces of a 
single jigsaw puzzle that did fit. But they all ha d to fit to paint the complete picture. And the 
picture that emerged told a credible story about the WTO core functions: enforcing rules, monitoring implementation, ensuring that trade and development moved hand in hand, providing technical assistance, alongside the negotiating function.  All in all, he believed that they had a very 
good story to tell as the year drew to a close. And this was thanks to the efforts of the Director-
General, and of each and every Member – whethe r serving as Chairpersons in WTO regular and 
negotiating bodies or as active participants in the discussions in each WTO body. 
3.20.  The General Council took note of the Chai rman's statement on the implementation of the 
Bali Outcomes, including the report of the Committee on Rules of Origin in document G/RO/76. 
4  WORK PROGRAMME ON SMALL ECONOMIES – REPORT BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE 
DEDICATED SESSION OF THE COMMITTEE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT 
4.1.  The Chairman recalled that in line with the 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 work in its Dedicated Sessions on this subject. At Bali, Ministers also adopted a 
Decision re-confirming their commitment to the work programme and instructing the CTD to continue its work in Dedicated Sessions under th e overall responsibility of the General Council. 
                                               
9 See also WT/GC/W/693. WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  4.2.  He invited Ambassador Pierre Claver NDAYIRAGIJE (Burundi), Chairperson of the Dedicated 
Session of the CTD, to report on this matter. 
4.3.  Ambassador Pierre Claver NDAYIRAGIJE (Bur undi), Chairman of the Dedicated Session of the 
CTD, recalled that in his last statement to the General Council in October, he had reported that the 
proponents of Small Economies had begun identifying relevant issues and possible areas of 
research concerning the integration of Small Economies into global value chains. Those research topics had been compiled in an outline which had been initially circulated on 13 October and which 
followed up on the Decision taken at the WTO's Ni nth Ministerial Conference in Bali. That Decision 
instructed the WTO Secretariat to provide relevant information and factual analysis for discussion among Members concerning item "K" of the Small Economies' 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. 
4.4.  He was pleased to report that on 27 November, the CTD had held its 28th Dedicated Session 
on the Work Programme on Small Economies. A further revision had been discussed and he was 
glad to report that the outline for the study,  contained in document WT/COMTD/SE/W/30/Rev.1, 
had then been agreed by Members. The Secretariat had begun its research on the report and hoped to be able to discuss it with Members in the coming months. 
4.5.  The representative of Guatemala, on beha lf of the SVEs, thanked the CTD Chairman for his 
report on the SVEs Work Programme. He recalled that the objective of this work programme was 
to frame responses to the trade-related issues id entified for the fuller integration of small, 
vulnerable economies into the multilateral tradin g system according to paragraph 35 of the Doha 
Ministerial Declaration, paragraph 41 of the Hong  Kong Ministerial Declaration, and the Geneva 
Ministerial Decision in document WT/L/84. 
4.6.  Following that important objective, Minist ers had reaffirmed their commitment to the work 
programme and had instructed the WTO Secretariat to provide relevant information and factual 
analysis for discussion in areas identified in item (k) paragraph 2 of the work programme, in particular challenges and opportunities experience d by small economies when linking into global 
value chains in trade in goods and services. Based on this decision, the SVEs Group had presented 
a proposal for a study on Small Economies and Global Value Chains. As the CTD Chairperson had reported, the outline for the study had already been approved and the Secretariat had already 
started its work on the study. The SVEs had high  expectations on such exercise, especially 
because it would focus on the challenges and opportunities specifically faced by small, vulnerable 
economies when dealing with global value chains. 
4.7.  The SVEs took the opportunity to thank all delegations for their support in that endeavour. 
The Group looked forward to the completion of the study and the discussions resulting from the 
study within the CTD. 
4.8.  The representative of Swaziland lent her de legation's support to the statement delivered by 
Guatemala on behalf of the SVEs. The slow return  to economic growth for many SVEs in the post-
crisis period underscored the fragility of small economies and the vulnerability of such small open economies to the economic impact transmitted thro ugh externally generated shock. It was widely 
acknowledged that many structural conditions that impacted on small economies fell beyond the 
remit of the organization.  
4.9.  However, despite this recognition, it remained the charge of the multilateral trading system 
to play a constructive role in building economic resilience in small economies. In other words, 
Members had a responsibility to support small ec onomies in areas where such support could also 
bring a meaningful contributi on to their development. 
4.10.  In recognition of this responsibility, Mini sters at Doha had mandated the establishment of a 
work programme that would frame trade-related responses that would underpin a more robust 
integration of small economies into the multilateral trading system. In that regard, Swaziland was encouraged by the progress already made on a range of trade-related issues through the 
Committee on Trade and Development Dedicated Session on Small Economies and welcomed the 
Ministerial Decision of the Eighth Ministerial Conference on the work programme.  WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  4.11.  In relation to the work programme, Swaz iland commended the work already completed with 
respect to the outline of proposed research on the challenges and opportunities experienced by 
small economies when linking into global value chains. 
4.12.  On Global Value Chains, Swaziland support ed the view that an assessment of the factors 
that inhibited the integration of small economies into value chains was necessary and was a 
precursor to the establishment of tailored multilat eral and sectoral responses. Additionally, the 
report on Global Value Chains should complement the work already under way in the CTD that was 
focused on Non-Tariff Measures which continued to inhibit effective access to markets of export 
interest to many small economies. In this an d other matters, Swaziland stood ready to work 
constructively to further the objectives of a multilateral trading system that was supportive of development. 
4.13.  The representative of the Solomon Islands,  on behalf of the Pacific WTO Group, supported 
the Statement by Guatemala on behalf of the SVEs  and expressed his delegation's appreciation to 
the Chairperson of the CTD for his report on the SVEs Work Programme.  
4.14.  The Group underlined the importance to the Pacific Members of the Work Programme on 
Small Economies as mandated by paragraph 35 of the Doha Declaration. The Group stood ready to work constructively with Members to "frame responses to the trade related issues identified for the 
fuller integration of small, vulnerable economies into the multilateral trading system" as mandated 
by Ministers in Doha.  
4.15.  In relation to this, the Group welcomed th e statements made earlier by Mexico and China, 
highlighting the need to constructively address the trade concerns of SVEs and LDCs as part of the 
development elements of the post-Bali Work Programme. 
4.16.  The Pacific Group looked forward to the comp letion of the study on Global Value Chains and 
to engaging in meaningful discussions with Me mbers on enhancing trade opportunities through 
GVCs and in addressing other non-tariff barriers to  the trade of small, vulnerable economies.   
4.17.  The representative of St. Lucia, on beha lf of the OECS, thanked the CTD Chairperson in 
Dedicated Session for his report and the SVEs Coordinator – Guatemala for its statement to which 
her delegation fully subscribed to. In line with paragraphs 35 of the Doha Declaration and 41 of 
the Hong Kong Declaration, the Work Programme on Small Economies sought to frame responses 
to the trade-related issues identified for the fuller integration of small, vulnerable economies. This understanding had been reiterated in 2011 in the Geneva Ministerial Decision. 
4.18.  While the OECS accepted and welcomed the agreement in the CTD-DS on the outline of the 
study that sought to identify the challenges and opportunities experienced by small economies when linking into the global value chains in trade in goods and services, the Group emphasised 
that the target and focus of the study had to be small, vulnerable economies. In that regard, the 
OECS noted that the negotiations on the outline gave it some concern that merited it repeating what it believed as the genesis of such a work programme. 
4.19.  While it was true that the title of the dedicated session was the Work Programme on Small 
Economies, the OECS believed and should reiterate that this work programme was for the fuller integration of small, vulnerable economies and that was reflected in the various draft negotiating group texts where SVE flexibilities were sought.  
4.20.  Generally speaking, SVEs were Members that accounted for less than one percent of world 
trade. WTO Members recognised that those economie s experienced specific challenges due to their 
small size and the distance that separated them from their trading partners. Whereas some 
Members cautioned against the Group's understanding, the term vulnerable qualifying small 
economy remained important for the OECS. The Group wanted to ensure that the scope of the work programme was unambiguous moving forward. 
4.21.  Members had spent considerable effort to arrive at an agreement on the outline for the WTO 
Secretariat to commence its work on the study and thanked those Members that had actively participated. The OECS was however surprised that  even after the agreement for such a study had WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  been mandated in Bali, the negotiations on the outline had Members expending as much energy as 
it had taken to arrive at the Agreement itself, similar to the Group's experience in the NTM study.  
4.22.  The OECS hoped that in the future, Memb ers could enable a more expeditious process so 
that the small and vulnerable in this house coul d utilise the processes available to enable their 
fuller integration into the multilateral trading system. 
4.23.  The representative of Barbados associated her delegation with the statement made by 
Guatemala on behalf of the SVEs. She also thanked the Chairperson of the CTD for his report on 
the SVEs work programme which was a critical avenue for small, vulnerable economies as they 
sought to better integrate into the multilateral trading system.  
4.24.  Since the initiation of work in pursuit of the MC9 Ministerial Decisions, SVEs had been 
actively engaged in seeking to have the work on global value chains in goods and services 
undertaken. It had taken Members an entire year to reach agreement on the outline for the 
proposed study on SVEs. But, Barbados was grateful that progress had finally been made and that the outline for the study had finally been approved. 
4.25.  Barbados looked forward to the Secretaria t's analysis and hoped to have Members' active 
support in order to have analysed how, given their current situations, small, vulnerable economies could work towards meaningful participation in global value chains. Her delegation looked forward 
to a more expeditious process than what Members had had thus far. 
4.26.  The representative of Jamaica thanked the Chairperson of the CTD for his work and 
leadership of the issues under consideration in the agenda item. He associated his delegation with 
the statement of Guatemala as Coordinator of the SVE Group. Jamaica underlined the points 
advanced by St Lucia and associated itself with those comments. 
4.27.  The representative of the United States  supported the MC9 Decision on small economies 
and was committed to advancing this work, including the report called for in the Decision. The 
United States appreciated the work at the Secretariat to produce the draft outline of proposed 
research that had been approved by the CTD-DS on 27 November.  
4.28.  He commented briefly on the issue raised of "small economies" versus "small, vulnerable 
economies." The United States would welcome a detailed discussion on matters of differentiation 
between developing country Members. That discussion would be multifaceted and difficult for reasons which were well-known, but the US was prepared for a creative discussion if the broader Membership was equally open-minded and pragmatic. 
4.29.  The Chairman said there were some lessons learned from the process and some 
constructive advice being offered for the continuation of the study on global value chains and so 
on. In the remaining tenure of the CTD-DS Chairper son, he knew he would take those up at the 
Committee level. 
4.30.  The representative of the European Union very much agreed with the importance of GVCs 
and the integration therein of developing countries, notably LDCs and other countries most in 
need. The EU thus welcomed the formulation of th e outline of proposed research on GVCs under 
the small economies work programme which then  avoided any pre-judgment of the outcomes. 
4.31.  The European Union also welcomed the explicit reference to the OECD study on developing 
countries participation in "Global Value Chains: Implications for Trade and Trade-Related Policies." 
This study which was financed by the EU had a high degree of overlap with the CTD-DS research. 
The OECD study should thus inform the CTD-DS research very much. 
4.32.  The General Council took note of the report of the Chairperson of the Dedicated Session of 
the Committee on Trade and Development and of the statements. WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  5  WORK PROGRAMME ON E-COMMERCE - REVIEW OF PROGRESS (S/C/45, G/C/55, 
WT/GC/W/692) 
5.1.  The Chairman recalled that at MC9, Ministers had adopted a Decision on the Work 
Programme on Electronic Commerce. In this Decision, Ministers decided to continue with the 
positive work under the Work Programme on Electronic Commerce, and instructed the General 
Council and its relevant bodies to continue substantially invigorating this work. Ministers also instructed the General Council to hold periodic reviews, in July and December 2014 and July 2015, 
based on the reports submitted by the WTO bodies entrusted with the implementation of the Work 
Programme. These bodies were the Councils for Services, Goods and TRIPS and the Committee on Trade and Development.  
5.2.  He recalled that, at the July 2014 General Council meeting and following consultations with 
Members, he had asked Ambassador Alfredo Suescum (Panama) to facilitate and coordinate the 
horizontal discussion on the Work Programme on E-Commerce – in other words to act as the "Friend of the Chair".    
5.3.  He invited Ambassador Suescum to report on developments under the Work Programme on 
E-Commerce since the General Council's last review in July. He drew Members' attention to his written report, prepared under his own responsi bility, contained in document WT/GC/W/692. 
5.4.  Ambassador Alfredo Suescum (Panama), said that, since his appointment in July as "Friend of 
the Chair," he had consulted with the Chairpersons of the four bodies in charge of e-commerce 
related work and he had invited all delegations to meet with him bilaterally in order to hear their 
ideas and their vision regarding the work programme. In addition, on 20 November, he had 
chaired an informal open-ended meeting for all delegations to inform them of his assessment of 
the consultations and give them a chance for a broader exchange of views and ideas. 
5.5.  In his consultations and at the informal meeting, he had asked Members three questions: 
a. Firstly, he had asked delegates about their opinion regarding the state of play on e-
commerce work, particularly given the impasse at that time regarding post-Bali Work.  
b. Secondly, he had asked them how they had thought they could make progress on the 
work regarding e-commerce in the short and medium terms. 
c. Thirdly, he had asked whether they would like to see or had felt that it had been possible 
to have some positive or concrete outcome by the next ministerial.  
5.6.  Most delegations had felt that the e-commerce work programme was part of the regular work 
that the WTO did and that it should continue. One Member had thought that the work programme 
had been subsumed into the DDA and that e-commerce had not been an issue that had as much p r i o r i t y  a s  o t h e r  D D A  i s s u e s  a n d  t h a t  i t  c o u l d  n o t  t a k e  p r e c e d e n c e  o v e r  m o r e  i m p o r t a n t  D D A  
issues. 
5.7.  Some delegations had felt that they would also like to see all other Bali Decisions 
implemented as well. There had also been a de sire to go beyond workshops and the routine 
extension of the moratorium on customs duties for electronic transmissions in order to reach more 
concrete results in other areas as well. 
5.8.  Regarding MC10 outcomes, some Members had said that they would like to start thinking 
about making the moratorium a permanent mechanism and not wait until just before the 
Ministerial to start discussing the issue. Some had felt that it had been premature to discuss that 
bearing in mind that it had been a sensitive issue and there had still been other trade-related issues that had been pending discussion. 
5.9.  Many had stressed that any proposal regard ing work and objectives should stem from the 
Members within the appropriate WTO bodies. There had also been support in terms of attaching priority to issues and concerns related to development and SMEs. WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  5.10.  Conversely, many had felt that there had been no mandate to initiate negotiations with a 
view to a specific outcome on e-commerce. On horizontal and cross-cutting issues, some had preferred carrying on with the conversation and an exchange of experiences among delegations.  
5.11.  He also reminded Members that at MC9, Ministers had entrusted the General Council to 
consider recommendations on possible measures related to e-commerce in the next session of the 
Ministerial Conference. In his consultations with  Members, he had urged them to talk among 
themselves and ponder on the three questions that he himself had asked them during his 
consultations and also in terms of the Ministerial mandate. 
5.12.  He was at the disposal of any Member who would like to carry out with this conversation. He 
also pointed out that it was his intention to convene a dedicated session in the early part of 2015. 
5.13.  The Chairman drew attention to the re ports on the Work Programme on Electronic 
Commerce submitted by the Chairpersons of the Co uncil for Trade in Services and of the Goods 
Council to the General Council, contained in documents S/C/45 and G/C/55, respectively. He thought Members would note that  the issues did cut across the mandates of a number of Councils 
and thus it was genuinely a set of horizontal issues. The views had continued to diverge somewhat 
on a direction they should take. There would be an early opportunity to try and consolidate and focus the collective view through the dedicated session that Ambassador Suescum had just 
announced he intended to hold in February.  
5.14.  The representative of Brazil wished to refe r to the report presented by the Chairman of the 
Council on Trade in Services. While looking through the report, Brazil had noticed that there was 
room for some adjustments for the sake of precision. His delegation did not mean to propose any 
formal amendments at that juncture and also acknowledged a fair attempt by the Chairman of the 
CTS to sum up preliminary discussions on the latest  US proposal. However, he wished to make a 
couple of comments on the report. 
5.15.  Firstly, regarding the last sentence of paragraph 5, the absence of a negotiating mandate 
for e-commerce should be understood in a broader sense. From Brazil's recollection, when some Members had observed that there had been no negotiating mandate under the E-Commerce Work 
Programme, they had not intended to restrict th at observation to the market access dimension. 
What had been conveyed was that there was no  negotiating mandate under the work programme 
be it for market access or domestic regulation or any other aspect.  
5.16.  Accordingly, Brazil had consistently o pposed discussions on the basis of informal and 
communication technology principles which were once again taken up in the latest US proposal 
due to their normative content and negotiating implications. However, as had been previously said, Brazil remained willing to engage in info rmation and experience-sharing exercises on a 
Member-driven basis including on the topics that were related to those ICT principles. 
5.17.  The representative of the European Union welcomed the discussion on electronic commerce. 
His delegation supported the Work Programme on E-Commerce as part of the regular work of the 
WTO. After many years of discussions, exchange of ideas and workshops, the EU believed that 
Members could consider whether there were elements from those past discussions that could be harvested with a view to creating a concrete outcome for the work programme. The time might have come to assess whether there was any deliverable available. The EU would certainly support 
to agree upon a series of issues that would facilitate and support electronic commerce.  
5.18.  In the past, Members had tackled many issues such as the technological neutrality of the 
GATS or the moratorium on customs duties. Those were elements that could be further stabilised 
and consolidated in the world trading system. Further to that, the European Union would invite 
proponents of past communications and workshops and in particular developing Members to share their ideas to give them a sense of what would be useful from their perspective.  
5.19.  As Members had seen, the EU had made a presentation on e-signature and authentication 
at the last CTS meeting. His delegation was grateful for the many comments received at the meeting and looked forward to continuing the debate in 2015 to determine whether new additional trade rules or disciplines would be useful or necessary in that regard. Further discussions could be 
conducted on spam, consumer protection or transparency for example. WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  5.20.  The EU was available for any type of process that would allow Members to move towards 
more concrete steps and demonstrate that the WTO was useful in supporting trade using information and communication technologies. As expressed at the June CTS Special Session, the EU considered that e-commerce could be an impo rtant element of the post-Bali Work Programme. 
E-commerce had evolved into a key enabler for a number of services sectors. A WTO initiative in 
that area could be very worthwhile. A possibility co uld be to add the series of additional rules or 
disciplines in addition to making the moratorium a permanent one at MC10. 
5.21.  The representative of Cuba wished to reiterate that Cuba supported making progress in the 
implementation of the work programme on e-commerce. However, Members should be cautious 
and aware that there was no negotiating mandate to  carry the issue forward as Brazil had already 
pointed out. On the contrary, to Cuba's mind, Members needed to focus on complying with the Bali 
Package which was their main task ahead for 2015, particularly on those issues that had not been 
decided on in a legally binding way within the DDA. 
5.22.  In terms of work that Members needed to accomplish, they should focus on the issues that 
SMEs from developing countries faced, particularly SMEs from LDCs, including limited access to 
those technologies for various reasons. In terms of the moratorium, Cuba maintained its position unchanged. Her delegation recognized that they needed to continue working based on the Bali 
Decision Cuba would work constructively in order to take part in the periodic review that the 
General Council would be carrying out in 2015 based on the outcome of the work done in all the 
bodies that were looking at the issue. 
5.23.  The representative of India noted that the mandate flowing from the 1998 Decision on E-
Commerce was to establish a work programme to deepen the understanding of the issues related 
to e-commerce taking into account specific needs of the developing countries and then to report back to the General Council. 
5.24.  The decision had instructed an exploratory exercise to examine trade-related issues within 
the framework of the WTO. The Ministerial Decisi on had not provided a negotiating mandate to 
deliver a negotiated outcome on the matter, let alone a market access negotiating mandate as 
reflected by the Chairperson of the Council for Trade in Services in his report to the General 
Council in document S/C/45.   
5.25.  Therefore, it seemed rather premature to speak about sketching out the outcomes or 
deliverables in that area for MC10 when little or  no discussions had taken place in the relevant 
Committees and Councils. Discussions on the work programme needed to follow a bottom-up 
approach, and any discussion in a Dedicated Session would have to be guided by movement in the relevant bodies, respecting the mandate on the subject. 
5.26.  The representative of China said that, regarding the Work Programme of E-Commerce, the 
first thing to do was to clarify what the mandate was, what concerns different Members had, what 
they could do at MC10, and finally what they could start with at that stage. E-commerce was 
emerging and growing very fast. However, the le vel of development varied dramatically among 
Members. Generally speaking, the developing Me mbers were lagging far behind in terms of 
administration and regulation. Discussions in the WTO were useful. However, those should take due account of different situations and sensitivities of many Members. China would be ready to 
have constructive discussions with other Members in respect of the three questions raised by the 
Facilitator. 
5.27.  The Chairman highlighted the importance of taking together the original 1998 decision 
together with the mandate that had been assigned at MC8, as well as the declaration and decision 
of Bali in that regard. He highlighted that in Bali, Members were instructed to substantially invigorate the work and the Ministers had said "any relevant body of the work program may 
explore appropriate mechanisms to address the relationship between electronic commerce and 
development in a focused and comprehensive manner." Near the conclusion, the Ministers had also instructed the General Council in conducting those periodic reviews "to assess its progress and consider any recommendations on possible measures related to electronic commerce in the next 
session of the Ministerial Conference." WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  5.28.  In other words, the General Council was under  instructions from Ministers to report back to 
them by MC10 on progress along with "any reco mmendations on possible measures." That had to 
be consolidated, as many of the Members had alre ady observed, from the work of the responsible 
Councils and Committees. It was not being shifted into a separate forum. Ambassador Suescum 
was facilitating discussions that properly remained anchored in the various groups. He was simply 
doing his best on Members' collective behalf to highlight the connections among the various 
subjects. Members were not creating a new negotiating forum by holding a session that was meant 
to be horizontal in nature. 
5.29.  The General Council took note of the report by Ambassador Suescum in WT/GC/W/692, of 
the reports in S/C/45 and G/C/55 and of the statements. 6  THE DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE ASPECTS OF COTTON - STATEMENT BY THE 
DIRECTOR-GENERAL 
6.1.  The Chairman recalled that in paragraph 1. b of its August 2004 Decision on the Doha Work 
Programme, the General Council, inter alia, took note of the bilateral, multilateral, and regional 
efforts to make progress on the development assistance aspects of the Cotton Initiative, and 
instructed the Secretariat to continue to work with the development community and to provide the 
Council with periodic reports on relevant developments. The Council also instructed the Director-
General to consult with the relevant international organizations, including the Bretton Woods 
Institutions, the Food and Agriculture Organization and the International Trade Centre, to direct effectively existing programmes and any additional resources towards development of the economies where Cotton has vital importance. The Bali Decision reaffirmed this mandate, and 
invited the Director-General to continue to provide periodic reports on this matter. 
6.2.  The Director-General said that the Doha  Mandate on Cotton was being implemented in two 
tracks: the trade policy aspects and the development assistance aspects and his statement 
focused on the latter. In the Bali Ministerial Decision on Cotton, Ministers had reaffirmed their 
commitment to continued engagement in the Director-General's Consultative Framework Mechanism on Cotton to strengthen the Cotton sector in the LDCs. Cotton would therefore remain 
an important element of Members' work. He would continue to reach out to them to see how best 
to ensure substantive consideration of outstand ing issues in order to deliver on the Cotton 
mandate. 
6.3.  Since presenting his report on the develo pment assistance aspects of Cotton to the General 
Council in November 2013, two further rounds of consultations of the Director-General's 
Consultative Framework Mechanism on Cotton had been held. He referred Members briefly to the 
Evolving Table on Cotton in document WT/CFMC/ 6/Rev.17 which had been circulated to Members 
on 29 October 2014. Its contents were based on information received from them. The numbers in 
the Evolving Table on Cotton showed that, to date, the value of development assistance committed specifically to Cotton stood at around 327 million US dollars.  
6.4.  Meanwhile, assistance committed within the broader framework for agriculture and 
infrastructure-related support was then 4.85 billion dollars, up from 4.78 billion dollars in May that year. Significantly, the value of completed deve lopment assistance projects benefiting Cotton, 
directly or through broader agricultural or infrastructure assistance, had also increased albeit 
slightly. The total sum of disbursements for the completed projects under Cotton-specific 
assistance since the evolving table had first b een issued in 2005 then stood at 398 million. Those 
figures had been compiled based on Members' notifications in the Evolving Table on Cotton, the 
latest version of which had been circ ulated at the end of October 2014.  
6.5.  The statements made by Members who had taken the floor at the last round of his 
Consultative Mechanism had indicated satisfaction with the progress achieved so far. However, a 
number of challenges remained, in particular linked to the need to ensure more rapid 
implementation and faster disbursement rates. The importance of the Consultative Mechanism as a forum for constructive dialogue and information exchange on issues related to Cotton continued to increase. The work and continued engagement of WTO Members and participants in the 
Consultative Mechanism contributed to the overall efforts to consolidate the development 
dimension of the multilateral trading system. WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  6.6.  He commended the traditional Members of the development community for their engagement 
in the consultative process. In particular: Australia, Canada, the European Union and several of its Member States, Japan, and the United States. He also highlighted the important contributions of Brazil, China and India on the platform of So uth-South Co-operation for Cotton Development 
Assistance. 
6.7.  Several multilateral institutions had also provided consistent and valuable support. This 
engagement had consolidated the strong partners hip between providers of development assistance 
for Cotton and its recipients. The Cotton proponents too, for their part, continued to submit 
information regularly on their Cotton-related domestic  reforms, as reflected in the latest version of 
the table on Domestic Cotton Sector Reforms. 
6.8.  In this context, he said he was fully aware of the Cotton proponents' concerns about the 
falling prices, which he believed the International Cotton Advisory Committee was forecasting to 
stay at current low levels. Collectively, Members needed to help those countries compete effectively in world markets, especially since rece nt trends showed their yields remaining static. 
6.9.  He thought Members should redouble their efforts in that area, including by: 
a. working to increase quality cotton production; 
b. enhancing infrastructure and building capacity; 
c. expanding intra-regional trade; and 
d. looking at ways to connect to the cotton-to-clothing value chain.   
6.10.  The representative of Burkina Faso, on beha lf of the C-4, said the C-4 took note of the 
Director-General's statement regarding the Development Assistance Aspects of the Cotton issue. 
He spoke on behalf of Cotton producers in Africa in thanking the Director-General for his tireless 
efforts in facilitating the resolution of this important matter particularly the development aspects which had drawn Members' attention as he had pointed out in June and November. 
6.11.  The Development Assistance Aspect was intertwined with the trade policy aspect of the 
Cotton issue. The C-4 called for benefits to be drawn for the Cotton resolutions of the breaking of the impasse that fall. The Group hoped that this was just an initial step and would allow Members 
to engage in a future face in the resolution of the Cotton issue.
10 
6.12.  The representative of Nigeria thanked the Director-General for his comprehensive report on 
the progress that had been made in implementing  the trade-related components of the 2005 Hong 
Kong Ministerial Declaration. At the outset, he recalled that the MC9 Decision had reaffirmed the 
importance of the Development Assistance Aspect s of Cotton and had highlighted the work of the 
Director-General’s consultative Framework Mechan ism on Cotton in reviewing and tracking Cotton-
specific assistance and infrastructure suppor t programmes or other assistance related to 
strengthen the Cotton sector in the LDCs. 
6.13.  There had been no gainsaying of the fact that Cotton was a vital component of the Doha 
Round Agriculture Negotiations and a central outstanding issue. Therefore, Cotton should be 
addressed ambitiously, specifically and expeditiousl y, in accordance with the Hong Kong Mandate. 
In this regard, Nigeria reiterated its commitment to continue to engage constructively in the Director-General’s Consultative Framework Mechanism on Cotton aimed at strengthening  the Cotton sector in African Countries, and in particular the LDCs. 
6.14.  Nigeria welcomed the response of the donor community to support the trade and 
development of the Cotton sector in Africa, considering the fact that the sector had the potential of transforming national economies and contribute significantly towards poverty alleviation. 
                                               
