RESTRICTED  
  
WT/GC/M/146  
 
14 October 2013  
(13-5591)  Page: 1/84  
General Council 
24-25 July 2013    
 
 MINUTES OF MEETING 
HELD IN THE CENTRE WILLIAM RAPPARD ON 24-25 JULY 2013  
Chairperson:  Mr Shahid Bashir (Pakistan) 
In the course of the meeting, the Chairman, th e Director-General and many delegations bade 
farewell to Ambassador Elin Johansen (Norway) and Ambassador Tim Yeend (Australia), who were 
leaving their posts at the WTO. Delegations expres sed appreciation for their positive engagement 
and commitment to the system.  
 
Subjects discussed
1: 
 
1   REPORT BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE TRADE NEGOTIATIONS COMMITTEE .................... 2  
2   AID FOR TRADE - REPORT BY THE DIRECTOR-GENERAL ON THE FOURTH 
GLOBAL REVIEW .............................................................................................................. 9  
3   WORK PROGRAMME ON SMALL ECONOMIES – REPORT BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE DEDICATED SESSION OF THE COMMI TTEE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT ............. 13
 
4   COMMITTEE ON BUDGET, FINA NCE AND ADMINI STRATION ...................................... 14  
4.1   REPORTS ON MEETINGS  OF MAY AND JULY 2013 .......................................................... 14 
4.2   MANAGEMENT OF THE WTO SECRETARIAT 2005-2013 - STATEMENT BY THE 
DIRECTOR-G ENERAL ........................................................................................................ 16 
5   WTO WORK PROGRAMME FOR THE LEAST-DEVELOPED COUNTRIES - REPORT 
BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE SUB-COMMITTEE ON LDCS ................................................... 17  
6   WORK PROGRAMME ON ELECTRONIC  COMMERCE - REVIEW OF PROGRESS .............. 18  
7   NINTH SESSION OF THE MINISTERIAL CO NFERENCE ................................................ 20  
7.1   ELECTION OF OFFI CERS ............................................................................................ 20 
7.2   ATTENDANCE OF OBSERVERS FROM INTERNATIONAL INTERGOVERNMENTAL 
ORGANIZA TIONS ............................................................................................................. 21 
7.2.1   Request from the League of Ar ab States ................................................................... 21 
7.3   REQUEST FOR OBSERVER STATUS BY PALESTINE TO THE NINTH SESSION OF THE 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE ............................................................................................... 21 
7.4   STATEMENT BY  THE CHAI RMAN .................................................................................. 21 
8   IMPROVING THE GUIDELINES FOR GRANTING INTERGOVERNMENTAL 
ORGANIZATIONS PERMANENT OBSERVER STATUS IN THE WTO - STATEMENT BY THE CHAIRMAN .............................................................................................................. 23
 
9   DERESTRICTION OF SOME GATT 1947 HISTORICAL BILATERAL NEGOTIATING DOCUMENTATION - DR AFT DECISI ON ............................................................................ 23
 
                                               
1 The agenda was circulated in WT/GC/W/671. WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  10   WAIVERS UNDER ARTICLE IX  OF THE WTO AGREEMENT ......................................... 24  
10.1   REVIEW OF WAIVERS PURSUANT TO  ARTICLE IX:4 OF THE WTO AG REEMENT ................. 24 
10.1.1   LDCs - Article 70.9 of the TRIPS Agreement with respect to pharmaceutical 
products, granted on 8 July 2002 until 1 January 2016 .......................................................... 24 
10.1.2   Preferential treatment for least-developed countries, granted on 27 May 2009 
until 30 J une 2019  ........................................................................................................... 24 
10.1.3   European Union - Application of auto nomous preferential treatment to Moldova, 
granted on 7 May 2008 unti l 31 December  2013 .................................................................. 24 
10.1.4   European Union - European Union preferences to Pakistan, granted on 
14 February 2012 until 31 December 2013 .......................................................................... 24 
10.1.5   United States - Former Territory of the Pacific Islands, granted on 27 July 2007 
until 31 December 2016 ................................................................................................... 24 
10.1.6   United States – Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act, granted on 27 May 
2009 until 31 December 2014 ............................................................................................ 24 
10.1.7   United States – African Growth and Opportunity Act, granted on 27 May 2009 
until 30 September 2015 .................................................................................................. 24 
10.1.8   United States – Andean Trade Preference Act, granted on 27 May 2009 until 
31 December  2014  .......................................................................................................... 24 
11   WTO PENS ION PLAN ............................................................................................... 28  
11.1   REPORT OF THE MANAGEMENT BOARD FOR 2012 ........................................................ 28 
11.2   ELECTION OF THE CHAIRMAN OF TH E MANAGEMENT BOARD - PROPOSAL BY THE 
CHAIRMAN OF THE GENERAL CO UNCIL ............................................................................... 30 
12   UKRAINE - ARTICLE XXVIII NOTIFICATION - STATEMENT BY THE 
EUROPEAN UNION ......................................................................................................... 30  
13   CHAIRMANSHIP OF THE CO UNCIL FOR TRADE IN GOODS ....................................... 32  
14   STATEMENT BY THE CHAIR IN CONNECTION WITH ADMINISTRATIVE 
MEASURES FOR MEMBER S IN ARRE ARS ......................................................................... 33  
15   FAREWELL TO THE DIRECTOR-G ENERAL, MR PASCAL LAMY .................................... 33  
ANNEX I - FAREWELL STATEMENT BY PASCAL LAMY, DIRECTOR-GENERAL .................... 35  
ANNEX II - STATEMENTS BY DELEGATI ONS - FAREWELL TO THE DIRECTOR-
GENERAL ....................................................................................................................... . 41 
ANNEX III - STATEMENTS BY DELEGATI ONS AT THE TRADE NEGOTIATIONS 
COMMITTEE ON 22 JULY 2013 ........................................................................................ 73  
ANNEX IV - STATEMENTS BY DELEGATIONS AT THE FOURTH GLOBAL REVIEW ON 
AID FOR TRADE ON 10 JULY 2013 .................................................................................. 77  
 
1  REPORT BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE TRADE NEGOTI ATIONS COMMITTEE 
1.1.  The Chairman invited the Director-General, as  Chairman of the TNC, to report on the TNC's 
activities since his last report to the Council. 
1.2.  The Director-General2, Chairman of the TNC, recalled that since his report to the General 
Council in June, the TNC had held one formal meeting on 22 July. On that occasion, TNC 
participants had assessed where they were in pr eparing the three potential DDA Bali deliverables – 
trade facilitation; agriculture and S&D/LDC issues and had discussed next steps3.  
1.3.  He believed that everyone shared the overall assessment that the road to Bali was much 
clearer than two months earlier. There had been a good level of refuelling in negotiating groups 
                                               