10 Under this agenda item wished to include the statements made by the C-4 on the 21st and 
22nd meetings of the consultative framework convened by  the Director-General. These statements have been 
incorporated in the records of this me eting as Annexes 4 and 5 respectively. WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  6.15.  However, Nigeria noted with concern that in spite of that laudable initiative, the prospects of 
the Cotton sector and the livelihood of Cotton farmers particularly in the C-4 had continued to deteriorate, more so as the current trade distorting support measures by some developed countries had persisted. 
6.16.  Nigeria urged the developed countries to show continued leadership and greater 
commitment towards achieving the much needed breakthrough on this important issue. His 
delegation remained convinced that there could not be an agreement on modalities in agriculture 
without addressing the issues of Cotton satisfactorily. Nigeria reiterated that the mandate for an 
ambitious treatment of Cotton should remain at th e heart of the successful conclusion of the DDA. 
His delegation, therefore, fully supported the stat ement by Burkina Faso on behalf of the C-4. 
6.17.  The representative of the United States thanked the Director-General for his update. The 
United States underscored the importance of ongoing engagement on Cotton Development 
Assistance and supported continued meaningful reporting of both the donors' assistance and 
especially progress on domestic reform and privatisation by recipient countries. 
6.18.  The United States remained committed to participating in the ongoing dialogue and 
engagement regarding Cotton. He appreciated the Director-General's efforts to make the consultative framework mechanism an effective instrument for maintaining focus on Cotton. 
6.19.  The General Council took note of the Director-General's statement and of the other 
statements. 
7  WTO ACCESSIONS: 2014 ANNUAL REPORT BY THE DIRECTOR-GENERAL (WT/ACC/23) 
– STATEMENT BY DIRECTOR-GENERAL 
7.1.  The Chairman drew attention to the Director-General's report on accessions in document 
WT/ACC/23 and invited him to introduce it. 
7.2.  The Director-General said he was pleased to present the Sixth Annual Report of the Director-
General on WTO Accessions. As in previous years, the report had provided information on the 
operational work on all Accession Working Parties, and on the benefits of Membership including updated figures and analysis on the trade and econ omic performance of Article XII Members.  This 
year's focus was on Post-Accession, which resp onded to the demand of some new Members, 
including LDCs, for support focused on the implementation of accession-specific obligations. 
7.3.  The work on accessions represented a priority  for the Organization. Evidence showed that the 
results from WTO accessions had strengthened the system, had supported domestic reforms and 
had contributed to global growth, development an d prosperity. Accessions had certainly improved 
commercial opportunities for Members.  
7.4.  Through accessions, the WTO had expanded its world trade coverage from just under 91% in 
1995 to approximately 98% in 2013. In 2014, demonstrable progress had been made. In June, 
Members had welcomed Yemen as the 160th Member of the WTO and they had just approved the accession of Seychelles at the meeting. He cong ratulated again the Government of Seychelles for 
its hard work in undertaking the reforms nece ssary to complete its accession negotiations. 
7.5.  The Draft Accession Package of Afghanistan had also been prepared for review by Members – 
so as soon as Afghanistan was ready for that st age of the process to move ahead, the WTO would 
do it. And Kazakhstan's accession was poised for conclusion as well, subject to the resolution of a 
few outstanding questions. The stage was therefore set for further progress in 2015.  
7.6.  He thanked all Members for their contribution, engagement and pragmatism in assisting 
those Acceding Governments that were ready to cr oss the finish line. In particular, he thanked 
those Members who had provided much-needed technical assistance in that area in 2014, 
including: Australia; Brazil; China; the European Union and its individual member-states in particular Germany and Sweden; India; New Zealand; Oman; and the United States. WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  7.7.  He thanked all Acceding Governments for their sustained commitment to undertake relevant 
and WTO-consistent domestic reforms and commended the Secretariat team for its work in managing the complexities and sensitivities of WTO accession negotiations. 
7.8.  H.E. Mr Pierre Laporte (Seychelles), Minister of Finance, Trade and Investment, said that 
Members had earlier witnessed a historic moment for the Seychelles when the General Council had 
officially adopted its Accession Package and when  the Protocol of Accession had been signed. 
Whilst this was a time for celebration for the delegation of the Seychelles, he found it important to 
be present for the agenda item being presented on the Annual Report of the WTO Accession 
especially since it was focused on Post-Accession. In early 2015, the Seychelles was expected to be a full-fledged Member of the WTO and would initiate its Post-Accession work programme. Therefore, he considered the focus of the Annual Report to be timely for his delegation.  
7.9.  In the accession process, governments would still have to allocate a substantial amount of its 
resources even with available assistance from international and regional partners. In the case of the Seychelles, the period after the initiation of the Accession Process in 2008 had been intense as 
it had to set aside internal deadlines for completing the Accession Package by end of 2014.  
7.10.  The Government of the Seychelles had a large number of reforms undertaken in a very 
short time especially with regard to the legal action plan which had been a pre-requisite to 
complete the accession process. As a small island state, all the commitments in the region had to 
be put on the back burner so that they could cope with the strain in resources.  
7.11.  The financial constraints of an accession process were also significant even with the 
assistance the Seychelles received through the ACP MTS programme funded by the EU which had 
allowed its team to attend the negotiations in Geneva from 2012 to 2013. Technical knowhow had 
played a role in how its accession process had gone. The negotiating team had gone through a steep learning curve and had also received much needed technical assistance from the WTO 
Secretariat, Commonwealth, WIPO and UNCTAD. 
7.12.  He was impressed by the amount and quality of work that was being done in the 
organization. It was essential to also recognise the importance of accession and that the 
organization would only get stronger with the addition of more Members with different 
characteristics who could also provide input during the negotiations.  
7.13.  On the Annual Report, as of the beginning of 2015, the Seychelles would be focusing on the 
implementation of the commitments it had made as  part of its terms of Accession. His delegation 
was happy to see in the Annual Report that the Secretariat was dedicated to supporting new 
Members in implementing their obligations from th e time of Membership to the first Trade Policy 
Review and he hoped even further. 
7.14.  He requested the Secretariat to provide adequate support during the ratification process of 
acceding countries especially in terms of sensitisation of stakeholders such as parliamentarians and the private sector to allow for a swift and smooth ratification process.  
7.15.  The tools that had been put in place to assist acceding countries, particularly the accession 
commitment database, had assisted the Seychelles  in drafting its commitment paragraphs by 
comparing commitments of Recently Acceded Members with the same level of development. 
7.16.  In the Annual Report, it was stated that  in Stage One of the Post-Accession support, new 
Members should develop their own plan for Post-Accession. He was happy to inform Members that 
during 2015, the Seychelles would be working on th at plan. Hopefully, with the assistance of the 
Secretariat and the Members, that plan could be initiated before the end of 2015. 
7.17.  In general, the accession process had been a very good experience for the Seychelles and it 
had enabled it to build capacity allowing for ex tensive legislative reforms that had brought the 
Seychelles' trade policies and legislation at par with international standards. 
7.18.  The accession process was a good way to prepare a country for the multilateral trading 
system. He encouraged Members who were still in the accession process not to give up when the going got tough. However, he believed that to encourage progress, rules could be developed to WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  ensure that acceding countries were not subjected to demands that at times went beyond what 
was feasible for them. 
7.19.  The Seychelles availed itself to share its experiences to the countries still undergoing 
accession and to assist them in any way possible. 
7.20.  The representative of the Dominican Repub lic, on behalf of the IGDC, thanked the Director-
General for his very comprehensive report. The report presented a fair and accurate assessment of 
the current situation with regard to WTO Accession s.  The IGDC very much welcomed the progress 
in the area of accessions. This brought Members cl oser to fulfilling the promise of making the WTO 
truly universal. It was also encouraging to hear some of the findings in the report on how going through the accessions process boosted the economic performance of those countries and could be used to leverage graduation from LDC status. The IGDC had always believed in the importance of 
WTO Accessions. 
7.21.  For acceding countries to fully take advantage of their WTO Accession, their level of 
development should be considered when asked to make commitments in full observance of the 
principle of S&D treatment – which was even more  relevant for the LDCs. He hoped that in 2015, 
in the lead up to MC10, several more acce ssions processes would have been completed. 
7.22.  The representative of Yemen thanked the Di rector-General for his statement introducing the 
2014 Annual Report on WTO Accession. Yemen comme nded the excellent work of the WTO on 
accessions. As the most recent Member of th e house, his delegation had attached greater 
sentiment to the accession process. The Annual Repo rt not only updated the state of play for the 
23 acceding countries. It equally brought food fo r thought for further work in the future and 
manifested in practice the principle of transp arency as a key ingredient of the process. 
7.23.  The report also contained a special chap ter on the Post-Accession phase – a very dear 
subject to his delegation and several others. Yemen looked forward to implementing activities 
related to that crucial stage in 2015 to enable fresh Members' smooth integration to the WTO 
system. Yemen's sincere appreciation went to the WTO Secretariat and Members for the support they had rendered in its accession and to other acceding countries. 
7.24.  During that week, capital-based officials were receiving training on notifications to the WTO 
due to the WTO Secretariat's consideration of Yemen's circumstance that had not enabled that timely activity to take place in its capital. The exercise showed Yemen's sincerity to deliver on its commitments as a new Member hopefully with the support of appropriate and much-needed 
technical assistance and capacity building.  
7.25.  Yemen joined earlier speakers under agenda item 1 in welcoming the Seychelles' accession 
to the WTO. His delegation paid tribute to the Seychelles' hard work and successful enterprise 
under the leadership of Minister Pierre Laporte assisted by the Working Party Chairperson 
Ms Hilda Al-Hinai and the Accessions Division. Ye men looked forward to seeing the Seychelles' 
delegation taking its proper seat in the house very soon. 
7.26.  Yemen congratulated and registered its full appreciation for the diligent work carried out by 
the Director-General, the Chairman of the General Council and the WTO Members that had fruitfully led to the unlocking of the recent impasse. His delegation hoped to reach a definite way forward that preserved the integrity of the mu ltilateral trading system and addressed WTO 
Members' concerns and interests. This achievement had restored trust and unity in pursuing 
meaningful and concrete steps including the implementation of other Bali Decisions as well as the post-Bali Work Programme with a view to conclude the DDA. Yemen looked forward to the full 
implementation of all decisions as  expressed by some Members particularly on issues related to 
LDC interests. Yemen was committed to working towards that goal and associated with the statements delivered in other agenda items by the LDC Group and the Arab Group. 
7.27.  The representative of the Russian Federa tion welcomed the Annual Report on Accessions 
and thanked the Director-General for his personal guidance and the Secretariat for its continuous 
work on the subject. Russia welcomed the accessi on of the Republic of Seychelles to the WTO and 
hoped that the Seychelles would be followed by other candidates – particularly Kazakhstan. WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  7.28.  Russia shared the view expressed in the Director-General's report that Kazakhstan's 
accession process had reached its final stage. His delegation's assessment was that the end was in sight. It was only a matter of weeks, not mont hs. Russia called upon all the Members of that 
working party to sustain the engagement and to achieve consensus on the few remaining 
outstanding issues. 
7.29.  The representative of Jamaica joined Me mbers in thanking the Director-General for his 
report on that most important area of the organization's work. He also congratulated Minister 
Laporte and the delegation of the Seychelles on the approval of its accession to the WTO. He 
recognised the Minister's kind offer of support to candidate countries seeking to accede. Jamaica recognised the hard work that had been undertaken by the Seychelles' team, the Chairperson of the Working Party and the WTO Accessions Division in making this accession happen. He 
welcomed the Seychelles as a small developing country confident that its Membership would 
redound to the benefit of the WTO and of the Seychelles recognising that each accession brought the organization closer to universal coverage thereby strengthening and deepening its capacity to 
steer the multilateral trading system. 
7.30.  The representative of the European Union thanked the Director-General for his very useful 
report. His delegation welcomed the Seychelles' accession and hoped that Members could soon 
welcome Afghanistan as soon as its government took the final step of requesting that the 
accession package be adopted.  Liberia's accession should also be a priority for 2015. The EU took 
note of the advanced stage in Kazakhstan's accession process and of possible opportunities for progress in the accession processes of Algeria, Bahamas, Belarus and Serbia. 
7.31.  The EU thought that Bosnia and Herzegovina deserved to be added to that list. Indeed, the 
Bosnia and Herzegovina Draft Working Party Report had been stabilized for some time and accession was just a matter of Bosnia and Herzegovina closing market access negotiations with a 
couple of WTO Members. The EU encouraged Bosn ia and Herzegovina and interested Members to 
show their outstanding issues in those negotiations in a pragmatic manner. 
7.32.  The representative of Algeria, as an Obse rver, thanked the Director-General for his report 
on Accessions, the Accessions Division for their effo rts in order to facilitate the Accession of Algeria 
to the WTO and Ambassador D'Alotto (Argentina) the Chairperson of the Working Party, for his 
significant contribution in accelerating its accession process. 
7.33.  Upon the invitation of Algeria's Minister of  Trade, Ambassador D'Alotto had been invited that 
fall to Algiers, enabling Algeria to hold an open  discussion about the changes and reforms that its 
Government intended to undertake in the framewor k of its accession. Algeria had held the Second 
Session of the Working Party in March 2014. Alth ough there should have been another Working 
Party meeting by the end of 2014, circumstances had not been favourable as some questions to 
some Members had still been pending. However, his authorities were intensifying their consultations with all the other Members who were involved in its accession process.  
7.34.  On the other hand, even if that was no t an issue in the report, it was a matter of 
importance to his country. The Minister of Trade had come on a Working Trip to Geneva in June and had met with the Director-General of the WTO, the Director of the Accessions Division and the 
Chairperson of its Working Party. The aim of the trip had been to reiterate once again its firm 
commitment to become a WTO Member and also to rely on the WTO's expertise and technical 
cooperation. Algeria was very pleased to see that technical assistance was forthcoming to help his country along the path of accession. Assistance was also offered by the ITC. 
7.35.  The General Council took note of the report  by the Director-General and of the statements. WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  8  WT/DS285: UNITED STATES – MEASURES AFFECTING THE CROSS-BORDER SUPPLY OF 
GAMBLING AND BETTING SERVICES – COMMUNICATION FROM ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA (WT/GC/164) 
8.1.  The Chairman drew attention to the comm unication in document WT/GC/164, submitted by 
Antigua and Barbuda requesting that the item be included in the agenda of the meeting and 
invited the delegation of Antigua and Barbuda to introduce it. 
8.2.  The representative of Antigua and Barbuda said it was not usual for a Member State to bring 
the matter of an on-going trade dispute before the General Council, but this was not a case that 
was usual. Antigua and Barbuda craved the Chairman's indulgence because it believed that the peculiarities of its trade dispute with the United States posed a profound systemic threat to the 
WTO and its dispute settlement system. If the dispute was allowed to continue, it had the potential 
to collapse confidence in the efficacy of the WTO dispute settlement system and to undermine the 
credibility of the WTO itself. 
8.3.  In certain circumstances, such as in this  case, the dispute settlement mechanism of the WTO 
seemed to be inadequate and therefore need ed to go beyond the award and to support 
disadvantaged Member States to achieve a satisfac tory resolution. At one point in the discussions 
on its trade dispute, Antigua and Barbuda had soug ht the intervention of the former WTO Director-
General Pascal Lamy, when he was still in office, so that he could use his good offices to achieve 
momentum to a settlement which also had not worked. 
8.4.  In its decade-long dispute with the United States regarding online gaming, which pitted the 
world’s largest economy against one of the world’s smallest, Antigua and Barbuda was yet to reap 
any benefit from having prevailed against the United States through the rulings and 
recommendations of the DSB. The vast disparity in economic power of the contending parties could not be ignored by the WTO, and innovative solutions should be found to re-balance the built-
in inequities of the system. 
8.5.  Members had heard many interesting ideas for reform of the dispute settlement mechanism, 
none more interesting than the proposal that would allow a Member State to transfer a favourable 
ruling at the DSB to another Member State. What ever the remedy, it was clear that there needed 
to be a mechanism that supported the smallest and most vulnerable WTO Member States caught up in the dispute settlement mechanism of this body. This certainly applied to Antigua and Barbuda, which had no permanent delegation to the WTO, and whose participation in WTO 
proceedings was facilitated only through the joint technical mission of the Organization of Eastern 
Caribbean States (OECS). 
8.6.  It was not a secret that Antigua and Barbuda felt unequally placed when called upon, as one 
of the smallest economies in the world, to contest with the largest economy and to translate its 
favourable DSB ruling into practical benefits. This was a matter that should concern all WTO Member States, and especially those small states which might utilize the WTO dispute settlement 
mechanism. In other areas of the WTO’s work, special provision was made for small, vulnerable 
economies. Yet in an area fundamental to the success of the WTO project, the small and 
vulnerable were left on their own. 
8.7.  As a consequence, Antigua and Barbuda’s remote gaming sector, which had once been the 
second largest economic growth sector of the co untry, had been virtuall y destroyed. Presently, 
only 400 jobs existed within the industry and in stead of economic growth and development, her 
delegation had job losses amounting into the thou sands, company collapses and capital flight. It 
was perplexing to her delegation that the offending Member would seemingly be taking the 
position that compliance with its international legal obligations was optional. 
8.8.  Antigua and Barbuda and its representative felt assured that the General Council was very 
interested in any elaboration the United States might have on its non-compliance and the legal 
basis behind it. At that stage Antigua and Barbuda was dismayed that it had not received any settlement offer that would reflect in any way the nature and scope of the legal and economic violations being experienced.  WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  8.9.  Additionally, up until the present, Antigua and Barbuda had not been compensated for the 
economic damage tantamount to even one years' worth of the value of the suspension of concessions awarded to it by the DSB. This co ntinued, amazingly, ten years after the ruling. 
During this period it had witnessed state-level legalisation of online gaming within the jurisdiction 
of the United States and, reportedly, several other states were in possession of draft bills for 
further legalisation.  
8.10.  Her delegation wished to be clear. It did not pretend that arriving at a package of trade and 
other concessions that would settle the trade dispute between the United States and Antigua and 
Barbuda would be easy. Given the great disparity in size, and the structure of the economy of Antigua and Barbuda, the measures that would be agreed between both sides to settle that matter 
would have to deliver benefits that were practical and usable by the small service-based economy 
of Antigua and Barbuda. Only then would Antigua and Barbuda feel justified in giving the United 
States what it wanted, which was the lawful authority to withdraw its commitment that allowed gaming and betting services into the US from companies outside of it. Antigua and Barbuda had 
been open, proactive, creative and appeasing in  offering solutions and yet still nothing of 
substance had been forthcoming from the other side. 
8.11.  Antigua and Barbuda suspected that this was all orchestrated to frustrate it, to cause it to 
tire and to abandon the rights established for its companies under the world trade system. Her 
delegation hoped it was incorrect. On one hand, it was told to fight and pursue its rights, but on the other, it was denied the fruits of those rights once fairly earned. This was not Antigua and Barbuda’s fight alone. It properly concerned the cr edibility of the entire multilateral trading system 
where the impression might be conveyed that the large and powerful had their finger on the scales 
when addressing the rights of th e small and the weak. The systemic implications of continued non-
compliance on the dispute settlement pillar incl uding its predictability and by extension the 
credibility of the WTO as custodian of the MTS could no longer be ignored. The dispute settlement 
pillar was equally important as the other two pillars and ought to operate in a fair and just manner. Either all Members should honour its obligations or eventually none of them would. She 
asked, which way would it be? 
8.12.  The representative of St. Lucia, on behalf  of the OECS, said that a well-functioning rules- 
based multilateral trading system should be under  the good and basic principles of fairness and 
equity. In this framework, Members had the greatest prospect for achieving balanced and 
economically just outcomes. 
8.13.  As the custodian of such a system at th e WTO, Members should at all times ensure that 
they were sensitive to the needs, concerns and interests of all of them. This was particularly 
important for countries that were not endowed with economic might or political influence. This was 
especially important for countries such as those of the OECS Economic Union – among the smallest and most vulnerable of the Membership. Indeed, th e credibility and reputation of the WTO system 
would continue to be determined by how Members treated the smallest and weakest among them. 
They could not be perceived as having a fair rules-based system if those who were small and vulnerable were not afforded the protection of the rules that they had all committed to. 
8.14.  Regrettably, the jury was returning on the fairness and equity of the multilateral trading 
system and its treatment of countries that were small and were not bequeathed with political and 
economic might. Indeed, for many, there was an increasing recognition that in the eighteen years since its establishment of what had been supposed to be their WTO, the house had lost its way. 
The real issue for Members was ought they to continue in that wonderland or were they going to 
take the small steps back home, back to their fundamental principles. Such steps back home should include a resolution of the long outstanding matter of the US's refusal to comply with the 
ruling of the DSB on measures affecting the cross-border supply of gambling and betting services. 
8.15.  Indeed, the dispute settlement system had been constituted to provide a more binding and 
judicious process for the settling of disputes among Members and remained a mechanism that was vital for the enforcement of WTO rules and obligations of Members in an effort to ensure that trade 
flowed smoothly. The rulings of the Panel and the A ppellate Body were pellucid. In addition to the 
Panel outcome, the final arbitrator handed down  a binding verdict in 2007. This arbitrator had 
indicated the annual level of nullification or impairments of benefits accruing to Antigua and 
Barbuda due to the US's non-compliance in this matter.  WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  8.16.  The OECS Member States, in keeping with the founding spirit of the WTO and its dispute 
settlement mechanism, called on the US to comp ly with the decisions of the DSB. They had 
continuously reiterated that it was not solely an OECS matter. In the interest of fairness and equity, it properly concerned every single Member of the house. 
8.17.  She stressed that Members should decide which road they should take. Should they 
continue to be complicit with the non-compliance of the US and stray further and further from their foundation principle? Or, should they begin findin g their way back by everyone joining to send a 
Clarion Call to the US that the non-compliance ag ainst one of them endangered the reputation of 
all of them? This regrettably was the choice that they faced that day. 
8.18.  The representative of Dominica, on behalf of CARICOM, thanked Antigua and Barbuda for 
placing that item on the agenda of the meeting.  The Caribbean Community Delegations in Geneva 
and indeed the full Membership of the CARICOM af firmed its full support for Antigua and Barbuda 
in its fight to obtain the compliance by the Unit ed States with the ruling of the WTO Dispute 
Settlement Body on the subject of cross-border pr ovision of gambling and betting services and to 
come to a satisfactory solution of the dispute. 
8.19.  The Conference Heads of Government and the Council for Trade and Economic Development 
had on various occasions called on and urged the US to become compliant with the decisions and 
rulings of the WTO Dispute Settlement Body and to  settle the dispute with Antigua and Barbuda by 
honouring its obligations to respect international rules. Those rules applied to all countries whether small, large, rich or poor. All countries should abide by their WTO obligations. 
8.20.  CARICOM continued to note that the US ha d so far failed to become compliant with the 
decision of the DSB and had also failed to reach a settlement with Antigua and Barbuda. CARICOM 
had stood with the US and the community of nations and the WTO Members to defend the 
imperatives of full compliance with internationally accepted norms and rules. Moreover, as small 
developing nation States, CARICOM had consistently worked for international cooperation and 
reaffirmed that all sovereign Member States should be regarded as equals and respected 
accordingly. However, in this case, the United States should review its actions in the context of 
those principles.  
8.21.  This case had long been outstanding and had had significant negative economic 
consequences for the small, vulnerable developing island States of Antigua and Barbuda. As Antigua and Barbuda and everyone else had stated, it had the potential to undermine the 
credibility of the dispute settlement mechanism of the multilateral trading system and indeed of 
the whole system. CARICOM had been deeply concer ned over the extended delay in the resolution 
of the matter. The Group therefore called upon th e US and expected that it would fulfil its 
international obligations and engage Antigua and Barbuda in urgent, meaningful and constructive 
negotiations to arrive at an acceptable settlement. 
8.22.  The representative of the Solomon Islands, on behalf of the Pacific WTO Group, said that 
the vulnerability of small economies was an established fact. Small size, limited economic space 
and susceptibility to external shocks were but a few of the many structural limitations that small economies grappled with. Those limitations conspired to narrow the range of economic activities that small economies could sustainably engage in. Diseconomies of scale imposed punishing limits 
on the sectors that many SVEs could foster. To overcome those limits, SVEs had explored 
innovative trade policy responses to generate growth and contribute to their development while facilitating their integration and meaningful participation in the rules-based trading system.  
8.23.  In the case of Antigua and Barbuda, the establishment of a successful gaming sector had 
been one such innovative response. The gaming  sector had created employment opportunities, 
attracted investment and vectored foreign exchange earnings. The gaming industry had 
represented a viable sunrise sector and a key driver  of the Antiguan economy. More importantly, it 
had been conducted in a manner consistent with the rights and obligations of Antigua and Barbuda. This was a key finding of both the Panel and the Appellate Body. 
8.24.  Given the limited economic options available to small states and the fact that the activities 
of the sector had fallen within the rules permissible in this house, he said that the Pacific Group 
was discouraged that this matter had not been brought to a satisfactory conclusion. The Group WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  recalled that since the General Council meeting of 25 July 2014, Members in various configurations 
and formats, including at the level of the General Council, had reminded themselves of the importance of honouring commitments, of fulfilling the object and purpose of WTO law and of upholding the integrity and credibility of the WTO. Commitments should be honoured if the 
legitimacy and integrity of the system was to be pr eserved. It bore noting that beyond the specific 
economic injury caused by one Member’s failure to comply with successive rulings was the injury caused to the credibility of what many observers referred to as the jewel in the crown – the 
dispute settlement system.   
8.25.  He noted that some of the Pacific countr ies had recently acceded to the WTO in the belief 
that the multilateral trading rules would promote their trade interests and afford protection from the economically strong and powerful. If continued to be prolonged, this case would unfortunately 
start to erode Members' confidence in the fairness of the rules-based system including its dispute 
settlement mechanism. As a case involving the largest economy in the world on one hand and one of the smallest on the other, serious consideratio n should be given to the disproportionate impact 
that non-compliance could have on the livelihoods of people who already existed on the very 
margins of the global economy. This case clearly demonstrated the need for more effective trade remedy and compensatory measures for small, vulnerable countries that faced the effects of non-
compliance. Non-compliance would continue to call into question the equity of the multilateral 
trading system and the ability of the DSU to appr opriately respond to the legitimate needs of the 
smallest and most vulnerable. The Group therefor e urged for a speedy and meaningful resolution 
to the current situation to enable Antigua and Ba rbuda to rebuild its economy. The Pacific Group 
also supported the statements by CARI COM, OECS and the ACP on this item. 
8.26.  The representative of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, joined the statement to be made 
by the Dominican Republic on behalf of the IGDC  and the statement already made by Dominica on 
behalf of CARICOM. Several years had gone by since a Panel had ruled that the US Authorities had 
not complied with the recommendations and rulings of the DSB. This had been a persistent attitude that infringed the most basic principles and rules of the international trading system. This 
haunted the WTO because the DSB performed one of its most important functions.  
8.27.  Venezuela was concerned by the situation of prolonged non-compliance. This affected the 
service provided by a small developing count ry which had a great and proud tradition of 
performing those activities. Any restriction in that sphere hampered their economic and social 
progress. It was unthinkable for one of the majo r beneficiaries of the DSB to not comply with 
those recommendations and rulings affecting a develo ping country, who had to bore the costs. In 
fact, the DSB was there to provide effective solutions to any disputes among countries. Venezuela 
expressed its full support to the Government and People of Antigua and Barbuda, Member of the 
Alianza Bolivariana para los Pueblos de Nuestra América (ALBA) and urged the US authorities to 
report to the DSB regarding the measures that they  intended to implement in order to comply with 
what the DSB had already ruled. 
8.28.  The representative of the Dominican Repub lic, on behalf of the IGDC, said that the Group 
was of the view that all the rulings and reco mmendations of the DSB ought to be promptly 
implemented in light of the systemic implications non-compliance had on the predictability of the 
WTO and because those rulings formed part of the international legal obligations of Members. The 
Dispute Settlement Mechanism was of particular importance to developing countries because by setting rules and making sure that all Members followed them, the WTO provided a more equitable 
playing field and a more predictable global tradin g environment. Enforcement of the rules through 
the DSB allowed Members to settle trade disputes in a transparent manner without taking into account economic size or political clout. Theref ore, the IGDC wished to see this long-standing 
trade dispute resolved. 
8.29.  The representative of Ecuador said that having listened carefully to the submissions made at 
the meeting, he addressed the issue of "compliance", to which his delegation had always attached 
utmost importance when discussing matters relating to "clarifications" of and "improvements" to 
the Dispute Settlement Understanding. He noted that some time ago the Appellate Body had 
asked: What was the scope and timing of the obligation to comply with the DSB's recommendations and rulings? In its analysis th e Appellate Body had highlighted the following 
points: WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  a. "The obligation to comply with the DSB's recommendations and rulings arises once the 
DSB has adopted a panel or Appellate Body report that has concluded that a measure is inconsistent with a covered agreement"; 
b. "In accordance with Article 19.1, implementation requires that the Member concerned 
bring the WTO inconsistent measure into conformity with the relevant covered 
agreement(s)"; 
c. "Article 3.7 of the DSU states that, '[i]n the absence of a mutually agreed solution, the 
first objective of the dispute settlement mechanism is usually to secure the withdrawal of 
the measures concerned if these are found to be inconsistent with the provisions of any of the covered agreements', clarifying that 'the inconsistent measure to be withdrawn 
can be brought into compliance by modifying or replacing it with a revised measure'"; 
d. "… Article 21.1 provides that '[p]rompt compliance with recommendations or rulings of 
the DSB is essential in order to ensure effect ive resolution of disputes to the benefit of 
all Members'. The reference to 'essential' underscores the importance of the obligation to 
comply with the DSB's recommendations and rulings. The reference to 'prompt' 
compliance emphasizes the need for the timely implementation of DSB recommendations and rulings "; 
e. "The timing of implementation is also addressed in Article 21.3 of the DSU … According 
to this provision, implementation of the recommendations and rulings of the DSB must 
be done 'immediately', unless it is 'impracticable' to do so. In other words, the requirement is immediate compliance. However, Article 21.3 recognizes that immediate 
compliance may not always be practicable, in which case it foresees the possibility of the 
implementing Member being given a reasonable period of time to comply … the reasonable period of time is a limited exemption from the obligation to comply 
immediately. [In short] … 'the obligation to comply with the recommendations and 
rulings of the DSB has to be fulfilled by the end of the reasonable period of time at the 
latest'"; 
f. "Indeed, any conduct of the implementi ng Member that was found to be WTO 
inconsistent by the DSB must cease by the end of the reasonable period of time. Otherwise, that Member would continue to act in a WTO inconsistent manner after the end of the reasonable period of time, contrary  to Articles 3.7, 19.1, 21.1, 21.3, and 21.5 
of the DSU"; 
g. This, in the words of the Appellate Body, was "our general understanding of a WTO 
Member's obligation to comply with the DSB's recommendations and rulings". 
8.30.  In spite of the unequivocal legal underst anding, cases of "long standing non-compliance" 
had been, and continued to be, recorded. It was for that reason that "prompt compliance" or 
"effective compliance" had been, and remained, a constant concern for Ecuador and a very large 
group of developing country Members. 
8.31.  The representative of Trinidad and Tobago  aligned his delegation with the statement by 
Dominica (CARICOM), the Dominican Republic (IGDC) and the ACP States. The WTO Dispute 
Settlement Mechanism was widely recognised as a critically important feature of the multilateral 
trading system. For Trinidad and Tobago, it was crucial that a high degree of confidence in the 
system be maintained. In this context, his delegation urged the United States to engage Antigua and Barbuda in urgent, meaningful and constructive negotiations to arrive at a mutually 
acceptable settlement of that long-standing dispute. Trinidad and Tobago underscored that it stood 
by its CARICOM sister – Antigua and Barbuda – an d looked forward to an early and satisfactory 
resolution of the matter. 
8.32.  The representative of Jamaica associated hi s delegation with the statement by Dominica on 
behalf of CARICOM. He thanked the delegation of Antigua and Barbuda for its statement outlining 
the concerns that had compelled Jamaica's sister Member to bring that matter to the attention of the General Council. The relationship between th e countries of the Caribbean Community and the 
United States was a most important one, which encompassed all spheres including trade and WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  economic cooperation. For many Members, the United States was their most important trading 
partner, therefore, their trade and economic pr ospects relied heavily on their cooperation and 
trade with the United States both in the area of goods and of equal and sometimes greater importance in the area of services. 
8.33.  Jamaica shared a deep commitment to the rules-based system. For obvious reasons, any 
other approach placed it at a significant disadvantage and exacerbated the impact of its vulnerabilities as a small economy. For small, vulnerable economies in particular, it was important 
that the integrity of the dispute settlement mech anism be preserved as a vital element within a 
rules-based system regulating international trade. Jamaica had therefore intervened on the matter in the DSB with a consistent message that it had reiterated that day in the General Council. His delegation called for a timely conclusion to the protracted dispute in view of the clear ruling in 
favour of Antigua and Barbuda by the DSB.  
8.34.  Jamaica had been encouraged by reports of high-level contact between the parties and 
wished to be confident that renewed efforts would be made to achieve a just and equitable 