2 The Director-General's statement was circulated in JOB/GC/54. 
3 The Director-General's statement at the TNC meeting on 22 July was circulated in JOB/TNC/20. WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  and increased momentum in substantive engagement . There had also been a sharper sense of the 
key remaining issues for urgent decision, including the links between them. He believed that the glass was two-thirds full and that Members were on track to deliver concrete outcomes in the three deliverables. Despite this positive momentum, Members had realistically acknowledged that they 
were not there yet. More work was required to close remaining gaps in the short time left after the 
summer break. In this regard, all Members had agreed that there was no time for complacency. The third part of the glass needed to be urgently  filled. Therefore, Member s needed to sustain the 
renewed momentum, be more flexible and substantively focused in the final stretch to deliver the 
desired outcomes at MC9. 
1.4.  He also mentioned that the ITA expansion negotiations at the moment were experiencing 
some difficulty, and wished to appeal to those involved to redouble their efforts in order to add to 
the basket of achievements at MC9. In his view , this was also within the realm of doable. He 
stressed that Bali offered a unique opportunity to reignite the DDA negotiations. Bali was important because of the systemic value it promised, if Me mbers succeeded. And as delegations looked into 
delivering in Bali, their eyes had also to be in crafting a post Bali agenda of work for the Round. 
The Bali opportunity could not be missed.  
1.5.  He said that he had been at the helm of the TNC for the past eight years, and that today he 
stepped down as Chairman. However, no one would follow progress more closely than him. He 
would continue to support delegations' efforts in  every possible way, although he would, as he 
should vis-à-vis  his successor, refrain from public statements on sensitive WTO issues during a 
period of cooling off.  
1.6.  All delegations which spoke thanked th e Director-General, Chairman of the Trade 
Negotiations Committee, for his report. 
1.7.   The representative of Dominican Republic , speaking on behalf of the Informal Group of 
Developing Countries said that the Group was of the firm conviction that the Bali Ministerial 
Conference was yet another opportunity for Members to give new impetus to international trade at 
a critical time, when the world economy has weakened and this was having a negative impact on 
trade flows. This opportunity could not go to waste. Although there were other trade agreements in 
the process of being negotiated, the Doha Round was the only one capable to deliver trade and 
economic growth at a multilateral level.  A successful conclusion of the Doha Round would also restore the balance in trade rules strengthening the global partnership for development.  This 
would provide a much-needed boost to developing countries' efforts to reduce poverty in the final 
years left to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. 
1.8.  The representative of Cuba said that her country endorsed the statements made in the TNC 
meeting of 22 July by the ACP, African, LDC, C-4, G-20 and G-33 Groups, and the statement 
yet to be made by Barbados on behalf of the sm all economies. Very little progress had been made 
since the TNC meeting of 3 June, and Cuba had many concerns about the course that the 
negotiations might take in the short time remaining until MC9. Cuba believed that two thirds of the 
cup, and not one third, had yet to be filled. Cuba also noted that many differences had yet to be reconciled and that certain countries insisted on imposing points of view that were not shared. 
1.9.  She further stated that one of Cuba's legitimate concerns was that the procedures and rules 
for discussions be followed closely, without any talk of consensus having been reached until the 
Ninth Ministerial Conference, where, at the rate discussions were going, the development 
dimension would not carry much weight. The agriculture component of the so-called Bali package 
remained fundamental for the developing countries. There continued to be major imbalances 
between the G-20 and G-33 proposals on legitimate ri ghts to food security and the elimination of 
all kinds of trade-distorting support, with efforts focused on achieving results in trade facilitation. 
Much work remained to be done in this area, there being major imbalances between Sections I and 
II, as well as within both Sections. Concluding a trade facilitation agreement on such an uneven playing field would merely deepen existing inequalities: the 300 richest people in the world accumulated more wealth than the 3,000 million poor  people who accounted for almost half of the 
world's population.   
1.10.  She reiterated that Cuba could not agree with arriving at Bali solely with Section I of the 
trade facilitation text, and this had been made clear at the TNC meeting of 3 June. Cuba was WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  extremely concerned to hear that Section II only made sense if binding commitments were 
reached in Section I. It should be the other way round that no commitments could be reached without first guaranteeing the treatment that would be received. The double standards applied in dealing with the two Sections were a cause for concern. The fact that delegations had been 
negotiating for so many years reflected the importance that all attached to this matter and the 
benefits that could flow from an agreement of this kind, but not any agreement. Trade facilitation was a single, indivisible whole. A sufficient amount of predictable, sustainable and 
non-discriminatory technical and financial assistance was required, together with investments in 
infrastructure, technology, and capacity building , not to mention major legislative amendments. 
1.11.  Cuba asked those who talked about their good intentions to reflect them in concrete 
proposals. Since the Uruguay Round, experience had shown one could not leave provisions 
beneficial to developing countries in a legal vacuum, or they would become dead letters. This had 
to be ensured at the present stage because Cuba di d not want to sign up to an agreement at any 
price to please other countries or favour private trade interests. Cuba wished to sign up to an 
agreement that genuinely facilitated trade for all Members, large and small, and which complied 
with the principle of non-discrimination. 
1.12.  She further said that Cuba was prepared to continue negotiating, but that it would never 
sign an agreement that rode roughshod over its pr iorities and restricted the country's ability to 
take sovereign decisions on the trade instruments and policies that served its legitimate development objectives. Cuba had heard a lot about flexibility and constructive spirit, but aimed at developing countries and wished to make it clear that it was not the vast majority of WTO 
Members who were lacking flexibility. Cuba therefor e urged Members to drop the rhetoric and stop 
calling on others to do what they were not prepared to do themselves. Cuba would never accept that the calls for flexibility became a matter of bl ackmail. Either Members wanted flexibility and 
worked sincerely to achieve it, without pursuing petty interests, or they did not in fact want this 
much-proclaimed flexibility. 
1.13.  In Agriculture, one could see what was happening to the G-33 proposal on food security: the 
dilatory manoeuvring continued and questions were continuously being raised. The G-20 proposal 
on export competition had not been discussed in-depth, but the anticipated discrepancies 
increased, with mention of generic imbalances and the proposal having come at a bad time. She wondered if, since the signing of the Doha mandate on fairness in the agricultural trade, there had 
ever been a "right" moment to apply such fairness.  This was the Group's first modest step towards 
addressing a long-standing imbalance. 
1.14.  Negotiations had also failed to focus seriously on development and the situation was 
discouraging. After the summer break, work aime d at achieving concrete results as regards 
the development dimension had to be stepped up wi th a view to reaching a balanced outcome. The 
imbalance was very large given that priority was being given to and options were being sought for 
the trade facilitation pillar only, and not for agriculture and development issues. Efforts had to be 
equal. If a "signalling conference" for trade facilitation was organized, the same had to be done for agriculture and development. Trying to prioritize only trade facilitation work would not change the 
fate of Bali. 
1.15.  Regarding the proposals under the development pillar, Cuba was concerned about the 
developed countries' systematic lack of willingness to agree to the little that was being asked in this package, which did not represent any additional  effort or injury on their part. The lack of 
progress in the various proposals discussed in the Committee on Trade and Development at both 
its regular and special sessions merely reflected th e inflexibility of certain Members, who refused 
even to agree to the few crumbs that these long-standing proposals could offer the developing 
countries and especially the least-developed nations. She noted that without any justification, one 
Member refused to fulfil an Eighth Ministerial Conference mandate that would be favourable to the small economies group. Cuba failed to understand how the Member concerned could refuse to comply with what its own trade representative ha d accepted and, much less, how it could be so 
concerned about a simple study or workshop on non-tariff measures and their impact on the small 
economies. 
1.16.  Cuba had viewed with interest, during the Fourth Global Review on Aid for Trade, the joint 
statement by 27 Governments (including those of th e world's wealthiest nations) and international 
organizations, announcing that in view of the importance and tangible benefits of trade facilitation WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  reform, thousands of millions of dollars had been made available to ensure the effective 
and prompt implementation of any future trade fa cilitation agreement. The worrying thing was that 
no one had said a word about the possibility of using a few cents of this amount to help resolve the food security problems faced by thousands of millions of human beings on this planet.  
1.17.  Cuba had also heard threats about how difficult it would be to continue with the Doha 
Agenda if no result was achieved in Bali. For example, it had been said that the developed countries, and in particular the United States and the European Union, would redirect their energy 
towards transatlantic bilateral negotiations and other regional and plurilateral initiatives, from 
which they expected real market liberalization. Cuba believed that these were threats not worth losing any sleep over, quite the opposite. Cuba firmly believed that whatever happened in Bali would, far from weaken the multilateral trading sy stem, strengthen it and steer the Organization's 
work towards a successful conclusion to the Doha Round. It was vital that the developed Members 
be constructive and flexible in the coming months and changed their often intolerant tone, with a view to achieving, at the Ministerial Conference and beyond, results that were beneficial to all 
countries. Cuba reiterated its commitment to the WTO, and wanted to save the Doha Round and 
implement the agreed negotiating mandates. 
1.18.  The representative of Barbados, speaking on behalf of the Group of Small, Vulnerable 
Economies said that such updates were useful  in keeping the entire Membership informed, 
complying with the F.I.T. principle - Full Participation, Inclusiveness, and Transparency - as 
Members sought to ensure a meaningful Bali deliverable. The Group was concerned that time was quickly running out. She said that the sober to ne of the interventions made during the TNC 
meeting of 22 July 2013 should provide a reality check. Discounting the summer break, there were 
than 70 working days away from MC9. She stressed that everyone needed to redouble efforts to 
achieve that meaningful Bali package that met th e expectations of all - large and small - alike. 
Creativity and good will were needed, particularly to deliver something of meaning to the small and 
most vulnerable. The Group called upon key Members to show the requisite flexibility and will to ensure that a meaningful Bali package was comp leted soon after the summer break. It was not 
possible to leave everything to the last minute, as it was at that time, when time was short, that 
one risked marginalizing the interests of the small and most vulnerable. The Group wished to exhort Members to remember what was at stake - not only for each individual country, but for the system at large. Members had been able to achi eve success in the past; Members had to all work 
together after the summer break to ensure that th ey could, once again as a Membership, achieve 
success in Bali. 
1.19.  Speaking on behalf of Barbados, the repres entative said that Barbados remained hopeful of 
a satisfactory package at Bali which took into account the special problems of small countries. One 
size did not fit all, and it was important to take national specificities into account. Barbados appealed to Members to be flexible. She also believed that the results at Bali should be balanced 
and that there should be meaningful outcomes in all three pillars. Barbados supported the 
proposals of the -G33 with respect to agriculture and food security and was grateful to the Chairman of the Agriculture Committee in Specia l Session for his efforts in that regard.  
1.20.  She said it was in the interest of all if negotiations were concluded in Geneva and not 
brought to Bali. However, she was also of the view that it was not only what they did at Bali that 
would impact the WTO most, but also that the post-Bali agenda would influence significantly the future of the WTO. There was much unfinished bu siness, some of which had brought hardship on 
some Members. The plight of the cotton 4 produc ers had been calling out for correction for many 
years and she hoped that Bali would deliver some thing to ameliorate their circumstances. Above 
all, there needed to be a development dimensio n to the negotiations. Barbados welcomed the 
progress made on LDC issues and looked forward to a satisfactory solution at Bali in that regard. 
She had listened at the TNC to the intervention by land locked economies, some of whom were 
SVEs, and thought it would be appropriate, in similar style, to mention that the year 2014 had been designated by the UN as the year of the Small Island Developing States (SIDS). This was an 
internationally recognized category of countries, and one that was acknowledged in the UN system. 
As a UN-related organization, it might be useful to consider how the WTO, or interested Members in the WTO, could take steps to ensure that such  countries in the WTO were not left out of the 
efforts and events which were likely to take place in 2014 in that connection. This did not in any 
way affect Barbados' continuing and strong commitment to the SVEs, but really spoke of overlapping interests and of a desire not to be excluded from the 2014 activities, for planning had 
already started.  WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  1.21.  She concluded by reiterating that it was important that what Members would take to Bali 
was achievable and implementable by all. There were already many decisions by Ministers which were unfulfilled, and a repetition of this should be  avoided. One way of ensuring that this did not 
occur was to think through the consequences of what Members were agreeing to beforehand, and 
ensure that it had been accepted without duress, so as to minimize the many unfulfilled Ministerial 
decisions which continued to plague the WTO. Barbados remained committed to assisting wherever possible in bringing about a successful and mutually beneficial package at Bali. 
1.22.  The representative of Angola said his dele gation endorsed the statements made at the TNC 
meeting by Morocco on behalf of the African Grou p, Nepal on behalf of the LDCs, and Jamaica on 
behalf of the ACP Group. The challenges of the mu ltilateral trading system were considerable, and 
Angola hoped that Members would be able to provide a new dynamic in order to obtain a 
negotiated and satisfying result for the next Minist erial Conference in Bali; to prepare the post-Bali 
agenda, including all outstanding Doha Development Agenda issues; and to reconcile the interests of developed countries with those of developing countries without forgetting the most vulnerable 
Members. Regarding trade facilitation, and in particular pre-shipment inspection, he recalled that 
Angola had always defended the idea of progressive and voluntary elimination. He informed the Council that pre-shipment inspections had ceased to  be compulsory in Angola in June, following the 
Angolan customs authorities' announcement that, havi ng invested in training, they were now able 
to undertake this task themselves. A notification to that effect had been submitted very recently. He wondered where the negotiations stood with regard to this matter.   
1.23.  He stressed that the parties concerned could have reached consensus on this matter before 
the change was introduced in Angola, which was what Angola would have liked. Unfortunately, 
however, this was not the case. Selfishness and greed on all sides merely delayed this consensus, with certain Members still believing they had the legitimate and historical right to impose their 
point of view on others, raising their level of ambi tion on a daily basis and interpreting the existing 
agreements and mandate as the mood took them . He reaffirmed Angola's commitment to the 
multilateral trading system, and stressed that MC9 could be successful if a balance was found 
between the three areas - agriculture, tr ade facilitation and development issues. 
1.24.  The representative of Côte d'Ivoire expressed concerns with regard to trade facilitation. The 
effects of such an agreement were unquestionable and would certainly contribute to the developing 
countries' economies including Côte de Ivories' into the world trade in a more solid basis. He noted 
that the positive potential impact of these agreements would be affected by a particular count 
being taken of the needs for technical assistance and capacity building for infrastructure and administration. The negotiating modalities on trade facilitation, as set out in Annex D of the July 
2004 package, and taken up again in the Hong Kong Declaration, clearly stated that the results of 
this negotiation would fully take into account the principle of special and differential treatment, which should go beyond the traditional approaches taken in this area. 
1.25.  Thus, a trade facilitation agreement had to include flexibilities for the application of new 
commitments, and particularly provisions on technical and financial assistance and capacity building. In this respect, negotiations on Section II of the draft Agreement which concerned S&D required all Members to show the necessary co mmitment to have operational and legal ties 
between technical and financial assistance and special and differential treatment for the 
implementation of Section I commitments, in order to ensure development and trade facilitation which would benefit all. Furthermore, Côte d'Ivoire  believed that flexibility and capacity building 
measures along with technical and financial assistance linked to implementation commitments had 
to go hand in hand with the transparency and monitoring mechanism which would enable all parties to take assessment of their commitments and follow up on them. Implementation of both 
Sections I and II had to move ahead in parallel so as to reach an integrated text with no square 
brackets, whose implementation would contribute to a more effective and efficient participation of developing countries and LDCs in world trade. 
1.26.  The representative of the Plurinational State of Bolivia  supported the statement made by 
Barbados on behalf of the SVEs. I would like to endorse the statement by Barbados on behalf of 
the small economies. She recalled that, during the last meeting of the General Council, her delegation had expressed its concern at what it perceived as an imbalance in the topics that were 
emerging as deliverables for Bali. Unfortunately, the evaluation Bolivia had carried out had not 
thus far revealed any changes in this imbalance in what had come to be known as the "Bali Package". On the contrary, the imbalance was grow ing more and more obvious. On the table there WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  were agriculture, development issues including LDC issues, and trade facilitation. Regarding the 
agricultural component of this so-called Bali Package, the two most important proposals for Bolivia included the G-33 proposal, on which there had been no substantial progress. Food security was not negotiable. During the time that had elapsed since the food crisis in 2008, the situation had 
deteriorated, and responses were needed that went beyond what had been seen to date. As far as 
the proposal itself was concerned, Bolivia ha d been working on the basis of the questions 
submitted by the Chairman of the Committee on Agri culture. But, on question three, which was the 
crux of the proposal and where a general solution  was being sought, Bolivia believed that certain 
countries were trying to avoid any commitment and were showing no interest in moving forward. On the contrary, these countries were trying once again to delay the process and to further dilute the level of ambition by focusing on question four, which called for a mechanism to try to deal with 
the problems case-by-case, or for a two-year peace clause. 
1.27.  As regards the G-20 proposal on export competition, Bolivia wished to be clear that, as this 
was the year in which all export subsidies were supposed to be eliminated, there should be a 
commitment on the part of the major subsidisers to achieving progress in eliminating a practice 
which was one of the main sources of distortion of world trade in agriculture. However, these subsidisers were not even prepared to initiate any kind of dialogue on the proposal – instead, all 
they did was to push for trade facilitation, a plurilateral approach in services, an Information 
Technology Agreement, but they were not prepared to give anything in return. 
1.28.  On LDC issues, Bolivia had been hoping for some time that the leading economies would 
fulfil the commitments they had already assumed on  matters such as duty and quota-free access, 
operationalization of the services waiver, and in particular, the emblematic case of cotton subsidies 
elimination. It was paradoxical that at the outset of this process, the idea was to achieve a result at the Ninth Ministerial Conference for the LDCs; a few months later, the idea was to achieve 
results on LDC issues plus trade facilitation; and now, with Bali only five months away, it appeared 
that trade facilitation was all that delegations would be able to achieve. Bolivia was surprised and disappointed that no real steps were being taken to support the LDCs, and wondered whether the 
needs of the most needy might have been handled in an untransparent and inefficient manner. 
1.29.  On development issues, the picture was hardly more encouraging. Developing countries 
were asking for mechanisms to deal with the problems afflicting them; while they knew what their needs were and what they wanted, they did not feel that the developed country counterparts could 
know what was good for them when they had not experienced or been exposed to their realities. 
This is why developing countries insisted that the monitoring mechanism should respond to the needs of the developing countries and not to those of the developed countries. This was a forum 
which should be taking measures to ensure that "all special and differential treatment provisions 
[are] reviewed with a view to strengthening them and making them more … operational", as stipulated in paragraph 44 of the Doha Declaration; anything less would be irrelevant in terms of 
realistic development needs. As regards the 28 pr oposals put forward in Cancún, as they stood, 
22 of these proposals were devoid of any economic value or real commitment by the developed countries on what was the main theme of this Ro und, i.e. "development". Indeed, these proposals 
were merely cosmetic, they paid lip service to the topic of development in order to avoid the real 
areas of interest and concern to the developing countries. It was odd that ultimately, the countries 
most interested in adopting these 22 specific proposals in Annex C of Cancún were the developed countries. In other words, the 22 proposals appeared to be a synthetic sweetener  that served to 
distract attention from the costly and real commitments that most of the developing countries 
would have to face, such as trade facilitation. 
1.30.  The imbalance in the so-called "Bali pack age" could be seen even more clearly in the 
differences in treatment and level of ambition of Sections I and II on trade facilitation. On the one 
hand, many countries were reluctant to accept that the implementation of Section I should be contingent upon the "acquisition of implementation capacity" by the developing countries, as clearly expressed in the mandate in Annex D of the General Council decision of 1 August 2004. 
This, together with the self-determination of im plementation commitments, formed one of the key 
elements of Section II and should form a clear part  of the structure of the text. At the same time, 
there had been certain progress on Section I, with the elimination of some 100 square brackets. 
The fact was that there remained 400 more square brackets, but many of these were in the area 
of customs cooperation which was an area of interest to the developing countries and consequently, it was not being given the same attention as other areas. The impression of 
imbalance was growing from month to month. Far from improving, the situation was getting worse. WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  1.31.  She stressed that, if the Ministerial Conference was to be a success, a balanced package in 
Bali was needed. Concrete results directed towards the elimination of export subsidies, results in the area of food security, and significant result s on development and LDC issues were required. 
Otherwise, this Ministerial Conference would not be able to live up to the hopes of the majority of 
countries. The credibility and legitimacy of the Orga nization would once again be placed in doubt if 
one only delivered results for the rich and failed  to meet the needs of the poor. This would be 
showing once again that this was an organization that favoured those who had, rather than those 
who needed; in other words, it was an organization that was increasingly anchored in the 
deplorable practices of the past, and not an organization that looked to the future and to the needs of the majority. 
1.32.  The representative of Oman wished to make  a few observations before preparations for Bali 
entered into high gear. First, the objectives of the DDA should not be undermined or truncated at 
the Bali Ministerial. These should remain valid at Bali and in the post-Bali process. Second, the huge amount of the work done and the tentative agreements or understandings reached over the 
past years should be preserved and should not be compromised in any way. Third, the interests 
and concerns of developing countries had to remain at the heart of the Doha Round negotiations, and also at the Bali Ministerial. Oman supported the G-33 proposal on public stockholding for food 
security, as it was of critical importance for developing countries to ensure adequate food supplies 
at reasonable prices for their people. It was not only an economic but also an important social issue. Oman also attached importance to the S&D monitoring mechanism which was important to monitor and ensure implementation of special an d differential treatment for developing countries. 
The delegation of Oman also supported the work and progress on trade facilitation. However, in 
any eventual agreement, developing countries had to be provided with enough time - a suitable 
transition period - to implement the commitments commensurate with their developmental and 
financial needs and capabilities. 
1.33.  The representative of Ghana wished to associate his delegation with the statements made 
by Morocco on behalf of the African Group and Jama ica on behalf of the ACP Group. He noted that 
it was encouraging to note that some progress had been made in removing some hundred brackets 
scattered throughout the current Trade Facilitation text. More political solutions and compromises were needed to address the remaining points of contention to balance Sections I and II with more binding commitments in Section II to remove the over 500 remaining old and new brackets in the 
current draft text, in order to finalize the TF agreement for Bali. The three proposals on agriculture, 
the administration of tariff rate quotas (TRQs), export competition, and food stockholding and 
domestic food aid were dear to Ghana and other developing countries. While discussions were 
smoothly progressing on the TRQs, the range of reactions among Members on export competition 
and food stockholding were stalling negotiations and should be quickly resolved since time was short. On the development-focused component of the Bali package, Ghana welcomed the positive 
advances that had been made in the discussions in  the two of the three clusters under S&D.  The 
first cluster involved the 28 Cancún proposals, which were part of a group of 88 proposals aimed at strengthening the S&D provisions in the various WTO agreements that were agreed, but not harvested, ten years before. The second involved  the Monitoring Mechanism, which was reviewing 
the functioning of provisions in WTO rules for S&D treatment in favor of developing countries and 
potentially suggested improvements. Ghana urged Members to also make similar progress in the third cluster proposal involving the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures and the Import Licensing 
Procedures Agreements.  
1.34.  He further said that it was essential to consider the LDC-specific issues submitted earlier in 
May by the LDC Group, including the implementati on of the duty-free quota-free (DFQF) market 
access decision taken at the 2005 Hong Kong Ministerial Conference; preferential rules-of-origin; 
the operationalization of the services waiver  agreed at the 2011 Ministerial; and trade and 
development assistance with regards to cotton should be given priority in the continuing effort to advance the Doha Work programme. A proactive approach should be adopted by the LDCs to 
resolve whatever differences they might have in their Group on any contentious issue. The LDC 
i s s u e s  n e e d e d  t o  b e  b a c k e d  u p  w i t h  p r a c t i c a l  m e a s u r e s  t o  e n a b l e  L D C s  t o  m a k e  u s e  o f  n e w  opportunities. He said that the WTO had done a lot in partnership with other organizations and 
donors to build trading capacity in LDCs and this  should be further strengthened. Maintaining and 
expanding this work as well as ensure its funding should be a continuing commitment. All Members had to re-double their efforts in September and October 2013 to reach agreement on Trade 
Facilitation and any other possible elements for Bali . Ghana would put its energies into facilitating 
agreements wherever they could be reached in time for Bali and work collectively on the WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  outstanding issues after the Conference. Success in these efforts should provide a boost of 
confidence for the system which would encourage negotiators to find new solutions to the Round as a whole, and also to address the question of what would come next. Finally, Ghana wished to express its appreciation for the zeal and able ma nner in which Director-General Lamy had guided 
the work of the organization for the past eight years.  He wished to put on record some of the effort 
made by Mr Lamy, his able four Deputy Directors-General, Chef de Cabinet and the in advancing the course of the multilateral trading system and putting the Organization on higher pedestal in 
the international organization system. Director-General Lamy's eagerness to clinch deals for the 
Doha round through different approaches and supp ort for developing countries through programs, 
technical cooperation activities, capacity buildin g and fund mobilization would be remembered. 
Ghana wished him and his four Deputy Directors- General higher achievements in their future 
endeavors. 
1.35.  The representative of Jamaica, speaking on  behalf of the ACP Group said that the Group had 
been clear and consistent in its presentations on the outlook for Bali and the nature of the outcome 
that its members expect from the Conference. He  said that delegations had to build on the 
progress made so far and redouble their efforts to  address the difficult challenges in a forthright 
manner when they resumed work after the summer break. He reiterated that the ACP would 
remain actively engaged in all aspects of the negotiations leading up to Bali. The Group e also 
expected to be effectively engaged in the effo rt to craft a post-Bali work programme at the 
appropriate time. 
1.36.  The representative of Indonesia shared the DG's assessment that the road to Bali was much 
clearer as some good progress had been made. Neve rtheless, much work still needed to be done 
to fill in some remaining gaps to be able to deliver some result for MC9. Indonesia believed that it was still feasible as all Members held their strong commitment for the success of MC9 and the 
importance of the multilateral trading system. This assured Indonesia to stay optimistic on the 
outcome of the Conference. Considering the remaining time, delegations needed to intensify their efforts to lay down the foundation for the expect ed outcome of the Conference and beyond. To 
achieve those objectives, Members would need to exert their flexibility, show strong willingness 
and commitment in shaping the contour of Bali Package. As there had been growing consensus 
that the Bali package should contain outcomes in the areas of agriculture, trade facilitation and 
development, it was critical to translate the political commitment into real progress. He welcomed 
the recent intensification of work and the positive atmosphere in the discussion of the G-33 
proposal on public stockholding for food security, trade facilitation, and development issue. He encouraged members to stay engaged constructively in finding solution in the three areas of 
negotiation for Bali without leaving LDCs behind. Given the limited time and taking into account 
the request of Minister Gita to conclude the nego tiation in Geneva before going to Bali, he also 
wished to encourage Members to commence considering what might be the best scenario for MC9 
after the summer break. He stressed that this wa s all Members' responsibility, as the success of 
Bali would not be for DDA but also for the credibility of the organization and for the multilateral trading system itself.  
1.37.  The General Council took note of the Director-General's report and of the statements. 
2  AID FOR TRADE - REPORT BY THE DIRECTOR-GENERAL ON THE FOURTH GLOBAL 
REVIEW 
2.1.  The Chairman invited the Director-General to  report on the Fourth Global Review of Aid for 
Trade, which had taken place on 8-10 July at the WTO.   
2.2.  The Director-General said that the intentio n had been to use the event to bring together the 
work streams of Aid for Trade, value chains and the Made in the World Initiative and examine the 
implications of a world built on trade in tasks from a trade and development perspective. In his 
view, the 4th Global Review had substantively contributed to this debate. It had done so in three main ways: firstly, through the in-depth monitoring and evaluation analysis which the WTO Secretariat, the OECD and a range of other partners had conducted for the meeting. Secondly, 
through the debate that had taken place across the 54 sessions - a true development dialogue in 
which the private sector from developed and developing countries were well represented, together with senior policymakers with many diverse portfolios. And thirdly, through the key issues which 
had emerged. This list did not contain surprises.  What the 4th Global Review had done was to 
validate this list - and its relevance for connecting the least connected in the value chain economy. WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  This list included factors such as: the importance of services for connecting to value chains; the 
key role played by skills in adding value; the critical importance of border management and transport services; access to finance, and trade finance in particular; and capacity to ensure standards compliance. He stressed that the joint statement by over 25 multilateral and bilateral 
development partners to support capacity-building needs associated with a possible Agreement on 
Trade Facilitation was also an important outcome.   
2.3.  He further noted that it was encouraging to learn that Aid for Trade was having an impact in 
a diverse range of countries and in many different ways. The message from the private sector had 
also been unambiguous - there was a business opportunity to address some of the development challenges, such as the infrastructure gap, and Aid for Trade could play a role in addressing investor risk through building confidence in the regulatory and business climate. All of which 
pointed to a much greater involvement of the priv ate sector. By leveraging the development dollar, 
one could make the development impact go further.  
2.4.  In terms of next steps, he recalled that over forty statements had been made by Members 
and observers in the closing plenary session, setting out their views on the future direction that the 
initiative should take. The Aid for Trade team would carefully go through these ideas in more detail during the summer hiatus and make the necessary suggestions to the incoming DG. Aid for Trade 
had become truly "Member-driven" - with the engagement of an ever more diverse range of 
actors. He recalled that in Members' statements, a broad range of topics had been covered, including the need to maintain funding levels; to use Aid for Trade to leverage other sources of financing; to improve the effectiveness and monitoring of Aid for Trade; to support the EIF and 
focus resources on LDCs; to take account of the challenges of specific Members on some issues - 
such as gender, environment, regional approaches - and on some specific problems - such as infrastructure, standards, trade finance and trade facilitation - and to promote ownership and 
accountability.  
2.5.  When compared to the launch of the initiative in 2005, he believed that expectations were 
exceeded. The initiative had become "Members initiative" in this period and engagement had 
deepened and widened.  It had given the trade community a voice in the development debate and 
he had registered Members' strong wish to see a renewed mandate at Bali and the contribution which Aid for Trade could make to the post-2015 development agenda.   
2.6.  Focus had to be now on driving down the tr ading costs of developing countries, and LDCs in 
particular. This was a lot about trade facilitation but also about the cost and availability of services; 
the cost of trade finance or recognized standards certification; it was about vocational training and skills. It was about the factors which had emerge d from the 4th Global Review as affecting the 
ability of the least connected to connect.  These factors were where the next phase of the AfT 
initiative should be guided. 
2.7.  In concluding, he said that he was happy to have ended his association with Aid for Trade as 
Director-General with such a successful review . He thanked all delegations for the commitment 
shown to this initiative. He wished to wholeheartedly thank DDG Valentine Rugwabiza for having been a leader, a partner and a strong advocate of this initiative. The success of the Aid for Trade initiative owed a lot to her. 
2.8.  The representative of Pakistan said that th e Aid-for-Trade Initiative had succeeded in raising 
awareness about the development potential of trad e, mainstreaming trade in partner country and 
donor agency planning and policies, mobilising reso urces, and achieving results. The initiative had 
proven to be flexible enough to incorporate ne w trade and development dimensions. The original 
aim of this every-two-years monitoring exercise had put a spotlight on aid for trade - i.e. to raise awareness about the role of trade as an engine of growth and economic development - and it had 
also provided an opportunity to measure aid-for-trade flows to assess their additionality and 
sustainability, and create incentives for more and better aid for trade. The process had subsequently evolved to examine implementation , effectiveness and results and had created a 
community of knowledge sharing about best practi ces in aid for trade. The monitoring framework 
had broadened the partnership involved in the initiative, with strong participation from the donor 
community, partner countries and providers of South-South trade-related cooperation, and the private sector. At the global level, a broad aid-for-trade agenda was justified in order to capture 
the broad range of binding constraints that deve loping countries faced in improving their trade 
capacities. At the country level, the aid-for-trade dialogue would need to be focused on a narrower WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  set of priorities that reflected local conditions and specific constraints. Furthermore, as shown in 
the publication, both the public and private sectors in developing countries favoured a broad conception of aid for trade that included investment (domestic and foreign), prioritising competitiveness, trade-related infrastructure, access to finance, and skills development. Trade 
facilitation came out as the single most important factor which had a catalytic role in promoting 
regional integration as well as global value chains. If the objective of this global review was to 'connect the least connected' then the donor community and investment partners had to focus on 
the countries facing specific constraints such as those hit by a natural calamity or close to conflict 
zones. Such economies required a big dose of infrastructure development to become part of global value chains. Members might have diverse opinion on the models of global value chains, however 
there was a broad consensus on the fact that trade was the best form of aid. 
2.9.  The representative of the European Union said  that the theme of global value chains was very 
timely and that he wished to highlight three among the several very useful outcomes of the 
review. First, from a donor's prospective, the European Union had now a better understanding of 
what developing country governments, local forums and lead firms encountered as obstacles for 
integrating developing country firms into global valued chains. As a result, the European Union would be able to respond to these challenges with better-designed and better-targeted aid for 
trade. Second, a broad range of interlocutors, including developed and developing country 
governments, international and financial institutions and private sector representatives, had highlighted the need to reduce the cost of tradin g. To achieve this, open trade policies with low 
import duties were needed, but also fast and efficient custom procedures. Hence, this global review 
had once more demonstrated that the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement that Members were 
aiming to conclude in Bali, would considerably help developing countries address some of the persisting bottlenecks they still faced. Third, the Global Review had made equally clear that 
developing countries, particularly least-developed countries, would need continued technical 
assistance and capacity building for trade facilitation. He recalled that the EU, together with its member States, already provided nearly 60% of glob al support to trade facilitation. He reaffirmed 
the European Union's commitment to support the implementation of the trade facilitation 
agreement. Finally, he recalled that the EU and its member States were the world's leading providers of overall aid for trade, despite the curre nt economic crisis, and that they accounted for a 
third of worldwide aid for trade in 2011 with some  9.5 billion. Furthermore, the EU and its member 
States had also constantly met and largely exceeded their target to provide at least 2 billion 
annually on the more targeted category of trade-related assistance. 
2.10.  The representative of China recalled that in his closing statement at the Global Review, he 
had attributed the progress of aid for trade to th e energy, dedication and engagement of Members 
and partners. However, there were equally importan t players behind this progress i.e. the Director-
General himself for launching the initiative, DDG Rugwabiza for engaging in the whole process and 
the Aid for Trade team of the Secretariat, for working hard throughout the years. As a firm 
supporter of the Aid-for-Trade initiative, China was committed to helping other developing countries, particularly the LDCs to the best of its capacity through south-south co-operation. Looking forward, China would be continuing its engagement and efforts in this area through 
various means including, technical assistance, but also improved market access and expanding 
investment, with a view to achieving the objectiv e of common development by effective integration 
into the global value chain. 
2.11.  The representative of Guinea said that her delegation was delighted with the quality of the 
core themes addressed and also in terms of the various sub-themes debated during the event. The 
messages that had been heard by participants from governments, development banks, 
international organizations, private sector and civil society, had demonstrated that aid for trade 
could provide opportunity for growth and there was a need to provide funding for the sector. It had 
also shown that the Aid for Trade mandate needed to be strengthened and renewed at Bali.  The theme chosen for the 4
th Global Review had sent out a very clear message that there was a need 
to offer further opportunities for developing countries, particularly least-developed countries, to 
become involved in value chains through technical assistance, capacity building, but particularly through the funding needed for basic infrastruc ture. She thanked the DG and DDG Rugwabiza for 
having invited the Guinean Minister of Trade to share his experience and to take the floor during 
the panel dedicated to Africa. She also thanked the delegation of France for inviting her country's 
Minister to speak on the occasion of the discussion organized on geographical indications. At that 
time, Guinea had had the opportunity to talk about coffee from Guinea and also make this 
available for tasting.  This was a product which would be enjoying protection of geographical WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  indication with the help of African IP Organization. She associated her delegation with the 
statements made by the delegation of Nepal on be half of the LDCs, by Morocco on behalf of the 
African Group and by Jamaica on behalf of the AC Ps. She noted that the TNC report indicated that 
the road to Bali was now clearer in view of Members commitment to move forward.  With regards 
to the Bali package, she urged Members to give it  the utmost priority to the concerns of least-
developed countries, in particular regarding duty-free quota-free market access, issue of rules of origin in cotton, and operationalization of the services waiver. With regard to trade facilitation 
there was a need for balance between Sections I and II. 
2.12.  The representative of Canada said he had appreciated the pragmatic and transparent 
manner in which the fourth Global Review of Aid for Trade examined the contribution of global 
value chains to development. He was impressed by the high-quality sector studies and expert 
presentations and also appreciated the consolidated  findings from the questionnaire exercises. The 
private sector questionnaires contained particularly valuable information. While Canada believed the programme was rich and thoughtful, it wish ed to make one small suggestion that future 
reviews should adopt a more interactive role that allowed increased participation on the part of 
country delegations. He highlighted the importance of critical infrastructure, including an investment-friendly environment, competitive services sector, access to information and 
communication technology, and trade facilitating customs procedures, in integrating developing 
countries into global value chains. To help build this critical infrastructure, Canada’s recent work in trade-related public-private partnerships sought to increase strategic links between businesses in developing and developed countries. With respect to the WTO, Canada believed that the most 
significant contribution to development would be the completion of a Trade Facilitation Agreement 
at the Bali Ministerial. Trade facilitation would facilitate development through the streamlining of customs procedures, which was necessary to facilitate the integration of developing countries into 
global value chains. Looking forward, Canada wo uld continue to work alongside its global and 
regional partners, international financial orga nizations, and private sector and development 
practitioners to deliver innovative solutions to furthering developing country integration into global 
value chains. Canada looked forward to discussing these outcomes further at the next Global 
Review. 
2.13.  The representative of Nepal, speaking on behalf of the LDC Group, recalled that the 
statement by the LDCs at the closing plenary sessi on on 10 July was comprehensive, articulating 
LDCs position on Aid for Trade in detail. He hoped that relevant partners would give serious 
consideration to LDCs position. He wished to acknowledge the leadership, commitment and support to this process by DDG Rugwabiza and the WTO Development Division.  
2.14.  The representative of the United States  thanked the Director-General, DDG Rugwabiza and 
the Secretariat for all of their work. He apprecia ted the Secretariat's organization of the recent 
meeting which he thought was helpful in identifying the several issues at the forefront of trade-
related assistance and the challenges and priorities on which the aid for trade community should 
focus going forward. He stressed that the United States remained strongly committed to the success of the Aid-for-Trade initiative as an important complement to trade liberalization. The commitment of the United States was evident in the over 15 billion US dollars in aid for trade that 
the United States had provided since 2001. During the Global Review, he had heard about the 
challenges developing countries faced in trying to reduce costs and better integrate into global markets through global value chains. As the discussion continued on the connection between aid 
for trade and global value chains, the US looked forward to further examining the wider ray of 
trade policy efforts that could better assist developing countries to better integrate, not only into specific value chains, but also into multilateral trading system more broadly, generating the 
economic opportunities that could drive growth, employment and development. Like the DG and 
others, he said that the United States noted the strong relationship drawn by many participants between trade facilitation and development. He l ooked forward to actively participating in the 
development of the next steps to ensure that the Aid-for-Trade initiative continued to remain 
relevant and that it continued to deliver meaningful results. 
2.15.  The representative of Australia thanked the Director-General and the Secretariat for the 
commitment they had shown to the Aid-for-Trade initiative which had evolved and was now a key 
part of the work of the Organization. He was particularly grateful for the way in which the 
Secretariat had sought to reach out to the Paci fic region. One of the highlights had been the 
collective efforts of the countries of the Pacific re gion to put the Aid for Trade interest of their 
region more squarely on the radar map. Aid for trade and development challenges were WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  experienced in many parts of the world, but there were unique aspects and elements of the 
challenges faced in the Pacific. This was certainly something Australia had put a lot of attention to but there along with others with physical presence in Geneva, such as New Zealand, the Solomon Islands and the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat - their presence here had contributed to 
increasing the focus on the Pacific region. Another highlight for Australia had been the accessions 
of Samoa and Vanuatu to the Organization. Australia was very positive about the work being conducted and would continue to fully support it.   
2.16.  The representative of Japan was pleased to  see that engagement and partnership of Aid for 
Trade had been broadening and deepening. Japan, as a major donor of Aid for Trade, remained 
committed to this initiative in such areas as trade facilitation, as well as disseminating the experience in Asia, since AfT was one of the priorities of Japan’s policy on development assistance. 
2.17.  The representative of Barbados said that the Aid for Trade initiative was an important 
program for developing countries. It helped developing countries to identify hurdles to increased 
trade and with the support of the WTO to acce ss funding, technical assistance and capacity 
building and to create a framework in which trade could be enhanced. She believed that the Aid-
for-Trade initiative had indeed become a flagship of the WTO over the last several years. She thanked the Director-General and the DDG Rugwabiza for their hard work and commitment, which 
had contributed to the success of the Aid for Trade initiative.   
2.18.  The General Council took note of the statement by the Director-General and of the 
statements. 
3  WORK PROGRAMME ON SMALL ECONOMIES – REPORT BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE 
DEDICATED SESSION OF THE COMMITTEE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT 
3.1.  The Chairman said that in line with th e framework and procedures agreed by the General 
Council in 2002, the Work Programme on Small Economies was a standing item on the General 
Council's agenda and the Committee on Trade and Development reported regularly to the Council 
on the progress of work in its Dedicated Sessions on  this subject. He invited the Chair of the CTD 
in Dedicated Session to report on the progress of work in this area. 
3.2.  Mrs. Williams (Barbados), Chair of the CTD in Dedicated Session, said that since her last 
report on the Small Economy Work Programme in June, another informal meeting of the CTD 
Dedicated Session had taken place on 17 July, immediately following the 88th Session of the CTD. 
At the meeting, Barbados – on behalf of SVEs - had presented a revised proposal which had been 
circulated as document WT/COMTD/SE/W/27/Rev.1. The proposal contained revised language in 
regard to further work by the Secretariat concerning a factual assessment of the non-tariff measures faced by Small Economies. This focus of work had been agreed to by Ministers at MC8 in 
2011 and had been addressed initially in 2012 in a Secretariat background document circulated as 
WT/COMTD/SE/W/26/Rev.1. The proponents had engaged in consultations and, after five months of discussion, she was pleased to report that a way forward had been found with regard to 
continued work on the study as instructed by Minist ers at MC8. She was also pleased to report that 
at the informal Dedicated Session the previous week, Barbados again on behalf of Small Economies had proposed language for a draft paragraph for co nsideration at MC9 on the future of the Work 
Programme on Small Economies. Members now had a draft text to consider and would revisit the 
proposed language after the summer break.  
3.3.  The representative of the United States said that his delegation was clear in its support for 
additional work in furtherance to the work programme on small economies. An agreement had 
been reached with the proponents and the United States looked forward to reviewing the outcome 
of this work. 
3.4.  The representative of Barbados, speaking on behalf of the SVEs, said that the Chair's 
statement gave an accurate assessment of the work on the small economies work programme 
within the CTD. The SVEs were pleased to report to the wider membership that, since the initial tabling of the submission in February, they had b een able to make significant progress, and could 
report that there was agreement on the WTO Secretariat undertaking a factual assessment of the 
NTMs affecting small economies and for the conduc t of a workshop to disseminate the results of 
the factual assessment, in fulfilment with the mandate from MC8 Ministerial Decision on Small WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  Economies. The Group believed that the resolution of this item could assist SVEs in line with the 
mandate to facilitate their fuller integration into the multilateral trading system. SVEs thanked all Members for their support and looked forward to continued constructive engagement. 
3.5.  The representative of El Salvador than ked the Chair of the Dedicated Session on Small 
Economies of the CTD and supported the statement ma de by the delegation of Barbados on behalf 
of SVEs. El Salvador was pleased that an agreement had been reached for the Secretariat to continue with this exercise, providing a substantial report for Ministers, as requested at the 
Ministerial Conference as part of the Work Programme on Small Economies. 
3.6.  The representative of Cuba supported the st atement made by the coordinator of the group of 
small economies. She was very pleased to have  heard the news that an agreement had been 
reached about the study on the impact of NTMs on small economies and about the workshop on 
this issue. 
3.7.  The representative of Saint Lucia, speaking on behalf of the members of the OECS, noted that 
Members were aware of the prevalence and increase in the use of NTMs and their implications for 
trade. Thus, the directive from Ministers at MC8 to conduct a study to assess the impact of NTMs 
on small economies remained of critical importan ce. She said that there had been overwhelming 
support in this endeavour and wished to thank th ose delegations who had given their support from 
the outset. Though it had taken us sometime to  reach agreement, OECS was nonetheless pleased 
at the cooperative and comprising spirit which had allowed delegations to finally reach consensus on the scope of the study. SVEs therefore looked  forward to reporting something meaningful as 
part of the small economies work programme at MC9. 
3.8.  The representative of Trinidad and Tobago said that the result of the factual assessment on 
the impact of NTMs on small economies and the outcome of the subsequent workshop could prove 
very useful for elements of his country's trade poli cy and national aid for trade strategy. He wished 
to thank those Members who had supported the SVE proposal from the outset and welcomed the 
positive indications from those who, in the past, had expressed concerns. 
3.9.  The representative of Jamaica wished to associate his delegation with the statement made by 
Barbados on behalf of SVEs. Jamaica was hearte ned by the progress which had been reported 
regarding work towards the fulfilment of the MC8 Ministerial Decision on Small Economies. Having recently concluded a national study on NTMs, Jamaica believed that the study on NTMs would greatly assist small economies, to better identify those NTMs which they faced and take steps 
towards addressing their associated problems or benefits in order to further their integration into 
the multilateral trading system. Jamaica very much welcomed the agreement which had been 
reached for the WTO Secretariat to undertake a factual assessment of NTMs affecting small 
economies as well as the convening of a dissemination workshop which would show case the 
results of this assessment exercise. Jamaica reaffirmed its commitment to work with its partners to achieve a meaningful outcome for small economies in Bali. 
3.10.  The General Council took note of the repo rt of the Chair of the Dedicated Session of the 
Committee on Trade and Development and the statements. 
4  COMMITTEE ON BUDGET, FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION 4.1  REPORTS ON MEETINGS OF MAY AND JULY 2013 (WT/BFA/137, WT/BFA/138) 
4.1.  The Chairman drew the Council's attention to the reports of the Budget Committee in 
document WT/BFA/137 and WT/BFA/138, and invi ted Mr Michael Stone (Hong Kong, China), 
Chairman of the Committee, to introduce them. 
4.2.  Mr Michael Stone (Hong Kong, China), Ch airman of the Committee on Budget, Finance and 
Administration said that its meeting in May, the Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration 
had reviewed and examined several reports covering the WTO budgetary and financial situation, 
the diversity in the WTO Secretariat, the office of Internal Audit, the Building project and the 
adaptation of the infrastructure agreement with the Host Country. The Committee had also been updated on the progress made on the building proj ect and had approved the funding related to the 
accreditation facility and the completion of exte rnal grounds within the security perimeter.  WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  4.3.  At its meeting in July, the Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration had reviewed 
the WTO 2012 Financial Performance Report and the related report of the External Auditor as set 
out in WT/BFA/138.The Director-General had presented the first financial statements prepared in compliance with the International Public Sector Accounting Standards. The implementation of these 
standards was significantly impacting the financial result and position of the WTO Secretariat. The 
liabilities of the WTO towards the pension plan and the after-service health insurance of the Secretariat's staff were now accounted for. The “cash accounting” budgetary saving of 11 million 
Swiss francs achieved in 2012 had led to an “accrual” accounting deficit of 20 million Swiss francs 
with the implementation of the new standards.  
4.4.  He further stated that the External Auditor had certified the 2012 WTO financial statements 
but had expressed two reservations. The first rese rvation was related to recording of the Pension 
Plan in the accounts of the Secretariat. Members would need to review the Financial Regulations of 
the WTO and its Pension Plan in order to address this reservation. The second reservation was related to the recording of ITC as joint venture between the WTO and the UN. This would require 
that ITC prepare its financial statements following the same standards - and this was expected to 
happen in the coming years. The External Audito r had also conducted a performance audit of the 
internal audit function.  The Committee recommended that the General Council approved the 
transfers between budgetary sections and approved  the audited accounts for 2012 as is set out in 
paragraph 2.6 of BFA/138. 
4.5.  He recalled that the Director-General had then presented his end of term report to the 
Committee. His report consolidated the reforms that had been engaged over the last eight years to 
modernize the management of financial and human resources, information technology and 
information management, as well as delivering on a new building and the one site solution for the WTO campus. He had also shared his experiences in managing the Secretariat. Members had 
thanked the Director-General for his engagement with the Committee and for his achievements in 
managing the Secretariat. The Committee had also received some information on the implementation of the new resources-management approach based on activities and outputs 
implemented by the Secretariat at the start of 2012.  
4.6.  He said that the ITC management had introduced the preliminary budget estimate for 
2014/2015 and had informed the Committee of the resolution of the UN General Assembly to reduce the UN Secretariat budget. The Committee had been updated on the activities and progress 
achieved by ITC recently.  
4.7.  The Committee had also concluded its review of the proposed revision of the infrastructure 
contract. This contract with the Swiss authorities established the different responsibilities related to 
the real estate occupied by the WTO in areas such as ownership, use and maintenance. The 
Committee recommended that the General Council approve the revised infrastructure contract as presented in document WT/BFA/W/298 and as briefly mentioned in WT/BFA/138. The Committee 
had also launched the tendering process for the a ppointment of the External Auditor for the period 
2014-2019 and was expecting to come to the Gene ral Council with a recommendation by the end 
of the year. Finally, the Committee had been inform ed that all the bureaucratic procedures had 
been completed in order for the incoming Director-Gen eral to take up his position with effect from 
1 September 2013.  
4.8.  The representative of Canada recalled th at in the July meeting of the Committee Members 
had had an extensive discussion on the growing pressures faced in connection with the dispute 
settlement system. He understood that a number of delegations had expressed some concern 
about potential erosion in the capacity of the Organization to deal with the increasing demands that might be faced in dispute settlement. The flavour of the discussion was that an essential 
ingredient of responding to these potential pressu res was to ensure that adequate resources were 
allocated to this function. He noted that in an era where there was no growth in budget that necessity meant potentially a reallocation of resources. His delegation looked forward to having further updates on the measures that might be co ntemplated to ensure that adequate resources 
could and would be made available as necessary. 
4.9.  The representative of El Salvador also recalled that at the last Budget Committee meeting 
there had been certain discussions concerning the issue of the growing budgetary needs in terms 
of dispute settlement. This was an on-going discu ssion which would need to continue in terms of WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  the reallocation of funds.  A careful study of wh ere resources could be allocated would be needed, 
with a view to meeting demands in the dispute settlement system. 
4.10.  Mr Michael Stone (Hong Kong, China), Chai rman of the Committee on Budget, Finance and 
Administration, recalled that the meeting that was being referred to was an informal meeting of 
the CBFA. In responding, any comments that he migh t make now should be taken in that context. 
He noted that a very useful presentation from th e four divisions primarily involved in disputes, 
legal affairs, rules, Appellate Body Secretariat and translation had taken place. Members had asked 
questions and had given preliminary views, and he  believed, there was pretty much unanimity of 
views expressed at the meeting. He stressed again that it was an informal meeting, but practically all who had spoken at that meeting had said that any measures that were to be taken should not undermine or lessen the quality of the work done in  the divisions involved in the dispute area- but 
that this work would need to be done in the context of zero nominal growth. In addressing what 
appeared to be a genuine staffing resource prob lem, Members had felt that the Director-General 
should be bold and imaginative in considering ho w these issues should be addressed. He had no 
doubt that this issue would come up again in the autumn. 
4.11.  The General Council took note of the stat ements, approved the Budget Committee's specific 
recommendations in paragraphs 2.6 and 6.3 of its report in document WT/BFA/138, including the 
revised infrastructure contract in document  WT/BFA/W/298, and adopted the two reports. 
4.2  MANAGEMENT OF THE WTO SECRETARIAT 2005-2013 (WT/BFA/W/305) - 
STATEMENT BY THE DIRECTOR-GENERAL 
4.12.  The Chairman drew the Council's attention to document WT/BFA/W/305 concerning the 
management of the WTO Secretariat and invited the Director-General to take the floor. 4.13.  The Director-General noted he had tabled the document entitled "Management of the WTO 
Secretariat 2005-2013" as a compilation of all the re forms that had been brought about in the past 
8 years. This was a reminder of the serious effort at modernizing the financial and human 
resources, the technology and information systems, as well as at delivering on a one- WTO campus. It showed the efforts in managing the ho use of trade, the rigor in the use of resources 
and the commitment to accountability and good governance. He hoped that both Secretariat and 
Members would have a better sense of what needed to be done in future to both consolidate and build upon the progress made. He said that this a changing world and as the world changed, one 
would have to keep on adjusting the management  of resources. He also hoped this document 
would help the incoming administration as they began their term in office. He was aware that not 
everyone in the Secretariat was happy with these reforms. He said this was the inevitable cost of change, but believed that compared to similar or ganizations, benefits and working conditions 
remained attractive at the WTO, especially in  recent years during which taxpayers money had 
become politically more expensive. He hoped these conditions could be sustained in the future, as the price to pay for first class expertise. In closing, he added that none of the changes delivered in 
the last eight years could have been accomplished without Members' support and in particular that 
of the successive Chairs of the Budget Committee with whom there was inevitably a very close 
working relationship. He also thanked DDG Rufus Yerxa who had been a partner and had provided 
full support in the management of budget an d finance matters in the past eight years. 
4.14.  The representative of El Salvador wished to acknowledge that, since 2005, co-operation with 
developing countries had gained in its scope and there had been more recognition of the needs of 
developing countries and LDCs. He expressed El Salvador's gratitude for the opportunities that it 
had had in terms of trade capacity building, and his delegation would do what it could to ensure 
that this positive progress was built upon.  He thanked the DG and his team for all that they had done for his country. 
4.15.  The General Council took note of the Director-General's statement and the statement of El 
Salvador. WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  5  WTO WORK PROGRAMME FOR THE LEAST-DEVELOPED COUNTRIES 
(WT/COMTD/LDC/11/REV.1) - REPORT BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE SUB-COMMITTEE ON LDCS 
5.1.  The Chairman recalled that, in paragraph 42 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration, Ministers 
had agreed that the Sub-Committee on Least-Developed Countries would submit an agreed work 
programme on LDCs to the General Council. This had been submitted in February 2002 and was contained in document WT/COMTD/LDC/11. On 28 June this year, the Sub-Committee on LDCs had 
adopted a revision to this work programme, which was contained in document 
WT/COMTD/LDC/11/REV.1. He invited Mr Smidt, Chairman of the Sub-Committee on LDCs, to report on this. 
5.2.  Mr Smidt, Chairman of the Sub-Committee on LDCs, underlined that the revised Work 
Programme did not contain any major substantive changes with respect to the original work 
programme. It essentially contained some modifications to appropriately reflect developments relating to LDCs that had taken place since 2002. Most importantly, the Work Programme 
maintained the Istanbul Programme of Action into the Committee's work so that the WTO could 
implement the trade-related elements of the Istanb ul Programme of Action in a consistent way in 
its mandate. Other changes included, for exam ple, reference to the Enhanced Integrated 
Framework in the technical assistance section and incorporation of the accession-related decisions 
in favour of LDCs, in particular, the 2012 LDC guidelines. The revised Work Programme would now form the basis of the work with the Sub-Committ ee and would provide a platform for the LDCs to 
address issues of interest to them in the mult ilateral trading system. Mr Smidt thanked Members 
for their cooperation and constructive engagement and also expressed the hope that Members 
would provide their support in implementing the Work Programme which could advance the cause of LDCs in the multilateral trading system. 
5.3.  The representative of Nepal, speaking on  b e h a l f  o f  t h e  L D C  G r o u p ,  s a i d  t h a t  t h e  W o r k  
Programme for LDCs had been developed in recognition of the urgent need of meaningfully 
integrating the LDCs into the multilateral trading system. To this effect, the Work Programme 
identified a number of elements which were of vi tal interest to LDCs. These elements, since then, 
had provided a useful thematic guidance to th e works of the Sub-Committee as well as framework 
for discussion and action aimed at helping LDCs expand their share in world trade. These elements were still vital for LDCs. Due to important developments over the years, the update of the Work 
Program had long been overdue and with LDC Sub Committee’s adoption of the updated Work 
Programme, a long exercise had come to a positive end. The Group thanked Sub-Committee Members for their constructive engagement and important accomplishment. The Group also wished 
to thank the Sub Committee Chair for his excellent steering of the process. His active consultations 
had helped them resolve some of the outstanding issues. 
5.4.  As the Chair of the Sub-committee had allu ded, the most important thing the revised Work 
Programme did was the mainstreaming of the Istanbul Programme of Action (IPoA), wherein trade 
received major priority among other areas to be focused during this decade for LDCs’ development. LDCs considered it critical that WTO should come to the forefront in helping them meet trade-related goals and targets specified in IPoA. One of the most vital and concrete targets 
of IPoA was to double the share of least-develo ped countries’ trade exports in global exports by 
2020. The Group wished to urge WTO Members to implement all trade-related support measures granted to LDCs that included facilitative market access and support to overcome supply-side 
constraints, among others. As trade was a major tool for development, it was important that LDCs’ 
issues should be given utmost priority in WTO.  The updated Work Program would provide the right 
context in the work under the Sub-Committee. 
5.5.  The representative of the European Union wished to reiterate the EU's well-known strong 
commitment to supporting the LDCs, notably their integration in the multilateral trading system. 
The European Union had supported the proposal to update the WTO work programme for LDCs and welcomed the revised LDC work programme on which an agreement was found in the LDC Sub-
Committee meeting on 28 June. He also expressed his delegation's appreciation for the good work 
of Mr Smidt. 
5.6.  The General Council took note of the revised Work Programme on Least-Developed Countries 
agreed by the Sub-Committee on LDCs (WT/COMTD/LDC/11/Rev.1) and of the statements. WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  6  WORK PROGRAMME ON ELECTRONIC COMMERCE - REVIEW OF PROGRESS (S/C/41, 
G/C/53) 
6.1.  The Chairman recalled that at MC8, Mi nisters had adopted a Decision on the Work 
Programme on Electronic Commerce (WT/L/843). In this Decision, Ministers had decided to 
continue the reinvigoration of the Work Programme on Electronic Commerce, and had instructed 
the General Council to emphasize and reinvigorate the development dimension in the Work Programme. Ministers had also instructed the General Council to hold periodic reviews, in its 
sessions of July and December 2012 and July 2013, based on the reports submitted by the WTO 
bodies entrusted with the implementation of th e Work Programme. He invited Deputy Director-
General Harsha Singh, who had been dealing with the Work Programme since 2005 on his behalf and that of his predecessors, to report on work in this area. 
6.2.  Deputy Director-General Singh said that  his report, which he was making under his own 
responsibility, covered work under the Work Prog ramme on Electronic Commerce since the General 
Council's last review of progress in this area at its meeting in December 2012. He recalled that the 
WTO bodies charged with conducting the E-Commerce Work Programme were the Councils for 
Goods, Services and TRIPS and the Committee on Trade and Development, with the General Council exercising an oversight function and considering any issue of a cross-cutting nature. Since 
his last report to the General Council, there had been a number of positive developments on e-
commerce particularly in the CTD and the CTS. The Committee on Trade and Development had discussed the Work Programme on Electronic Commerce at its meetings in March, May and July. He recalled that the 2011 Ministerial Decision on E-commerce had instructed the General Council, 
among others, to emphasise and reinvigorate th e development dimension in the Work Programme, 
particularly through the Committee on Trade and Development.  Following the proposal by Ecuador and Cuba and the CTD's formal approval, the Wo rkshop on E-Commerce, Development and SMEs 
had been held on 8 and 9 April 2013. Prior to that workshop, the Secretariat had prepared a 
background document entitled "E-commerce in Developing Countries – Opportunities and Challenges for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises" circulated as document WT/COMTD/W/193. 
This workshop had brought together experts from international organisations, from business, from 
civil society and academia and heard personal experi ences of representatives from SMEs as well as 
from regulators in developing countries and LDCs. The details were in the report by the CTD Chairperson. 
6.3.  He further noted that the Council for Trad e in Services had discussed the Work Programme 
on Electronic Commerce at its informal meeting in February 2013 and at its formal meetings on 21 March and 20 June 2013. It had agreed to organize a workshop on electronic commerce under 
the Council's auspices. This workshop had been held on 17 and 18 June and had brought together 
participants and panellists from different sectors and discussed a variety of issues affecting e-commerce. It had also touched upon the many challenges of e-commerce including regulatory 
issues, consumer welfare, privacy and security issues, as well as internet connectivity, payment 
services and logistics. The Services Council Chair's report was contained in document S/C/41.  
6.4.  The Council for Trade in Goods had met on 25 March and 11 July 2013. At the March 
meeting, Ecuador and Cuba had informed Members of the two workshops on e-commerce. At its 
meeting on 11 July 2013, delegations that spok e had noted and appreciated the two workshops 
held which had identified important issues related to e-commerce. He said that the CTG Chair had submitted a factual report, under his own responsibility contained in document G/C/53. There had 
been no activity under the Work Programme in the TRIPS Council.  
6.5.  He also said that, on 24 June at the informal consultation on e-commerce held on behalf of 
the GC Chair, he had given an overview of the wo rk carried out in the respective bodies charged 
with carrying out the E-commerce Work Programme. Delegations had taken stock of the 
substantive progress made in the respective bodies and had acknowledged the two complementary workshops, which, in their view, were positive and reinvigorated the work programme. He had also 
informed delegations of the need to start working towards a text for the consideration of Ministers 
at their conference in Bali. He had begun informal consultations with delegations and, on behalf of 
the GC Chair, had held the 9
th Dedicated Discussion on 18 July, under the auspices of the General 
Council. This had been convened to prepare for the Ministerial Conference in Bali. At the Dedicated 
Discussion, he had circulated a room document containing a draft text of a Ministerial decision on 
electronic commerce. This was a working text and continued to be so in order to account for any further comments or issues that Members might raise. The discussion had been useful and WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  positive. Delegations were generally of the view that the draft text was a good basis and that it 
was well balanced. With regard to the moratorium, there was no consensus on whether to make it permanent or to extend it to the next Minister ial session. On this point, Members had expressed 
their readiness to consult further after the summe r break. The draft text circulated remained a 
working text for Members to examine and provide any comments they might have. He stressed 
that overall work is moving forward in this process and that the next informal discussions, with all Members in open-ended format, would take place in September. 
6.6.  The Chairman thanked DDG Singh for dealin g so effectively with the work programme on e-
commerce for the eight years of his tenure as Deputy Director-General. On behalf of all Members 
he commended him for his excellent work in this area. The Chairman then drew the Council's attention to the reports of the Chairs of the Council for Trade in Services and of the Goods Council, 
contained in documents S/C/41 and G/C/53, respectively. He understood that the Chair of the CTD 
wished to make a statement and invited her to take the floor. 
6.7.  Mrs. Williams, Chair of the CTD, thanked DDG Singh for his leadership in this area. She 
recalled that, since the beginning of 2012, the CTD's discussion on e-commerce had been in 
relation to the 17 December 2011 Decision on the Work Programme on E-Commerce contained in document WT/L/843. At the 86
th Session of the CTD in November 2012, the Committee had agreed 
that a Workshop on "E-Commerce, Development and SMEs" would be held on 8 and 9 April 2013. 
She was pleased to report that the workshop was a success. A Secretariat report which highlighted some of the key discussions and findings had been circulated to Members in document WT/COMTD/W/198. Members could find a full account  of the Workshop and all presentations made 
during the two days on the WTO's website.  
6.8.  She further noted that one main outcome of the workshop was the interplay of e-commerce 
with customs clearance issues, Trade Facilitation and Aid for Trade. Also highlighted had been the 
need for an increased awareness by governments in developing and least-developed countries to 
learn more about the challenges and opportunities posed by e-commerce, and especially the important role that e-commerce played in assisting small and medium-sized enterprises gain 
access to domestic and international markets. Presenters and participants had also helped increase 
awareness of the great variety of tools which existed on the internet - many of them free of cost - 
and which could greatly assist entrepreneurs and SMEs with bringing their businesses online. Several large challenges remained, however. Infr astructure problems were a major hurdle and 
much time had been spent discussing the need to  upgrade power grids to counter the lack of 
regular electricity supply, difficulties with the phys ical distribution of products bought online and a 
general lack of electronic payment systems in developing countries. Another key handicap in many 
countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America was the lack of a reliable access to broadband, high 
speed cables. She said that the report of the Workshop had on the CTD's agenda at its most recent meeting held the previous week and she believe d that the outcomes of the workshop would 
provide some interesting possibilities for future work in the CTD, which would have to be further 
defined by Members. 
6.9.  The representative of Cuba thanked DDG Si ngh for his report and appreciated the leadership 
he had shown in this matter. She agreed with the Chair of the CTD that the results of the 
workshop on ecommerce held on 8 and 9 April were positive. Her delegation hoped to be able to 
continue to be bringing its modest contribution to the revitalization of the work programme on e-commerce which dated back to 1998. She noted that DDG Singh had referred to the draft Decision 
which had been under discussion at the last informal consultations, and which should be approved 
at the upcoming Ministerial Conference. As Cuba had stated at those informal consultations, it believed that it was a balanced draft text and provided some Members refrained from including 
unreasonable elements, Cuba would be well on the way to going along with it. 
6.10.  The representative of India wished to place on record his delegation's appreciation for the 
very valuable work done by DDG Singh and his team on this subject of e-commerce. India also 
wished to record its appreciation for the other DDGs who had all worked very hard and tirelessly: 
Ms Rugwabiza, who had done very significant work on Aid for Trade and many other areas; Mr Jara 
whose contribution to the work on accessions could not be forgotten;  and Mr Yerxa, in particular in the Budget Committee, for the magnificent projec t of the building which had constructed in a 
very short span of time and to which his contribution had been immense. WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  6.11.  The representative of the European Union said his delegation was satisfied with the 
reinvigoration of the WTO Work Programme and welcomed the various initiatives in this regard. 
Both workshops had been a great success. From th e EU prospective, the conditions were already 
met to report to the Ministerial Conference that progress had been made under the Work 
Programme on Ecommerce and delegations should proceed to renew the e-commerce moratorium 
at the next Ministerial Conference. His delegation had taken note of the reports and looked forward 
to the continuation of the discussion in September. He also wished to thank DDG Singh for his 
excellent work on this issue. 
6.12.  The representative of Mexico said that the Work Program on E-Commerce was fundamental: 
e-commerce was taking more and more in the real world but also in the work of the organization. 
He joined others in congratulating DDG Singh for work he had done in this area and for the huge 
efforts that he had invested in this subject. Ind eed, the consultations he had been holding as they 
lead up to MC9 were fundamentally important. The issue of the moratorium remained just as important as it had ever been since 1998 and the best thing would be to find a definitive solution 
to this matter. This was something delegations would have to continue waiting for. 
6.13.  The representative of the United States joined others in thanking the DDG for his report and 
for all the effort he had put into reinvigorating the Work Programme on E-Commerce. He recalled 
that he had guided this Work Programme from a relatively dormant stage to a much more robust 
stage. The United States continued to be a strong supporter of advancing issues relating to expanding e-commerce. The United States had supported and had actively participated in the two workshops highlighted in DDG Singh's report and looked forward to working with other delegations 
to advance a ministerial decision in this regard. He thanked the four DDGs for their efforts and 
work, which had given an enormous contribution ac ross a broad spectrum of issues to the work of 
the organization. 
6.14.  The General Council took note of the report by the Deputy Director-General, by the Chairs of 
the subsidiary bodies and of the statements. 
7  NINTH SESSION OF THE MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
7.1.  The Chairman noted that there were a number of sub-items under this agenda item: 
(a) Election of Officers; (b) Attendance of Observers from International Intergovernmental 
Organizations, including a request from the League of Arab States to attend MC9; (c) a request for Observer status by Palestine; (d) and finally, a statement he would be making as Chairman. He 
had conducted consultations on all these matters in various formats, including with the 
coordinators of WTO Groups, and wished to report on these consultations and to propose that the Council took action on some of these sub-item s.  At the end he would open the floor to 
delegations. 
7.1  ELECTION OF OFFICERS 7.2.  The Chairman recalled that the Rules of Pr ocedure (Rule 12) for the Ministerial Conference 
established that "During the course of each regular session a Chairperson and three Vice-
Chairpersons shall be elected from among the Member s. They shall hold office from the end of that 
session until the end of the next regular session." At its meeting on 4 June, the General Council had agreed that MC9 would be chaired by the Mini ster of Trade of the host country - Indonesia - 
Mr Gita Wirjawan. Regarding the three Vice Chairs, in view of the fact that the Chair would come 
from Asia, and in line with customary practice, at that meeting he had invited the representatives of the other three broad groupings - i.e. Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa and developed 
countries - to consult with their constituents so that the Council could revert to this matter at its 
July Council meeting. This had also been followed by a fax sent to them on 20 June, inviting them, once the relevant consultations had been concluded, to inform him about the name of the 
proposed Vice Chairs for thei r respective groupings.   
7.3.  On the basis of this process, he proposed that the General Council agreed to elect the 
following presiding Officers for MC9: WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  Chairman:  H.E. Mr Gita Wirjawan, Minister of Trade of Indonesia 
 Vice-Chairs:  H.E. Mr François Kanimba, Minister of Trade and Industry of Rwanda 
H.E. Mr Stephen Green, Minister of Trade and Investment of the UK 
and, the Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism of Peru  
 