solution to the dispute in keeping with the decisi on in favour of Antigua and Barbuda and in the 
interest of the multilateral trading system. Jamaica looked forward to hearing the steps that would be taken to finally bring the protracted matter to a speedy and satisfactory conclusion and urged 
all WTO Members to fully comply with their obligations including those arising from DSB rulings. 
8.35.  The representative of the Plurinational State of Bolivia voiced Bolivia's concern for the 
situation of non-compliance of the recommendations and rulings of the DSB on the part of the 
United States in the case of measures affecting the cross-border supply of gambling and betting 
services. As Members were aware, this problem was over ten years old, and it was causing 
economic harm to Antigua and Barbuda – a developing country Member of the WTO. Bolivia called on the US to find an appropriate solution to that problem and comply with the rulings of the DSB. 
8.36.  The representative of Cuba supported th e statement made by the IGDC. Cuba appreciated 
the inclusion of the issue on the General Council agenda and the update provided by Antigua and 
Barbuda on the dispute in question. For years this issue had been raised during the regular 
meetings of the DSB. It was yet another case of unjustified and long-standing non-compliance by 
the United States that affected the economic interests of a small, vulnerable economy such as Antigua and Barbuda. 
8.37.  In 2003, Antigua and Barbuda had initiated proceedings to settle this dispute, which not 
only had resulted in losses to its service-based economy but had also required it to invest 
considerable resources, first in order to pursue its case before the DSB, and then in a fruitless attempt to reach an agreement with the United States. Such prolonged non-compliance called for 
some reflection on the balance of the WTO rules. This dispute reconfirmed the fragility and 
shortcomings of the current dispute settlement sy stem, particularly in terms of guaranteeing 
effective compliance. The injurious effects of unresolved disputes were not limited to the parties 
involved. A Member like Cuba knew that all too well. In failing to meet the obligations it had 
contracted, the United States was undermining a system that was founded on rules, procedures 
and practices developed by all and for all. Practi cal experience had shown that the current dispute 
settlement system was in need of significant reforms, particularly with regard to offering 
guarantees to the smallest economies. 
8.38.  It was the duty of the WTO Membership as a whole to find a solution – as was done in other 
areas – to ensure unconditional compliance by all Members with the commitments undertaken, in 
this case before the DSB. Reacting with indifference to long-standing violations had serious 
systemic implications for the functioning and credibility of the dispute settlement system. Cuba confirmed its support for Antigua and Barbuda and urged the United States to adopt a responsible 
and constructive attitude to settle this case promptly in a fair and equitable manner. 
8.39.  The representative of Barbados associated her delegation with the statements made by 
Antigua and Barbuda, St. Lucia (OECS), Dominica  (CARICOM), the Dominican Republic (IGDC), 
Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and others. The Dispute Settlement function was a fundamental 
pillar of the WTO and had been one of the success es of the WTO since its establishment. It was 
imperative that the rulings were fully and satisfactorily implemented especially those that affected the livelihood of small developing States with limited resources. WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  8.40.  As had been indicated, this case had been  long outstanding and had had significant negative 
economic consequences for the small, vulnerable developing island State of Antigua and Barbuda. Barbados shared the concern on the extended delay in resolving the matter and joined others in calling on the US to respect the DSB rulings and to find an urgent resolution of that matter. She 
stressed that this inordinate delay of ten years in compliance was unacceptable. It was important 
that credibility and fairness of the organization not be further undermined and more so that size and influence would not be seen to prevail over justice and fairness in this organization. Members 
would all be damaged by such a result. Barbados re iterated its call to the US to respect the DSB 
rulings and to find an urgent resolution of that matter. 
8.41.  The representative of India shared the co ncerns raised by Antigua and Barbuda on the DSB 
recommendations on measures affecting the cross- border supply of gambling and betting services. 
As stated by Members who had previously spoken, this dispute was a long pending one. The 
request for consultations had been made by Antigua and Barbuda way back in March 2003, over a decade before. Various stages of the dispute settlement process had been exhausted, including the 
DSB decision in January 2013 authorizing Antigua and Barbuda to suspend the application to the 
United States of concessions or other obligations consistent with the Arbitrator’s decision. However, the dispute had not yet seen a satisfacto ry settlement either in terms of compliance or 
through a mutually agreed solution. 
8.42.  She noted that Article 21.1 of the DSU enunciated that, "Prompt compliance with 
recommendations and rulings of the DSB is essential in order to ensure effective resolution of disputes to the benefit of all Members". India considered prolonged non-compliance as a serious 
systemic issue that struck at the very root of the credibility of the multilateral system and the trust 
Members reposed in it. This was more so when a small developing country Member was affected, 
as in this case. 
8.43.  Members should remind themselves that  the dispute settlement system of the WTO had 
been designed to be power neutral, where any WTO Member irrespective of its status and size could get its legitimate rights protected. This dispute was a classic example which highlighted the 
urgent need for attention on the issue of effective compliance in a case of two Members of widely 
disparate size and strength. India urged the parties to continue their engagement to arrive at a fair, equitable and mutually satisfactory resolution of the matter at the earliest. 
8.44.  The representative of Kenya, on behalf of the ACP, expressed the ACP's solidarity with 
Antigua and Barbuda on that important issue and wi shed to see the matter resolved expeditiously. 
8.45.  The representative of the United States said that the US was disappointed that Antigua and 
Barbuda had chosen to raise the issue in the General Council where it did not belong. Raising such 
issues there did not bode well for effective work in the institution. However, since the issue had 
been raised, the United States would provide a somewhat lengthy explanation of its views. 
8.46.  As the United States would explain, the cross-border gambling matter raised by Antigua 
would be resolved as soon as the United States completed the multilateral process under Article 21 
of the General Agreement on Trade in Services. Only Antigua out of the entire WTO Membership 
was blocking the completion of that process. Th e United States recalled that the regulation of 
cross-border gambling was a matter of public mo rality. Indeed, the Appellate Body had confirmed 
that the US measures at issue had been "necessary to protect public morals under Article 14 of the 
GATS." The only reason for the finding against US gambling measures had involved a narrow technical issue under the Chapeau of Article 14.  
8.47.  A key threshold issue in the dispute was whether the US GATS Schedule had included a 
commitment with respect to the highly regulated area of gambling services. The US Schedule, he would note, did not mention gambling. The Dispute Settlement Body findings had confirmed that 
the United States had no specific intention to include gambling in the Schedule. Nonetheless, the 
DSB had concluded that gambling had been included within a US commitment covering a broader category of cross-border services.  
8.48.  In order to make the US GATS schedule consistent with US intentions, the United States 
had moved forward with the GATS Article 21 process for a scheduled modification. This process 
involved an offer of compensatory adjustment to all WTO Members on a Most-Favoured Nation WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  basis. Accordingly, in 2007, the United States had offered a generous package of Services 
Concessions as compensation for removing internet gambling from the US Schedule. 
8.49.  He recalled that, by the end of 2007, the United States had reached agreement with every 
interested WTO Member except Antigua on this Pa ckage of compensatory adjustments. During the 
entire period of compensation discussions, Antigu a had never identified any additional Services 
compensation that Antigua viewed as needed for completion of the GATS Article 21 process. Instead, Antigua had asked items such as direct payments and other non-MFN concessions that 
were not part of the GATS Article 21 process. Despite this, the United States remained committed 
to working with Antigua to resolve this matter on a mutually agreed basis. The United States had met repeatedly with Antigua at working levels and at high political levels. The United States had 
provided multiple settlement offers that went far beyond compensation in the form of services 
concessions.  
8.50.  For those reasons, the United States again questioned the purpose of placing this item on 
the agenda of that meeting. The United States had provided a compensation offer to all Members 
that was more than what was required under GATS Article 21 for the modification of the US 
Schedule. Antigua was holding up this Schedule Modification based on requests unrelated to the GATS that would involve benefits to Antigua and not to any other Member. The United States 
continued to engage with Antigua on those requests. For Antigua to raise in the General Council 
issues involving an ongoing bilateral negotiation was neither productive nor appropriate. 
8.51.  In conclusion, he wished to make a brief comment on the issue of systemic concerns. The 
suggestion that the United States did not take its obligations seriously was simply not supported 
by the record. The United States had come into co mpliance fully and promptly in the vast majority 
of its disputes. As for the remaining few instances where its efforts to do so had not yet been entirely successful, the United States had been working actively towards resolving such matters. 
That certain Members were wilfully ignoring the facts was well illustrated by the announcements at 
a recent DSB meeting that the United States working together with other parties had successfully resolved difficult disputes in areas such as Cotton and Clove Cigarettes. Contrary to the 
statements Members had just heard, the record showed that the United States had a strong record 
of support for the WTO and its dispute settlem ent system, including through implementation 
actions and working with other Members to resolve disputes. Similarly, the United States had explained at length that day that it would continue to work to implement the DSB's 
recommendations and rulings in that dispute. 
8.52.  The representative of Antigua and Barbuda stated that the resolution of the dispute was a 
top priority for her Government and People. Her delegation thanked all the WTO Members who had 
spoken in support of its efforts to accomplish the above both that day under that agenda item and 
at the monthly meetings of the DSB. Additionally, Antigua and Barbuda in late August had formally submitted a proposal to the United States in an effort to shape a resolution on the matter but was 
yet to receive a response. In concluding, she said it was unfortunate that the Director-General 
could not be present for the entire discussion of this important issue. 
8.53.  The Chairman said that Members had charged the Director-General with a range of 
responsibilities including some that were occasionally urgent. He knew that he would not absent 
himself from that meeting had it not been an imperative on an urgent basis. Having served as the 
Chairman of the DSB and having heard a number of  Articles cited, he pointed out that the DSB 
constitutionally, if he could put it that way, was the General Council. Along with the Trade Policy 
Review Body, those two Bodies were the General Council meeting as the DSB or as the TPRB. For 
those wishing to ensure that a matter came to the General Council, it came to the General Council through any of those emanations. 
8.54.  The General Council took note of the statements. 
9  TENTH SESSION OF THE MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE – DATE AND VENUE 
9.1.  The Chairman recalled that at the General Council meeting in October, he had reported that a 
third round of consultations had been taking place to ascertain Members' views with respect to the 
two potential hosts for the Conference – Turkey and Kenya.  WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  9.2.  A total of 94 delegations had come forward to consult with him or express their views, either 
in person, or by phone, or through note verbales. His understanding was that those delegations that had not expressed a view were neutral and he had ascertained that that was the case.  
9.3.  On 3 December, he had circulated – at the request of Turkey – a communication to all 
Members, in which the Government of Turkey informed the Membership – after relevant 
consultations with the Minister of Foreign Affair s and International Trade of Kenya – of Turkey's 
decision to withdraw its offer to host MC10 in fa vour of Kenya. This communication had also been 
circulated as WT/GC/166 in the three WTO languages. He recalled that, following Turkey's 
communication, he had convened an Informal General Council meeting at the level of Heads of Delegation on 5 December. 
9.4.  In his capacity as General Council Chairman  and in his personal capacity, he expressed his 
deepest gratitude to the Government of Turkey for its offer and to the entire Delegation of Turkey 
for its dignified engagement during the whole process and for its constructive spirit throughout.  The organization was very much in its debt. He also paid tribute in particular to Ambassador Haluk 
Ilicak for his personal commitment to the smooth conduct of that process, and for his endless 
support to the organization as a whole.   
9.5.  As he had noted at the Informal HODs meeting on 5 December, the offer of the other 
potential candidate, Kenya, had been favourably received by the Membership as a whole since the 
beginning of the process. Kenya had indeed proved to be attracting consensus throughout his consultations, and it was therefore in that spirit of consensus that he believed that the General Council was then in a position to take a decision on the matter.   
9.6.  Regarding the date of the Conference, du ring his consultations, several delegations had 
stressed the importance to avoid any overlap with  the UNFCCC Conference that would be held in 
Paris from 30 November to 11 December 2015. As a result, and also in light of his consultations, it 
appeared that the most suitable date for MC10 was the period from 15 to 18 December 2015. 
9.7.  Therefore, unless there was any objection, he proposed that the General Council formally 
agreed that the Tenth Session of the WTO Ministeria l Conference be held in Nairobi, Kenya, from 
15 to 18 December 2015. 
9.8.  The General Council so agreed. 
9.9.  The Chairman warmly thanked and congratulated Minister Amina Mohamed and the 
Government of Kenya for their successful offer. He  expressed his appreciation to Ambassador John 
Kakonge for his personal contribution to the efficient conduct of the process. And he thanked most 
sincerely the whole Membership for participating in that important endeavour with a very constructive spirit. Kenya's offer was a clear sign of its commitment towards this organization. As 
the host of the MC10, he was sure Kenya could co unt on the support of the whole Membership in 
working together towards a successful Ministerial Conference. He invited H.E. Ms Amina Mohamed, Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs of the Repu blic of Kenya, to address the General Council. 
9.10.  H.E. Ms Amina Mohamed, Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kenya, 
said that H.E. Hon. Uhuru Kenyatta, President of the Republic of Kenya, had charged her to 
participate at the meeting of the General Council of the WTO. Specifically, the President had asked her to convey sincere and heartfelt appreciation from the Government and the People of Kenya to 
the WTO General Council for formally deciding to award Kenya the role of hosting the Tenth WTO 
Ministerial Conference.  
9.11.  She stressed that Kenya had made its re quest to host MC10 on behalf of all African 
Countries, both the 42 that were WTO Members and those that were still in the process of 
accession. Kenya therefore accepted to host MC10 on behalf of all of Africa. She expressed her gratitude to Ambassador Jonathan Fried (Canada), Chairman of the General Council, for 
successfully steering the consultation process leading to the final decision on the matter. 
9.12.  When WTO Members arrived in Kenya in 2015 for the Tenth Ministerial Conference, 
Members would be hosted by the entire continent of Africa. This was the initial message from the President. She then said what Africa and Kenya would like to achieve at the WTO Ministerial WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  Conference. On that question, from Kenya, ther e was a more fundamental message of substantive 
significance. By the Tenth Ministerial Conference, the President would like to see that more than two-thirds, if not all of the WTO Membership, had ratified the Trade Facilitation Agreement so that the Agreement would have come into force. Secondly, the President would also like to see 
consensus achieved on a broad-based, balanced post-Bali work program that responded to the 
imperatives of the global economy for recovery, growth, jobs and development that was sustainable and safeguarded the planet.  
9.13.  She noted that 2015 marked the Twentieth Anniversary of the WTO. It was Members' 
common duty not only to safeguard the WTO as a global public good, but also to increase its 
strength, including through accessions to expand its Membership. Universality was a key goal of the organization. Universality of Membership, inter alia, would be a key strength of the 
organization. She congratulated the Government of the Seychelles for its successful conclusion of 
its accession process. She was glad to have witnessed the signing ceremony.  
9.14.  She said that Kenya and Africa would like to see the organization expanded, stronger, more 
agile, delivering growth and prosperity in a ti mely manner. Kenya looked forward to welcoming 
more accessions by MC10. The Africa that would host the WTO in Kenya at its Tenth Ministerial Conference was the Africa committed to the rule of law, good governance, economic welfare and 
working, in concert, with all Members to tackle, resolutely, the myriad of challenges confronting 
the global economy, including global warming an d the evil of terrorism. She asked that those who 
would travel to Kenya to participate at the Tenth Ministerial Conference should be bold and courageous, who should work with Africa to take those decisions that would make the WTO 
stronger, responding to the challenges of a more complex global environment. Africa should work 
for those goals. 
9.15.  H.E. President Uhuru Kenyatta had also aske d her to give his word to the Membership that 
he should play his part, not only as the President of Kenya but also in consultation with other 
African Leaders, pre-occupied like all other global leaders with the health of the global economy. The Government of Kenya wished to pay tribute to the WTO Director-General Mr Roberto Azevêdo 
for his leadership. As the Director-General, he was making a difference. 
9.16.  She stressed that the Government and People of Kenya would not forget the magnanimity 
by the Government of Turkey in supporting the ca ndidature of Kenya to host MC10. As had been 
seen by Kenya, Turkey had not surrendered its ca ndidature. Turkey had made its candidature to 
host a WTO Ministerial stronger and had given it greater heft. In doing so, Turkey had asked 
Kenya, Africa and developing countries to join it in the task of collective leadership of the WTO. No individual Member or grouping could build a multilateral institution alone. Building strong 
multilateral institutions was a responsibility of all. Turkey's action had demonstrated constructive 
engagement. It had demonstrated leadership and support for developing countries. Kenya would remember it. She also sincerely thanked the Govern ment of the Republic of Rwanda for supporting 
its candidature and withdrawing its bid to host MC10 at the very initial stages. In concluding, she 
took the opportunity to invite and welcome all Members to Kenya and said "Asante Sana."  
9.17.  The representative of Turkey thanked th e Chairman for his able leadership during the 
consultation process concerning the venue of MC10. He welcomed Minister Amina Mohamed. Her 
presence at the meeting was very reassuring for a successful organization of MC10. Her personal 
involvement would also be very much needed at  times for the advancement of the substance of 
MC10. He was confident that MC10 would boost the efforts in the continent and in particular in 
LDC Members to give a central role to trade in their development strategies. Turkey looked 
forward to working with her closely on both fronts. He also wished his colleague Ambassador Kakonge good luck, stamina and courage. He thanked him for his constructive and close 
cooperation during the consultation process. He reminded the whole Membership and all 
delegations that the Best Airline of Europe for the fourth year in a row flew to Kenya.  It ensured the most convenient connections from all over the world, and even gave the opportunity to take a 
short break in Istanbul! 
9.18.  The representative of Lesotho, on behalf  of the African Group, welcomed Minister Amina 
MOHAMED and congratulated her and the People of  the Republic of Kenya for the efforts being 
rewarded that day. The Group also congratulated Ambassador John Kakonge. He further expressed 
the African Group's profound word of gratitude to the Turkish delegation for its communication in 
document WT/GC/166 on its withdrawal from a bid to host the Tenth Ministerial Conference. In WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  that context, it was worth singling out H.E. Mr Nihat Zebekci, Minister of Economy of the Republic 
of Turkey, for his positive response in light of his consultations with Minister Amina Mohamed. 
9.19.  The Group was grateful to the Members for having given Kenya and Africa as a whole the 
opportunity to host a WTO Ministerial Conference for the first time since the establishment of the 
WTO. In view of this development, the African Group was confident and fully convinced of Kenya's 
capacity to host MC10. Kenya was no stranger to hosting such big events and the African Group had no doubt that the Republic of Kenya would provide Members with the African hospitality at its 
best. The African Group looked forward to working constructively with Members with a view to 
ensuring that MC10 became a success and a turning point towards delivering the Doha Development Mandate to its fullest extent. 
9.20.  The representative of the European Union thanked the Government of Kenya for its 
readiness to host the Tenth WTO Ministerial Conference. He also thanked Minister Amina Mohamed 
for her personal commitment and Ambassador John Kakonge. With the restart of the DDA negotiations and the upcoming intensive period of work, the Ministerial Conference would again 
come at a pivotal moment for the organization. The EU was ready to work with Kenya and all other 
WTO Members to ensure that the Ministerial Conference would be a great success.  
9.21.  With a limited time available, preparations needed to start immediately. At the same time, 
he would underline the EU's great satisfaction with the broader interest that had been shown in 
hosting the Ministerial Conference. The EU thanke d Turkey for its offer to host the Ministerial 
Conference and its readiness to join the consensus in favour of Kenya. The EU also thanked the Chairman for his very valuable efforts on the issue. 
9.22.  The representative of Uganda, on behalf of the LDCs, extended felicitations to the 
Government and People of Kenya for winning the bid to host the next Ministerial Conference of the 
WTO. The LDCs extended their appreciation to the Government and the People of Turkey for 
stepping down in favour of a developing country on the African Continent. For the LDC Group, this 
was a moment of joy and fulfilment that for the first time, Nairobi would play host on behalf of the entire continent for the important gathering of th e world leaders seeking to fulfil the dreams and 
aspirations of the framers of the Marrakesh Agreement.  
9.23.  Indeed, with the cool weather and warm spirit of the people of Kenya, Members might have 
the first legally binding agreement on LDC specific  issues. Carrying on the momentum of Bali and 
the resolve of the Members present at the meetin g, the LDC Group was optimistic that Members 
would in fact conclude that elusive Doha Round constructed decades of years ago. On behalf of his 
colleagues in the LDC Group and on behalf of hi s  d e l e g a t i o n  a s  a  M e m b e r  o f  t h e  E a s t  A f r i c a n  
Community, he asked Minister Amina Mohamed to accept their heartfelt congratulations. They 
were confident that Kenya under the able leadership of H.E. President Uhuru Kenyatta would be 
able to successfully host the MC10 as it had done in the past on many occasions hosting events of 
equal magnitude. 
9.24.  The representative of Jamaica welcomed and congratulated Minister Amina Mohamed on 
Kenya's selection to host MC10. He spoke also as a Member of the Troika of the ACP to recognise 
Kenya's contribution. Kenya as the ACP Coordinator had demonstrated the commitment of ACP Members to taking responsibility and giving support  to the work of the organization in all spheres 
including those which required commitment of resources. Jamaica was thankful to the Government 
of Kenya for making that important step and for expressing it in the collective terms that Minister Amina Mohamed had shared with Members that day. He also thanked Minister Mohamed for 
declaring her commitment and that of her Governme nt's to supporting the substantive agenda of 
MC10. Jamaica was confident that this commitment would redound to the benefit of the organization bearing also in mind the experience and competences of the Minister herself, a former 
Chairperson of the General Council and as she ha d reminded Members the highest levels of her 
Government in the person of the President also carried the experience of trade leadership. 
9.25.  He also thanked his colleague, the Ambassador of Turkey. Many colleagues had spoken the 
magnanimity of the Turkish response. As Minister Mohamed had said, it had not been the 
withdrawal of a candidature but an expression of support for the aspirations and the efforts of 
Kenya and African and LDC Members which had been  explicitly mentioned in the letter of their 
Minister and delegation. He therefore sincer ely expressed Jamaica's appreciation for the WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  graciousness of the Government and the delegati on of Turkey. He reiterated his delegation's 
strong support for the ongoing effort to ensure that MC10 was hosted successfully and that its substance was substantive. 
9.26.  The representative of the United States wished to highlight three brief points. First, like 
others, he wanted to offer the thanks of the United States to Turkey both for its willingness to 
serve as a host but also for its diplomacy in helping all Members to build consensus. Secondly and very importantly, he extended congratulations to Kenya and Africa. The US very much looked 
forward to working with everyone to make sure that MC10 was successful. On a personal note, the 
US very much admired the work that Ambassador Kakonge had done on behalf of Kenya. He also said how thankful his delegation was to Minister Mohamed for coming to the meeting in person and 
demonstrating her leadership on trade issues once again. 
9.27.  Last point was one that others had mentioned as well, and that was the importance of 
making MC10 a substantive success. He thought that Minister Mohamed had already suggested important areas for Members to be focusing on in doing that. Countries and cities take a bit of a 
risk when they agreed to host those events. He was very confident that Nairobi would mean 
something very positive thirteen months from that day. Of course, that would depend on a lot of work over the next twelve months and the United States looked forward to being a part of that. 
9.28.  The representative of Trinidad and Tobago, on behalf of GRULAC, and also on behalf of her 
delegation, welcomed Minister Amina Mohamed and warmly congratulated Kenya for being the 
host of the Tenth Ministerial Conference. GRULAC also took the opportunity to thank the Government of Turkey for its offer to host the Ministerial Conference. She stressed GRULAC's 
readiness to engage with the Membership in 2015 so that in addition to the organization's 
Twentieth Anniversary, Members might have a successful MC10 to celebrate in Nairobi. 
9.29.  The representative of Malaysia, on behalf of ASEAN, Australia, Japan and New Zealand, 
congratulated Kenya for being selected as the host of the Tenth WTO Ministerial Conference. The 
holding of MC10 in Kenya would be significant as that would be the first WTO Ministerial Conference to be held in Sub Saharan Africa. Th ey very much welcomed the statement made by 
Minister Amina Mohamed and were confident that Kenya would be an excellent host and, together 
with all Members, deliver a successful MC10. 
9.30.  The representative of Swaziland said that on that most auspicious occasion, her delegation 
thanked the Chairman for conducting consultations with Members on that matter in a transparent 
and in an orderly fashion. Swaziland also recognised the political leadership, the statesmanship 
and solidarity shown by the Turkish delegation in their humble decision to withdraw their candidature in favour of a fellow developing country and especially for one which would see Sub-
Saharan Africa hosting the highest decision-making bo dy of the organization for the first time since 
its inception. Swaziland thanked Minister Nihat Zeybekci for embracing a much bigger and more inclusive vision for the WTO as a clearing house for every Member, accessible to the most 
vulnerable and poor. Swaziland sent out its hearty  congratulations to the Government and People 
of the Republic of Kenya for presenting a form idable case before the Membership and looked 
forward to landing in Nairobi at that time in  2015 for what was sure to be a memorable and 
successful MC10. 
9.31.  The representative of Rwanda welcomed Minister Amina Mohamed. Rwanda congratulated 
Kenya for winning the bid to host the MC10 and felt proud of its sister country’s commitment to 
serve the International Community at that importan t occasion as it had been the case on other 
numerous occasions. Kenya and Rwanda had developed strong political ties as well as close 
economic cooperation particularly through the Northern Corridor and the East-African Community as a whole, hence its full support. As Minister Mohamed had rightly pointed out, Kenya would be 
organising the Conference on behalf of Africa. Rwanda wanted to assure the Kenyan delegation 
that his delegation was ready to provide any needed support on organizational matters, from then on until the day of the Conference and beyond. Rwan da associated itself with the statement made 
by Minister Mohamed. Her political statement reflected the commitment of leadership in the 
African region – Rwanda included, to build infrastructure, supply-side capacity, to eliminate Non-
Tariff Barriers including through TF implementation for the purpose of facilitating trade and investment, to develop knowledge and technological catch-up, in order to create jobs and to 
reduce poverty. He wished her a smooth return back home and said " Asante Sana ." WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  9.32.  The representative of Jordan, on behalf of the Arab Group, welcomed Minister Amina 
Mohamed and congratulated the Government of Kenya for its readiness to host MC10. He also 
thanked Turkey for its offer to host MC10 and for its efforts to facilitate reaching a consensus in selecting Kenya as the host of the next Minist erial Conference. The Arab Group wished Kenya 
success in hosting MC10 and hoped it would be a fruitful one. 
9.33.  The representative of Oman welcomed Minister Amina MOHAMED and said to her " Karibu. 
Tulikuwa tunakungojea urejee Geneva ." Oman wished Kenya a successful Ministerial Conference 
and said " Asante Sana ." 
9.34.  The representative of China congratulated Ke nya. It was the first time for Africa to host a 
WTO Ministerial Conference. This was historically important as it represented a vote of confidence 
from the African Continent to the multilateral trad ing system and a vote of trust by all Members to 
the African Countries and their People, particularly Kenya. Kenya was one of the destinations of 
the old Silk Road on the sea, and a centre of commerce and trade for centuries. China thanked Kenya and was ready to provide necessary support for the MC10 preparations in Nairobi. 
9.35.  The representative of Burundi said that his delegation, who all along supported the 
candidacy of Kenya as its own candidate, extend ed its warm welcome to Minister Amina Mohamed 
and congratulated the Government of Kenya for the decision taken by the General Council on 
agreeing to hold MC10 in Nairobi. As always, Kenya would be able to rely both on the support and 
the cooperation of his delegation and of the entire Government of the Republic of Burundi. 
9.36.  The representative of Mexico said he coul d not let the opportunity pass by – the opportunity 
of congratulating Kenya for being chosen as the country to host the Tenth Ministerial Conference 
of the WTO. He congratulated Minister Amina Mohamed who had also been a Chairperson of the 
General Council. He was one of the few delegates still in the room who had been there when she had held the Chairmanship of the General Council. Mexico was very happy with the consensus 
reached on Kenya, the candidacy of Kenya and the fact that MC10 was taking place in Africa. 
Without a shadow of a doubt, 2015 would be a very important year as it would also be the Twentieth Anniversary of the WTO. His delegation thanked the Chairman for his efforts during the 
consultations and the delegation of Turkey for pu tting their candidacy forward and for joining the 
consensus. 
9.37.  The representative of Tanzania congratu lated Minister Amina Mohamed and the People of 
the Republic of Kenya as a whole for having won the bid to host the upcoming Ministerial 
Conference of the WTO in 2015. She also thanked the Government of Turkey for the willingness, 
care and respect it had shown to the African Stat e, giving Kenya the chance to host MC10. The 
Republic of Kenya was part of the five East African Member States including the United Republic of 
Tanzania. As Members of EAC, they appreciated and thanked the whole WTO Membership for 
giving them the opportunity to host that important event for the first time as an African State.  Kenya bordered Tanzania on the North – very close to Nairobi City where MC10 would be held. She 
invited all Members to use the opportunity to visit Tanzania and its many beauties and attractions 
after MC10.  
9.38.  The representative of Chile warmly congratulated Minister Amina Mohamed, her 
Government and its Mission at Geneva on their successful bid to host MC10 in Nairobi. Chile was 
committed to the development of the African continent and its countries, as clearly demonstrated 
by the visit of the Chilean President to Africa a few months ago, as well as by other political, economic and cooperation events. Chile had also  applauded the willingness shown by the Turkish 
Government, in particular Ambassador Haluk Ilicak, to join the consensus to facilitate the General 
Council's decis ion on the issue. Chile offered its full support to the Kenyan Government in that undertaking. 
9.39.  The representative of Brazil congratulate d Kenya for its successful bid to host the Tenth 
Ministerial Conference and in particular Minister Amina Mohamed and Ambassador John Kakonge. 
Brazil was happy that Members had then agreed to hold the meeting in an African country for the first time since the creation of the organization in Marrakesh. It was a testimony to the increasing 
role Africa played in the multilateral trading system not only in terms of volume of commerce but 
also in terms of its active engagement in shap ing WTO rules. Brazil saw the MC10 as a unique 
opportunity to put in focus and perspective the de velopment-related aspect of international trade. WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  Kenya possessed all the credentials and experience to organize a successful Ministerial Conference 
and it could count on the support of Brazil to achieve that goal. Brazil also expressed its appreciation to the Government of Turkey for it s offer to host the conference and to Ambassador 
Haluk Ilicak for the manner in which he had participated in that exercise. His delegation also noted 
its appreciation to the Chairman for his role and for the manner in which he had conducted a 
smooth and efficient consultation process. 
9.40.  The representative of Morocco said that he  had the great pleasure of taking the floor to 
welcome Minister Amina Mohamed. He wished her a safe journey back to her country. Morocco 
welcomed and congratulated Kenya for being the ho st of the Tenth Ministerial Conference of the 
WTO. The organization of that important event, to be held in Africa, was a source of joy, pride and 
huge satisfaction for the Kingdom of Morocco in that historic day.  
9.41.  The representative of India congratulated the Government of Kenya for its successful bid to 
host MC10. India wished Kenya all success and support in hosting that very important conference. 
Her delegation also placed on record its appreciation for the Government of Turkey in supporting 
the bid of Kenya to host MC10. 
9.42.  The representative of Nigeria thanked the Chairman for conducting the process of deciding 
the venue of MC10 in a transparent and inclusive manner. Nigeria congratulated Kenya, 
particularly, Minister Amina Mohamed and through her the People and Government of Kenya for 
the successful bid to host MC10. Nigeria also  thanked Turkey for the magnanimity and for 
graciously stepping down its bid to host the event in favour of Kenya. His delegation congratulated 
Ambassador John Kakonge on the achievement, and appreciated the uniqueness of the MC10 
which coincided with the Twentieth Anniversary of the WTO and the period that Africa would be 
launching the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA). Nigeria assured Kenya and the entire Membership of its support and cooperation towards a successful hosting of the MC10. 
9.43.  The General Council took note of the addr ess of Minister MOHAMED and of the statements.
11 
10  WTO TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY – STATEMENT BY THE DEPUTY DIRECTOR-GENERAL 
10.1.  The Chairman said that in 2015, the WTO would be celebrating its Twentieth Anniversary, 
as it had come into force on 1 January 1995. To mark that momentous occasion for the 
organization and the system as a whole, a number of initiatives were being planned. The Director-General had asked Deputy Director-General YI Xiaozhun to lead the coordination of that task. He invited Deputy Director-General YI Xiaozhun to provide the General Council with an update on the 
various initiatives in the pipeline to celebrate the WTO Twentieth Anniversary. 
10.2.  Deputy Director-General YI Xiaozhun referred to the logo of the "WTO at 20" which was 
being displayed. As mentioned by the Chairman, th e Director-General and by many other speakers 
in their statements, 2015 marked the Twentieth Anniversary of the year the WTO had opened its 
doors for business. Those had largely been years of noteworthy achievement and historic significance. Members had had their ups and down s and none of them would claim that the WTO 
had delivered all it could for all Members. But over the past twenty years, this organization had, on 
balance, made an important contribution to the global economy and to smoother trading relations between nations. Indeed, at a time when the global economy was more interconnected than ever, it was difficult to imagine a world without the WTO.  
10.3.  In recent months, a number of delegations – as well as civil society organizations, 
academics and businesses – had approached the Secretariat and asked how it had planned to commemorate the Twentieth Anniversary. Major news  organizations were planning features on the 
"WTO at 20" and many universities were in the pr ocess of organizing events to mark the occasion. 
The Director-General, the Deputy Directors-General and the Secretariat felt there was much to be 
proud of as Members reflected on their relatively short history. The WTO had seen over 30 new 
Members joined the family. They had witnessed th e evolution of perhaps the most sophisticated 
and successful system ever created for the resoluti on of trade disputes. And they had helped to 
keep protectionism in check through a system based on globally accepted rules and the transparent monitoring of trade activity. They ha d seen how effective the system was in guarding 
                                               