7.4.  He noted that due to some changes in the Government of Peru, he would communicate the 
name of the third Vice-Chair in due course.
4 
7.5.  The General Council so agreed. 
7.2  ATTENDANCE OF OBSERVERS FROM  INTERNATIONAL INTERGOVERNMENTAL 
ORGANIZATIONS  
7.2.1  Request from the League of Arab States 
7.6.  The Chairman recalled that past practice up to MC7 had been to invite those IGOs which had 
observer status in the previous Ministerial Conference to attend the next one. He also recaledl that 
for MC8, consensus on repeating past practice with respect to IGOs attendance could not be 
reached, and that therefore no IGOs had been invited to attend MC8. At the General Council 
meeting on 4 June, he had reported on my consultations on this matter, and had noted that more 
time was needed for delegations to consider this approach.  He had therefore proposed to continue 
his consultations. In addition, he had informed Members that a request to attend MC9 had been received from the League of Arab States, and that he intended to include consideration of this request in his consultations. He had proposed to revert to these matters at the General Council 
meeting in July. 
7.7.  He informed the Council that, from the consultations he had since carried out, it appeared 
that the request from the League of Arab States was not agreeable yet to some Members at that 
time, and there was no clarity at the that time on whether past practice with regard to IGO 
Observers  could be repeated.  In this light, he proposed that he continued his consultations on both 
of these matters after the summer break, and trus ted this was acceptable to delegations.  He 
urged delegations to work together with a constructive spirit to address this issue. He stressed that 
participation of IGOs at this particular Ministerial Conference would be very beneficial for the organization, particularly in these challenging times. As General Council Chairman he would certainly continue working on this matter with a positive spirit, and he called on all delegations to 
do likewise. 
7.8.  The General Council took note of the Chairman's statement. 
7.3  REQUEST FOR OBSERVER STATUS BY PALESTINE TO THE NINTH SESSION OF THE 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE (WT/L/884) 
7.9.  The Chairman recalled that Palestine had su bmitted a request for observer status at MC9, 
which had been circulated in WT/L/884. As he had announced at the General Council meeting on 
4 June, he had undertaken consultations on this matter.  From these consultations, his assessment 
was that some Members needed more time for their respective capitals to give due consideration to this request.  Therefore, he proposed that the Council reverted to this matter after the summer 
break, and trusted this was agreeable to delegations. 
7.10.  The General Council took note of the Chairman's statement. 
7.4  STATEMENT BY THE CHAIRMAN 
7.11.  The Chairman informed the General Council  that, as part of the preparatory process for 
MC9, on Friday 5 July he had held a meeting with the Chairs of the General Council subsidiary 
                                               
4In a communication dated 6 August 2013 (WT/GC/COM /8) the Chairman announced that he had now 
received information from the Governme nt of Peru concerning the change in Minister. He confirmed that the 
presiding officer from Peru would be H.E. Ms Magali Silva Velarde-Álvarez, Minister of Foreign Trade and 
Tourism.  WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  bodies. As delegations were aware, the Conference had to fulfil its standing obligation to undertake 
an Overview of WTO activities, on the basis of Annual Reports from the General Council and its subsidiary bodies. He had therefore invited the Chai rs of subsidiary bodies to review the work in 
this respect. These annual reports constituted the main vehicle through which WTO bodies 
reported to Ministers on progress of work in their respective areas.   
7.12.  The meeting had focused on the progress of wo rk in these bodies, in particular with respect 
to follow-up to MC8. He recalled that Ministers at MC8 had provided specific mandates for work 
under the General Council's purview in seven stand-alone decisions. These were related to: 
 1. TRIPS non-violation and situation complaints;  
 2. E-commerce;   3. Work Programme on Small Economies;  
 4. LDC Transition Period under the TRIPS Agreement;  
 5. Accession of LDCs;   6. LDCs services waiver; and  
 7. the Trade Policy Review Mechanism 
 7.13.  In addition, in the Elements for Political Guidance they had adopted, Ministers had agreed on 
work in WTO regular bodies in a number of areas, such as the focused work on trade and 
development in the CTD. At the meeting on 5 July, the Chairs had reported that work was on track 
in these areas, and that positive results had alre ady been achieved in some areas, such as the 
Accession Guidelines for LDCs, the TRIPS transition period for LDCs, and the Work Programme for 
LDCs in the Sub-Committee on LDCs. On e-commerce, the Council had just heard a report from 
DDG Singh on the progress of work. In the TPRM, the process for the Fifth Appraisal had begun, 
and work was proceeding also with respect to th e strengthening of the monitoring mechanism. In 
the CTD, Members were considering proposals made in the light of the mandate he had just 
mentioned. Under various sub-items, he hoped that there was more clarity that progress was being made.   
7.14.  He further recalled that, in two of the Mi nisterial decisions from MC8 - TRIPS non-violation 
and e-commerce - a moratorium would expire at MC9.  After the summer break, Members would have to intensify their efforts with respect to these moratoria. He stressed that the meeting with the Chairs had been the start of a process aimed at ensuring the necessary coordination between 
different WTO bodies, so that all of this work was br ought to the General Council in time for it to be 
reported to Ministers in Bali. He also stressed that, after the summer break, delegations needed to intensify their work in preparation for Bali. In this respect, he wished to announce that a special 
meeting of the General Council meeting would take place just after the summer break, on 
9 September. This meeting would be dedicated to a statement by the new Director-General and to 
any statements Members may wish to make. At the end of this September meeting, he intended to 
also announce, in co-operation with the new Director-General, the intensification of work in 
preparation for Bali, starting with a focus on the shape of MC9, including its outcome document. He had already begun informal consultations with Members to solicit their views. 
7.15.  The representative of the European Union thanked the Chairman for his report and valuable 
contribution. With respect to the issue of participation of members of Parliaments to MC9, the 
European Union wished to inform Members that it had asked the Indonesian authorities to follow the tried and tested model from the Hong Kong Mi nisterial Conference which would give registered 
members of Parliament access to the Conference Centre.  Participation in actual meetings would 
depend, as in the past, on the inclusion of given members of Parliament in the official delegation of a particular WTO Member. In the longer term, this issue would need to be addressed in a more 
s y s t e m a t i c  w a y .   T h e  E U  w i s h e d  t o  c a l l  o n  t h e  G o v e r n m e n t  o f  I n d o n e s i a  t o  d o  i t s  u t m o s t  t o  
facilitate the participation of members of Parliament to MC9 on the basis it suggested. 
7.16.  The representative of Egypt, speaking on behalf of the Arab Group, thanked the Chairman 
for the statement on the state-of-play in the consultations that he was conducting relevant to this 
agenda item. Egypt and the Arab Group looked forward for a positive outcome from the upcoming 
consultations on the request from the League of Arab States to participate in MC9 as well as on the request for observer status by Palestine. The Arab Group was concerned and disappointed about 
what had been mentioned in the report that for some Members the participation of the League of 
Arab States was not agreeable. The Group wished to urge Members to consider this matter in order WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  to allow the participation of the League of Arab States to MC9 and looked forward to positive and 
constructive consultations of this matter. 
7.17.  The representative of Indonesia stressed that  it would not be possible to host the upcoming 
Ministerial Conference without the full trust and su pport of all Members. In this light, Indonesia 
wished to return the trust and support of the Me mbers by putting its maximum efforts in providing 
the best possible assistance and facilities to ensure the effective participation of Members in the Conference. He said that the observer status of parliamentarians was not regulated by the WTO. In 
this regard, Indonesia had received requests from  some Members on the possibility of granting 
special access to parliament members at the MC9, as was granted at the 2005 Ministerial Conference. Indonesia, as the Host country, was open to the idea and ready to accommodate such requests. However, as the WTO was a member-dri ven organization, Indonesia believed that such 
decision should be decided by all Members. As such, Indonesia would abide by the consensus on 
this matter. 
7.18.  The General Council took note of the statements. 
8  IMPROVING THE GUIDELINES FO R GRANTING INTERGOVERNMENTAL 
ORGANIZATIONS PERMANENT OBSERVER STAT US IN THE WTO - STATEMENT BY THE 
CHAIRMAN 
8.1.  The Chairman recalled that, at its Novemb er 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, 
following a communication by the Arab Group entitled "Improving the Guidelines for Granting Observer Status to Intergovernmental Organizati ons in the WTO" (WT/GC/W/643), which had then 
been supplemented by a further communication in  document WT/GC/W/654. As he had announced 
at the General Council meeting on 4 June, he had continued the consultations on this matter. At this time, he was not able to report any change in  the positions previously expressed. He intended 
to continue these consultations and report back to the General Council as appropriate. 
8.2.  The representative of Egypt, speaking on be half of the Arab Group, looked forward to further 
consultations on this issue and requested that the item be kept on the agenda of the next meeting 
of the General Council. 
8.3.  The General Council took note of the statements. 
9  DERESTRICTION OF SOME GATT 1947 HISTORICAL BILATERAL NEGOTIATING 
DOCUMENTATION - DRAFT DECISION (G/MA/W/111/REV.1) 
9.1.  The Chairman drew attention to the Draft Decision on the Derestriction of some GATT 1947 
Historical Bilateral Negotiating Documentation concerning the Dillon Round and some negotiating 
material of the earlier GATT Rounds. This materi al was contained in document G/MA/W/111/Rev.1. 
This decision had been forwarded to the General Council by the Committee on Market Access 
through the Council for Trade in Goods following its meeting on 11 July 2013. Unless any delegation wished to comment, he proposed that the General Council adopted the draft decision 
contained in document G/MA/W/111/Rev.1.  
9.2.  The General Council so agreed. WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  10  WAIVERS UNDER ARTICLE IX OF THE WTO AGREEMENT 
10.1  REVIEW OF WAIVERS PURSUANT TO  ARTICLE IX:4 OF THE WTO AGREEMENT 
10.1.1  LDCs - Article 70.9 of the TRIPS Ag reement with respect to pharmaceutical 
products, granted on 8 July 2002 until 1 January 2016 (WT/L/478) 
10.1.2  Preferential treatment for least-de veloped countries, granted on 27 May 2009 
until 30 June 2019 (WT/L/759) 
10.1.3  European Union - Application of auto nomous preferential treatment to Moldova, 
granted on 7 May 2008 until 31 December 2013 (WT/L/722, WT/L/882) 
10.1.4  European Union - European Union preferences to Pakistan, granted on 
14 February 2012 until 31 December 2013 (WT/L/851, WT/L/883) 
10.1.5  United States - Former Territory of the Pacific Islands, granted on 27 July 2007 
until 31 December 2016 (WT/L/694, WT/L/887) 
10.1.6  United States – Cari bbean Basin Economic Recovery  Act, granted on 27 May 2009 
until 31 December 2014 (WT/L/753, WT/L/888) 
10.1.7  United States – African Growth an d Opportunity Act, granted on 27 May 2009 
until 30 September 2015 (WT/L/754, WT/L/889) 
10.1.8  United States – Andean Trade Pr eference Act, granted on 27 May 2009 until 
31 December 2014 (WT/L/755, WT/L/890) 
10.1.  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." There were eight waivers before the General Council for review.  With regard 
to the waiver in sub-item (i) for LDCs under the TRIPS Agreement, he note that in connection with the approval of the draft waiver at the meeting of  the TRIPS Council in June 2002, the Chairman of 
that Council had noted that it was understood, in regard to the review foreseen in paragraph 2 of 
that waiver, that the exceptional circumstances justifying the waiver would continue to exist for least-developed country Members until its expiry date of 2016. 
10.2.  Six of the waivers under review provided th at an annual report should be submitted by the 
Members concerned regarding the operation or impl ementation of those waivers with a view to 
facilitating their annual review by the General Council. The reports from these Members had been circulated in documents WT/L/882 and 883, and WT/L/887 to 890. 
10.3.  The representative of the Plurinational Stat e of Bolivia wished to express her delegations' 
concerns about the political use being made by certain Members of the preferential tariff schemes 
provided in some of the waiver programmes, su ch as those available under the Andean Trade 
Preference Act, now known as the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act (ATPDEA). 
She recalled that Bolivia was one of the countries that had benefited from the preferences granted under the ATPA and subsequently the ATPDEA, from 2000 onwards, for efforts made by these 
countries to combat drug trafficking. However,  the benefits had been suspended by former 
President George Bush on 25 November 2008; the reason given had been that Bolivia was considered to have failed to comply with the ATPA eligibility criteria concerning counter-narcotics cooperation, and Bolivia had been excluded from these benefits since 15 December 2008. 
10.4.  For this reason, when the waiver extension had been approved in the General Council on 
29 May 2009, her delegation had made a statement pointing out that the decision by the Bush 
administration to suspend Bolivia's ATPDEA benefits had been arbitrary, politically motivated and 
unjustified, and that it signified in practice a form of discrimination between the beneficiary 
countries. Bolivia had also stated on that occasion that it hoped that the new administration of President Barack Obama would change this decisi on and carry out a fair review of the eligibility 
criteria for ATPDEA beneficiary countries. In a spirit of good faith, Bolivia had not at the time WT/GC/M/146 
 