11 Several Members, including Pakistan, Bangladesh , Cuba, Argentina, Paraguay, Algeria (Observer) 
congratulated Kenya under other items of the Agenda. WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  against protectionism in response to the financial crisis, where the mistakes of the past had not 
been repeated. 
10.4.  However, Members were neither complacent nor self-satisfied with what they had achieved. 
Even with the important successes they had recorded  in Bali and in recent weeks, they knew they 
could improve their negotiating record and deliver  more. They knew that their poorest Members 
were still not adequately integrated into the glob al trading system and that more should be done 
to help them reap all the benefits the system could and should offer. Nevertheless there was no 
doubt that what Members had done in the WTO – the successes and the setbacks – merited 
recognition and thoughtful introspection. No elab orate celebrations had been planned but it was 
important to reflect on the events of the past, not least because it might provide guidance on how Members could best address the challenges of the future.  
10.5.  The Secretariat was mindful of tight resource constraints and it planned a relatively modest 
programme relying on existing platforms as much as possible. While neither the Fifth Global Review of Aid for Trade nor the 2015 Public Forum would be exclusively devoted to the Twentieth 
Anniversary, it expected that both events would offer opportunities to discuss and analyse the 
organization's past activities. The Secretariat was also working with other international organizations to organize events on subjects lik e development, LDCs, environment and coherence. 
A range of publications, some general in nature and some more specific were being planned. Work 
had also begun on a video series entitled "Trade Starts Here" which would comprise several short films examining in a more personal way how trade and the work of the WTO impacted people's lives.    
10.6.  Many activities were also being planned outside of Geneva, some of which involved WTO 
Members. The Secretariat was pleased to hear of Members' interest in the Twentieth Anniversary 
and would welcome efforts by Members to organize domestic events. Other events being planned 
involved universities, non-governmental organizations and business organizations.  The Director-
General had already received many enquiries regard ing his availability to speak at events related 
to the Anniversary, as had the DDGs and others. While they might not be able to attend all events 
to which they were invited, the Secretariat stood ready to assist WTO Members to the fullest 
extent possible. The last twenty years had seen a great deal of positive developments – and he 
believed Members had a good story to tell. The negotiating success they had had in recent weeks made their story even better. The Secretariat l ooked forward to working with delegations and 
other interested parties to ensure that the Twentieth Anniversary commemoration was a great 
success. 
10.7.  The representative of China thanked Deputy Director-General YI Xiaozhun for his 
comprehensive report on the WTO’s Twentieth Anniversary. WTO was so far the only international 
organization that regulated world trade. The past twenty years of the WTO had shown that 
Members had much to be proud of. In the past twen ty years, they had plenty of successful stories 
to tell. They had over thirty new Members joinin g the family. They had over 400 cases brought up 
to the DSB with over 100 rulings made, including th e one they had just discussed. They had jointly 
resisted protectionism since the financial crisis. Hence, China believed it was truly opportune in 2015 to reflect upon WTO’s past and envision th e way forward for the next twenty years and 
beyond.  
10.8.  China was a strong supporter of WTO and would take active participation in the activities to 
be organized by the Secretariat. Meanwhile, China was considering organizing a series of events in 
2015 related to the WTO’s Twentieth Anniversary. Ch ina would work closely with the Secretariat to 
make the WTO's Twentieth Annivers ary a good memory to remember. 
10.9.  The General Council took note of the Depu ty Director-General's statement and of the other 
statement. WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  11  REVIEW UNDER PARAGRAPH 8 OF THE DECISION ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF 
PARAGRAPH 6 OF THE DOHA DECLARATION ON THE TRIPS AGREEMENT AND PUBLIC HEALTH (WT/L/540 AND WT/L/540/CORR.1) – REPORT OF THE COUNCIL FOR TRIPS (IP/C/69) 
11.1.  The Chairman recalled that in August 2003, the General Council adopted a Decision on the 
Implementation of Paragraph 6 of the Doha De claration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public 
Health. Paragraph 8 of that Decision provided th at the TRIPS Council should review annually the 
functioning of the system set out in the Decision wi th a view to ensuring its effective operation and 
report on its operation to the General Council. He invited Ambassador Mothusi Palai (Botswana), Chairperson of the TRIPS Council, to introduce that Council's report in document IP/C/69. 
11.2.  Ambassador Mothusi Palai (Botswana), Chairp erson of the TRIPS Council, said that at its 
meeting on 28-29 October 2014, the TRIPS Council had taken up the annual review pursuant to 
Paragraph 8 of the Decision on the Implementation  of Paragraph 6 of the Doha Declaration on the 
TRIPS Agreement and Public Health. The TRIPS Counc il's report on that review to the General 
Council had been circulated in document IP/C/69. The cover note to that document set out factual 
information regarding the implementation and use of the Decision, as well as the status of 
acceptances of the Protocol Amending the TRIP S Agreement. The TRIPS Council's report also 
contained, in Annex 1, the record of the discu ssion that had taken place during the Council's 
review of the waiver decision. The statements made by delegations were reproduced in Appendix 1. 
11.3.  The report provided an update on the stat us of acceptances of the Protocol Amending the 
TRIPS Agreement that had been done in Geneva on 6 December 2005. The Protocol was currently 
open for acceptance by Members until 31 December 2015. As it stood, about half of the Membership had notified the acceptance of the Protocol. The complete list of those Members that 
had submitted their respective instrument of acceptance could be found in the annual report. The 
list could also be consulted on a dedicated webpage regularly updated by the WTO Secretariat. A quick look at the list illustrated that accepting the TRIPS amendment was by no means reserved to 
developed country Members. On the contrary, the vast majority of acceptances came from 
developing and least-developed country Members. On a good side-note, he was glad that his own country, Botswana, was then included on that list. After a straightforward completion of its domestic procedures, Botswana had been in a position to notify an instrument of acceptance in 
June, together with three other Members that had done so in the course of the year. 
11.4.  In accordance with Paragraph 3 of Arti cle X of the WTO Agreement, acceptance of the 
Protocol by two thirds of the Members was, however, required for it to enter into force which 
currently amounted to 107 Members. The number of acceptances needed for the entry into force 
of the Protocol had thus still not been reached, and that despite its adoption nine years ago. In 
that regard, he reminded those WTO Members wh o had not yet accepted the Protocol of the 
political commitment undertaken by the entire WTO Membership in December 2005 when the 
General Council had unanimously adopted the Protocol Amending the TRIPS Agreement. The decision had expressed the strong political cons ensus of WTO Members to convert the existing 
temporary waiver into a permanent provision of the TRIPS Agreement. This had been and 
continued to be seen as a concrete contribution to  global efforts to strengthen the legal framework 
for access to medicines and had, as such, been welcomed by a large number of international organizations who had called for an early acceptance of the TRIPS amendment. 
11.5.  He therefore called upon those Members who had not yet accepted the Protocol to carry out 
promptly the necessary internal procedures that wo uld permit them to deposit their instruments of 
acceptance. In order to further assist Members in drawing up their instruments, information on the 
acceptance of the Protocol Amending the TRIPS Ag reement, together with a model instrument of 
acceptance, was available on the WTO's dedicated website on TRIPS and public health.  
11.6.  He also emphasised again that accepting the Protocol Amending the TRIPS Agreement was 
distinct from implementing the System in the do mestic legal framework. Those were two separate 
acts, but many WTO Members believed mistakenly that acceptance could not occur without 
implementation. In other words, the Protocol coul d be accepted independently from the adoption 
of domestic measures to implement the System . By accepting the Protocol, a Member agreed 
simply that WTO Members, including itself, were entitled to use the additional flexibility that the 
System provided. Should a WTO Member wished to take advantage of those additional flexibilities, WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  it might need to domestically implement appropriate legislative measures. But since those two 
processes were entirely separate, a Member might choose to deposit an instrument of acceptance of the Protocol without the need to wait for any domestic implementation. 
11.7.  The Chairman thanked Ambassador Mothusi Palai for his report. He also took the 
opportunity to highlight the importance for Members and future Members to accept the Protocol 
Amending the TRIPS Agreement to permit its entry into force. Acceptance by two-thirds of the Members was required for the Protocol to take effect and he joined Ambassador Palai in his call to 
urge Members who had not yet accepted the Protocol to do so expeditiously. 
11.8.  The representative of Rwanda thanked the Chairperson for the comprehensive brief on 
where Members were and what was required to be done. His delegation was proud that it had 
ratified and had also used the system in partnership with Canada. It showed that the system 
worked. Rwanda therefore urged Members that had no t yet ratified to do it so that by July 2015, 
the Protocol could enter into force. 
11.9.  The representative of the European Union thanked the Chairperson for his report. Access to 
essential medicine for developing countries was of utmost importance for the EU. The EU 
encouraged WTO Members to accept the amendment to the TRIPS Agreement so that it could come into force. The EU supported further extension of the deadline for acceptance of the 
Paragraph 6 System by Members.  
11.10.  It was the EU's conviction that the TR IPS Agreement including this amendment but also 
the broader system of obligations and flexibilitie s had achieved the necessary balance to ensure 
that intellectual property might not unduly constitute an obstacle for access to medicines by low 
income and least-developed countries. The EU welcomed the continuation of a focused debate in 
the TRIPS Council on the Paragraph 6 System even if in the last years, no evidence or argumentation had been brought to the table about deficiencies in the system.  
11.11.  The EU welcomed the study done by the WHO, WIPO and WTO evaluating the system on 
promoting access to medical technologies and innovation, intersections between public health, intellectual property and trade. It highlighted a lot of other factors that impacted on access to 
medicine besides IP. The EU looked forward to further discussion of that kind. 
11.12.  The representative of the United States strongly supported the Doha Declaration on the 
TRIPS Agreement on Public Health and the Genera l Council's decision of August 2003 to implement 
the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement in Public Health including Paragraph 6 to allow 
drugs to be exported under a compulsory licence under the terms set out in that decision and the 
accompanying Chairman's statement. The United States also strongly supported the General Council's Decision of 6 December 2005 to amend the TRIPS Agreement and make permanent this 
system and appropriately preserve reference to the Chairman's statement. In fact, the United 
States had been the first Member to notify its acceptance of the amendment. 
11.13.  On 28 October, the TRIPS Council had held a productive review of the implementation of 
Paragraph 6. Any further review of implementation of Paragraph 6 should be within the TRIPS 
Council. The Paragraph 6 system was intended to be one tool to assist in promoting access to medicines and provided an important failsafe in Members' work to improve access to medicines. It was important to recall however that the Paragraph 6 system was one among many tools. The 
United States welcomed continued work and discussion on all of those issues. 
11.14.  The Chairman said that Ambassador Palai's statement offered very clear guidance 
regarding acceptance of the Protocol as distinct from domestic implementation. He had mentioned 
the deadline of the end of 2015. Members had heard Minister Amina Mohamed talk about a target 
conceivably being two-thirds of the Membership ra tifying the Trade Facilitation Agreement. Here, 
for Public Health, Members had the opportunity to se nd a very strong signal of the compatibility of 
their regime for innovation as the EU had pointed out with Public Health. He thought it behoved all 
Members with their capitals to those who had not yet offered their acceptance to review whether it might be possible in 2015 to help reach that two-thirds threshold. 
11.15.  The General Council took note of the report of the Chairperson of the TRIPS Council and of 
the statements. WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  12  WAIVERS UNDER ARTICLE IX OF THE WTO AGREEMENT 
12.1  INTRODUCTION OF HARMONIZED SYSTEM 2002 CHANGES INTO WTO SCHEDULES 
OF TARIFF CONCESSIONS – DRAFT DECISION (G/C/W/702) 
12.2  INTRODUCTION OF HARMONIZED SYSTEM 2007 CHANGES INTO WTO SCHEDULES 
OF TARIFF CONCESSIONS – DRAFT DECISION (G/C/W/703/REV.1) 
12.3  INTRODUCTION OF HARMONIZED SYSTEM 2012 CHANGES INTO WTO SCHEDULES 
OF TARIFF CONCESSIONS – DRAFT DECISION (G/C/W/704) 
12.1.  The Chairman said there were a number of sub-items under that agenda item. He noted 
that the draft waiver decisions for the matters liste d in sub-items 12 (a) to 12 (c) had been taken 
up for consideration by the Council for Trade in Goods at its meeting on 17 November. For those items, the Chairperson of the Goods Council was required to report to the General Council. He 
invited Ambassador Atanas Paparizov (Bulgaria) to report on the Council's consideration of those 
matters in a single intervention. 
12.2.  Ambassador Atanas Paparizov (Bulgaria), Chairperson of the Goods Council, reported that 
the Council for Trade in Goods, at its meeting of  17 November 2014, had approved the collective 
request for waiver extension contained in document G/C/W/702, which had been made in connection with the introduction of HS2002 changes into WTO Schedules of Tariff Concessions. The 
Goods Council had also recommended that the draft waiver decision contained therein be 
forwarded to the General Council for adoption. 
12.3.  Also at its meeting of 17 November 2014, the Goods Council had approved the collective 
request for waiver extension contained in document G/C/W/703/Rev.1, which had been made in 
connection with the introduction of HS2007 changes into WTO Schedules of Tariff Concessions. The 
CTG had therefore agreed that the draft waiver decision contained therein be forwarded to the General Council for adoption. 
12.4.  With regard to the Introduction of Harm onized System 2012 changes into WTO Schedules of 
Tariff Concessions, he reported that the Council for Trade in Goods, at its meeting of 17 November 2014, had approved the collective request for waiver extension contained in document G/C/W/704. 
The CTG had therefore agreed that the draft waiver  decision contained therein be forwarded to the 
General Council for adoption. 
12.5.  The Chairman said that as Members had just  heard, they had three waivers on their agenda 
for adoption. Given the similar nature of those waiv ers, he suggested they took them up together. 
He therefore drew attention to the draft decisions in documents G/C/W/702/Rev.1, 
G/C/W/703/Rev.1 and 704, which concerned the Introduction of Harmonized System 2002, 2007 and 2012 changes into WTO Schedules of Tariff Concessions, respectively. 
12.6.  Unless delegations wished to comment on  the draft decisions, he proposed that, in 
accordance with the Decision-Making Procedures under Articles IX and XII of the WTO Agreement agreed in November 1995, the General Council adopted those three draft Decisions he had just 
referred to. 
12.7.  The General Council so agreed. WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  12.4  REVIEW OF WAIVERS PURSUANT TO  ARTICLE IX:4 OF THE WTO AGREEMENT 
12.4.1  Preferential treatment to services  and service suppliers of least developed 
countries, granted on 17 December 2011 until 17 December 2026 (WT/L/847) 
12.4.2  Kimberley process ce rtification scheme for ro ugh diamonds, granted on 
12 December 2012 until 31 December 2018 (WT/L/876) 
12.4.3  European Union - Application of auto nomous preferential treatment to the West 
Balkans, granted on 30 November 2011 until 31 December 2016 (WT/L/836, 
WT/L/935) 
12.4.4  European Union – Application of auto nomous preferential treatment to Moldova, 
granted on 26 November 2013 until 31 December 2015 (WT/L/903, WT/L/936) 
12.4.5  Cuba – Article XV:6 of GATT 1994, extension of waiver, granted on 
14 February 2012 until 31 December 2016 (WT/L/850, WT/L/937) 
12.8.  The Chairman recalled that, in accordance  with Paragraph 4 of Article IX of the WTO 
Agreement, "any waiver granted for a period of more than one year shall be reviewed by the 
Ministerial Conference not later than one year after it is granted, and thereafter annually until the 
waiver terminates."   
12.9.  There were five waivers before the General Council for review. Those were listed under the 
item in the Agenda for that day's meeting, and he would therefore not read them out.   
12.10.  Three of the waivers under review provided  that an annual report should be submitted by 
the Members concerned regarding the operation or im plementation of those waivers with a view to 
facilitating their annual review by the General Council. The reports from those Members had been 
circulated in documents WT/L/935 (Europea n Union), WT/L/936 (European Union) and 
WT/L/937(Cuba). 
12.11.  The General Council took note of the reports contained in documents WT/L/935, 936 and 
937. 13  IMPROVING THE GUIDELINES FO R GRANTING INTERGOVERNMENTAL 
ORGANIZATIONS PERMANENT OBSERVER STAT US IN THE WTO - STATEMENT BY THE 
CHAIRMAN 
13.1.  The Chairman recalled that at the 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 the WTO" which had then been 
supplemented by a further communication in April 2012. In July that year, 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. 
13.2.  Since the October meeting, he had continued his consultations on the matter with a number 
of delegations and he was encouraging a further exchange of information among the interested 
parties with a view to make progress on that issue. He intended to continue consultations and to report to the General Council as appropriate.  
13.3.  The representative of Jordan, on behalf of the Arab Group, thanked the Chairman for his 
efforts and for continuing the consultation process. Taking into account that no significant process 
had occurred on the issue since the last General Council meeting, the Arab Group reaffirmed its position as previously stated. WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  13.4.  As Members were surely aware, a number of IGOs had been facing difficulties in having 
their requests 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 permanent and/or ad 
hoc observer status in the WTO should only be based solely on the basis of the technical merits of 
such requests. Objective and technical criteria should 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 jeopardising the credibility of the WTO as a rules-
based multilateral trading system organization. 
13.5.  To that end, it was important for the WTO to revisit its cooperation with IGOs and on the 
conditions associated to the WTO mandate and activities. Those conditions should be clear and 
objective and the observer-ship granting process should be neutral and transparent for all IGOs. 
The Arab Group remained open to further serious consultations with a view to seeing this matter concluded as soon as possible. The Group sincerely looked forward to receiving positive news in 
that regard. 
13.6.  The representative of the Dominican Republic , on behalf of the IGDC, was of the view that 
the issue needed to be resolved as early as possible. 
13.7.  The representative of Egypt joined the st atement made by the delegation of Jordan on 
behalf of the Arab Group and thanked the Chairm an for the ongoing consultations on the matter. 
Egypt said that for over ten years already, some Members still continued to weaken the guidelines for granting IGOs permanent observer status. Being granted such status would enable IGOs to 
take part and make contributions to the WTO's work ensuring coherence for the multilateral 
trading system. This was a long-standing problem and was part of many agenda in many WTO bodies. 
13.8.  The difference in view regarding the guidelines for granting IGOs permanent observer status 
seemed to be coming more pronounced. Member s did not quite understand why some had been 
granted such status whereas others who clearly had a mandate for development were refused 
such status before the same WTO bodies. Egypt pointed out that all IGOs should be able to 
participate as observers on an equitable basis and that any request presented by an IGO should be 
assessed according to the technical criteria.  Having said that, Egypt would urge all Members who had expressed reservations regarding the request fr om the League of Arab States to reconsider 
their position, abstain from rendering the WTO's work political and agree to grant observer status 
to all IGOs so requesting. 
13.9.  The representative of the Russian Federation had been closely watching the situation around 
the consultations on improving the guidelines for granting intergovernmental organizations 
permanent observer status in the WTO. Russia regr etted to note the lack of progress in those 
consultations. In its view, there were no clear and economic reasons behind that. Russia believed 
that granting IGOs observer status in the WTO wo uld increase transparency in the organization's 
work. Transparency was one of the core principles adherence to which had always been a feature of the WTO. The final solution to the issue wo uld benefit the whole WTO Membership. Russia called 
upon all parties concerned to move forward to achieve it. 
13.10.  The representative of the United States said that the issue of Observer Status for IGOs had 
been a difficult one for the organization. It  was unfortunate, and his delegation believed 
unnecessary, that so many requests remained outstanding. The United States had tried in the past 
to resolve those issues by building on the rules Members had adopted in 1996. Those efforts had 
failed over a number of difficult issues. As much as his delegation might wish it had been otherwise, the situation had not changed since then. The United States appreciated the Arab 
Group's effort in putting some more concrete ideas in front of Members. His delegation had studied 
them carefully and in all candour did not see a basis on which agreement might be achieved. But 
the United States was happy to support the Chairman's suggestion for further exchange of information. 
13.11.  The Chairman said that he did not view anybody's position as having become more 
entrenched. In fact, in his consultations, interested delegations had brought a constructive spirit to 
bear and part of the task was to clear the air and to have more information of a factual nature WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  before Members so that they fully understood motivations for positions being taken and that 
exchange of information continued. As he had said, he would continue the consultations. 
13.12.  The General Council took note of the Chairman's statement and of the other statements. 
14  COMMITTEE ON BUDGET, FINANCE AND AD MINISTRATION - REPORTS ON MEETINGS 
OF NOVEMBER 2014 (WT/BFA/146) 
14.1.  The Chairman drew attention to the report of the Budget Committee in document 
WT/BFA/146 and invited Ambassador Francisco LIMA (El Salvador), Chairperson of the Budget 
Committee, to introduce the report. 
14.2.  Ambassador Francisco LIMA (El Salvador ), Chairperson of the Committee on Budget, 
Finance and Administration, said that in its meetings in November, the Committee on Budget, 
Finance and Administration had dealt with a number of items and was making two 
recommendations to the General Council. 
14.3.  First, the Committee had reviewed the ITC Mid-Term Review for the biennium 2014-2015. 
The ITC's overall budget for 2015 remained unchanged. Second, the Committee had examined the 
WTO Mid-Term Review for the biennium 2014-2 015. The Director-General had reviewed the 
budget of the second year and had decided not to revise the budget. The Committee had welcomed the zero nominal growth budget and the overall approach presented by the Secretariat. 
The Committee had also welcomed that the Director-General had continued to deploy resources to 
the Dispute Settlement areas. As the budget for 2014-2015 had already been approved as part of 