- 25 - 
 
  requested the revision of the draft waiver decisi on or the possibility of it not being adopted, 
hoping to achieve positive results at bilateral level. However, on 30 June 2009, the President of the United States had issued a determination excluding Bolivia from the benefits of the ATPDEA, and on 14 December 2009 the US House of Representatives had approved the extension of the ATPDEA 
programmes without the inclusion of Bolivia. The ma in reason advanced for the exclusion of Bolivia 
was non-compliance with obligations under the international anti-narcotics agreement and issues pertaining to the 1961 Law on Financial Assistance. Other alleged reasons included Bolivian 
investment policies and trade policies. 
10.5.  She wished to refer to investment policies and the treatment of private ownership, an area 
in which the US administration had questioned Bolivia's very Constitution, which had been drawn up by parliamentarians elected under a democratic process that included, for the very first time, 
previously marginalized segments of the populati on such as indigenous peoples and women, and 
which had been approved by a vote of more than 60% in a national referendum. The United States 
had also questioned the nationalization policy co nducted by Bolivia in the hydrocarbons sector, 
which had culminated in the independent and impartial renegotiation of contracts to the benefit of 
both investors and the Bolivian State.  
10.6.  The issue that she primarily wished to address, however, was the main focus of the ATPDEA, 
which was to develop economic opportunities providing alternatives to coca cultivation and cocaine 
production as part of the fight against drug trafficking. She wished to state Bolivia's position in this regard and to express its concern about the co nventional counter-narcotics strategy, driven 
hitherto by certain countries. This conventional strategy was based solely on regulating supply, not 
demand, taking a predominantly military and repr essive approach to a global, economic, social 
and all-pervasive problem. Today, the facts were po inting to the failure of the conventional method 
of combating drug trafficking, which had led to the expansion of the weapons market as well as 
human rights violations and had had a severe impact on the environment, with no real success to 
show for it. Instead, the Bolivian State had undertaken to achieve effective results based on its own method and centred on the following points: (i) the fight against drug trafficking was aimed at 
criminal organizations and no longer at rural producers' organizations; (ii) there was a voluntary 
reduction and rationalization of surplus coca leaf production negotiated under arrangements with rural producers that involved dialogue, consultation, ownership of the process, full-scale development and social monitoring to avoid any re -occurrence of the problem; (iii) this dignified 
and sovereign alternative method of combating drug trafficking had led to a drastic reduction in 
human rights violations, social conflicts and environmental damage, unlike the results produced by the conventional method. It was, moreover, a far more legitimate, sustainable and participatory 
method, which produced better results than the conventional method, as evidenced by the data 
which followed.  
10.7.  An all-time record of 11,035 hectares of coca crop surplus had been eradicated in 2012 
and an another 5,062 ha had been cleared in the firs t half of this year alone, exceeding within six 
months the annual target set in Bolivian law. This achievement had been hailed by the United 
Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, whose representative in Bolivia had stated that 2012 had been a success and that "the Government is accomplishing another feat in its drive to eradicate illegal 
crops and coca surpluses … which shows that Bolivia is working resolutely to reduce the crops". In 
this connection, she emphasized that the internat ional community had to recognize and the United 
States Embassy Representative in Bolivia in particular had stated that Bolivia's achievements were 
"impressive" in that there had been a net reduction of 13% in crop surplus, according to US 
estimates, in 2012. Moreover, in the period 2000-2005 alone, 49 tonnes of cocaine base paste had been seized and 28,219 operations had been conducted. Under the current Government, as many 
as 190 tonnes of cocaine base paste had been seiz ed and 84,219 operations had been carried out 
between 2006 and 2012. Bolivia's particular meth od was to nationalize financing of the fight 
against illegal crop growing using 90% of own fina ncial resources and only 10% of external funds, 
in accordance with its international commitments but without any requirements or conditionalities 
attached. At the same time, Bolivia had strengthened its alliances with neighbouring countries so 
that the fight could be conducted under the best possible conditions. 
10.8.  She stressed that the positive results achiev ed with the alternative method showed that it 
was possible to address the drugs problem without external interference or the presence of foreign 
forces on national territory, in a dignified and sovereign manner, by means of a participatory, negotiated and voluntary process that had brought about a drastic reduction in social conflicts, 
human rights violations and adverse environmental effects. This was what showed, year after year, WT/GC/M/146 
 
- 26 - 
 
  that Bolivia's exclusion from the ATPDEA by the United States had been and was decided without 
any analysis of the actual situation on the ground or any basis supported by technical data, recognized as such or internationally, and that the United States' motives were clearly of a political nature. Bolivia therefore condemned not only the fact that it was excluded from the ATPDEA 
but also the political use being made of the tariff preferences, which in practice became a means of 
pressure or blackmail when a country decided to implement dignified and sovereign policies that 
produced better results. In view of the foregoin g, Bolivia reserved its right to reconsider the 
f l e x i b l e  p o s i t i o n  i t  h a d  t a k e n  u p  t o  n o w  a s  a  s i g n  o f  g o o d w i l l  u n d e r  A r t i c l e  I X : 4  o f  t h e  
WTO Agreement. 
10.9.  The representative of Swaziland thanked th e delegation of the United States for the AGOA 
reports tabled in documents WT/L/754 and WT/L/889. Swaziland thanked the US Government for 
the extension to 2015, of not only the AGOA initia tive, but also the Third Country Fabric Provision. 
This initiative had benefitted most of the countries and peoples of Sub-Saharan Africa. For instance, in Swaziland, AGOA had largely contributed to industrialization, particularly in the textile 
and apparel sector; employment, and foreign exchan ge earnings. The jobs created in this sector 
were predominantly occupied by vulnerable social groups in society, such as women and the youth including and in particular school leavers who were hardest hit by the unemployment problem and 
were commonly breadwinners in peri-urban and rural areas where dependency ratios and poverty 
levels were very high. Moreover, AGOA had been helping Swaziland to resuscitate its cotton industry as substantial investment had already be en made to encourage vertical integration and 
value addition in the textile sector. Indeed, these developments were further contributing to efforts 
to sustain employment for the rural poor in Swaziland. Thus, the importance of the AGOA initiative 
as a tool to alleviate poverty and promote industrialization could not be over-emphasized. 
10.10.  He further noted that Swaziland welcomed on-going discussions that had been initiated at 
the 2012 AGOA Forum held in June 2012 in Washington, DC, which had given African delegations 
the opportunity to engage the US on the possi ble extension of AGOA beyond 2015. Swaziland 
stressed that serious engagement on this issue well in advance of any pending expiry of the 
preference arrangement would help foster a predictable and certain trading environment for 
existing and potential investors in the concerned countries. His delegation commended the US for its commitment to increasing market access op portunities for AGOA beneficiaries. Swaziland 
wished to appeal that the gains secured by their countries through AGOA be preserved beyond 
2015. As the eligibility review process became underway, the delegation of Swaziland pledged to 
stay actively and constructively engaged. 
10.11.  The representative of Lesotho thanked the delegation of the United States for submitting 
its report on AGOA for the year 2012. Lesotho was greatly indebted to the Government and the 
People of the United States for the goodwill th at had been expressed to the Sub-Saharan Africa 
through AGOA. As the report by the United States  pointed out, beneficiaries of AGOA , Lesotho 
included, had enjoyed duty-free market access opport unities for their exports, particularly in  non- 
traditional and high value added products. This market opening in non-traditional and value added products built a platform on which Lesotho should improve its global competitiveness. The platform 
for market, product and industry diversification, which was necessary in confronting the economic 
and social challenges akin to most LDCs, was set. He said that AGOA had played a key role in 
Lesotho's economy through restoring economic ac tivity, especially in the textile and apparel 
industry. AGOA-induced FDI had complemented the core developmental objectives of the Lesotho 
Government aimed at poverty alleviation and job creation. In the process it had brought in women, 
who had erstwhile been in the vulnerable segment of Lesotho's society, into the mainstream of 
economic activity with attendant social responsibili ty. Huge spill-over effects, with further linkages 
potential, had been garnered in the services, utilities and informal sector. 
10.12.  Since AGOA’s inception in 2000, however, challenges had emerged. These had been 
amplified first, by the end of the Multi Fibre Agre ement in 2004, and secondly by the expiry - or 
more correctly, last minute renewal - of the Th ird Country Fabric Provision in September 2012. 
When the post-MFA recovery had started in 2010, US apparel imports from Sub Saharan Africa 
stood at 222.354m square metric equivalent. This was a decline of 52% from the 2004 level of 462.268m sme. Whereas this overall picture showed five years of devastation, Lesotho was yet to 
recover, since our June 2013 garment sector jobs were 28% lower than the 2004 levels. 
Unfortunately, albeit innocently and without any intention of further harm, the last-minute decision to renew the Third Country Provision had reversed  the recovery process. Given the typical nine 
months advance orders in apparel, the level of AGOA imports had declined 12% for the period WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  April-December 2012 compared to 2011. The annual decline of 5.4% had thus been a direct 
consequence of the uncertainty. 
10.13.  He further stated that Lesotho's lessons of  experience could be summed up as follows: (i) 
AGOA was an excellent intervention for Africa; (ii)  importers and investors required sustainability 
and predictability; (iii) theoretically sound/good interventions coupled with customary procedures 
and /or practices sometimes caused irreversible unin tended harm to beneficiaries of interventions. 
10.14.  Lesotho believed that AGOA should be spelt correctly - namely as "African Growth 
Opportunities Act" - and not AOGA. First came the Act, followed by Opportunities given to/taken by 
FDIs. It was time to prioritize African Growth. Lesotho’s economic growth was poised to be led by growing Basotho entrepreneurship, that should, among others, fully utilize the opportunities of the rising African market, in addition to expanding the AGOA product lines. The platform was set, it 
would be the wrong time to remove it. Lesotho commended the Government of the United States 
for providing trade related technical assistance intended to boost AGOA beneficiaries’ meaningful and consequently rewarding utilization of the pref erence. In this context, African Competitiveness 
and Trade Expansion (ACTE), the African Women Entrepreneurship Program (AWEP) and the 
USAID Regional Trade Hubs were most welcome. Lesotho could only urge that these initiatives be further strengthened. In closing, he stressed it wa s the hope of Lesotho that the terms that made 
AGOA the most viable preference mechanism woul d be preserved and further improved. However, 
with the expiry date of 30 September 2015, Lesotho called for the best “no harm” guarantee in the 
form of an early renewal de cision, prior to January 2015. 
10.15.  The representative of Cuba said that, after having carefully heard the arguments given by 
Bolivia, which Cuba fully supported, her delegation wished to once again express its repudiation of 
the arbitrary, dual standards, selectivity and discriminatory policy applied by the United States against another Member of the Organization. Cuba believed that the United States was 
disregarding not only the efforts and the tangible results achieved by the Government of Bolivia in 
its fight against the scourge of drug trafficking, but let political considerations prevail and thus ignored the data and the facts published by a number of international organizations which 
illustrated, without a shadow of a doubt, how much had been done and how much Bolivia would 
continue to do in its commitment to fight drug trafficking and production. 
10.16.  The representative of Trinidad and Tobago, speaking on behalf of CARICOM, thanked the 
United States for its report and for its continued support to the region in our pursuit of economic 
development. The Group also thanked all fellow Members for their favourable disposition towards 
the waiver. The United States was the largest trad ing partner for many of them in CARICOM.  It 
was therefore no surprise that the Caribbean Basin Recovery Act (CBERA) continued to be an 
important trading arrangement for them. Not simply because of the predictably and stability it 
provided but also because of the significant implications it had for current and future economic well-being. Moreover, the preservation of CBERA wa s crucial in helping them effectively integrate 
into the global trading system and had been a mu ch needed cushion in the wake of the severe 
impact of the global financial and economic crisis on their economies. It was for these reasons that 
Trinidad and Tobago noted with some concern the 13% fall in US imports from the region from US 
dollars 3.62 billion in 2011 to 3.14 billion in 2012. Though not entirely unexpected given the 
current global economic climate, this was nevertheless an undesired result. The Group, however, 
remained optimistic for a reversal of these results by the same time next year. The Group also noted the efforts regarding the inclusion of new CBERA beneficiary States, including Suriname, and 
also on the expansion of benefits under the United States Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act 
(CBTPA), welcomed the deliberations on these matte rs by the United States and looked forward to 
a favourable outcome from their review in the ne ar future. Finally, the Group wished to express 
once more its appreciation to the United States for the extension of the Haiti Economic Lift 
Programme (HELP Act) and the Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity through Partnership and Encouragement (HOPE Act) to 30 September 2020. 
10.17.  The representative of Haiti echoed these comments made by Trinidad and Tobago and 
thanked the delegation of the United States for the various types of preferences that were being 
granted to his country.  
10.18.  The representative of Jamaica said that his delegation fully endorsed the statement made 
by the delegation of Trinidad and Tobago on behalf of CARICOM and wished to convey his deep 
appreciation to the Government of the United St ates for the continued operation of CBERA as a WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  significant tool for development. Jamaica had de rived significant benefit from the operation of 
CBERA and shared the concern that had been expr essed in the decline in imports that had been 
realized in recent times. Jamaica trusted that ways could be found to enhance and expand the operation of the Act and to ensure ma ximum benefits for the beneficiaries. 
10.19.  The representative of Barbados endorsed the statement by Trinidad and Tobago on behalf 
of the CARICOM region. Her delegation also wished to express its appreciation to the Government 
of the United States for the continue d flexibilities granted under CBERA.  
10.20.  The representative of Kenya shared the statement of by Swaziland and Lesotho.  Kenya 
thanked the US for initiating this arrangement and the General Council for granting the waiver 
through a decision of May 2009 and now extended to 2015. The United States and the AGOA had 
facilitated and created opportunities for sub-Saharan African and the beneficiary countries.  He 
said that Kenya had benefited from market access as could be ascertained from the report 
presented. This had undoubtedly contributed to an overall economic growth in the region. In order 
to diversify from over dependent apparel and oi l, the US Government had continued to provide 
technical assistance through an African competitiveness and trade expansion initiative.   The US 
agency for international development, which operated through regional hubs based in Botswana, Ghana and Kenya had a four- year programme with a budget line of 120 billion. 
10.21.  The representative of Saint Lucia, speaki ng on behalf of the members of the OECS, fully 
ascribed to the statement by Trinidad and Toba go and the rest of the CARICOM delegations and 
thanked the US for their continued support under CBERA. 
10.22.  The General Council took note of the reports contained in documents WT/L/882, 883, 887, 
888, 889 and 890 of the statements, and that the Ge neral Council will revert to the review of 
multi-year waivers under Article IX.4 of the WTO Agreement at its last meeting of the year. 
11  WTO PENSION PLAN 
11.1  REPORT OF THE MANAGEMENT BOARD FOR 2012 (WT/L/886) 
11.1.  The Chairman drew the Council's attention to the annual report of the Management Board 
for 2012 contained in document WT/L/886, whic h was submitted to the General Council in 
accordance with Article 5(d) of the Regulations of the WTO Pension Plan, and invited Mr. Niggli 
(Switzerland), Chairman of the Manage ment Board, to introduce the report. 
11.2.  Mr. Niggli (Switzerland), Chairman of the Management Board, was pleased to present on 
behalf of the Management Board of the WTO Pens ion Plan the 2012 Annual Report. Included in the 
report were both the financial statements and the Report of the External Auditor. In an effort to 
provide timely information to the Plan's stakeholders for the first time this report was being presented prior to the summer break. He said that th e Plan had again received a full certification of 
the financial statements without reservation - the full report of the auditor could be found in 
Annex 3 of document WT/L/886. He further recalled that 2012 had a busy year for the Management Board.  Nine meetings were held, and working groups had been initiated to undertake 
a risk-based review of governance and actuar ial issues. The Management Board's investment 
strategy had followed closely its benchmark in 2012 and had delivered a real rate of return of 10.4% which was well above the long-term target rate of return of 3.5% used in the actuarial assumptions of the Plan. Despite the strong invest ment performance, one could not overlook that 
there had been a modest deterioration in the actu arial position of the plan since the previous 
Annual Report. 
11.3.  He explained that the change in the estimated long-term cost was due to the delayed 
recognition of investment gains achieved in the year – as part of the asset smoothing method – 
and the lower number of active contributors in th e Plan at the end of 2012 in comparison to the 
previous year and lower than expected total pensionable earnings. The next full actuarial valuation 
and report for the plan would be issued in 2014 on  the basis of the end of year 2013 position of 
the plan. The initiation of an actuarial working group in 2012 had been related to preparing for the 
upcoming full actuarial valuation. Significant work was required in order to review and validate the actuarial assumptions that served as a basis for ev aluating the long-term viability of the Plan and 
that work had already started. WT/GC/M/146 
 
- 29 - 
 
  11.4.  He reminded the Members that the WTOPP was a young plan and that actuarial valuations 
were estimates of what would happen many years in the future. There was a great deal of uncertainty and this was inherent to these kinds of projections. What was clear was that the plan was certainly in no imminent danger and the relative youth of the Plan would allow for careful and 
measured responses to any apparent actuarial trends. 
11.5.  He noted that this was his last report to the General Council as Chair of the Management 
Board and wished to quickly review the work of the Board over the past 6 years. An enormous 
amount of work had been done, and great efforts to  ensure good governance of the Plan had been 
made. In particular, lots of work had been done with the negotiations to restore the actuarial balance of the Plan through the implementation of changes to the plan regulations. As a result of 
the negotiation, there was an agreement about an increase in the retirement age from 62 to 65 for 
WTO staff and an increase in the contribution rates for both participants and the employer - these 
were the key elements of this change. Before this work had been completed, the 2008 financial 
crisis struck and the Plan had not been spared a certain amount of pain. This had led the Board to 
undertake the equivalent of what a full health check, which concretely meant that there had been a 
careful review of the investments strategies, the overall quality and consistency of the investment related information had been improved, and the training available for members of the Board had 
been upgraded. The start of this process had been the identification of a new investment advisor 
that was a better match for a pension plan the size of the WTO's and, working collaboratively with the new advisor, the Management Board had developed a revised strategy and articulated a clear investment philosophy to help guide future investment decisions. 
11.6.  In addition to that, the Board had also worked on the disability front, as it had to also make 
determinations of disability benefits awarded und er the Plan. Although the Plan had had a lower 
than expected level of disability claims, the Board had remained very vigilant in this area of Plan 
governance. To mitigate the risks to the Plan, th e Board had taken insurance coverage to protect 
the Plan from unexpected surges in disability clai ms. It had also initiated a comprehensive review 
of the disability determination process to ensure  an effective and efficient process. Due to the 
small size of the Plan, a surge in disability claims  would put pressure on the actuarial position of 
the Plan. He wished to emphasize on these priori ty areas and others, the overwhelming spirit of 
constructive co-operation and commitment that had prevailed within the Board and with the stakeholders of the Plan. This was in his view very  important, and a characteristic that had to be 
preserved going forward. 
11.7.  He stressed that while the Plan a strong track record of effective governance and 
accomplishment, big challenges remained. The Plan was a long-term initiative and its sustainability 
depended on a large number of highly uncertain variables whose future values the Management 
Board made its best efforts to estimate reliably. Global economic conditions such as growth and inflation rates, demographic trends such as longev ity, and changes in the profile of the WTO staff 
would all significantly influence the context in which the Management Board would have to govern 
the Plan. This would clearly require the attention and engagement of all stakeholders in the years 
ahead. There would again be difficult issues to resolve. For example, the recommendations of the 
External Auditor that the financial reporting of the WTO and the WTOPP being consolidated so as to 
conform to the International Public Sector A ccounting Standards (IPSAS) would require careful 
consideration of the regulations and rules of both  the WTO and the Pension Plan. The recent trend 
of the actuarial valuations to estimate and imbalance would also have to be closely monitored and 
responsibly addressed. Only by working together constructively and collaboratively solutions would 
be found. As with any WTO negotiation, balanced compromises would have to be made to keep the 
Pension Plan a viable and critical component of the WTO's ability to recruit highly qualified staff 
from around the world. 
11.8.  He wished to thank to many  people he had had the opportunity to work with in his capacity 
as Chair of the Management Board, including  Members of the management Board elected by the 
General Council and appointed by the Director-Gener al, colleagues in the CBFA, the administration 
of the WTO and the Director-General himself. He thanked them all of them for their involvement, 
commitment, co-operation and trust. He said he was leaving the Board in very good hands. The WTOPP Secretariat team did an outstanding job and he was sure the next Chair would serve the 
Plan superbly. 
11.9.  The General Council took note of the A nnual Report of the Management Board for 2012 in 
document WT/L/886 and of the statement. WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  11.2  ELECTION OF THE CHAIRMAN OF THE MANAGEMENT BOARD - PROPOSAL BY THE 
CHAIRMAN OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL (WT/GC/W/670) 
11.10.  The Chairman recalled that Article 4(a)  of the Regulations of the WTO Pension Plan 
provided, inter alia, for the election by the Gene ral Council of a Chairman, four members and four 
alternates to the Management Board of the Pension Plan. In a communication circulated to 
delegations in document WT/GC/W/670, and as also just heard from Mr Niggli himself, he had indicated that the Chairman to the Management Board, previously elected by the General Council, 
was no longer available to serve on the Board, and that it was therefore necessary for the Council 
to decide on his replacement. Accordingly, in his communication, he had proposed the name of a 
representative who had kindly agreed to have his name put forward for election as chairperson and had invited delegations to submit any comments they might have regarding the proposed 
nomination by close-of-business on 19 July. He informed delegations that he had not received any 
comments regarding the proposed nomination.  Accordingly, he propose that the General Council elected  Mr  Krzysztof Trepczy ński (Poland) to serve as chairman on the Board for the remainder of 
the its term, i.e. until May 2014. 
11.11.  The General Council so agreed. 
11.12.  The Chairman, on behalf of the General Council, thanked Mr Niggli for his work as 
Chairman of the Management Board. 
12  UKRAINE - ARTICLE XXVIII NOTIFICATION  - STATEMENT BY THE EUROPEAN UNION 
12.1.  The representative of the European Union, speaking under "Other Business" and also on 
behalf of Iceland recalled that over the last 10 months, several Members had taken the floor, 
including in the General Council, to express serious concerns about Ukraine's request under 
Article XXVIII of the GATT. This request not only undermined the benefits that individual Members 
derived from Ukraine's accession to the WTO, but posed a systemic threat to what was at the core 
of the WTO mandate providing predictable environm ent for their traders. The message conveyed to 
Ukraine by Members had been very clear. It would be in the interest of all WTO Members for Ukraine to withdraw its notification. His delega tion therefore reiterated its concern about the 
significant destabilization that the action undertaken by Ukraine could bring to the multilateral 
trading system, notably by undermining the legal certainty and value of the commitments taken by Members upon their accession to the WTO. The EU had not changed its view and continued to think that the extent of Ukraine's notification went well beyond the intended scope of Article XXVIII. 
Furthermore, the EU was disappointed as Ukraine co ntinued to avoid reconsidering its notification, 
even in the face of widespread expressions of  concern by the WTO membership and reiterated, 
once more, its plea to Ukraine to change course  and abandon its proposal under Article XXVIII. 
12.2.  The representative of Japan echoed the European Union in calling upon Ukraine urgently to 
withdraw its notification. 
12.3.  The representative of Korea also wished to  echo the grave concerns reiterated by the EU 
and Japan about Ukraine's notification under Article XXVIII. Korea once again wished to make it 
clear that Ukraine's notification, as such, ran the risk of seriously undermining the credibility and the predictability of the multilateral trading sy stem. Korea, therefore, strongly encouraged and 
urged Ukraine to reconsider its course of action and ultimately withdraw its notification under 
Article XXVIII as soon as possible. 
12.4.  The representative of the United States supported the statements made by the European 
Union and others and wished to reiterate that hi s delegation had not changed its longstanding well 
documented view of Ukraine's proposed action. The United States too urged Ukraine to abandon its 
proposal. 
12.5.  The representative of Turkey reiterated th e concerns that had been expressed earlier on the 
action taken by Ukraine in relation to Article XXVIII. Like others, Turkey called once again on 
Ukraine to withdraw its notification. 
12.6.  The representative of Mexico recalled that on number of occasions and in a number of 
Bodies, Mexico and a broad range of Members of the WTO had expressed concerns about Ukraine's WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  intention to increase its tariffs on a number of product lines. On a number of previous of occasions 
Mexico had also said that it was very worrying that a country that had very recently acceded invoked Article XXVIII. This had never been done before and it certainly had never been done for such a broad range of products. He stressed that  the trading rules which governed the system 
were based on some very basic principles and one of those was progressive collaboration, not 
regressive collaboration. Mexico, once again, al ong with other Members called upon Ukraine to 
reconsider its position. 
12.7.  The representative of Canada stressed that  what was being put at risk was the credibility 
and integrity of the GATT/WTO framework. These me asures were not of a nature contemplated by 
Article XXVIII, far too sweeping for something that was supposed to be facilitative of minor adjustments that might be necessary. Second, in the real world of business, the measures taken 
by Ukraine could not but be detrimental to traders.  They created uncertainty for current and future 
business and, Canada would have thought, would be contrary to the self-interest of Ukraine in promoting business and trade in two directions, as uncertainty meant lack of confidence and 
predictability. Third, and on a more bilateral level, Canada regretted deeply that despite the fact 
that it had made a request simply for further clarification and information as early as December, Ukraine had not even had the courtesy of acknowledgement or response to that communication. 
12.8.  The representative of Brazil also wished to echo the statements made and reiterated that 
Brazil's concerns were mainly systemic. Brazil called once again more upon Ukraine to withdraw its 
notification. 
12.9.  The representative of China joined others in expressing once again China's concern on this 
issue. Ensuring predictability through greater tr ansparency was the fundamental principle of the 
multilateral trading system. However, six months had passed since China had issued its claim of interest to Ukraine and it had still not received any response. Neither had Ukraine notified any 
progress in this regard. In order to preserve a stable and a predictable trade environment, China 
urged Ukraine to promptly provide the information regarding its intention and the next steps. China would follow this matter closely and would reserve its right to come back in due course. 
12.10.  The representative of Chile again wished to call upon Ukraine to withdraw its notification 
under Article XXVIII which, as it had expressed on previous occasions, should not be used as an 
excuse to renegotiate its current level of commitments. Chile's concern was systemic in nature. This was a situation which could undermine the predictability of the multilateral trading system, 
particularly for developing members. 
12.11.  The representative of Colombia recalled that it had been 10 months since Ukraine had 
introduced its request under Article XXVIII of GA TT, and since then many WTO Members had, on a 
number of occasions, expressed systemic and trad e-related concerns, which had been reiterated 
by those delegations which had preceded Colombia in taking the floor. Colombia still had no adequate response in this regard and still did not have a clear idea of Ukraine's intentions. 
Colombia therefore called again upon Ukraine to reconsider its position and withdraw this request 
under Article XXVIII which could seriously affect the stability and credibility of the multilateral trading system. 
12.12.  The representative of Guatemala wished to echo the concerns expressed. Guatemala was 
not only concerned that its trading interests would be affected, but also about the serious 
implications which this would have on the multilateral system. Guatemala did not call into question Members' rights, including the rights of Ukraine to call upon flexibilities and rights which were 
enshrined in WTO Agreements. However, exercising such flexibilities and rights should be done 
with a view to respecting the spirit of co-ope ration and commitment to the multilateral trade 
system which had existed since the GATT 1947. Guat emala called upon Ukraine to act with greater 
transparency regarding its intentions to modify its tariff lines and to reconsider the serious 
implications which this move could have for the multilateral trade system. Guatemala urged Ukraine to withdraw this notification and to respect its existing commitments under the WTO Agreements. 
12.13.  The representative of Malaysia, speaking on behalf of ASEAN echoed the concerns 
expressed by the EU and others on Ukraine notification. WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  12.14.  The representative of Hong Kong, China wi shed to join others in reiterating its serious 
concerns about Ukraine's intention to modify its tariff concessions on a large number of tariff lines 
and the lack of clarity in Ukraine's proposal - concerns which were well known. Hong Kong, China urged Ukraine to reconsider its positi on and to withdraw its notification. 
12.15.  The representative of Uruguay said that his country had systemic and commercial concerns 
about Ukraine's notification of its intention to modify a significant number of tariffs in its national 
schedule. These would seriously affect the balance of rights and obligations which were agreed 
upon very recently under its accession agreement. Uruguay also called upon Ukraine to reconsider 
an action which would trigger significant changes to the rules. 
12.16.  The representative of Switzerland supported what had been said by the European Union 
and a number of others who had spoken in this regard. As Canada had said, the credibility of the 
WTO and the value of accession negotiations were at stake. Switzerland agreed, therefore, with 
the numerous delegations who had called upon Ukraine urgently to withdraw its notification. 
12.17.  The representative of New Zealand shared the concerns about Ukraine's notification. As it 
had been mentioned, it had been 10 months since it was first issued and in that time, although 
further information had been sought to better understand what Ukraine was proposing, adequate responses had not been received. New Zealand therefore joined others in calling for Ukraine to 
withdraw its request. 
12.18.  The representative of Paraguay supporte d the statement made by the European Union and 
shared the concerns expressed by all delegations who had taken the floor, in particular about the 
serious effect which Ukraine's move would have on the international trade system. Paraguay also 
called upon Ukraine to withdraw its notification. 
12.19.  The representative of Norway shared th e views expressed and said that request from 
Ukraine raised a number of systemic concerns rela ted to the predictability of the commitment in 
the multilateral trading system. Norway once again urged Ukraine to reconsider its request. 
12.20.  The representative of Australia supporte d the statement by the EU and also wished to 
express Australia's strong concern about Ukraine's notification under GATT Article XXVIII. Australia 
was disappointed that Ukraine continued to avoid reconsidering its notification even in the face of 
widespread expressions of concern by the WTO me mbership. Australia's concerns were well known 
and had been raised in the General Council and in the Council on Trade in Goods and the relevant subsidiary bodies. Ukraine's failure to respond to Members' concerns left Australia with no choice 
but to submit a claim of interest on 11 December which it had done without prejudice on its 
position on the league of validity of Ukraine's notification. Australia had not received a response after more than 7 months and urged Ukraine to be clear with Members about its intended course of 
action. 
12.21.  The representative of Ukraine thanked th e Members for their statements, for their views 
and positions. Ukraine reiterated that it highly respected all of them. Ukraine had noted of all 
statements made today and would report them back to capital. 
12.22.  The General Council took note of the statements. 
13  CHAIRMANSHIP OF THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN GOODS 13.1.  The Chairman, speaking under "Other Business" recalled that, at the meeting on 4 June, and 
subsequently by fax on 28 June, he had announced that following the departure of Mr Baati 
(Tunisia), Chairman of the Council for Trade in Goods he had been conducting consultations regarding the appointment of a successor to Mr Baat i. In accordance with Paragraph 7.1(b) of the 
Guidelines for the Appointment of Officers in WT/L/510, he had been conducting these 
consultations with the assistance of Mr Fried (C anada), Chairman of the Dispute Settlement Body, 
and the former Chairs of the General Council.  He was pleased to announce that these 
consultations had shown a consensus among Members on the appointment of Mr Dacio Castillo 
(Honduras) as Chairman of the Council for Trade in Goods. Mr Castillo would be elected as Chairman at the next formal meeting of the Goods Council. WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  13.2.  The General Council took note of the statement. 
14  STATEMENT BY THE CHAIR IN CONNECTION WITH ADMINISTRATIVE MEASURES FOR 
MEMBERS IN ARREARS 
14.1.  The Chairman, speaking under "Other Business" recalled that at its meeting in October 
2012, the General Council had approved a recommendation from the Committee on Budget, 
Finance and Administration regarding revised Administrative Measures for Members in arrears, as contained in WT/BFA/132, Annex I. These new revised measures had entered into force on 
1 January 2013. Among these Administrative Measures was a requirement that, at the end of each 
meeting of the General Council, the Chairman of the Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration should provide information with regard to which Members and Observers are under Administrative Measures. He invited the Chairman of the Budget Committee, Mr Michael STONE 
(Hong Kong, China), to provide the Council with this information.  
14.2.  Mr Michael STONE (Hong Kong, China), Ch airman of the Budget Committee, listed all 
Members and Observers under all categories of Administrative Measures as at 23 July 2013. There 
were currently 8 Members in Category I: Benin;  the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia; 
Guinea; Malawi; St Vincent and the Grenadines; Senegal; Uganda; and Vanuatu. There were 2 Members in Category II: Antigua and Barbuda; and Grenada. There were 8 Members in 
Category III: Central African Republic; The Democratic Republic of the Congo; Djibouti; Dominica; 
Guinea-Bissau; Mauritania; Niger; and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. There were 2 Observers in Category I: Equatorial Guinea; and the Syrian Arab Republic. There was 1 Observer in Category III: Sao Tome and Principe 
14.3.  The Chairman noted that under the new revised Administrative Measures, he was also 
required at each Council meeting to request Members and Observers in Categories II and III of the Measures to inform the Secretariat as to when their payment of arrears might be expected.   
14.4.  The General Council took note of the statements. 
15  FAREWELL TO THE DIRECTOR-GENERAL, MR PASCAL LAMY 
15.1.  The Chairman, speaking under "Other Business" said that, as he had announced at the 
beginning of the meeting, and also by fax the previous week, this was the last meeting of the 
General Council at which the current Director-General, Mr Pascal Lamy, was present in that capacity. Mr Lamy would address the Council, after which he would open the floor to delegations. 
Before he offered Mr Lamy the floor, he wished to say a few words. 
15.2.  He stressed that, in saying that Mr Lamy would be very much missed, he believed he spoke 
not only as the General Council Chairman and the Ambassador of Pakistan, but also as a representative of the WTO community as a whole. A statesman from Mr Lamy's country had said: 
"To command is to serve, nothing more and nothin g less". And he believed that Mr Lamy had been 
an extraordinary commander, because for the past eight years he had served the organization tirelessly - with vision, passion, competence, and wisdom. He said that Mr Lamy's legacy was so 
vast that it was simply impossible to summarize it in a few words. His exceptional contribution to 
the multilateral trading system, his vigorous fight against protectionism, his firm belief in economic growth and poverty reduction through trade had been  and would continue to be an inspiration to 
the international community as a whole. 
15.3.  He further noted that, during his term as Director-General, Mr Lamy had focused on some of 
the fundamental functions of the WTO and had im proved them. There was now a much stronger 
monitoring and trade policy review arm. The increase in activity in dispute settlement had been 
well managed. Aid for Trade had moved into centre stage. During Mr Lamy's term, eleven new 
Members had joined the organization, bringing it ever closer to universality. And all staff was now under one roof. "Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm", was an old saying. But Mr Lamy 
had held the helm often in rough, sometimes even tempestuous waters.  The world had changed 
enormously in the past eight years, and over this  time many had called for the Doha negotiations 
to advance to their conclusion. Mr Lamy had faithfully responded to these calls and had led the Members to the very brink of success on several occa sions. It was to their detriment, not his, that 
this success had slipped away again. Members were now heading towards another occasion when WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  they could take the negotiations forward. If they we re able to do so, it would be due in large part 
to Mr Lamy's leadership over the previous eigh t years. Whatever the outcome for Bali, Members 
were all in his debt. In concluding, the Chairman said he knew he was speaking for all the membership when he said a simple, but heartfel t "Thank You". Members were confident that the 
WTO family could continue to count on his support, and they wished Mr Lamy every success and 
happiness in the future. 
15.4.  The Director-General, Mr Pascal Lamy, made a farewell statement to the General Council.  
His statement was circulated as JOB/GC/55 and is reproduced in Annex I to the present records. 15.5.  The representatives of Brazil; Japan; Morocco (on behalf of the African Group); Singapore 
(on behalf of ASEAN); Egypt (on behalf of the Arab Group); Nepal (on behalf of the LDC Group); Barbados (on behalf of the SVEs); Peru (on behalf  of GRULAC); Dominican Republic (on behalf of 
the IGDC); Australia; Jamaica (on behalf of the ACP); Trinidad and Tobago (on behalf of 
CARICOM); European Union; Nigeria; Chinese Taipei; Mexico; Sri Lanka; Turkey; Canada; Switzerland; India; Rwanda; United States; Guinea; Cote d'Ivoire; Hong Kong, China; Norway; 
Uruguay; China; Angola; New Zealand; Argentina; Colombia; Bangladesh; Dominica (on behalf of 
the OECS); Korea; Chile; Oman; Kyrgyz Republic ; Indonesia; Democratic Republic of Congo; 
Solomon Islands; Russian Federation; Costa Rica; Swaziland; Central African Republic; Thailand; 
Israel; Kenya; Benin; Zambia; Yemen (as an Observer); and Ethiopia (as an Observer) took the 
floor to express their gratitude to the Director-General and to bid him farewell.  Their statements are reproduced in Annex II to the present records. 
15.6.  The General Council took note of the statements. 
 
_______________ 
 
 WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  ANNEX I 
FAREWELL STATEMENT BY PASCAL LAMY, DIRECTOR-GENERAL1 
 
"Looking Back, Moving forward" 
 
I came before the General Council in 2005 when I was a DG candidate and again in 2009 to share with you my views about the WTO. Today, I come to you one last time in my capacity as Director-
General, as a sign of my strong commitment to being accountable to you, the members of this 
organization, whom I have strived to serve since you appointed me eight years ago.  
 Thank you for affording me this opportunity. 
 
Let me begin by saying that it has been an immense honour and privilege to serve this organization. 
 
I think it is fair to say that, together, we have strengthened the WTO as the global trade body, as a 
major pillar of global economic governance.  
 
Despite the heavy headwinds and the turmoil in the global economy as well as on the geo-political scene, together we have made this organization larger and stronger.   
This, I believe, is our main achievement during these last eight years. 
 We have lived through eight transformational years.  We have seen the rise of China to the number 
one world exporter, significant progress in meeting the Millennium Development Goals, and 
developing countries accounting for more than half of the world's economic activity and more than half of global exports. But we have also seen challenges such as two food crises, the biggest 
financial and economic crisis since the 1930s, pandemics and natural catastrophes which have 
severely impacted the functioning of global production chains.   And the WTO has remained solid in the midst of the tempest. 
 
When I appeared before you in 2005, I said I be lieved trade opening and the reduction of trade 
barriers were essential to promoting growth, fostering sustainable development, reducing poverty 
and creating jobs. Ultimately, these would work towards peace and stability. But I also stressed 
that this process was neither natural nor automatic. Getting more value for your trade not just more trade means that trade opening also needs to be embedded in a set of domestic and 
international policies. My belief in what I called the "Geneva consensus" in 2005 is even firmer 
today.  The WTO is the "system" which provides for multil ateral trade opening, global trade rule-making 
and enforcement of these rules. Opening markets an d designing global trade rules remain our core 
business. And our core business remains unfin ished. At the same time, openness, non-
discrimination and transparency remain our core political values. 
 
It is through these lenses that I would like to shortly outline the experience of these last eight 
years.  
 
Multilateral trade opening: adjusting to a changing world 
Negotiating trade opening is not the only function of the WTO, but it is clearly one of its central 
functions. The embodiment of this function remains the Doha Development Round.  
 
Because the Doha Round has not yet been delivered, some would be tempted to say that this organization is in crisis; that trade multilateralism does not function, that the WTO has become 
irrelevant. 
 I believe these are simple shortcuts at a much more complex reality.  
                                               
1 Also circulated in JOB/GC/55. WT/GC/M/146 
 
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To begin with, I must say I do not think the debate  is about the relevance of the WTO. It is about 
its credibility. And credibility stems from the capaci ty to deliver. And delivering multilateral trade 
opening today is not trivial.  
 
Opening trade and crafting multilateral rules have been impacted by the profound shifts in geopolitics and economics. The former two-speed model of a world divided between developed and 
developing countries no longer reflects today's ec onomic realities. A serious conceptual adjustment 
is needed. We must find a new balance between reciprocity and flexibility in a multidimensional membership if we are to deliver on multilateral trade opening.  
This is compounded by short-term politics that are becoming increasingly incompatible with the 
setting of the medium and longer term goals essential for designing consistent trade policies.  
Trade opening has been further dented by the biggest economic crisis since the 1930s, which has 
left millions unemployed in advanced economies and which is now hindering the sustainability of growth in emerging economies. 
 
I also believe it is too easy to say that trade multilateralism does not function.  We saw trade multilateralism work in Hong Kong in 2005. We saw it work in the adoption of a 
transparency mechanism for Regional Trade Agreements. We saw it work in the renegotiation of 
the Government Procurement Agreement. We saw it work in the simplification of the rules governing the accession of least developed countri es (LDCs) to the WTO. And I am now convinced 
we will see it work in Bali with the successful conclusion of a deal on trade facilitation together with 
some development, LDC and agriculture issues, and even possibly with the delivery of the ITA 
[Information Technology Agreement] 2. 
 
We have also seen it work in the negotiations  which have brought eleven new members into the 
WTO family. Large economies such as Russia, Saudi Arabia, Viet Nam and Ukraine. Small economies such as Tajikistan, and Montenegro. And five LDCs: Samoa, Vanuatu, Tonga, Laos and 
Cape Verde. And with Yemen looking good for Se ptember. Together, they are equivalent to an 
economy of the size of Germany.  
A message of caution for the future: make sure you do not create a divide between "RAMs" – 
recently acceding members – and "ROMs" – rest of the members, with RAMs having on average 
higher levels of commitments than the rest. We must strive for a more convergent trading system. 
 
I often hear that the way forward is to abandon the WTO and simply move to plurilateral or regional arrangements. But we have all seen the fa te of a number of these plurilateral deals such 
as the ACTA or the Global System of Trade Pref erences among developing countries. We also know 
that behind the headlines of the launching of mega regionals, as some refer to them, lay 
tremendous difficulties and sometimes even no fina l deal at all, as was the case of the Free Trade 
Area of the Americas. 
 
I do not wish to be misunderstood. I am not agai nst trade opening outside the WTO. I believe that 
plurilaterals, mega regionals, regionals, bilatera ls and unilateral arrangements CAN contribute to 
trade opening and hence to the levelling of the gl obal trade playing field, which must ultimately 
remain our collective goal. Because this is what fairness is about. But I do think we would do well to recognise that the issue is not trade opening IN the WTO as opposed to trade opening OUTSIDE 
the WTO. The issue today is with the difficulties involved in trade opening. Domestic trade politics 
have become more difficult and trade deals have become more complex because the nature of 
obstacles to trade has evolved. We are no longer negotiating just the reduction of tariffs, but also of non-tariff barriers, which have gained enormous importance.  
 
Domestic trade policies require a permanent engagement with civil society and with the public at large. They also require properly placing trade in its right context: as one instrument in the toolbox 
to generate growth and create jobs. Trade policy is ONE instrument; an important one; but not 
THE instrument. And it is an instrument for, not a weapon against, the wellbeing of all.   The fact that non-tariff barriers are becoming the main  obstacle to trade requir es us to re-think the 
way we deal with them. How do we ensure that we limit the negative incidence on trade of WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  measures often taken to protect consumers? This is a matter of interest for all members and 
whose dimension this organization has not yet seriously recognised. If non-tariff measures are today's and tomorrow's main obstacles to trade, we need to make sure that the manner in which these measures are addressed contributes to levelling – and not scattering – the playing field. The 
WTO is not a regulatory agency for the vast majority of non-tariff measures, but it is well placed to 
become a platform where the convergence of thes e measures could be monitored, along the lines 
of what we have done for Aid for Trade.  
 
Finally, I do believe critics have a point when they suggest that the manner in which we conduct multilateral negotiations could be improved. Much  time could be saved in the negotiating process 
if, after an initial phase of definition of objectives to be reached and principles to be observed, 
leading to a mandate, the Secretariat was tasked to mobilise its expertise to table proposals 
around which the negotiations would take place. It being understood that it would be for members to take the final decision. Mirroring the processes followed by other international organizations.  
 
All of these are valuable lessons for the Doha Development Agenda, which remains an unfulfilled promise. And which will need to be fulfilled in order to redress the imbalance in some of our rules 
which is a legacy of history, starting with agriculture. I believe there is no escape from achieving 
positive results in the Doha Round. Just like there is no escape from adjusting the Doha menu to today's realities. This will require the introducti on of new elements into the menu, new elements 
which require multilateral handling, so as to better level the trade playing field. 
 
Administering existing agreements: reinforcing monitoring 
If opening trade and crafting new trade rules is essential to the credibility of this organization, 
administering existing ones is also what gives it its raison d'être . As the saying goes, "sunshine is 
the best disinfectant".  
Perhaps because members have, since 1999, mainly focused on the negotiating pillar of the WTO, 
perhaps because we all took the administering of existing rules for granted, the reality is that the surveillance function of the WTO has been underperforming for some years. The mandates for notification and peer review are clearly there, bu t their implementation is somewhat spotty, to put 
it mildly. 
 My sense is that the situation on this front has improved, even if more remains to be done.  
 
Progress has been achieved in transparency in  regional trade agreements, with close to 100 
agreements considered since 2006. A new monitoring of trade policy measures has been developed 
in response to the 2008 crisis. There has been an improvement in the rate of notifications in 
committees, thanks in part to the technical assistance which has focused on helping developing countries meet notification requirements, and also thanks to a better use of Trade Policy Reviews. Committees have also worked to improve peer reviews.  
 
And tremendous progress has been made in bringing all trade policy information under one roof through the creation of the I-TIP (Integrated Trade Intelligence Portal). Just yesterday we unveiled 
the new module covering services. I-TIP will provide members with a one-stop shop, with easily 
downloadable access to non-tariff measures across the spectrum of WTO agreements, tariff and trade data. We have also started working with ot her partners such as UNCTAD and the World Bank 
to ensure a more coherent use of our resources in this field. In sum, we now have greater 
transparency and simpler access to trade intelligence.  But of course we still can and must do better: the rate of notifications remains too low, peer 
reviews can be made more effective and I-TIP will continue to require a serious investment to 
become THE depository of all WTO trade policy information.  
Let me now turn to the dispute settlement, the other main function of the WTO. Fifty-eight panels 
have been composed since September 2005, 43 of  which by the Director-General. The dispute 
settlement system is solid and works well. The Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU) review 
process has continued to run its course, but in the meantime, under the leadership of DDG Jara, 
improvements have been introduced to reduce th e costs of administering the system. We are also 
very advanced in developing a digital regist ry which will allow the e-filing of cases. 
 WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  Looking forward, the main challenge in dispute sett lement will be to address peaks of activity, in 
particular at the appeal level. Another challenge is the participation of developing countries in dispute settlement. The provision of technical as sistance and training and the support of the 
Advisory Centre on WTO Law are crucial, hence my own personal support to ensure adequate 
funding of the Centre.  
 Finally, I believe there would be merit in an improved and more frequent use of good offices, 
mediation and arbitration, each of which are provided for in our existing rules. The banana case is 
the only one in which these have been used since 2005.   Contributing to greater coherence in international economic policy-making 
Let me now turn to coherence. Using the terminol ogy of an Appellate Body report, the WTO "does 
not work in clinical isolation". It is part of a wider system of global governance, hence the importance of ensuring coherence in global economic policy-making. 
 
We have strengthened our cooperation with th e IMF and the World Bank, under the explicit 
coherence mandate contained in the Marrakesh Agreement. But we have also significantly 
expanded it to many other organizations, in particular to the United Nations family – and let me 
here pay tribute to the Secretary-General of the UN and thank him for the support he has always afforded to the WTO and to me personally – as well as to regional development banks and to several regional economic organizations. 
 
Aid for Trade, the Enhanced Integrated Framework and the Consultative Mechanism on Cotton are clear examples of coherence at work. Not that  we have turned the WTO into a development 
agency, not that we have greatly expanded the Secretariat resources to work in these areas, not 
that we have indulged in some sort of mission creep. Rather, we have used our convening power, 
our legitimacy, our notoriety and our leadership on trade matters to ensure that building trade 
capacity goes hand in hand with trade opening.  And that the benefits of trade opening do not 
remain a distant hope for so many of our poorer  members. The numerous examples of results on 
the ground that were showcased at the recent Fourth Global Review of Aid for Trade are a clear testament to our collective wisdom in launching this initiative in 2005. And a lot of credit for this 
wisdom goes to DDG Valentine Rugwabiza. 
 But there have been many more examples of co -operation and enhanced coherence: on trade 
finance; on agriculture and food security under the UN Task Force on Food Security chaired by the 
UN Secretary-General (and I would like to pay tribute to the contribution of DDG Harsha Singh on this matter); on climate change with UNEP; on me asuring trade in value added with the OECD and 
many others; on access to medicines and medical innovation with WIPO and WHO; on sanitary and 
phytosanitary standards under the STDF; on non- tariff measures with UNCTAD and the ITC; on 
jobs with the ILO.   
The WTO is also at the G-20 table and has prepared regular reports on trade and investment 
protectionism and on Aid for Trade. And we have cooperated with the UN system in the context of the Millennium Development Goals and the Po st 2015 Development Agenda. Finally, I have 
participated in all 16 meetings of the UN Chief Executives Board during this period. 
 But as important as coherence between member-driven international organizations is, what really 
counts is the coherence of members. And I hope more will be done in domestic coherence and in 
the other areas, such as the relationship between  the WTO and ILO. That, of course, is your own 
task.  
More and better targeted outreach 
There was a time when trade negotiations could be conducted, agreements could be reached and 
even implemented largely away from the pu blic eye. As the French saying goes, " pour vivre 
heureux, vivons cachés ". But our societies no longer allow this. Not least because trade remains 
politically sensitive: the many who benefit are silent, those who suffer are, understandably, vocal. Their voices need to be heard because they are usually the weaker, the less well trained or skilled 
workers, often women. Public scrutiny is inevitable. There is a growing need to engage with our 
stakeholders and with the public at large.   WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  This is why ministers' and capitals' involvement is decisive. But experience shows that engaging 
both ministers and ambassadors is a delicate chemistry. Too much time spent with ministers and the ambassadors get restless. Too much time spent with ambassadors and the ministers become distant and mobilising their support at the right moment becomes harder. On this, my successor 
will have to find the right recipe. Mine did not always work! 
 Much has been achieved to enhance interactions  with stakeholders and the public. We have 
expanded our engagement with small and non-residents members. This has been tremendously 
helped by the setting up of an e-learning platfo rm which has grown from around 250 participants 
in 2005 to almost 5,000 in 2013. By the end of 2012, we would have provided access to e-learning to 22,000 participants. This is one of the major ac hievements of the WTO's technical assistance in 
these eight years: smarter more targeted and more cost efficient support. 
We have also expanded outreach with external stakeholders.   
We have significantly stepped-up our dialogue with NGOs, business and civil society at large both 
during my visits to WTO member s as well as here in Geneva, in particular through the Public 
Forum, which has attracted an increasing number of participants every year.  
 
We have further developed our contacts with parliamentarians, for whom we have devised a 
regular newsletter and local and regional seminars to brief them on trade-related matters.  
And we have enhanced our relations with academics, and in particular those in developing 
countries, through the creation of the WTO Chairs, the WTO Young Economist Award and the revamping of the WTO Reference Centres.  
 
Finally, we have tried to keep close to the public at large through the revamping of the WTO website, which is highly rated, the engagement  with media across the world, through enhanced 
technical assistance and outreach efforts, and initiatives such as the Open Day, which have helped 
bring the organization closer to our own immediate environment in Geneva.  All these initiatives have helped reposition the WTO within global economic governance and 
improved the visibility and the image of the organization.  
 This task, however, is far from being completed. The WTO, with its single Geneva site and its very 
limited resources, cannot substitute for an active outreach by its members. Longer term, outreach 
will be essential to sustain the legitimacy of an institution whose core mission – reducing barriers to trade – will have to deal with more value-based, hence more politically sensitive, non-tariff 
measures.  
 A professional secretariat at the service of members 
Three adjectives come to mind when we think of the WTO Secretariat: small, lean and hyper 
competent. With its 650 staff, the Secretariat is very small compared to our sister organizations, 
whose headcount are in the thousands. But it is home to an incredible reservoir of expertise devoted to serving members. 
 
My objective has been to modernise the Secretaria t, introducing changes to adjust to evolving 
circumstances, but also to enhance efficiency and improve value for money. At the end of the day, 
we remain an organization funded by taxpayers. Let me en passant  thank those of you who have 
helped with your capitals in settling arrears, certainly not an easy task! And not concluded, but a major step forward.  
I will not detail the changes in resources management which have been introduced and which have 
been the object of a separate report to you. Inst ead, I would like to focus on the importance of 
ensuring that the Secretariat provides intellectual leadership in the field of trade. 
 
This means fostering research and encouraging thin king and publication. I believe much has been 
achieved in this field and the credit for it goes to  staff. Research on trade in value-added, work on 
value chains, on analysing regional trade agreements, preparing trade policy reviews, World Trade 
Reports, assisting panels and Appellate Bodies  and the list goes on. The WTO is today THE 
reference on trade knowledge.  WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  But we cannot rest on our laurels. The Secretariat needs to continue to be forward-looking, to be 
fully aware of new issues and look into future ob stacles to trade. And this will require networking 
with members and with other stakeholders. In the st aff of the Secretariat, you have an incredible 
asset. Keep investing in it. And think about how you could better exploit its potential, as suggested 
by the Report of the Stakeholders I convened last ye ar to look into the future of trade. What I can 
guarantee to you is that neutrality and independence are deeply rooted in the Secretariat's values. And therefore it deserves more of your trust.  
 
Advice from a parting Director-General 
I am coming to the end of my statement and I think it is time to start looking into the future. 
 