the biennium budget 2014-2015 last year, the Committee only recommended to the General Council to approve the updated scale of contributions for 2015. 
14.4.  Third, the Chairperson of the Working Gr oup on WTO Financial Regulations had presented 
the final report of the Working Group on Financial Regulations. He reminded the General Council that those regulations should be aligned with ne w requirements imposed by the implementation of 
the International Public Sector Accounting Standa rds (IPSAS) and to accurately reflect current 
policies and decisions taken by the General Counc il. The Working Group had completed its work 
and submitted its final report to the Committee who would have to study and review its proposal 
on the revised Financial Regulations. The Committee should make a recommendation to the 
General Council at the beginning of 2015, once the Committee had reviewed them. 
14.5.  Then, the Chairperson of the Working Grou p on After Service Health Insurance had updated 
the Committee on its on-going work. The Working Group had met five times since April 2014. The 
Chairperson of the Working Group had requested to the Committee to extend by six months the 
mandate of the Working Group to continue its work and carefully study different options in depth. Due to unforeseen circumstances, the Chairperson of the Working Group had to leave Geneva for 
other duties. He had held consultations among Members of the Working Group and the 
Membership to replace Ambassador Albinas Zananavi čius (Lithuania) as the departing Chairperson 
of the Working Group. Mr. John Newham (Ireland ) who had been very active in the Working 
Group, had accepted the position of the Ne w Chairperson of the ASHI Working Group.  
14.6.  The Secretariat had updated the Committee on the progress made on the Organizational 
Review process initiated by the Director-General  a year ago. The four Joint Recommendations 
Groups had submitted to the Joint Advisory Committee (JAC) the first proposals on each of the 
four areas identified, Promotions, Rules, Mobility and Management. The Secretariat had indicated 
that the Director-General had reviewed and appr oved an optimal organizational structure that 
would be presented to the Committee. The Committee had been updated on the administrative 
progress reports related to the budgetary and fi nancial situation and the extra-budgetary funds. 
14.7.  A member of the Secretariat had presented the document on the Participation of LDCs to 
MC10. He had emphasised the importance for potential donors to make timely contributions to the 
trust fund to facilitate the participation of Least-Developed Countries. The Committee approved 
the following recommendation: The Committee recommended to the General Council that it encouraged potential donors to indicate to the Secretariat the level of financial support they were prepared to provide. The full recommendation was stated in the report WT/BFA/146. WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  14.8.  The Committee had then updated on the Memb ers' transition Operating Fund established in 
December 2008 to provide funding in projects rela ted to the construction and the renovation. The 
Secretariat had indicated that the Fund had been closed in October 2014 with a closing balance of CHF 1,7 million, transferred to the WTO Surplus account. The Committee had started at its last 
meeting a preliminary discussion on a proposal to establish a Building Maintenance Fund. Several 
Members had expressed an initial support to that proposal. The Committee would continue its discussion further at the next meeting, in early 2015.  
14.9.  Finally, the Committee had also started a constructive discussion on a proposal to establish 
an Audit Committee at the WTO, based on the pr oposal of the Internal and External Auditor 
mentioned in their respective previous reports. The Committee had highlighted the importance of that issue and had emphasised that the item shou ld be treated as a priority by the Committee and 
then continue its discussion early 2015. 
14.10.  The General Council took note of the Chairman of the Budget Committee's statement, 
approved the Budget Committee's specific recomm endation in paragraphs 1.12 and 7.3 of its 
report and adopted the report in WT/BFA/146. 
15  INTERNATIONAL TRADE CENTRE UNCTAD/W TO - REPORT OF TH E JOINT ADVISORY 
GROUP ON ITS 48TH SESSION (ITC/AG(XLVIII)/256) 
15.1.  The Chairman said that in connection with that item, the Chairman of the CTD provided the 
General Council with a report on the CTD's consideration of the report of the Joint Advisory Group 
on the International Trade Centre UNCTAD/WTO. He  invited Ambassador Pierre Claver Ndayiragije 
(Burundi), Chairperson of the Dedicated Session of the CTD, to report on the matter. 
15.2.  Ambassador Pierre Claver Ndayiragije (Burundi), Chairman of the CTD, reported that the 
Joint Advisory Group on the International Trade Centre UNCTAD/WTO had held its 48th Session on 
11 and 12 June 2014. The report on that meeting was contained in document ITC/AG(XLVIII)/256. 
15.3.  The report had been presented to the CTD at its 92nd Session on 27 November 2014 by the 
Chairperson of the JAG, Ambassador Mariam Salleh  (Malaysia). The Chairperson had said that, at 
its 48th session, the JAG had expressed strong support for the role and vision of the ITC. There had 
been acknowledgement that the ITC had a clear mandate, as well as the technical expertise, to 
assist small and medium-sized enterprises to enhance their competitiveness. There had also been recognition of the ITC’s potential to expand the scope of its work within the current mandate, and endorsement of the organization's new strategic focus areas.  
15.4.  There had been a strong call for the ITC to continue its work on regional integration, in 
particular in Africa. Support had also been expr essed for other areas of the ITC's work, including 
with regard to strengthening trade support institutions, women's economic empowerment, and 
strengthening the focus on services. The ITC’s Environmental Mainstreaming Strategy had been 
noted with appreciation.  In addition, the organization's technical assistance in the area of trade facilitation, including with regard to the implemen tation of the Trade Facilitation Agreement, had 
been welcomed.  
15.5.  The JAG Chairperson had also informed the CTD that, at the 48th JAG Session, the Group 
had been presented with the ITC's Annual Report for 2013, as well as the draft Strategic Plan for 
the 2015-2017 period, which had since been finalized. In addition, the results of the recent 
independent evaluation of the ITC had been pres ented to the JAG. In their presentation, the 
evaluators had recognised that, since the last evaluation in 2006, the ITC had improved on the 
delivery of its mandate, as well as in its internal management procedures.  
15.6.  The evaluation had confirmed the growin g demand for the ITC's services, and that the 
organization was well placed to respond to those needs. However, it had also pointed to a number 
of challenges, such as embedding Results Based Management in all of the ITC’s programmes, 
improving the project management cycle, streamlining internal work processes and developing a 
costing process. The evaluation had also noted that , for the ITC to be able to fully address all the 
recommendations, there was a need for more stable and predictable funding. The JAG Chairperson had informed the CTD that the JAG would reconvene in informal session in January 2015 to discuss 
the collective response to the evaluation and the progress achieved.  WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  15.7.  The CTD had taken note of the JAG report and forwarded it to the General Council for 
adoption.   
15.8.  The Chairman thanked the CTD Chairperso n for the report and Ambassador Mariam Salleh 
(Malaysia) for her effective Chairmanship of the Joint Advisory Group whose report had formed the 
basis for the review.  
15.9.  The General Council adopted the report of the Joint Advisory Group in document 
ITC/AG(XLVIII)/254 and took note of the statement of the Chairperson of the Dedicated Session of 
the CTD. 16  AGREEMENT ON THE TRANSFER OF PENSIO N RIGHTS OF PARTICIPANTS IN THE WTO 
PENSION PLAN (WTOPP) AND IN THE COORDI NATED AGENCIES PLANS: NATO UPDATE 
(WT/GC/W/689) 
16.1.  The Chairman said that the agenda item  related to the Agreement on the Transfer of 
Pension Rights of participants in the WTO Pension Plan and in the Coordinated Agencies plans. He 
drew attention to the relevant document in WT/GC/W/689. Article 10 of the Regulations of the 
WTO Pension Plan provided that the Management Board of the Plan could, subject to the 
concurrence of the General Council, approve agreements with Member Governments and with Intergovernmental Organizations with a view to securing continuity of pension rights for 
participants in the Pension Plan. He invited Mr Krzysztof Trepczy ński (Poland), Chairperson of the 
Management Board, to briefly introduce the matter. 
16.2.  Mr Krzysztof Trepczy ński (Poland), Chairperson of the WTO Pension Plan Management 
Board, reported that what was submitted for the Council's kind acceptance was really a very 
straightforward technical correction to an existing agreement and a procedural formality. The WTO 
had had the transfer agreement with several coordinated agencies including NATO for many years. In the case of NATO, it had recently come to the Board's attention that they had introduced minor 
technical changes to their Pension Plan. The revised agreement had simply clarified those technical 
points and replaced the prior one. Most of those agreements were rarely used. He rather doubted 
that the WTO had ever had a transfer to or from  NATO. Nonetheless, most organizations liked to 
keep their options to their employees open and he asked the General Council to accept the 
proposed changes to the existing agreement with NATO. 
16.3.  The Chairman proposed that the General Council took note of the statement of the 
Chairperson of the WTO Pension Plan and concurred with the Management Board's decision that 
the new transfer agreement with the NATO repl aced and superseded the existing transfer 
agreement with effect from 1 January 2015. 
16.4.  The General Council so agreed. 
17  REVIEW OF WTO ACTIVITIES 17.1  General Council (WT/GC/W/687), Di spute Settlement Body (WT/DSB/64 and 
WT/DSB/64/ADD.1), and Trade Policy Review Body (WT/TPR/340) 
17.2  Sectoral Councils (G/L/1094, S/C/44, IP/C/68) 
17.3  Committees on Trade and Developmen t (WT/COMTD/86), Trade and Environment 
(WT/CTE/214), Balance-Of-Payments Restri ctions (WT/BOP/R/108), Budget, Finance 
and Administration (WT/BFA/145), and Re gional Trade Agreements (WT/REG/24) 
17.4  Working Groups on Trade, Debt and Finance (WT/WGTDF/13) and Trade and 
Transfer of Technology (WT/WGTTT/16) 
17.5  Committees under the Plurilateral Trade Agreements (GPA/126, WT/L/938) 
17.1.  The Chairman wished to say a few words regarding the reports Members would be 
considering. On a number of those reports, dele gations had already had a substantive discussion 
in the respective bodies. He would therefore suggest that, as usual, Members did not repeat those WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  discussions in the General Council. He also suggested  that delegations took the floor only if they 
felt they needed to draw particular attention to any aspect of the work reported on, or to add to a previously expressed position. 
17.2.  The reports under that agenda item had been drawn up in pursuance of the Decision 
concerning procedures for an annual overview of WTO activities and for reporting under the WTO 
in document WT/L/105.  The reports in question we re listed in the Agenda for that day's meeting 
and he would therefore not read them out.  
17.3.  As he had also noted earlier, he had met the Chairpersons of regular bodies and reviewed 
their activities that year, as contained in the annual reports. In the interest of moving the meeting along in a smooth and efficient way, he proposed that the Chairpersons of the various bodies not introduce their respective reports at that meetin g. However, some Chairpersons had informed him 
o f  s o m e  a s p e c t s  o f  t h e  w o r k  i n  t h e i r  b o d i e s  t h a t  t h e y  h a d  w i s h e d  t o  h i g h l i g h t ,  a n d  h e  w o u l d  
therefore do that on their behalf.   
17.4.  For example, regarding the Committee on Trade and Environment, the Chairperson of the 
CTE had asked him to convey to Members her appreciation for the work carried out that year and 
for the dedication shown by all delegations. The CTE Chairperson was pleased to share with them 
that day the annual report of the CTE which captur ed the extent of the quality of the discussion 
that year. The Committee had held in 2014 very informative, constructive and substantive 
meetings, in which delegations had shared their national experiences, in particular on efforts to combat illegal logging and related trade. Delegations had also been able to further their understanding on a variety of subjects owing to several high quality briefings by international 
institutions and the WTO Secretariat. The CTE Chairperson hoped delegations would continue their 
efforts to strengthen the unique role of the CTE as a forum for exchange on key trade and 
environment topics. 
17.5.  On the Working Group on Trade, Debt an d Finance, the Chairman of the Working Group 
wished to highlight that WTO Members strongly supported continued WTO involvement in trade finance (including that of the Director-General), given gaps in poor countries and its key 
importance for enabling trade. Members had also agreed on the organization of a seminar on trade 
finance in the Spring of 2015 bringing together  the representatives and experts of Members, 
international development banks, private banks and other possible actors, and called on Members 
to ensure participation of capitals on such a critical issue for most developing countries. The 
seminar would be a useful complement to the disposition of the Agreement on Trade Facilitation, 
as access to finance and efficient border were the two main requisites to trade according to the surveys discussed by the Group. 
17.6.  Concerning Government Procurement, the Chairman of the Committee wished to highlight 
that the Committee had had a very productive year. Following the Committee's Ministerial-level meeting on the margins of the Ninth Ministerial Conference in Bali, the revised Agreement on 
Government Procurement (GPA) entered into fo rce on 6 April 2014.  All but three of the 
Agreement's Parties had then formally accepted the Protocol Amending the Agreement which had 
been adopted in 2012. In addition, in October 2014, negotiations had been concluded on accession to the Agreement by two more WTO Members – Montenegro and New Zealand. Those two 
Members would formally become Parties to the GPA upon the submission of their respective 
instruments of accession to the Director-General. The Committee hoped for progress on other accessions to the Agreement in 2015. 
17.7.  Before the General Council took action on those reports, he highlighted a couple of points. 
Those Annual Reports reflected the hard work und ertaken in each WTO regular body that year 
and, as he had said earlier in the meeting, they were all pieces of one well-integrated picture.  
They all told a piece of the story of the univ erse of WTO activities. They all reflected the 
discussions undertaken in each WTO body, and had set the stage for the continuation of their work in 2015. The Annual Report of the General Council, which was also before Members that day, was to be seen in that spirit as well. While the items on the report might seem different, they were all 
pieces of one story, and they brought together the whole range of the issues discussed and agreed 
by the General Council that year. WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  17.8.  The General Council then took action on  those reports. The Chairman first invited the 
General Council to adopt the report of the Committee on Trade and Development in document WT/COMTD/86, and to take note of the reports of  the other WTO bodies, including the reports of 
the Committees under the Plurilateral Trade Agreements, listed in the Proposed Agenda.  
17.9.  The General Council so agreed. 
17.10.  He then proposed that the General Council adopt the draft Report of the General Council 
contained in document WT/GC/W/687 on the under standing that the Secretariat would make the 
necessary adjustments to the Report to include matters that had been considered at that meeting.   
17.11.  The General Council so agreed. 
18  APPOINTMENT OF OFFICERS TO WTO BO DIES – ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE CHAIRMAN 
PURSUANT TO PARAGRAPH 7.1(A) OF THE GUIDELINES (WT/L/510) 
18.1.  The Chairman said that the Guidelines for the Appointment of Officers to WTO bodies were 
contained in WT/L/510. He recalled that, following a call by a number of Members to improve the 
process of the Appointment of Officers, the General Council, in 2012, had also taken note of a 
number of practical steps to improve the implemen tation of the Guidelines. Those were contained 
in document JOB/GC/22.  
18.2.  The Guidelines provided that the outgoing  Chairman of the General Council would conduct 
consultations on the appointment of Chairpersons to  the WTO bodies in Groups 1, 2, 4 and 5 of the 
Annex to the Guidelines. The Guidelines also prov ided that in order to promote transparency, the 
selection process should start with an announcement by the Chairman at the General Council meeting held in December each year. Accordingly, he informed the General Council that he was 
starting the selection process. 
18.3.  In accordance with the Guidelines, he should be assisted in the selection process by the 
serving Chairman of the Dispute Settlement Bo dy, Ambassador Fernando De Mateo (Mexico). 
18.4.  The consultations for the appointment of officers would start in mid-January. In line with the 
Guidelines, Ambassador De Mateo and he would communicate, as early as possible, a specified time-period in which they would be available to hear the views and suggestions of Members.   
18.5.  Furthermore, as provided for in the Guidelines, a list of past Chairpersons of major bodies 
was available to delegations at the meeting to provide some structure for their subsequent deliberations on the possible distribution of Chairp ersons based on past practice and the need for 
balance. He noted that, in accordance with para graph 2.1 of the Guidelines, representatives of 
Members in financial arrears for over one full year could not be considered for appointment. 
18.6.  The practical steps to improve the implem entation of the Guidelines to which he had 
referred earlier also provided that for the purposes  of paragraph 7.1(d) of the Guidelines, Groups, 
meaning developed countries, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia, and Africa, had a role in 
putting forward names of candidates for the slots available to them. In light of that, he would be meeting group coordinators first and he took that  opportunity to encourage them to already start 
consultations within their Groups with a view to putting forward names of candidates. 
18.7.  The General Council took note of the Chairman's statement. 
19  ADMINISTRATIVE MEASURES FOR MEMBERS IN ARREARS – STATEMENT BY THE 
CHAIRMAN 
19.1.  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.   
19.2.  Those measures included a requirement th at, at the end of each meeting of the General 
Council, the Chairperson of the Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration should provide information with regard to which Members and Ob servers were under Administrative Measures. He WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  invited the Chairperson of the Budget Committee, Ambassador Francisco LIMA (El Salvador), to 
provide the Council with the information. 
19.3.  Ambassador Francisco LIMA (El Salvador ), Chairperson of the Committee 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 General Council, he should list Members and Observers under all categories of Administrative Measures. There were 2 
Members in Category 1: Cameroon and Vanuatu. There were 2 Members in Category 2: Antigua 
and Barbuda and the former Republic of Macedo nia. There were 5 Members and 1 Observer in 
Category 3: Central African Republic, Dominica, Grenada, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania and Sao Tomé and Principe (Observer). 
19.4.  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.  
19.5.  The General Council took note of the statement. 
20  INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AGREEMENT – STATEMENT BY THE EUROPEAN UNION 
20.1.  The representative of the European Unio n, speaking under "Other Business", wished to 
briefly report to the Members on the state-of-play of the current negotiation round on ITA 
expansion. 
20.2.  Following progress announced recently by US and China, overall very positively received by 
others, negotiations on the expansion of the coverage of the Information Technology Agreement 
had resumed. The EU was hosting the current round of talks. 
20.3.  Members were all aware of the importance of those negotiations. There was no doubt that 
the positive outcome would be beneficial not only to the world economy but also in many ways to 
the multilateral trading system. It would certainly contribute to reinforce the momentum for the 
challenges they had ahead of them for 2015 on the completion of the post-Bali Work. 
20.4.  Members had in front of them the most far-reaching market access package made in the 
WTO since 1996 worth more than one trillion euros of world trade. Concluding it would give a 
powerful signal of the capacity of the WTO to provide an important contribution to the world economy and of its capacity to deliver market access deals. 
20.5.  Since 4 December, significant progress had been made. Work at the technical level had 
advanced smoothly allowing to virtually finalize the draft of the final ITA expansion declaration and 
to sort out the outstanding issues that the ITA Participants' customs experts had been facing. 
20.6.  On the coverage of the ITA expansion, Part icipants had shown a great deal of flexibility and 
that had allowed them to accommodate concerns of a vast majority of the Participants to the 
negotiations. However, while the finalisation of the negotiations appeared certainly within reach, there had still been some distance, small compared with the long way they had already gone, 
which needed to be bridged. Some delegations were consulting their capitals with a view to be able 
to make the final effort which was needed to come to a satisfactory compromise for all parties. In those final steps, the Director-General had been very actively involved with a view to facilitate the positive outcome and he thanked him for his effort on behalf of all the Participants. 
20.7.  His assessment, shared widely by other Participants, was that they needed to make every 
effort to conclude then since it would not get easier later. Then was the moment. Given the very high economic importance of those negotiations, the considerable effort of flexibility already 
demonstrated by many capitals and the relatively limited distance that still needed to be bridged in 
order to reach the final deal, they had decided to prolong the negotiations until 12 December. 
20.8.  The General Council took note of the statement. WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  21  SECOND UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON LANDLOCKED DEVELOPING COUNTRIES 
– STATEMENT BY PARAGUAY 
21.1.  The representative of Paraguay, speaking under "Other Business", congratulated Seychelles 
for its accession and Kenya for having been selected as host for MC10. He thanked Turkey for its 
gracious withdrawal. He also thanked and congratulated Hong Kong, China for being the first to 
ratify the TFA. 
21.2.  As he had foreshadowed, he drew attention to document WT/L/942 dated 29 November that 
contained a summary of the results of the Second UN Conference for Landlocked Developing 
Countries which had been carried out in Vienna last fall. The LLDCs had the Declaration of Vienna and the Vienna Programme of Action. This Programme reflected a strong commitment from UN Members to implement that action plan which in cluded a review of the Almaty Programme of 
Action. It had been spanning the decade 2003-20 13 to reduce the time and cost of trade from 
landlocked countries and it had multiplied the valu e of trade by five-fold. However, those countries 
weighed only marginally in world trade. Trying to remedy that situation, the new programme had 
set new priorities with a realistic focus that tried to solve the connectivity transport and border 
problems of landlocked countries in orde r to pursue the development objectives.  
21.3.  Structural economic diversification was also another factor that could positively impact trade 
for those countries. Trade Facilitation was one of the objectives in that declaration. Paraguay 
thanked all those who had made efforts in achieving its implementation promptly through the adoption of the TFA Protocol of Amendment and the operationalization of the TFA Facility. This declaration and plan of action had been adopted by  all the Members of the UN representing a show 
of unity and solidarity on their behalf. Once again Paraguay had to thank the WTO Secretariat and 
the Director-General who had been very active in this Conference in Vienna. 
21.4.  As a landlocked country, Paraguay would continue to strive to strengthen the multilateral 
trading system, awaited acceding Members to be come full-fledged Members of the WTO and hoped 
that the work Members accomplished could contribute to them reaching their goals. 
21.5.  The General Council took note of the statement. 
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   WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  ANNEX 1 
 