These eight years have seen the building of a stronger institution. And I am not just referring to 
the renovated premises. This is now an institution, which is more than an organization. Beyond the benefits that it provides to its members, the WTO, as an institution, is an asset in itself, a global 
public good that each and every one of its memb ers must nurture. Of course, the DG represents 
the system and should always care about the system. But it cannot be that the "DG lives on Venus", the planet of a global public good, and "M embers live on Mars", the planet where members 
fight for their individual interests. You must look beyond your interests and also care about this 
institution, both as owners but also as stakeholders that you are.  In these eight years, I have also seen the political economy of trade opening better integrated into 
a set of domestic and international policies. This is an important step forward in the challenge of 
"convergence" that the Report on the Future of World Trade has so well reflected. Support for 
more open trade will not be sustained without ensuring greater fairness between winners and 
losers of trade opening. And without more conv ergence on values-based preferences that lie 
behind differences in non-tariff measures. This remains a challenge ahead.  
On 31 August, I will be stepping down as Director-General. I will take with me great memories, 
many friends, also some bitter lessons, but above all I take a sense of fulfilment in what has so far been a career at the service of the public interest.  
All of this would not have been possible without the support that you have extended to me during 
my two terms. Without your collaboration and even sometimes without some "barking" here and there.  
 
This would not have been possible without the A-team of DDGs with whom I have worked during these eight years. They are behind many of the ac hievements of these years. They have been my 
arms, my eyes and my ears to provide you all wi th our best service. Alejandro, Harsha, Rufus, 
Valentine, my thanks for your  support and your friendship. 
 Neither would this have been possible without my office, a small but beautiful team of devoted 
staff who have endured my frantic and demanding working and travelling rhythm, while never – or 
almost never – losing their calm and smile. To al l of them go more than my sincere appreciation, 
my heartfelt gratitude. 
 
Finally, my final words of thanks go to Secretariat staff. To all of them without exception. To the professionals and the support; to the Directors and the rank and file; to the security, to all of those 
who have made this adventure possible. They have helped me learn more each and every day of 
these eight years, which I consider a rare privilege.  My journey at the WTO is coming to an end. It is time for a bit of public emotion, which is not 
exactly my style! It is time for me to embark towards another life cycle. 
 WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  ANNEX II 
STATEMENTS BY DELEGATIONS - FAREWELL TO THE DIRECTOR-GENERAL 
 
1. Brazil (Director-General Designate Roberto Azevêdo) 
Let me start by bidding farewell to Ambassadors  E l i n  J o h a n s e n  o f  N o r w a y  a n d  T i m  Y e e n d  o f  
Australia. These two highly esteemed colleagues are, for me, long-time friends. We have worked together for many years as Ambassadors and previously in other positions. I had the privilege to 
learn immensely from their acumen and wisdom, always driving the search for acceptable and 
creative solutions to our numerous challenges. In wishing them all the best in their future endeavours, my only comfort is the certainty that our paths will keep crossing somehow.   
I have made it a point to be present at this part  of the General Council meeting today to express in 
p e r s o n  m y  g r a t i t u d e  a n d  t h a t  o f  t h e  G o v e r n m e n t  o f  B r a z i l  t o  P a s c a l  L a m y  f o r  h i s  o u t s t a n d i n g  contribution to this Organisation and to the multil ateral trading system over the last eight years. 
 
Dear Pascal, in your eight-year tenure as Director-General, your relentless efforts and unwavering commitment to the multilateral trading system must be recognised by all as a major factor in the 
process of consolidating the WTO as one of the main pillars of global economic governance. You 
have also seen it through a period of wide global economic crisis and extraordinary volatility. Under your leadership, the WTO helped curb protectionist pressures that threatened to emerge in this recent period of slow economic growth, uncerta inty in economic policy, and weak employment 
figures in key markets. We needed vision, determination, and action; you provided them. 
 The WTO has steadily grown in many ways under your two mandates. The number of Members, in 
itself, has grown from 148 to 159 in these last eight years, bringing this Organisation closer to 
universal membership.    
But the significance of this institution transcends numbers. One of the ways to measure its value is 
to look at the role the WTO now plays on the international scene. The WTO, under its coherence mandate, has kept meaningful and consequential co-operation with the other Bretton Woods institutions, the UN and its agencies, and the OECD. It also participates actively in the G20 
discussions. Your efforts, Pascal, have well positioned the WTO in that coordinating forum, which 
has been playing a very central role in shaping and advancing the world economic and trade agenda.  
 
Coming closer to our business in Geneva, it is true that the DDA has not yet been concluded -- and this is our collective responsibility, not yours individually. Having said that, negotiations advanced 
significantly since you took office in 2005. I was here in July 2008. I can testify that, without your 
resolve and strength, Pascal, that meeting would have  failed to leave us the draft texts and reports 
that still underpin a very significant portion of our current work.  
More recently, at MC8, Members looked realistically at the status of the DDA and took action that 
allowed us to explore new avenues. We are undertaking serious and intense work in some specific areas and your efforts, Pascal, to help the delivery of negotiated results at MC9, in Bali, are greatly 
appreciated. 
 As a forum for the settlement of disputes, there is no doubt that the WTO enjoys widespread trust 
and credibility. The system remains solid, and this is also thanks to the efforts you deployed to 
improve its functioning and administration despite the well-known severe budget constraints.   Under your tenure, Pascal, development initiatives were also advanced. The Aid for Trade initiative 
was launched and the Integrated Framework was enhanced. These are key components of the 
push to make this organisation more responsi ve to the development needs of the smaller and 
poorest Members, in particular the LDCs.  
 
I must also mention the Public Forum, an initiative you undertook to provide a space for a much-needed dialogue with civil society, academic circles, and constituencies other than Government 
trade officials. As a result, the role of the WTO is better understood today. 
 WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  The list of areas where you made a significant and positive difference could go on but I must make 
room for all the others who want to express their gratitude in this meeting. Allow me, however, one final note. When I was preparing for the DG se lection process, I read the statements that the 
candidates made in the presentation to the General Council in 2005. You were very careful in your 
statement, Pascal, not to make promises that you could not keep. You made, nonetheless, one 
clear and unequivocal promise: that, if appointed DG, you would improve the WTO parking lot.   
While I’m certain that your promise surely helped you get the DG post, I dare say you went a bit 
further. You actually have realised the vision of bringing the WTO under one roof – or, to be more precise, into one single compound. It makes managing the Secretariat a lot easier and offers the staff and delegates much better working conditions. 
 
Director-General, Pascal, your eight years in of fice have brought great improvements to this 
organisation and have left a permanent mark. Please accept, Pascal, my very best wishes of 
personal happiness and success in your future endeavours. I am honoured to follow in your 
footsteps and to build on the solid basis that you have so competently established.  
In fact, I also wish good fortune and a very successful term to the next DG! 
 2. Japan  
I would like to express my respect and admiration for you in three points, using the speaking style 
I learnt at our school formerly located in the rue des Saints-Pères in Paris. 
 First, I would like to pay tribute to you for your leadership and the initiatives that you have 
undertaken throughout the past eight years - a period of considerable global turbulence. 
 Thanks to you, the concept of Aid for Trade has gained ground and received much support from 
both "trade people" and "aid people", as you explained to us this morning in your report. 
 Thanks to you, trade trends have been closely mo nitored with a view to analysing the development 
of production and commercial value chains. I congratulate you on having introduced this aspect 
during the Fourth Global Review of Aid for Trade. 
 Thanks to you, the WTO, in conjunction with the OECD, warned against protectionism in the wake 
of the financial and economic crisis. As a former Sherpa, I thank you for having reacted to the 
statement by the G-20 leaders, which I had the honour of drafting.  
Secondly, I recall you telling me that you were fond of the French 19
th century poets such 
as Charles Baudelaire and Paul Verlaine. The life you lead, that of an ascetic, is far from decadent, although I admit that I am not familiar with your personal life. Nevertheless, we recall that the age 
of decadence was followed by the birth of the art of a new generation. "Symbolism" was the key 
word of that era. 
Today, while multilateralism risks becoming deca dent, I hope that the new narrative you have 
begun to evoke, including the symbols which characterise it, will take us forward towards 
a new balance in international cooperation. 
 Thirdly, in the poem "Bad Luck", in "Spleen an d Ideal", the first part of "Flowers of Evil", 
Baudelaire wrote: 
 "Although one's heart is in the work, 
 Art is long and Time is short".  
So, even though you are leaving the WTO, I wish to continue working with you for the good 
of justice and cordiality wherever fate may lead us.  
As I said to you the other day, citing a passage from the poem by Paul Eluard: 
  On your blue rags 
 On the pond mildewed sun 
 On the "Lake Geneva" living moon WT/GC/M/146 
 
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   You write your name 
  You were born to be known  To be named 
 "Freedom". "Free trade!" 
 As a former student of the ENA, as well as a former Sherpa, it has been a great honour to witness 
your work, strength and dedicated commitment. 
 Long live Pascal! Long live the WTO! 
 
3. Morocco (for the African Group)  
Pascal Lamy is a committed Africanist. He has put the concerns and expectations of African 
countries at the top of the WTO agenda and opened the Organization up to African potential. He 
has travelled more widely in Africa than any other Director-General. Today, Africa has a modern economy and is the region with the second-highest growth rate in the world. Africa's GDP currently 
comprises one-third industrial revenue, one-third agricultural revenue and one-third revenue from 
telecommunications and services.  Pascal Lamy is the leading advocate of the Doha Development Agenda. He has constantly defended 
it in the face of criticism and firmly believed in its importance for the developing countries and for 
the WTO as an institution, even though we are still waiting to see positive results. Since arriving at 
the WTO, he has made Aid for Trade his primary focus. This initiative has been a success, and the 
countries he mobilized have donated some US$170 billion to assist developing countries. The 
notion of achieving growth through trade may now be considered a reality.  
Pascal Lamy is the defender of multilateralism. He has defended the WTO mandate and the 
Organization's role as world trade regulator in the face of a rush of attempts to establish regional and plurilateral agreements.  
Pascal Lamy has been the helmsman in times of crisis. He has shown political courage and 
leadership in calling upon developed countries not to succumb to the temptation of protectionism. 
He has upheld the values of free trade and has, through his reports on protectionist practices, 
successfully persuaded developed countries not to get swept up in these practices. 
 Pascal Lamy is the standard bearer for "managed globalization". Despite the demonization of the 
WTO by anti-globalization activists and the criticism of those in favour of the industrial 
desertification of developed countries, he has promoted a human approach to globalization, based on the core values of global governance, free economic exchange, sustainable development and a 
balance between economic, social, environm ental and cultural exception aspects. 
 
For all these reasons, Director-General Lamy will be missed by the African Group, which will 
remember him not only as a Director-General with a big personality, leadership qualities 
and a vision for the future, but as an optimistic person committed to the developing countries. 
 
At the end of his speech, Ambassador Hilale also  paid tribute to the Director-General's team, 
namely Deputy Directors-General Valentine Sendanyoye Rugwabiza, Alejandro Jara, 
Harsha Vardhana Singh and Rufus Yerxa. 
 4. Singapore (for ASEAN)  
ASEAN would like to express its deep appreciation to you Mr. Lamy for your leadership and many 
contributions to the WTO during your tenure. A lot of what you have given in the past 8 years has helped shape the WTO to what it is today. 
 
Firstly, we recognize the significant work you have done in progressing development through technical assistance, capacity building and Aid-for-Trade for members, particularly for LDCs which 
ASEAN believes will be a cornerstone of your legacy . It Is also historic that we saw all 10 ASEAN 
members becoming WTO members under your tenure,  with the accession of Viet Nam, Cambodia 
and Laos. It strengthens our belief in multilateralism and would serve ASEAN well as we integrate WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  into the Global Value Chain. It is certainly a boost to the establishment of our ASEAN Economic 
Community by 2015, as ASEAN strives to enhance the ASEAN connectivity from within and with Asia and the Pacific.  
Secondly, we also welcome the strengthening of the monitoring and surveillance functions of the 
WTO, such as the trade monitoring system set up during the financial crisis and the integrated system for all trade policy information through the setting up of a depository. 
 
ASEAN appreciates your hard work in ensuring that the WTO maintains its standing as the pre-eminent multilateral forum for trade liberalisation and rule-setting, by providing members with a modern, efficient system of resolving trade disputes and where decisions continue to be made 
through our cherished principle of consensus by  all members, regardless of size or status. 
 Your legacy will be recognized not just in terms of the strengthening of the WTO institutionally, but 
also physically through this beautifully improved campus. You recognized opportunities when they 
were present, which is how we gained the Chines e Garden on our campus. But more importantly, 
you recognized the practical, everyday aspects, in managing to achieve what the past DG’s could 
not, in working with our host Canton to improve parking spaces for delegates. Such negotiating 
successes should not to be taken lightly, and future generations will always remember “This was Lamy’s doing!”  
Mr. Lamy, you may not be among us in Bali, but your wisdom will remain. We express our most 
sincere thanks to you and wish you the best for your future endeavours.  
5. Egypt (for the Arab Group) 
The Arab group expresses appreciation for the tireless efforts of Mr. Lamy in leading WTO in two 
subsequent terms. The wide, deep and diverse experience of Mr. Lamy, along with his wise 
leadership, ensured the proper and smooth functioning of the organization throughout 8 years of 
his mandate. The prudent administration of Mr. La my guaranteed the efficiency and effectiveness 
of WTO as the only legitimate forum for managing the international trade regime.  
Mr. Lamy led this organization in a very turbulent time where series of financial and economic 
crises plagued the world economy. The economic cr ises are always associated with a breakout of 
protectionist measures that could jeopardize the premises of the international trade regime.  The 
Arab group recognizes that the effective leadership of Mr. Lamy and his incessant interaction with 
different configurations of the key players helped emphasizing the serious consequences of sliding back to protectionism.  
 
The Arab group commends the endeavours of Mr. Lamy to adjust the organization to the new 
challenges facing the flow of international trade. Mr Lamy has persistently sought to explore the evolution of the multilateral trading system in th e era of globalization and interdependence, with a 
view to adapt the organization to the new developments. 
 The Arab group appreciates the focus of Mr. Lamy on the development-related aspects of trade and 
the essentiality in addressing the imbalances and the adjustment costs created by trade 
liberalization. The definition of Mr. Lamy of “Geneva consensus” is a key message that should continue to guide the work of this organization . Mr. Lamy defined “Geneva consensus” as – and I 
am quoting - “a belief that trade opening works for development but only if we address the 
imbalances it creates between winners and losers, imbalances that are all the more dangerous the more fragile the economies, societies or countries face”. The aid for trade in itiative launched by Mr. 
Lamy comes within this spirit of this significant message.  
 
Finally, the Arab group appreciates the efforts of Mr. Lamy to develop the infrastructure of WTO, which is timely and needed. 
 
6. Nepal (for the LDC Group)  
We thank you, Pascal, for your end of the tenure st atement, highlighting the main achievements of 
your tenure and also the tasks that are yet to be accomplished. We also thank you for your 
sympathy and support to LDC issues.  WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  As you prepare to leave the office after eight years of service, we would like to pay tributes to you 
for the contributions you have made to this organization.  Since joining the WTO as Director-General on 1st September 2005, you provided, despite several 
challenges, dynamic leadership to this organization and helped the WTO remain an agile institution 
as an important pillar of global economic govern ance. Your re-appointment for the second term in 
2009 proved your sincerity, and commitment, as well as dedicated leadership to this body.   
 
You always emphasized the value of a rule-based multilateral trading system of which WTO is a custodian. Even during the turbulent times foll owing the economic and financial crises of 2008, 
you, with great wisdom and understanding, successfully defended and safeguarded the 
fundamental principles of the WTO.  
 In the last eight years, you tried your best to give DDA a constant push. Unfortunately, it still 
remains an unfinished agenda to the detriment of developing countries; in particular LDCs. Failure 
to deliver on DDA will be a great loss and will undermine the credibility of this organization. That is why early completion of DDA with a balanced and development friendly outcome is absolutely 
essential. 
 There are many initiatives to your credit. Th ey have helped enhance the image of this 
organization. Some of the initiatives that you promoted and advanced and which are of particular 
significance to LDCs include, aid for trade, mark et access, and conversion of IF into the EIF. 
Furthermore, you played a constructive role in getting endorsed the LDCs services waiver decision from the eighth ministerial conference. During your tenure, LDCs needs for technical assistance 
and capacity building received priority. LDCs' accessi on received priority during your tenure. As a 
result, five LDCs have joined the organization and some are in the process of joining the WTO. This 
is an important achievement towards reaching the goal of universal membership. We hope the 
initiatives that you launched and pioneered in favour of the most vulnerable and poorest segment 
of WTO membership will be continued and further strengthened by your successor.  
 Your longstanding commitment to the cause of LDCs is well recognized. Before joining the WTO, 
you, in your earlier incarnation as the European Trade Commissioner, championed the DFQF 
market access initiative in the form of EBA for the LDCs, and this scheme has, to a large extent, helped the LDCs to enhance their trade in European counties. 
 
As we prepare for the 9th Ministerial Conference in Bali, we believe that change of leadership at this critical juncture should not distract our efforts in seeking a balanced outcome in all three 
pillars of Bali Package. LDCs urge the WTO memb ership to deliver meaningful outcome on LDCs 
core issues in the fulfilment of their collective commitment to integrate LDCs into multilateral trading system. We will miss you, Pascal, in Bali but, we believe that, the course you have charted will lead us to a successful conclusion. 
 
You had a solid team of committed and highly professional DDGs Alejandro, Valentine, Harsha and Rufus behind you to implement your vision and pr iorities. They deserve our sincere appreciation 
for the marvellous jobs they have done in their re spective areas of responsibilities. We also thank 
the effective and capable staff in your office led by Arancha Gonzalez and the entire membership of 
the secretariat that helped you deliver on your promises. 
 
Finally, we extend our heartfelt gratitude to you on the successful completion of your services to the WTO and wish you a long, happy and prospero us life. This body will need your continued 
support in future. 
 
Before I conclude, let me express warm words of welcome to newly arrived colleagues, Ambassadors of Lesotho and Grenada, and best wishes for their successful tenure of office.  
 
I wish to end on a note of sincere thanks to Elin  and Tim, two distinguished outgoing friends, for 
their outstanding contributions to our organization. We will sorely miss them in future not only as 
good friends but also as valuable and dynamic players in the WTO community and more so in the 
context of our preparations for the Bali Ministerial. We wish the well.      WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  7. Barbados (for the SVEs Group)  
I wish to pay tribute to Director General Lamy for his able leadership of this Organisation over the 
past 8 years.  As a Group of small countries with limited resources, we have appreciated the open door policy of the Director General, his willingness to listen to our concerns and the option to avail 
ourselves of his Good Offices, to address any conc erns we may have had.   We have admired your 
tireless energy, determination and your optimism – even in the face of sometimes bleak outlooks.  You will be remembered Pascal as someone always  willing to try, reminding us, as Alexander 
Pope’s poem – An Essay on Man – that “Hope springs eternal in the human breast”. 
 Alas, you have not been able to see us cross the finish line that is the Doha Development Agenda negotiations.  But you have given us a rich contribution – Aid for Trade, overseen high quality 
research and reports produced by the Secretariat,  including the last eight World Trade Reports, 
some thought provoking Public Forum sessions, to n a m e  b u t  a  f e w .   I n  a d d i t i o n ,  w e  h a v e  a l s o 
appreciated the infrastructural upgrade undertaken – the lighter, brighter atrium in the new 
building, the room renovations and the car park upgrade, all of which make our work a little easier.  
There is no doubt that the Organisation is a better place for your stewardship.  
So Director General, on behalf of all our Members – both those present in Geneva and those that 
are non-resident and whom we try to represent – we wish to thank you once again and wish you all the best in your future endeavours.  
Chair, I would like to add a brief word of thanks on behalf of Barbados.  You have always brought 
an understanding of the challenges faced by th e small and the disadvantaged, even though you 
yourself are from a large developed country. 
 
You also understood the barriers to development. The nurturing of the Committee on Trade and Development and the Committee on Trade and Transfer  of Technology, the EIF and most of all the 
AID for Trade initiative, the latter of which is a significant flagship, showed an appreciation of the 
barriers to development and a commitment help countries to overcome them.  The fact that not all these initiatives and committees functioned as desired is related to the inherent competitiveness of the mercantilist system which sees the world mistakenly as a system in which one cannot benefit 
unless another loses, when in fact this is not the case - sellers need buyers. Impoverish the buyers 
and you cannot sell.  
The efforts to accept the importance of S and D treatment is another effort which is appreciated. It 
took the great recession of 2007/8 for many to understand why developing countries had from time to time to support ailing industries, or give financial support below market prices to the weak 
or give haircuts to debtors. 
 As you demit office, you can be satisfied that you have provided astute leadership to this organization. Despite being at the helm of the WTO in difficult times, you were able, through 
advocacy and public statements, to stave off excessive protectionist tendencies and raise the 
profile of the WTO as the global leader in trade matters.  
We therefore thank you for your leadership and fo r your yeoman service and creative efforts and 
wish you well in all your future endeavours.  
We also take the opportunity to say thank you to the outgoing Director Generals for their 
committed service to the WTO.  8. Peru (for GRULAC)  
I would first of all like to thank Pascal Lamy for his last address as Director-General before the 
General Council and express our gratitude and apprecia tion for his contribution to and leadership of 
this major Organization over the past eight years. 
 
The world has undergone significant changes over this period and faced one of its most serious economic crises, which unquestionably has had an impact on world trade. It is no easy task 
to head an organization in times of crisis, and we should therefore pay tribute to Pascal's work 
in these difficult economic circumstances, in which the WTO became an important pillar for promoting the continuity of trade flows and improving the trade capacities of developing WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  countries, by launching the Aid for Trade initiative and strengthening the trade monitoring 
mechanism through trade policy reviews and the overall review of trade measures adopted in the context of this crisis.  
The GRULAC members appreciate the important role  of Aid for Trade, and we regard the results 
of the latest Global Review as highly positive on account of their contribution to the creation and building up of the trade and production capaciti es of developing and especially least developed 
countries. We would also recall that the first review of Aid for Trade for Latin America 
and the Caribbean was held in Lima in 2007 and that the Caribbean Regional Aid for Trade Strategy was recently adopted in Haiti.  
Turning to the Doha Development Agenda, we note the progress made in the negotiations with 
a view to an early harvest package that could be adopted by our Ministers in Bali and the tireless 
efforts made by the Director-General and his team  to advance the process. We are confident that 
Bali will see the adoption of a significant and ba lanced package that includes Trade Facilitation, 
a number of Agriculture and S&D issues, and an LDC package.  
We believe that trade has an important role to play in promoting economic development, 
job creation and poverty reduction. We accordin gly support the strengthening of a transparent, 
predictable and inclusive multilateral trading system, capable of tackling the new challenges of world trade and contributing to the sustainabl e development of Members. In this connection, 
we are grateful to Pascal and his team in the Secretariat for their initiatives and efforts to advance 
towards these objectives. These will serve as a good basis for the work to be undertaken by his successor Roberto Azevêdo. I take this opportunity to thank Pascal and wish him every 
success in his new activities. 
 9. Dominican Republic (for the Inform al Group of Developing Countries)  
I would like to pay tribute to the work you have done as head of this organization. We are deeply 
thankful for all your efforts to help all developing countries to better integrate into the multilateral trading system. You have left this organization with a lasting legacy particularly in the area of Aid for Trade and improving capacity building for wh ich all developing countries are in your debt. 
 
Y o u  h a v e  a l s o  w o r k e d  t i r e l e s s l y  t o  p r o v i d e  u s  w i t h  a  w o r k i n g  p h y s i c a l  e n v i r o n m e n t  t h a t  w i l l  b e  more conducive to productivity in all areas of the work of WTO by all Members. Although a positive 
conclusion of the Doha Round has been elusive and we all deeply regret this, it has not been 
because of lack of efforts on your part. Through your steering of this organization you have ably set it on the path of tackling the multiple challenges that will arise from trade in this 21
st century. 
 
At the IGDC we are thankful for the increased participatory role that you have given to our Group. We will fondly remember the various times that during your mandate you met with the Group to share your views on the important issues in th e work of the Organization. Your diligence in 
increasing transparency and inclusiveness in the decision making process in the WTO have not 
gone unnoticed and are to be commended.  
We would like to bid you a very warm farewell an d all the best wishes in any new role that you 
may undertake in the future.  
On behalf of Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras  
To speak to a fellow football fan who is always delighted to kick a ball around with us and share a 
friendly drink for everything that he has done to benefit this organization. Many of these efforts have become reality and others are elusive but that was nothing to do with Mr. Lamy's tireless 
efforts, but rather an absence of leadership in international community to provide assistance in 
WTO endeavours in the midst of a deep seated global crisis – efforts to move the world towards a situation more propitious to economic development, with more predictability, balance and fairness. 
Thank you for your tremendous optimism and my thanks also to the wonderful team who have 
assisted you in your endeavours. May God bless you and guide you in your future endeavours. 
"You make the road by walking on it". 
 WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  10. Australia  
Pascal, I think that you know that Australia has been a very strong and close supporter of your 
endeavours over the last 8 years. You have worked  with a succession of Australian Trade Ministers 
and Ambassadors. We also have had the benefit of your regular visits to Australia where I think 
you have come to realize that you learn as much about Australia and our attitudes from a stroll 
along Bondi Beach as you do from coming to Canberra and sitting down with all of us who are more intricately involved in the issues under discussion here. 
 
Your support for the CAIRNS Group has been very much appreciated by us as well. I think that all of the CAIRNS Group would join me in expressing  our thanks for the focus and attention you have 
given to the centrality of Agriculture in the work here and that has been greatly appreciated by us. 
 
There are a range of other areas, obviously across the negotiating agenda I would absolutely agree with what Roberto said that we would not be where we are today in terms of our ability to 
prosecute the agenda that we have without your dedication and commitment.  There have been 
disappointments along the way, but I think we have also made with great strides in trying to adapt the agenda to the realities of the situations that we have been in. I think that MC8 was a great 
achievement in that regard and I think that you have set us up well for a successful Bali meeting. I 
was pleased to hear your comments yesterday and today where you think that is in real prospect.  I would like to personally thank you for the suppor t you have been able to give me in the period 
that I have been here. I would also like to pay tribute to the rest of your team, in particular to 
Arancha who has been a fantastic support to you through this period but also to all of your DDGs who have done a fantastic job. You have had a very good team around to prosecute the agenda 
that you have been pursuing for the last 8 years. We certainly wish you all the best. 
 11. Jamaica (for ACP) 
My delegation joins other speakers in wishing Ambassadors Johanssen and Yeend well as they 
prepare to demit office. We also warmly welcome the new Ambassadors of Grenada and Lesotho to the WTO family. On behalf of the Member States of the ACP Group, Jamaica wishes to pay tribute to DG Pascal Lamy for his sterling contribution to the growth and development of the WTO over the 
past 8 years. The ACP’s relationship with DG La my predates his assumption of office here in 
Geneva and we place tremendous value on the deep understanding he has demonstrated in relation to issues of concern to members of the Group and developing countries more broadly, 
throughout our long association. We also express our gratitude to the team of DDGs and the staff 
in DG Lamy’s office for their contribution. 
We can readily acknowledge that DG Lamy presided over some of the most challenging periods in 
the WTO’s history. Throughout it all, he has demonstrated great commitment and a spirit of 
optimism which deserve our fullest admiration an d gratitude. We salute him for his efforts to 
inspire critical debate in searches for consensus and for the manner in which he sought to promote the full and active participation of develo ping countries in the work of the WTO. 
DG Lamy prepares to leave office at a time when many key issues remain to be resolved in our 
negotiating agenda. We are satisfied that if it were entirely up to him, there would be few, if any outstanding issues on the agenda. Of course, in a member driven process, even the extraordinary 
efforts of a marathon runner would not be enough. Nevertheless, there can be no doubt that DG 
Lamy helped to set the foundation on which we will hopefully build our ultimate outcomes in the DDA. 
For the ACP and developing countries as a whole, DG Lamy has contributed to many achievements 
which hold great significance for our continued engagement with the multilateral trading system. He has actively supported the accession of develo ping countries and LDCs to the WTO. We also 
recognize his deep engagement in matters pertaining to Cotton as reflected in the establishment of 
the DG’s Consultative Framework Mechanism on Co tton. Very significantly, DG Lamy’s promotion 
and advocacy in relation to Aid for Trade remains one of the most enduring legacies of his tenure. 
I will now say a few words in my national capacity. WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  Jamaica is deeply grateful to DG Lamy for his contribution to the development of the WTO and his 
work in relation to Aid for Trade in particular. He actively supported Jamaica’s efforts to embrace Aid for Trade from the outset, which culminated in our ability to launch our National AfT Strategy in October 2011. Even more recently, he joined the President of Haiti and other regional leaders in 
the launch of the CARICOM Regional Aid for Trade Strategy in Haiti on 11 June 2013. 
Of course, Jamaica’s admiration for and appreciation to DG Lamy extends far beyond Aid for Trade 
and includes his active engagement with and support for Small Economies and for the ventilation 
of issues affecting SVEs within the WTO. We thank him whole heartedly for his outstanding 
contribution and wish him and his family well in their future endeavours. Director General, as we say in Jamaica, “Walk good”. 
12. Trinidad and Tobago (for CARICOM)  
I wish to express our sincere commendations and appreciation to you, for your accomplishments 
and leadership over the last eight years.    
CARICOM acknowledges your invaluable contributions to the multilateral trading system and the 
WTO, particularly in regard to the Aid for Trade initiative and Small Vulnerable Economies (SVE) issues.  We appreciated greatly your receptive disposition and interest in the Region. Your 
willingness to actively engage us on all the important issues will also be remembered, as well as 
your sharp wit and insightful mind.    CARICOM therefore associates itself fully with the statements made by Barbados on behalf of 
SVEs, Peru on behalf of GRULAC and Jamaica on behalf of the ACP Group. 
 Pascal, although we were unable to harvest the cherished prize of the Doha fruit under you tenure, 
you have nevertheless helped us stretch our hands that much closer towards it in spite of the 
numerous thorny branches hindering us.   
On behalf of all the Member States of CARICOM, we again say thank you for your leadership and 
indeed the contribution of your support team and wish you all the best in your future endeavours. 
 Mr. Chairman, please permit me to offer brief comments in my national capacity, on behalf of 
Trinidad and Tobago. 
 Pascal, the avid marathon runner you are, as mentioned by Jamaica, you fully understand what a 
test of endurance is. This has no doubt served you in good stead during your 8-year tenure as the 
Director-General of this Organization.   
With the right mix of diplomatic skill, tenacity and focus, you’ve guided us through the greatest 
challenge for the WTO since its establishment in 1995 – the DDA negotiations.  My delegation believes that when the ink dries on the DDA Agreement, you will be recognised as one of the key contributors to the achievement. 
 
Apart from overseeing the WTO’s trade negotiating role, you have contributed to enhancing the Organization’s Monitoring and Peer Review function and to ensuring that the WTO’s Dispute 
Settlement Mechanism continues to be widely regarded as one of the most useful and critical 
features of the multilateral trading system.  
You have also facilitated the strengthening of the organization’s technical cooperation mechanism, 
thereby affording small countries such as Trinidad and Tobago, greater opportunity to improve our institutional and human capacity in the field of trade and increase our participation in multilateral trade negotiations.  
 
It is my distinct honour, therefore, on behalf of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago, to pay tribute to you for your committed service to the World Trade Organization.   
 
We wish you all the best in your future endeavou rs and hope that given the visionary and critical 
thinker that you are, you will continue to contribute in numerous ways on the international stage. 
 WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  13. European Union 
Mr Director-General, dear Pascal, during your term of office you have faced one of the most 
difficult international climates.  
The difficulties in making progress in the Doha Development Round have not only absorbed a large 
part of the multilateral system's resources, but had a significant impact on the Organization's work as a whole. 
 
The economic and financial crisis generated specific risks for the system and created a considerable amount of tension for which solutions had to be found.  
Political attitudes within States have also changed considerably, including in developed countries, 
where it has often become more difficult to defend free trade.  
For the most part, these difficulties, and others, reflect a profound transition in the world economy 
and a shift in the economic power relationships of  WTO players. Both of these factors raise key 
issues such as the balance between the trade benefits received by Members and Members' 
contributions to the system. 
 Mr Director-General, despite these unfavourable circumstances, you have consolidated and developed the WTO's role in numerous ways. You have expanded the Organization 
both geographically and thematically. 
 Let me briefly mention a few of these far from exhaustive achievements: 
 
The most visible change is perhaps the geograph ical enrichment of the Organization thanks 
to the accession of 11 new Members. This has been an important step towards ensuring the truly 
global nature of the WTO. 
 Furthermore, having inherited an ailing Doha Round, you managed to maintain the Membership's unity and commitment in the negotiations, despite certain ruptures, notably that of July 2008. 
 
In the context of the crisis, you positioned th e WTO in the front line of the G-20's commitment 
to resist protectionism. Without careful monitoring, it is clear that this commitment would not have 
had the same value or the same impact. And it is also clear that without the WTO's efforts 
the world may well have fallen into a protectionist spiral, with harmful and catastrophic consequences for the global economy. 
 
You have considerably strengthened the WTO's ro le in development by launching the enhanced 
integrated framework for LDCs and the Aid for Trade initiative.  
The European Union recognizes the significant personal effort that you have made 
as Director-General to drive forward the global Aid for Trade programme and the work conducted with Members to ensure that the programme is  given the Organization's full attention. 
 
This initiative is clearly already of global importance.  
Similarly, we should recall the efforts you made to curb what could have been a serious contraction 
of international trade by ensuring the relaxation  of the Basel III regulations, which stifled the 
financing of trade in developing countries, after taking this issue to G-20 level and mobilizing regional development banks. 
 
Your personal involvement, at G-20 level and in other high-level international forums, has really changed the current picture and this merits very special recognition. It has also been vital 
for the credibility of the WTO as an institution.  You have shown that the WTO works, and that 
it can achieve positive results, even when its negotiating pillar is in difficulty.  
It must be acknowledged that the WTO is driven by its Members and that the role 
of a Director-General is essentially to facilitate consensus between them. The deadlocks in the negotiations can only be attributed to the Members.  WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  I would also like to highlight your commitment to ensuring WTO transparency, most notably 
through the annual public forum event, which provides an opportunity for dialogue between the WTO, NGOs and civil society in general.  
I f  t h e  W T O  i s  t o d a y  v i e w e d  i n  a  m u c h  m o r e  p o s i t i v e  l i g h t ,  i t  i s  c e r t a i n l y  a l s o  t h a n k s  
to those efforts.  
The final point I would like to mention, undoubtedly one of the most significant, is your intellectual 
leadership and your quest for a holistic view that ensures coherence between trade and other political fields. On your own personal initiative, you have introduced new subjects and concepts into the WTO's field of reflection (the environment, climate change, employment, global value 
chains) by launching joint studies with other international organizations such as UNEP and the ILO, 
even if it sometimes meant braving the hesitation of certain WTO Members.  
Similarly, since April 2012, you and your group of eminent colleagues have helped to define 
the trade challenges of the future, including the central question of convergence and the relationship between reciprocity and flexib ility. These are big issues with many political 
implications and sensitivities, and yet we cannot collectively move forward without finding 
adequate responses to such matters. However, I trust that WTO Members will show an interest 
in these issues and give them their attention.  
More important still, you have succeeded in telling Members what they need 
to be told - even if they sometimes don't want to hear it. You have pointed out their contradictions and clearly reminded them when  they have veered from the correct path. 
This is sometimes the most important responsibility that falls to a Director-General, and you have 
assumed it like no other. Your comments have not always been easy to accept, and it hasn't been easy for some Europeans to receive criticism from a fellow European, but in the end this approach 
h a s  b e e n  v e r y  m u c h  a p p r e c i a t e d ,  a s  i t  i s  v i tal to the system. You have never been unduly 
indulgent, and have always worked in the interest of the system with candour and determination. The WTO may be Member-driven, but the Director-General isn't. It is vital that your successor continues to push Members to accept and assume their WTO responsibilities. 
 
The European Union and all its Member States thank you for your major contribution and your deep commitment. We also thank the excellent team made up of your four Deputy 
Director-Generals, Alejandro, Harsha, Rufus and Valentine, as well as Arancha and all your 
collaborators. The European Union will continue to defend and support the work of the WTO and the multilateral trading system and will assist the new Director-General in any way it can, 
starting with our joint effort to achieve succe ss at the Ninth Ministerial Conference in Bali. 
 We wish you every success in your future endeavours.  
14. Nigeria 
I wish to join other delegations before me to pay special tribute to Pascal for his formidable 
stewardship as Director-General of the WTO and Ch airman of the TNC over the past eight years.  
In that regard, Nigeria appreciates the tireless efforts and unwavering commitment of the Director-
General to the WTO and the multilateral trading system throughout his tenure, more so as this period represents one of the critical moments in the history of our Organisation.  We note that in 
spite of daunting challenges, Pascal, since assumpti on of office in 2005, has remained resolute in 
his vision and leadership, particularly with respect to the twin priorities of raising the profile of the WTO as an important international organisation and major player in global economic governance; and the successful conclusion of the Doha Round. 
 
With respect to raising the profile of the WTO, Nige ria is satisfied that Pascal, to the admiration of 
all, has ably represented the WTO at almost uncountable high – level global meetings and events.  
Throughout his international engagements, Pascal has spared no effort to secure political support 
for the work of the WTO, in particular, the fight against protectionism. And there is no doubt that 
this has significantly contributed to enhancing the visibility and relevance of the organisation.  We 
have all been witnesses to the launching of various laudable initiatives and projects relating to Aid 
for Trade, technical assistance and capacity building programmes, Accessions, Cotton, the 
extensive expansion and renovation of the WTO Build ing, and the Report on the future of the WTO, 
to mention but a few.    Nigeria is therefore very happy to place on record Pascal’s legacy and the WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  important reforms that he has introduced to the work of the Organization, which we believe will 
continue to deliver notable dividends to the membership in the future.  In spite of Pascal’s astute leadership, commitment,  perseverance and painstaking efforts, we have 
not been able to fully deliver on the DDA over which he presided as one of the important 
“midwives” at Doha, Qatar, in 2001.  Although Nigeria remains deeply concerned over the prevailing stalemate in the DDA, we are somehow consoled by the fact that this is largely 
attributable to the inability of Members to deliver on the commitments they had made in Doha 
rather than the failure of leadership in the TNC.  Nigeria is satisfied that the lack of progress in the 
Doha Round has not diminished the Director – General’s strong sense of creativity, scholarly acumen and gift of persuasion, as these personal attributes remain in his armoury and will surely 
serve him well in his future endeavours, whether in his home country, France, or back in Brussels. 
   Having worked closely with Pascal in my various roles in the WTO throughout his tenure, I have 
experienced first-hand the different shades of Pascal’s mood and personality – anxiety levels as 
well as warmth and calmness even during very st ressful and challenging moments.  I bear witness 
to his intellectual capacity and exemplary leadership.  His tenacity in the face of seemingly 
insurmountable hurdles is exceptional.  I am sure that all these qualities constitute a veritable 
source of inspiration to not just myself but also to many others who have had the opportunity to work closely with him.  On that note, I wish to sincerely thank Pascal for his invaluable service to the WTO.  I commend his accomplishments and wish him the best of fortune in his personal and 
professional lives. I also commend the DDGs and the rest of the Secretariat staff for their support 
to Pascal throughout his eight year tenure.   
Finally, Mr. Chairman, since this is the first time I am taking the floor, permit me also say a few 
words to two very dear friends, Elin and Tim, who have remained good rather than great friends. Elin and Tim, you both passed my “economic needs” test for good friends, that is, “good friends 
support each other when something terrible happens.  Great friends pretend nothing ever 
happened”.  So, this is my wish for you:   Comfort on difficult days,  
Smiles when sadness intrudes,  
Rainbows to follow the clouds,  Laughter to kiss your lips, 
 Sunsets to warm your heart,  
Beauty for your eyes to see,  Friendships to brighten your being,  
Faith so that you can believe,  
Confidence for when you doubt,  Courage to know yourself,  Patience to accept the truth, and 
Love to complete your life. 
 15. Chinese Taipei  
I would first like to express my delegation's sincere appreciation for your 8 years of continuous 
dedicated service and your important contribution to this Organization. 
 
Pascal, you have done many significant things in your two terms in office, including tirelessly trying 
to push the DDA negotiations forward. Making the DDA journey requires the determination and endurance of a marathon runner and the journey has yet to be completed. Your enormous energy and strength of character over the last few laps to the finishing line will certainly be missed. 
 
The new extension to the WTO building and renovation of the campus have been completed on time and surprisingly within budget. Members now have an even better environment in which to 
meet and work due in great part to your active participation in the planning and implementation 
from start to finish which is also very very much appreciated.  
Finally Pascal, I wish you a wonderful new life after the 1 September. All the very best and 
continued success in your future endeavours.  WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  If I may I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the DG's team, the four DDGs, 
Valentine, Alejandro, Harsha, Rufus and Arancha for their contributions over the past few years. At 
the same time my I say a fond farewell to two co lleagues, Tim and Elin, who are shortly leaving us. 
I have valued their friendship dearly over the last few months and I wish them all the best in their 
future endeavours. 
 16. Mexico 
Thank you Pascal for all that you have done, for your legacy. Yesterday, the launch of the book 
The History and Future of the World Trade Organization  was held in the old Council Room, 
Room W. You, Pascal, have not only played an important part in the Organization's history, both as EU Trade Commissioner and Director-General; you have also made your mark 
on the Organization's future through your actions in a variety of areas. 
 Your achievements are wide-ranging, from the safe guarding of works of art and the renovation and 
extension of the Centre William Rappard, to the launch and subsequent strengthening of the Aid 
for Trade initiative. The number of WTO Members has considerably increased. You have promoted major initiatives in the field of foreign trade research; the measurement of trade in terms of value-
added and the study of global value chains are but two examples, albeit very important ones. 
 But there are many more: each of the volumes of  the World Trade Report focuses on fundamental 
trade issues. Numerous studies have also been published on specific issues, and efforts have been 
made to enhance the transparency of informatio n on trade in goods and services, as evidenced 
by yesterday's launch of the Integrated Trade Intelligence Portal. You have increased technical assistance through the use of new technologies. The Public Forum is another 
of your great achievements. 
 As a number of my colleagues have already said, your greatest success has been combating 
protectionism. What the WTO has achieved un der your leadership, the way you prevented 
the ghosts of Hawley and Smoot from taking over this Organization at the onset of the financial crisis, is no mean feat. The measures you took to revitalize trade financing during the crisis were fundamental. 
 
As noted in your speech, what has not worked as well as we would have liked is the Organization's negotiating arm. While watching Marc Minkovsky conduct at the concert 
of Les Musiciens du Louvre Grenoble  which you invited us to the other day, I thought about 
the significant difference between an orchestra conductor and a WTO Director-General. I then came across something you said a few years ago: " As DG we can catalyze, we can broker, 
we sometimes can lead, but at the end of th e day Members have the decision-making power ". 
 Pascal, it has been an honour to work with you to promote the multilateral trading system, 
just as it was working with you to promote bilateral trade between Mexico and the EU when 
you were Trade Commissioner. You have been an excellent WTO Director-General. I wish 
you every success in your new role, whatever it may involve. If it were up to me, I would be telling my grandchildren that I was friends with the prime minister of France! 
 
You have worked with a magnificent team of people: Alejandro Jara, my great friend for more years than I would care to remember; Rufus Yerxa, who I have also known for many years; 
and Harsha and Valentine, my two more recent friends, who I have known for only eight years. 
They are all experts on the multilateral trading sy stem and have made an important contribution to 
the Organization in a number of ways. A big thanks to all of you.  
A special mention must go to Arancha. Without her, Pascal, you would not have been able to 
achieve all that you have.  
17. Sri Lanka 
Obviously, we all are at a rather emotional moment, as the Members pay their tribute and say 
"Adieu" to you, Director General Pascal, who spearheaded the WTO for 8 long years. 
 
Sri Lanka fully shares and appreciates your view that the multilateral trading system is the most efficient, transparent and legitimate way to op en markets by reducing barriers, and thereby, WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  promote growth and development, paving the way for alleviation of poverty and livelihood 
improvement around the world.  You have been a strong believer that the real benefits of trade opening would materialise only if 
the system addresses the imbalances faced speciall y by developing and LDC countries due to their 
economic asymmetries. The most valuable contribution you made through the ‘Aid-for-Trade’ initiative is a classic testimony to how you feel about the constraints suffered by the less affluent 
economies. 
 Although we could not witness the conclusion of the Doha Development Round during your time, we will never forget the tremendous amount of  time and efforts you dedicated to ensure the 
forward movement of the Round with the contin uous engagement of the Members in the DDA 
negotiations.  
I would like to take this opportunity to convey ou r most sincere appreciations of all what you did in 
enshrining the WTO disciplines within the multilateral trading system. We all are going to miss you very much.  
 
I would also like to thank your most talented team, the four DDGs in particular, for the wonderful contribution they made to this organisation.   
Dear Pascal, I wish you every success in whatever you intend pursuing in your life after taking 
leave of the WTO family at the end of August this year.  
18. Turkey  
Our Director-General's eight years in office have, as we all know, been very difficult. The financial 
crisis unleashed in 2008, with its immediate repercussions for the world economy, made Members 
even less inclined – if such a thing were possible – to complete the Doha Round. 
Protectionist pressures did not, perhaps, manifest themselves as strongly as might have been feared, thanks in part to the role played by the WTO under Pascal's leadership. But the fact remains that all the attempts made, with good w ill, to achieve the objective of the negotiations 
have failed. 
 Throughout this difficult period, our Director-General has made what could be described 
as superhuman efforts to move things forward. On a number of occasions we may have felt that 
we were nearing our goal. Each time, alas, hope faded and the target grew more distant. Any blame for this lies with all of us, for our inability to dispel the prevailing atmosphere of mutual 
distrust between Members, and our failure to se ize the opportunity when it presented itself. 
As Pascal prepares to leave office, thereby relinquishing his role as TNC Chair, we have lowered our sights. We are making do with a limited agreement, in which it seems to me that the objective of keeping the Doha negotiations on the rails is just as important as the objective of having 
a positive impact on world trade and on development problems. No-one could venture to predict 
the outcome of the Doha Round. I am sure that Pascal is deeply saddened by this situation, which is certainly not of his making. Fortunately, as  you stated so eloquently in your final report, 
Pascal, the WTO's work is not confined to the negotiations, and in all the areas to which you 
referred you will leave a lasting legacy.  
Thank you so much, Pascal. I wish you great success in your future professional life. I believe 
we will see you again, if not in the flesh here in Geneva, then at least in the French or indeed European media. Do not forget the many friend s you have made here; I hope you will count 
me among their number. 
 
My thanks also go to all the members of your team, some of whom I have known for many years. Their dedication has been truly exemplary. 
 
Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to our two fellow ambassadors who will soon be leaving us, namely Tim Yeend and Elin Johansen. I have benefited greatly from their 
advice and their friendship during our time to gether in Geneva. I wish them every success for 
the future, in both their professional and their private lives.  WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  19. Canada  
It is truly difficult to pay tribute having heard the statements from all of my colleagues about 
achievements and about results. Yet, part of what we are doing is to pay tribute to the individual 
as a person. I am reminded of a short story, Carlos Bragger, a mutual friend has told of another 
eminent gentleman, who at the end of a distinguished career was asked "what is it you would like 
said as your eulogy?" and the individual responded "oh, he is moving". That is the best possible thing that one could say. 
 
At the end of the term, one draws up a report card  or a ledger and on each side of the ledger - in 
reflecting both in Ottawa and here on your doub le tenure - we come up with remarkable strengths 
on both sides of the ledger. As CEO and effective manger and yet, at the same time, as other have 
said, a leader, at team leader, one who has marshall ed with the remarkable talent of resources of 
the DDGs, your own office and so on. One would say a great strategist as we have heard, in thinking through the challenges of global economic governance. But at the same time, hands dirty, 
operational, down in the trenches. A great policy person on the one hand, and yet, as reflected in 
that operational orientation, tremendous technical competence and expertise.  
On another axes, as you yourself have noted, equally agile in dealing with people and subjects at a 
political level and with officialdom - all in the midst of the head winds that others have talked about. A great negotiator – a negotiator with us, a negotiator with the public and negotiator with media - a fighter and advocate when necessary . Somebody not only seeking compromise but 
standing up against protections him, as others have noted. 
 A great intellectual throughout your career, but not at the expense of passion and compassion. You 
have been a champion for addressing inequalities. Not just in terms of balance growth but, as we 
now have heard in the mainstream of trade discourse, inclusive growth – your championship of development and aid for trade are also a reflection of this deep passion and compassion to 
accompany the intellect. 
 To borrow a paraphrase on one side of the ledger, a publication record that speaks for itself as a true scholar and what goes alongside on the other side of the ledger, a true gentlemen. You are 
both a scholar and a gentleman always treating Ambassadors and others with respect. 
 Finally, as others have said, you are both a colle ague, as in Fred's definition, a good friend, a 
professional colleague, working together with the relevant communities here and in Capitals but 
also a genuine friend. You have made yourself av ailable for advice, for counsel, for more off the 
record and mentoring opportunities to younger people in the Secretariat and in various countries 
and that is very much to your credit as well. 
 So we come up with a ledger and a report card  that sort of a 100 % on both sides. That is 
absolutely remarkable and that is a source of inspiration, for all of us. People have mentioned your 
indefatigable energy and that was evident throughout your tenure as well. You are the only one in 
Canada to have braved the rain and snow to have gone running in minus something with our Trade Minister at the wrong season. Also in the mi dst of a very charged and busy programme of 
meetings, you asked that we maximi ze your time in Canada and we certainly tried to help you with 
that marathon endurance, provide you with ad equate supplies of bananas and brown bread to 
maintain your stamina. In fact, in one of your visits the Prime Minster turned around and asked his 
officials "why on earth is there so many bananas for a 30 minute meeting?" So we were happy to 
oblige, happy to make a small contribution to your stamina and we look forward to providing you on-going sustenance as the marathon continues.  
20. Switzerland  
Dear Director-General, Dear Pascal, allow me to thank you for everything that you have done for 
the WTO and what you have done for the Members. I am speaking as Switzerland, the host 
country, I would like to thank you for everything th at you have done for the city of Geneva. During 
the two terms you have served as Director-G eneral, you have fought relentlessly against 
introduction of new trade restricting measures by Members, which was particularly important after 
the onset of the financial economic crisis. 
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  Pascal, you, your four excellent DDGs and your cabinet contributed significantly to maintain the 
WTO on the global map despite the difficult times in terms of negotiation results.  Today and thanks to you, the DG is continuingly invited to the G-20 Lead summit. Today, the WTO 
is deeply intertwined in the global economic governance network. Under your leadership, the 
collaboration with the UN Organizations, the Bretton Woods Institution, OECD and other organizations has been strongly enhanced and this benefits the Members of the Organization. But 
also allow us to broaden our view on issues which are interlinked. You mentioned them, like trade, 
jobs, agriculture and food security, trade and access to medicine, trade and climate change, trade financing, trade and global value chains and many other issues you have pointed out rightly and timely. 
 
Today, the WTO is also much better known to the broader public in many more countries – you have achieved this, not only because you have travelled extensively, but also because you made 
the WTO more transparent and built the regular dialogue with civil society. 
 Pascal, under your guidance the membership was substantially enlarged. There was a lot of 
progress to better integrate developing members into the multilateral trading system. 
 A special thanks and congratulations for the success to you and your team for the launching of the aid for trade initiative. 
 
Furthermore, you have not only improved the efficiency and functioning of the WTO and the 
Secretariat but you leave also an important legacy to Geneva, namely the beautiful renovated and 
extended WTO campus. 
 In the name of my Government, I thank you Pascal as well as Valentine, Rufus, Harsha, Alejandro 
and Arancha for all you have done for this great institution. We wish all of you the best for your 
future endeavours.  21. India  
Thank you Pascal for delivering an extremely thought provoking speech. As usual, it was full of 
insightful perspectives drawing our attention to several pertinent issues.  
I want to highlight some of the sterling qualities that we have greatly respected in you. First, it is 
the breadth of your vision not only for the future of international trade but for all important issues 
of global governance. Second, your razor sharp intellect and clarity of thought and speech, which 
you brought to such good use in achieving the objectives that you set for the WTO membership. 
Third, your boundless enthusiasm and optimism, which enabled you to never say die but to blithely shake off the reverses that inevitably come the way of any leader who sets out to achieve anything, and carry on regardless. Finally, it is your amazing reserves of energy, which allowed 
you to maintain a physically and mentally punishing schedule without any let up in your levels of 
concentration. Apart from being a result of your disciplined lifestyle, it also speaks volumes of your level of dedication to the job at hand. 
 
Pascal, because of your unique qualities and your leadership skills, you have left an indelible imprint on the WTO and in the field of multilateral trade negotiations. Your contribution to Aid for 
Trade, EIF, ITIP, the Public Forum among other thin gs, will not be forgotten. You have raised the 
profile of the WTO manifold among the institutions of global governance and established the WTO Secretariat firmly as a centre of excellence for research and studies in international trade trends.  
Before I close, I would also like to express our sincere gratitude and appreciation to Arancha, who 
has stood by your side like a shadow and worked tirelessly in an effort to make your vision come true. 
 
On behalf of our delegation and personally, I would like to wish you all the very best in all your 
future endeavours. 
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  22. Rwanda  
Rwanda warmly congratulates you on the successful conclusion of your tenure at the helm of this 
important Institution. Your tenure has been characterized by your strong commitment to advancing and strengthening the multilateral trading system, the very tenets of this organization. 
As you have said, you have ensured that the WTO remains at the core of Global Economic 
Governance.  You have consistently advocated for trade as the engine for growth, job creation and development. Suffice to say that your intellectual leadership, conviction and dedication are 
recognized globally. In Africa, your vision and ac hievements are well- known. More so in Rwanda.  
As you move on, we look forward to your continued contribution to addressing the many challenges we face including on realizing the nexus between trade, investment and development particularly in developing countries. "Je dis cela que je sais pertinemment que vous continuerez 
vos travaux et réflexions sur ce domaine important! Il y a des choses qu’on n’abandonne pas 
quand on y a gouté et surtout lorsqu'on est hautement apprécié comme vous l’êtes. Cela dit, votre nouveau cycle de vie compte avant toute chose. Reposez-vous et savourez la vie! IBYIZA BIRI 
IMBERE. Comme le dit littéraleme nt cet adage Rwandais, le bonheur est devant et nous vous 
souhaitons que le bonheur! Je compte sur Valentine pour faire la traduction littéraire vue que ni le Français ni l'Anglais n'a l'équivalent de cet adage."  
Let me also warmly congratulate and commend your able DDGs for their invaluable contribution to 
the work of this organization. As has been said by many, your skills, dedication and commitment to addressing the complex issues we have to deal with has been remarkable. Of course, this high appreciation also goes directly to Arancha. It would be remiss of me if I were not to recognise 
Valentine, and not because of the reason many of you may be thinking of, but rather for her 
particular contribution. Valentine, you have made us proud!   
Our very best wishes and we wish all of you every success in your future endeavours. 
 23. United States  
Pascal, you are not a simple man to summarize in a short statement and we will not try to do so 
comprehensively but rather will contribute a couple of dots to the pointillist portrait that all of us are putting together collectively here today.   
We appreciate, first and foremost, the time, dedication and hard work that Pascal has put into his 
tenure. It is hard to imagine anyone who could work  as tirelessly as he has over the past 8 years. 
You could agree or disagree with Pascal and Pascal knows it sometimes we did both, but you could 
never doubt that he was putting all his energy and intellectual skills into addressing the issues that 
face us.  
We would like to express appreciation for Pascal's time and attention to administrative matters 
during his tenure. We particularly appreciate his accomplishments with respect to the construction of the new building, the modernization of the WTO budget and for the human resource 
improvements that he was able to undertake. We al so appreciate his efforts in taking advantage of 
advancements in technology, to better deploy the limited resources of the institution. 
 Pascal has also helped to open up the institution of the WTO to the broader public, through a 
variety of important transparency and outreach initiatives. 
 Pascal served as Director-General at an enormously difficult time including the worst financial crisis 
since the 1930s. He explained to the world the importance of the WTO and trade in keeping the 
crisis from becoming worse and in helping the crisis to get better. History will remember that.  I will admit that I struggled with what to say as a conclusion and I thought about picking up on 
focussing an excerpt metaphor but I think I will let that one lie. Roberto ended by praising you 
about the parking situation. I am afraid I am going to end with a small criticism. I have a very distinctive memory of several breakfasts hosted by  Pascal and I always found it was a good idea to 
prepare for those breakfasts by eating a hearty meal before leaving home. Pascal with all due 
respect, not all of us can subsist on brown rice and yoghurt. In your future, we wish you all the best including an occasional lavish breakfast. 
 WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  24. Guinea  
The republic of Guinea wishes to extend its cord ial congratulations to Pascal Lamy for the work he 
has undertaken at the Head of the World Trade Organization since he took office in 2005.  
Mr Lamy, the years you have spent at the Head of this Organization have allowed structural 
reforms to be undertaken and have seen major und ertakings both in terms of personnel and the 
modernization and revamping of the WTO premises as well as opening up the WTO to the public 
through open days and the Public Forum. All of this has enabled us to overcome prejudices about 
the WTO from the public.  Your personal commitment, as Chair of the Trade Negotiations Committee, has given an inclusive 
character to the consultations which have been undertaken on matters of common interest to all 
Members of the WTO.  
You have always taken time to consult with us, as LDCs, African Group and the ACP, on matters of 
concern to enable the Doha Development Agenda to move forward, but particularly to ensure that 
every Member feels that they have place within the multilateral trading system. 
 