STATEMENT BY EGYPT ON THE ACCESSION OF THE REPUBLIC OF SEYCHELLES  
(AGENDA ITEM 1) 
 
At its request, the statement of Egypt is included below as part of the Minutes of the General Council meeting. 
 
_______________ 
  
At the outset, I would like to extend a warm welc ome to H.E. Pierre Laporte, the Minister of 
Finance, Trade and Investment of the Republic of Seychelles, and the distinguished members of 
his delegation to this historical meeting. 
 
Egypt would like to convey sincere appreciation to the WTO Secretariat, particularly the Accessions 
Division, for the hard work and assistance in preparing for this final step on the Accession of 
Seychelles. We commend, as well, the Chair of the Working Party for her effective leadership and 
efforts to bring this process to the threshold of conclusion.  
 
Egypt congratulates the Government of Seychelles  on successfully completing one of the most 
complicated accession processes and satisfying the requirements of WTO Membership, after nearly 
two decades of negotiations. We believe that Seyc helles's accession would be a valuable addition 
to the WTO and of course a special addition to the African countries members. We are looking 
forward to Seychelles's contribution to the work of the WTO and to the multilateral trading system.  
 As we welcome today a new member from the develo ping countries, we should as well draw the 
lessons learnt and reflect on what we can do more to assist our trading partners who are still in 
the process of accession. The process of accession  to the WTO has indeed become an extremely 
difficult process, especially for LDCs.  
 
Let us spare no effort to continue improving the procedures to simplify the accession process and 
enhance the existing institutional mechanisms including clarifying the definition of transparent 
rules for the implementation of the provisions of Article 12 of the WTO Agreement, with the 
objective of providing the opportunity to acce ding countries to express their views on the 
accession process, and always availing WTO techni cal assistance and capacity building prior to and 
during the accession process, according to the n eeds and developmental priorities of the acceding 
countries. 
 
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  ANNEX 2 
STATEMENT BY COTE D'IVOIRE ON THE REPORT BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE TRADE 
NEGOTIATIONS COMMITTE E (AGENDA ITEM 2) 
At its request, the statement of Cote d'Ivoire is  included below as part of the Minutes of the 
General Council meeting. 
 
_______________ 
 
 Côte d'Ivoire fully endorses the statements made by the representatives of the groups to which it belongs, namely by the Ambassador of Kenya on behalf of the ACP countries, the Ambassador of 
Lesotho on behalf of the African Group, and the Ambassador of Indonesia on behalf of the G-33. 
 The delegation of Côte d'Ivoire would like once again to thank you and the Director-General for all 
you have done and for your commitment in helping the WTO to get through the recent difficulties, 
particularly in relation to food stockholding and trade facilitation.  
In this connection, Côte d'Ivoire appreciates the strong political commitment shown by the 
authorities of India and the United States and would like to thank them. Their rapprochement on this issue has unquestionably boosted our Organization's legitimacy and credibility as the forum of choice for the multilateral trade negotiations. 
 
The Ivorian delegation believes that it is important that all of the subject areas of the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) should be treated with  the same degree of ambition and attention for 
the benefit of all Members of this Organization. 
 The Member countries also agree that the interconnections and interaction among the different 
DDA subjects will inevitably have a direct or indirect impact on all of the economies, whatever 
their size.  Consequently, it is preferable for decisions to be taken by consensus to ensure that the interests 
and concerns of each and every one of us and of the Membership as a whole are taken into 
account.  
We note in this connection that on 13 November 2014 the Ivorian Government, with the support of 
the ITC and the EU, adopted a national export st rategy designed to stimulate and diversify its 
exports over the next five years. 
 
The benefits that could be obtained from implementing this trade policy and strategy instrument would depend in part on an improvement of the multilateral trade environment through significant progress in all areas of the DDA. 
 
The Ivorian Government therefore pins considerable  hope on the preparation of the post-Bali work 
programme in conformity with th e Bali Ministerial Declaration of 7 December 2013 with a view to 
pursuing the negotiations and completing the DDA. 
 
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  ANNEX 3 
STATEMENT BY AUSTRALIA ON BEHALF OF THE CAIRNS GROUP ON THE 4 DECEMBER 
2014 MEETING OF THE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE – SPECIAL SESSION 
At its request, the statement made by Australia on behalf of the Cairns Group at the above-
mentioned meeting is included below as part of the Minutes of the General Council meeting. 
 
_______________ 
 
  The Cairns Group welcomes the resumption of discussions on agriculture in the Special Session.    
Earlier this year, the Cairns Group noted it was looking towards an ambitious agriculture package 
as an outcome to the post-Bali work programme – a package that would be balanced across the three pillars of export competition, domestic support and market access. Nothing has changed in 
this respect.  
  Members need to move decisively in all three areas in ways that address the distortions that still 
exist.   
  Improved market access in agriculture in accordance with the Doha Mandate remains critical for Cairns Group Members – agricultural market access is still plagued by distortions.    
  
On domestic support the Cairns Group would li ke to see an ambitious outcome that reduces 
substantially the provision of trade distorting subsidies, in accordance with the Doha mandate. 
  
Genuine engagement in this Committee on domestic support remains important because the issue can only effectively be addressed at the multilateral level.  
  
A very doable aim is to deliver on Members’ long standing and overdue commitments on export competition.   
Ministers in Bali highlighted this pillar as an ar ea for priority attention, and Members reaffirmed 
Ministers’ decision in the General Council on 30 November that issues where legally binding outcomes were not achieved in the Bali Package shall be pursued on priority. 
 
Current policies highlight the doability of an ambitious outcome in this pillar.  
The membership has done the lion's share of the necessary negotiating work in this area, with 
Ministers agreeing that the (TN/AG/W/Rev.4) disciplines in export competition remain "an important basis for an ambitious final agreement."    
In Bali, Cairns Group Ministers said that: "In all of the 3 pillars of agriculture, we need to secure a 
way ahead for the Doha Round negotiations which will deliver genuine reforms in accordance with the Doha mandate including special and differential treatment. To this end, we will continue to 
work on the basis of the draft modalities."  
  Cairns Group Members are also committed to constructively contributing to discussions aimed at 
finding a permanent solution to the issue of public stockholding for food security purposes, in line 
with the decisions taken in Bali and in last week's General Council.   
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  WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  ANNEX 4 
STATEMENT BY THE C-4 ON THE 21ST ROUND OF THE WTO DIRECTOR-GENERAL'S 
CONSULTATIVE FRAMEWORK MECHANISM ON COTTON ON 20 JUNE 2014 
At the request of Burkina Faso, on behalf of the C-4, the statement made by the C-4 at the above-
mentioned meeting is included below as part of the Minutes of the General Council meeting. 
 
_______________ 
 
 O n  b e h a l f  o f  M r  A r t h u r  P .  K a f a n d o ,  M i n i s t e r  o f  I n d u s t r y ,  T r a d e  a n d  C r a f t s  o f  B u r k i n a  F a s o  a n d  Coordinator of the four co-sponsors of the Sectoral Initiative in Favour of Cotton 
(Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali and Chad), who was unab le to attend, and on behalf of all of the 
cotton-producing African, LDC and ACP countries, I would like to thank WTO Director-General 
Roberto Azevêdo and Deputy Director-General Dave Shark for organizing this 21
st round of the 
Consultative Framework Mechanism on Cotton. 
 As this is the first meeting of the Consultative Framework Mechanism on Cotton to take place after 
the 9
th Ministerial Conference in Bali, I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate 
Mr Roberto Azevêdo and his entire team for the results achieved in Bali. We hope that these results are merely a beginning and that there will  b e  m o r e  t o  c o m e ,  p a r t i c u l a r l y  o n  t h e  c o t t on 
issue, before the next Ministerial conference. This will require sustained efforts in the coming days 
to ensure that the ministerial decision on cotton in Bali leads to concrete gains for the poor 
cotton-producing and cotton-exporting countries.  
I can already assure you that the C-4 is prepared to  contribute actively to that objective, which is 
of such importance to us.  
The 11-paragraph Bali Ministerial Decision on Cotton provides us with a mandate to use the 
Decision adopted by the General Council on 1 August 2004, the 2005 Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration and the revised draft agriculture modalities contained in document TN/AG/W/4/Rev.4 dated 6 December 2008 as the basis for our future work. In other words, the cotton issue will have 
to be a priority in the post-Bali work programme. 
 The C-4 believes that the outcome of the negotiations on cotton depends essentially on the 
commitment and determination of all WTO Members to achieving progress on the trade aspect of 
the issue as rapidly as possible.  
As many Members, including the C-4, have repeatedly stressed, further discussions must be based 
on the progress made thus far in the agriculture negotiations, including in this case, with respect to cotton, the revised draft modalities text of 6 December 2008 (TN/AG/W/4/Rev.4). It is important that we start the negotiations with something rather than rejecting everything across 
the board and evading the substance of the issue. 
 Paragraph 5 of the Bali Ministerial Decision on Cotton also mandates, in the context 
of transparency and monitoring in relation to the trade-related aspects of cotton, that Members 
hold a dedicated discussion on a biannual basis in the context of the Committee on Agriculture in Special Session to examine relevant trade-related developments across the three pillars 
of Market Access, Domestic Support and Export Competition. 
 The first dedicated session this afternoon should enable us to identify any option that could help us to move forward on the three pillars of the cotton negotiations in a constructive spirit. For the C-4, 
it is also appropriate that there should be a transparent discussion on relevant and up-to-date data 
and information concerning the policies of the main cotton-producing Members.  
It goes without saying that the mechanisms set up to resolve the cotton issue, such as the Quad 
or the Quad-plus - where we have already begun consultations under the supervision of the Chairman, John Adank - and other negotiating formats that Members consider appropriate, 
remain crucial to facilitate work on the cotton issue. 
 WT/GC/M/155 
 
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  On the development aspect of cotton, since there is  a specific agenda item on the subject I shall 
limit myself at this stage to thanking once again the bilateral and multilateral partners from the North and the South for their financial contribution and technical assistance to all of the LDC and African cotton-producing countries. We reserve our comments for the time being and shall make 
them under the relevant agenda items. 
 Since there now exists, with the Bali Decision, a framework that enables us to take account in the 
negotiations of the need for a link between th e development aspect of the cotton issue and the 
Aid-for-Trade initiative and present common and unifying projects, I can assure you that the C-4 is already working together with all of its partners at  the regional level to submit one or several such 
projects in the very near future. 
 
I urge the development partners to show unw avering commitment and to support any common 
and unifying projects submitted by the African co tton-producing countries without prejudice to the 
support provided in relation to trade facilitation needs. 
 According to world statistics and in particular those of the ICAC (as we shall undoubtedly see 
under item 4 with the ICAC presentation), cotton exports in the CFA zone should increase by 3% 
during the 2014/2015 season owing to the increase in production in the CFA countries, while exports from the other major producing countries should decrease by 1% over the same period. This increase in production and exports will only  contribute to the fight against poverty in rural 
areas under certain conditions, including, once again, the significant reduction or elimination 
of cotton price-distorting domestic support.  
Indeed, we all need to work together to ensure the vitality of the African cotton sector, inter alia  
through appropriate development assistance coupled with trade policies that free the world cotton market from potentially damaging distortions. This has been our guiding principle since the 
launching of the Sectoral Initiative in Favour of  Cotton in 2003 and the submission made by Benin, 
Burkina Faso, Mali and Chad in 2006.   
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  ANNEX 5 
STATEMENT BY THE C-4 ON THE 22ND ROUND OF THE WTO DIRECTOR-GENERAL'S 
CONSULTATIVE FRAMEWORK MECHANISM ON COTTON ON 28 NOVEMBER 2014 
At the request of Burkina Faso, on behalf of the C-4, the statement made by the C-4 at the above-
mentioned meeting is included below as part of the Minutes of the General Council meeting. 
 
_______________ 
 
 On behalf of the co-sponsors of the Sectoral Init iative on Cotton and all of the African, LDC and 
ACP cotton producing countries, I would like to share a few comments which I hope will contribute 
to enhancing our discussions at this 22nd round of the WTO Director General's Consultative 
Framework Mechanism on Cotton.  
Let me begin by thanking Mr Roberto Azevêdo, Director General of the WTO, as well as you, 
M r  D a v e  S h a r k ,  D e p u t y  D i r e c t o r  G e n e r a l  o f  t h e  W T O ,  a n d  a l l  o f  y o u r  t e a m ,  f o r  o r g a n i z i n g  t h i s  meeting of the Consultative Framework Mechanism on Cotton. A few days ago, the negotiations 
were bogged down by continuing differences among WTO Members regarding the need for 
parallelism between the drafting of a Protocol of  Amendment to insert the Agreement on Trade 
Facilitation into Annex 1A of the WTO Agreement on  the one hand, and public stockholding for food 
security purposes on the other. This situation wa s described by some as the most serious that the 
Organization had ever had to face. 
 Thanks to the determination of Members to find solutions and to show that the WTO could deliver, 
we succeeded in overcoming our differences and reaching an agreement. We sincerely hope that 
these results are only a beginning, and that there will be other results, on the cotton issue in particular. It is our intention to share our views on how to move forward in the cotton negotiations 
at the second dedicated discussion on the trade as pects of cotton this afternoon. Concerning the 
development aspect of cotton, since it is the subjec t of a specific agenda item we shall reserve our 
comments until the discussion of that item.  
According to forecasts (as we shall certainly see under item 4 with the presentation by the 
International Cotton Advisory Committee), world cotton production should reach 26.3 million tonnes for 2014/15, exceeding the 25.6 million tonne s produced in the last season. Meanwhile, 
prices have decreased significantly. In view of  the decrease in prices and the high costs of 
production, the governments of major cotton producing countries may have to take steps to assist their cotton producers, and it is appropriate that we should launch an urgent appeal to WTO cotton 
producing Members to ensure that whatever policies they may adopt are not contrary to our 
mandates resulting from the cotton negotiations. On the contrary, we would expect those policies to help push the cotton negotiations forward, notably by reducing trade distortions affecting the sector in all three pillars of market access, domestic support and export subsidies. 
 
Before concluding I would like to take note, on behalf of the C 4, of the significant communication submitted by Sudan as a contribution to our work, namely document WT/CFMC/W/60 of 
20 October 2014. This document not only takes stock of the current status of cotton production in 
Sudan, but also describes the domestic reforms introduced to optimize cotton production. We would like to take advantage of today's meeting to invite all of the African cotton producing 
countries, or at least those that have not already done so, to provide the WTO Secretariat with 
updated information on the status of the cotton sector in their respective countries. 
 
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