On a number of occasions, you have received Ministers of Trade of Guinea and on those occasions the Ministers of Trade have been able to express th eir concern with regard to capacity building and 
technical assistance on the EIF and, of course, Aid for Trade. 
 
You have transformed what might be a medieval organization into a modern institution and we would like to take this opportunity today to say thank you. 
 
Thank you for your recent invitation extended to the Minster of Trade of Guinea as a participant in the fourth Global Review on Aid for Trade. 
 
Thank you for having accorded credibility to Guinea within the WTO, personally committing yourself to addressing the issues of Guinea's arrears. Indeed I have fond memories of the meeting that I organized between yourself and the recently  elected Trade Minister of Guinea at the LDC 
Conference. On that occasion, when you took th e opportunity to raise awareness on the Guinean 
side with the President himself about the issue of Guinea's arrears outstanding. You will recall that the President of the Republic said that he was willing to pay those arrears, but before that, I had to 
be clear about what the WTO can do for Guinea. I would not want any diplomat to be in my place 
on that day when that question was asked. Thanks, therefore, to your personal involvement, five months later, the arrears from Guinea which had been outstanding since 1995 were completely 
written off. 
 I dare to hope that on the occasion of the Ninth Ministerial Conference of WTO in Bali, possibilities for market access, trade opening, technical assist ance and capacity building such as I describe 
them to my President, will be very much present and that this Organization will meet its promises 
to developing countries, Guinea in particular.  
I would not wish to conclude without thanking your four DDGs for their on-going tireless support at 
your side as you have sought to accomplish your task which is also their task. I would also like to thank and congratulate your Chief du Cabinet for the participation that she has had in your work. I 
would also like to thank in particular, DDG Rugwabiza for the friendship and support she has 
extended to my country.  In conclusion Director-General, I wish you every success in your new life. 
 
25. Côte d'Ivoire  
On behalf of the delegation of Côte d'Ivoire, I would like to seize the final opportunity 
presented by the last General Council meeting of Director-General Pascal Lamy's era, to express 
once again Côte d'Ivoire's gratitude for the initiatives he has taken with regard to development issues, particularly in following up on the cotton issue and through Aid for Trade, 
as well as for the dynamic directions established for technical assistance programmes. WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  Mr Director-General, your dexterity in steering our institution has made it possible to avert 
the return of protectionism and its escalation, following the 2008 financial crisis which has had pernicious and distorting effects on almost all economies. 
This economic crisis, whose effects are still being felt, has in some WTO Member countries 
given rise to evident protectionist tendencies of all kinds, and these have been contained 
and eliminated thanks to your leadership. Your salutary interventions in this respect deserve to be highlighted and commended. 
My delegation particularly wishes to applaud your professionalism, your management approach, 
and your talents as a negotiator and statesman which have been demonstrated for so many years, and to which we owe the achievements that we have seen. 
Finally, on behalf of the Ivorian Government I warmly wish you happiness and continued success in 
your rich and exemplary career. 
These thanks and good wishes also go to your team, including Ms Valentine ROGWABIZA 
for her effectiveness. 
26. Hong Kong, China  
Pascal, I would like mostly warmly thank you for your significant contribution to the WTO over the 
past 8 years.  On the negotiating front one has to admit the cupboard is rather bare and some 
have started to question the utility of the Multil ateral Trading System.  However, throughout the 8 
years, you have remained fully committed and ha ve not for a moment lost confidence in this 
system and fought tirelessly to bring Members together.  And indeed the negotiating arm aside much has been achieved.  Many be fore me have articulated these. 
 
On the real world economy, the WTO under your constant championship, has played a crucial role in limiting the spread of protectionism since th e 2008 financial crisis.  This alone is a signal 
achievement under your tenure. 
 I would also like to congratulate you on the new WTO campus which is not only fit for purpose but 
more importantly, was complete on time and within budget.  As one of our colleagues who cannot 
speak in this forum said to me, probably the first pu blic sector project to be within time and budget 
since the pyramids.  The new campus has given the WTO a modern and international character and has brought the WTO Secretariat together for greater collegiality and efficiency.  This really will be 
a lasting legacy. 
 And as the current CBFA Chair, I must also thank you for your realistic budgeting and transparency 
in the Administration of the WTO.  These have brought much greater trust to our relationship and 
allowed Members better to understand where funds are being spent and why.  I would also like to commend you for your efforts in addressing long outstanding staff and structural matters. 
 
In closing, I would like to quote from Rousseau- Emile, ou de l’éducation.  Pour être quelque chose, pour être soi-même et toujours un, il faut agir comme on parle; il faut être toujours décidé sur le parti que l’on doit prendre, le prendre hautement, et le suive toujours. I think this admirably 
sums up your philosophy. 
 So my heartfelt appreciation for your immense contribution and I wish you the best in your future 
endeavours.   
 27. Norway  
Thank you for your outstanding contribution as head of this important, relevant and credible 
organization.  Yesterday, at the launch of the book “History an d Future of WTO”, we had a discussion of Jackson 
versus Sutherland. As a former Marxist, I obviousl y side with Jackson – the possibility of changing 
the history is dependent on the overall conditions, not personalities involved. Having developed a more liberal view over the years, I do, however,  agree with you that persons can change history WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  provided the overall environment is  right. During your tenure as the Director General of the WTO, 
the overall conditions for successful trade negotiations have been extremely challenging. The next Director-General will face the same challenges soon.  
However, you have been able to change the WTO in more than one way. The most important, as I 
see it, you have given the WTO a new, modern image. In the past GATT days, the image was gloomy, closed, small rooms full of smoke. Today the image of WTO is outward-looking, 
transparent, accessible and almost global. Still with an occasional whiff of cigar in one corner. 
 Let me also recall the comment from my former boss and your friend Jonas Gahr Støre: “Pascal is the most intellectually inspiring and visionary leader I have ever worked with”. 
 
Thanks, and all the best to you and your A-team, Arancha, Valentine, Alejandro, Harsha and Rufus 
in gender/alphabetic order. 
 
Let me also take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks for all the kind words extended to 
me today. Dear friend, colleagues and members of the Secretariat. Thank you for your friendship, 
your help and support, particularly during my General Council and other chairmanships. I wish you 
all the best in your important endeavours in the fall and beyond. I will miss you deeply.  28. Uruguay  
I will endeavour to sum up in a few words two ma ndates that have been served over an 8 year 
period heading an organization of complexity whic h we are all familiar with here at the WTO. I 
would like to underscore two central points that are part and parcel of the governance. 
 
First of all, the intensity and the quality of the efforts turned in by our Director-General, Pascal 
Lamy and his entire team in the Secretariat. I wo uld like to underscore his high capacity for work, 
the ability to deal with an intense agenda in the multilateral trading system which includes opening 
up of the WTO, reaching out to developing countries and LDCs and his relentless efforts to bring forward the Doha Round. He has been able, at the same time, to modernize the governance of the 
WTO. I should also point out that over these 8 years the WTO has reached virtually universal 
coverage. 159 Members and a number of on-going acce ssion processes. It is all this on-going work 
that made it possible to obtain these high achievements.  
There is now a stronger input now by developing countries and also emerging economies. This has 
been one of the main thrusts of the governance over  the last 8 years. In this regard, the activities 
of technical assistance and training for developing countries have constituted one of the most 
important tools, making it possible to reach the objectives - and these have been promoted 
constantly by our Director-General.  The structure, technical co-operation and training  at WTO have reached levels of excellence that 
were unforeseen and we must thank our Director-General to a considerable degree for this. 
 Looking forward into the future and to the new challenges that the WTO is facing given the 
economic changes and the new developments in trading patterns, all of this has constituted one of 
the major tasks of Pascal Lamy. There has been a n eed to modernize the Organization to ensure it 
can rise to new challenges. There have been ideas that have run all through the activities of the 
WTO and have also borne fruit. An example of this has been the identification of value chains as 
being one of the most important phenomena when it comes to the structure of the multilateral 
trading system and also the need to make sure that countries can integrate themselves in these 
value chains – especially developing countries. To make this integration possible, it is going to be 
necessary for economies to continue reforming and the negotiation process will have to be 
reformed as well.  
It is also important to underscore the role of the WTO when it comes to dealing with protectionist 
measures, in particular in the wake of the crisis of 2008, whose effects continue. The role of the Director-General in this area was of key importance. 
 
Of course, perhaps we have been disappointed that it has not been possible to finish the Doha Round in this period, but at the same time, this is due to the lack of consorted efforts. Nonetheless, there have been a lot of positive developments and this can lead us to think of a WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  positive result, a new momentum to the relevance of this Organization, when it comes to the field 
of negotiations.  Uruguay also would like to express its heartfelt thanks to the extraordinary team that the Director-
General has been able to put together, in particular to Arancha, Valentine, Alejandro, Harsha and 
Rufus. Pascal, you know the importance that we in Uruguay attach to this house and so in the name of my country I would like to express to you my heartfelt thanks for all the efforts you have 
made over this 8 year period. I would like to wi sh you full success in your future endeavours. 
 29. China  
Let me join others in expressing our sincere appreciation to Pascal for his statement, as well as his 
contribution to the multilateral trading system. L ooking back at the past eight years, which was 
probably the most challenging period for this organization, his wisdom, perseverance and vision, has led us chart through the troubled water and helped maintain the important status of the WTO 
in the global economic governance. It is particularly worth mentioning the Aid for Trade initiative, 
trade monitoring exercise, the renovation project, just to name a few flagship achievements during 
his tenure. Of course there is an unfinished busi ness, the Doha Round, but his persevering efforts 
have helped to keep it on track and to maintain the hope of its eventual success. 
 Pascal, it’s obviously never easy to bid farewell to a friend like you. We will never forget the 
“PASCAL Style”, i.e. Passion, Aspiration, Stubbor nness (which is sometimes), Courage (which is 
constant), Amicability and Leadership. Those six words, whose initials coincidentally compose your 
name, precisely reflect your unique character. Neither will we forget your distinctive signature, your English with that typical accent, and the sound of your nose-blowing, something a bit strange 
for Chinese. Unlike Adele, a famous British singer, we feel extremely difficult to find “Someone like 
you”, and I’m sure that you will be missed by all of us.  
Mr. Chairman, all good things come to an end. It is sad but a reality we have to accept. I wish 
Pascal all the best and hope that our roads will cross again at some point of time in the future.  Before conclude, Mr. Chairman, I would also like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to four 
DDGs, Alejandro, Valentine, Harsha, Rufus and DG’s  chief of cabinet Arancha. We appreciate your 
hard work and great contribution to this organization.  
On another note, I wish to bid farewell to my coll eagues and friends, Elin and Tim. I enjoyed very 
much the close cooperation and personal friendship with you and wish you all the best in your future endeavours. 
 
30. Angola  
I t is  not always  e as y to l is te n to a fare we ll s p e ec h. I t is  e ven more  moving  whe n g iv e n b y an 
eminent figure such as Mr Pascal Lamy, outgoing Director General of the World Trade Organization, 
who for the last eight years as the head of this Organization has shown an unprecedented 
commitment to the multilateral trading system.  
I extend my country's heartfelt thanks to the outgoi ng Director General. I will not list his various 
initiatives, as they have already been mentioned by previous speakers.  
One thing I must say, however, is that Pascal Lamy  has, in numerous instances, been the defender 
of the most vulnerable Members of this Organization.  Although the Round has yet to be concluded, I should emphasize that the flame of the Doha 
Development Agenda remains alight thanks to the commitment and optimism that you have 
transmitted not only to your team but to the entire Membership.  
The best tribute Members can pay to you and your team is to conclude this Round successfully as 
soon as possible.  WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  31. New Zealand  
Pascal, on behalf of New Zealand, I wanted to express our thanks to you.  Over the last 8 years 
you have demonstrated an unswerving commitment to the goals of this organisation.    
These have been trying times as the organisation under your leadership has sought to deal with 
the rough seas that Shahid reminded us of today in his opening comments.  This has been a time of global change and geo-political and economic tr ansformation, and, as a result, a time when we 
have all been struggling to find a consensus on key issues that continues to elude us today.  Your 
public advocacy about the importance of not lurching into protectionist behaviour as we have navigated these difficult economic waters is greatly appreciated.  
We certainly can’t afford to be complacent about the current state of play in the negotiating pillar.  
But as has been highlighted in the comments made today, seeking to measure the WTO’s success through the prism of the Doha Round alone fails to take account of a range of other achievements 
that you, and I think, we, can collectively be proud of.  
 The recent Aid for Trade Global Review you have presided over stood out as a reminder of how far 
we had come since you first launched this process early on in your term as DG.  Another example I 
would highlight here is the DG’s consultative framework on cotton which as Chair of the Agriculture negotiations I have participated in. Again, this forum has highlighted your practical commitment to key development challenges to LDCs in particular. 
 
From our own regional perspective we would also want to thank you for the attention you have accorded to our own region, the Pacific Islands region, where your visits to our Pacific Island 
Forum partner members of the WTO have highlighted your support and commitment to their 
objectives in joining this organisation.  This has been greatly appreciated and we would very much encourage a similar commitment from your successor. 
 
I would be remiss if I did not also take the opportunity to thank the role played by your senior management team in the work that has been taken forward during your tenure, which of course includes the fantastic achievement of the reno vated and extended camp us we now have.   
 
It is a wonderful thing about this organisation – unlike many others in Geneva - that we know you all and each other by your first names and we a ddress each other in this way - even in this 
somewhat formal forum where I note many of us are now, out of respect for you all, reluctantly 
wearing ties despite the no-tie July rule.  
We wish you all well for the future.  
 32. Argentina  
On behalf of the Argentine Government and myse lf, I would like to thank the Director-General 
for the exceptional work carried out over the past eight years. 
 Throughout this time, the WTO has firmly established itself as a vital reference point for global 
economic governance - one which the international community, and in particular the developing 
countries, hope will provide solutions to ensure  a more balanced and transparent international 
trading system. 
 
You have played a central role in strengthening the Organization and your legacy will be acknowledged. Whatever has not been achieved is for structural legislative reasons and is the 
responsibility of States that have not yet been  able to agree on the steps forward they wish 
to take. 
 At government level, you have shown understan ding towards my authorities and always been 
available for them; on a personal level, you have given me advice and support, particularly in 
certain areas of my work relating to WTO accessions.  
Many thanks to you, the Deputy Directors-General and Arancha. We wish you all the best in this 
new stage.  WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  33. Colombia  
When you started your second term in 2009, your words to the General Council were the following: 
 
"We are living in a time of crisis. Its full social impact is still to come and it will 
inevitably create political pressures. And it is precisely now, when protectionist temptations 
abound, that the value of the multilateral trading system is all the more apparent to us. … Therefore, our main objective for the years to come … is to strengthen the role 
of the WTO as the global trade body. This means making the WTO more 
development-friendly, more 'user-friendly', so that its benefits are felt by all, large and small, rich and poor, strong and weak."  
Over these past years and with unfailing support from your four Deputy Directors-General, 
your efforts have indeed been cent red on achieving that objective. 
 
You have left all Members the benefit of a WTO that is better equipped to monitor and thus 
maintain confidence in the system.  
You have helped us achieve significant progress towards the objective of a universal WTO, in terms 
not only of new accessions, but also of results which we hope will facilitate rapid integration of new Members into the system.  
You have given us a WTO that is both relevant and well-positioned on the global scene, 
thanks, among other things, to joint and concerted action with other international agencies, and to the themes you invited us to discuss, with an in-depth focus on initiatives such as value 
chains, which are of particular relevance to the world. 
 You have left us the Aid for Trade initiative and the Enhanced Integrated Framework, 
which has built up developing countries' trade capacities to integrate into the global economy. 
These are clear examples of responses to global needs and problems.  You have also left us a modern and stronger Secretariat, with enhanced analytical and research 
capabilities, that is ultimately better equipped to support the Membership. 
 You have left all WTO Members better headquarters for conducting their work, from which 
we are already deriving the benefits. 
 In April 2009, you also said that "[t]he WTO, as a living organism, should continue to improve 
its capacity to rapidly react to global challenges. These challenges live on today". 
 Within this general context, and in spite of all your efforts, we still have a debt outstanding with respect to the negotiations. We hope that the results achieved in Bali will be a first step towards 
giving you the credit you deserve from Members and recognizing your legacy after eight years 
dedicated to serving the WTO and its Members.  
On behalf of my Government, I thank you for ev erything. We wish you every success in your 
new activities.  
34. Bangladesh  
Pascal has been in the helm of multilateral trading system and in the WTO for two terms.  His 
tenure has been very eventful. He had to navigate the most period of the Doha negotiations despite the challenges including in the work of global multiple crisis, he has steered WTO very 
ably. Although people in general are not very opti mistic about the prospect of Doha but it would 
not be exhilaration if I were to say much of what  has been achieved, in particular for the LDCs can 
to a great extent be attributed to Pascal tireless efforts. His knowledge, wisdom and perseverance 
and leadership have greatly advanced the cause of LDCs. He has been a true friend of LDCs. 
 I have had the opportunity to closely work with Pascal, both in Geneva and otherwise. His two 
visits to my country as WTO Director-General have been deeply appreciated by my Government. 
He has witnessed in his own eyes how preferential schemes and other WTO flexibilities are being translated into creating jobs for the millions of people employing women and contributing towards WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  poverty elevation and curbing terrorism. We are 150 million people, the WTO needs to deliver 
more for countries like ours. Pascal has always been supportive of the cause of LDCs. He has ardently advocated for the legitimate implementation of WTO Ministerial Decisions in favour of LDCs, be it enhanced market access for LDCs or enhanced flexibility for LDCs to integrate into the 
multilateral trading system. In fact, we consider him a great champion of LDCs issues. Accordingly, 
Pascal made sure that the WTO gives enhanced attention to address the supply-side constraints facing developing countries and LDCs, as exemp lified by the regular Aid for Trade Reviews and 
areas such as trade finance, trade monitoring, trade policy reviews, EIF. Pascal will leave a lasting 
legacy. We would like to see Pascal remain friends of LDCs as he did in the past. It will be remiss if I do not pay tribute to DDGs, Valentine, Harsha, Jara, Rufus and Chef de Cabinet Arancha for their friendship, understanding, co-operation and above all, the outstanding professionalism. I wish 
Pascal and all of his DDGs and Chef de Cabine t all the best in their future endeavours.  
 35. Dominica (for the Organization of the Eastern Caribbean States)  
On behalf of the Member States of the OECS let me first associate ourselves with statements 
delivered by Jamaica on behalf of the ACP, Barbados on behalf of the SVEs, Trinidad and Tobago on behalf of CARICOM and the Dominican Republic on behalf of the IGDC. 
 
As others have stated, you Mr. Lamy, have been a true champion and defender of the multilateral trading system and the WTO and goals and ideals which it pursues.    
Within this house you have upheld and promoted the fundamental principles of transparency, 
inclusiveness and full participation which are very important to our Members.  You have also exerted much energy and effort into key development issues such as Aid for Trade and paid close 
attention to the issues of the small economies.  You have been a visible advocate of the WTO 
within the broader global community with your efforts at greater coherence and to ensure that the WTO, though young, sits as equally with the othe r organisations of global economic governance 
structure. 
 On the key negotiating function of the WTO, we unf ortunately have not been able to conclude the 
DDA under your watch.  This however is not for lack of your efforts and leadership in challenging, 
encouraging, and admonishing us towards grea ter engagement, flexibility, pragmatism, and 
realism towards consensus and a successful conclusion that addresses the needs of all members.  
In closing, the OECS wish to salute you and pay tribute to you and to commend you on all your 
accomplishments over the last 8 years and wish yo u all the best in your future endeavours.  We 
would also like to pay tribute and express appreciation to the four DDGs and members of your 
Cabinet for their hard work and contribution to the organization. 
 36. Korea, Rep. of  
Like many others before, I would like to extend my sincere appreciation for Pascal’s hard work, 
leadership, and contribution towards the multilater al trading system since 2005. The 8-year period 
that Pascal has served as Director General of th e WTO was particularly turbulent and extraordinary 
time within and outside the organization. 
 
This period can be defined as one of great transf ormations in modern history. That transformation 
was heavily influenced by globalization, emer gence of new powers, and the development of 
communication technology.  It has had far-reaching global implications on socio-economic areas, 
geo-politics, and multilateralism including the world trading system. We see also however that the 2008 global economic crisis and its aftermath can be interpreted as one of the consequences of such great transformation. 
 
On the other hand, the WTO itself has experience d fundamental changes. This year the WTO turns 
18 years old.  The period from 10 to 18 years in human terms is a transformative time which 
shapes the rest of one’s life. Thanks to your service, the 18-year old WTO has softly entered into 
an adult stage.   
Bearing in mind this circumstance, I would like to highlight three main achievements Pascal made 
among many others.   WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  Firstly, Pascal showed us what the exact roles of the WTO DG are as an honest broker among 
stakeholders, an energetic CEO of the Secretariat, and a shepherd of free trade. As the Chair of the 
TNC, he has built an essential foundation toward the next steps of the WTO even though the DDA 
negotiations are still on-going. I believe we all together have to take a collective responsibility on 
this current state of play.  
 Secondly, Pascal upgraded the status of the WTO in the international governance, and made the 
WTO more relevant as a valuable public goods. He led the WTO to effectively watch and monitor 
protectionist measures, to successfully keep protectionism in bay.  Pascal also made the WTO the premier global trade body through the accession of  11 more Members. The finalizing of the revised 
GPA negotiations which started in 1997 enhances transparency and expands opportunities in 
government procurement markets.  Under your helm , the functions of the TPRM and  the DSB have 
both been improved and renewed.  
Lastly and importantly, he had the intuition to  see the bigger picture of world trade and he 
captured key trends and implications of the global value chain (GVC). Thanks to his advocacy on the GVC, every Member wants to become involved with the GVC as much as possible. In addition, 
Pascal’s initiative of Aid for Trade contributes to making the MTS more credible considering the 
existing capacity gaps.   We will miss you as well as your routine strong insight and expertise. We know that his legacy will 
remain in the Geneva community and the multilateral trading system. We expect that his 
engagement and support toward the MTS will continue even after September wherever he is.    
We have usually seen Pascal’s serious and disciplined side.   I did however have the pleasure of 
seeing another side of him at a dinner event last month.  I discovered that he could let his guard down.  It was good to be with him with no talk of trade, the DDA or the MC9.  Pascal you deserve 
a break for a while.  I wish to give him a tip for your break: “Wherever you go, you consider 
wearing a hat and sunglasses otherwise you will be easily recognized anywhere from a remote village in China to a big city in Europe”.  I than k you and wish you good luck and bon voyage.    
 
Before closing, I wish to extend my heartfelt appr eciation to your team, the four DDGs, Alejandro, 
Valentine, Harsha, Rufus and to Arancha for their dedication and commitment.  I wish them all the best.  Thank you. 
 
37. Chile  
I am reading this statement on behalf of my Ambassador, Mario Matus, whose duties as member 
of a panel prevented him from being here today. 
 Over these eight years, the WTO has faced numerous challenges that have tested its very principles. There has been a world economic crisis; we have seen the emergence 
and establishment of new centres of power; and throughout the world, citizens have become 
more demanding and more aware of their rights.  
It was against this backdrop that Director-General Lamy tried to push through the most ambitious 
and complex world trade initiative ever, the Doha Round. During his mandate, he had to fight for the credibility of our Organization, which has been undermined by the inability of us Members 
to keep the negotiating pillar of the WTO alive ten years after the launching of the Round. 
 He managed to steer his way through this complex world situation, displaying all the characteristics that make him what he is: a cultivated man of unlimited energy, unquestionable 
honesty and intellectual clarity, and indeed, a great marathon runner. 
 His achievements within this Organization have already been mentioned by Peru on behalf 
of GRULAC, and we fully endorse what was said. 
 In a nutshell, he has been a great navigator and we very much appreciate the way in which 
he steered us through such troubled waters with  a firm hand on the rudder, urging us to row 
together towards the same port.  WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  We would like to take this opportunity to thank his team for their work over these past eight years: 
his four Deputy Directors-General, Valentine Rugwabiza, Harsha Vardhana Singh, Rufus Yerxa, and our dear fellow citizen Alejandro Jara. And of course, there is his right-hand person, Arancha González, known by some as "the boss". 
 
38. Oman  
This is the last General Council meeting before the change of guard at the highest level of the 
WTO. The delegation of the Sultanate of Oman would join other Members in paying a special 
tribute to Mr Pascal Lamy. He was a real good friend of Oman and had visited Oman twice during his tenure as Director-General, which reflected his particular interest in Oman. We will always remember his visits. 
 
Mr Lamy occupied the high office of Director-Gener al with great distinction. He was, of course, no 
stranger to high offices. In his glittering career ,  h e  h e l d  m a n y  h i g h  o f f i c e s ,  e s p e c i a l l y  a s  t h e  
European Union Commissioner for Trade. He made his mark in that office and carried his rich 
experience of international trade to the WTO when he became the Director-General in the fall of 
2005. 
 
A marathon runner, Mr Lamy was full of energy and enthusiasm and made untiring efforts in the service of the Multilateral Trading System. It was a passion with him. His contributions to the Multilateral Trading System will be long remembered. 
 
One of the outstanding achievements of Mr La my is opening up the WTO to the public and 
changing the hostile perceptions of the public and the civil society to a favourable image by 
involving the civil society and by ensuring transparency. 
 Mr Pascal Lamy had been actively associated with the launch of the Doha Development Agenda 
(DDA) before he assumed the office of Director -General. During this tenure as DG, he made 
tremendous efforts to move forward Doha Round negotiations. If the Doha Round has not yet been concluded it is not because of him but despite his vigorous efforts.  
We also commend Mr Lamy for his work in laying down the broad framework for the Bali 
Ministerial.  
To conclude, Mr Chairman, the delegation of Oman would like to profusely thank Mr Lamy for a job 
well done. We wish him health and happiness and satisfaction and success in his future endeavours. 
 
39. Kyrgyz Republic  
I would like to join the distinguished Ambassadors in thanking Director-General Pascal Lamy for his 
dedicated service as the Head of the unique multilateral Organization. I also thank his great team 
for their work.  Much tributes to Mr Lamy have been voiced out today for his contributions to 
promoting free trade globally and in this way lifting millions of people out of poverty in developing countries and bring them stability and peace. 
 
I want to express deep appreciation listening to the special needs of countries with transitional economies such as Kyrgyzstan. I have never seen Director-General Pascal Lamy not being 
responsive to any of our requests. We do very much  appreciate your always attentive, responsible, 
very professional, open and generous approach. Indeed, technical assistance provided under your able stewardship has helped the Kyrgyz Government to lay out structural institution reforms and strengthen national capacity to do better in terms of international trade. 
 
In conclusion, I want to wish Director-General Pascal Lamy the best of luck and great success in your future endeavours. We  will miss you in Geneva. 
 
40. Indonesia  
I would like to also take this opportunity to pay special tribute to Pascal for his eight years of 
service to this Organization and to the Members of WTO. On behalf of the Government of 
Indonesia, I would like to express our deep appreciation and high gratitude for his leadership and WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  for his great achievement during his tenure. Pascal has left us a lot of legacy through his work and 
in particular for his great caring for development issues to help developing countries and LDCs to better integrate to the global trade.  
Our deep appreciation goes also to all DDGs, Alej andro, Harsha, Rufus and Valentine and of course 
to Arancha as the Chief of the Cabinet as well as to her team for their best performance in running this Organization. 
 
Finally, Pascal I wish you all the success in your future endeavours and as the host of MC9, Indonesia more than welcomes you to Bali.  
41. Democratic Republic of Congo  
Many good things have been said about our Director-General, Mr Pascal Lamy, who will take 
his leave of the Members of this honourable Organization in a few days' time. 
At the risk of repeating what previous speakers have stated, I cannot help but say what I have 
seen and taken note of in Pascal Lamy: he is a visionary and a man of principle. 
I am going to repeat in this forum what I had occasion to say about this visionary in another 
gathering. For those who may not know this, even before there was any talk of specific 
programmes of action for the least developed countries, Pascal Lamy was the first to initiate a special programme for exports from LDCs to the European Union market, known as the "Everything but Arms" Initiative or the Lamy Initiative. 
He carried with him to Geneva this burden that he has continued to shoulder on behalf of the less 
advantaged countries, and it is no surprise that the Aid-for-Trade Initiative also bears his mark. 
Wherever you may go, Mr Lamy, your great expertise will be called upon. So, I wish you every 
success in your future activities. 
42. Solomon Islands  I want to join other previous speakers and especially the Ambassador of Nepal who was speaking 
on behalf of the LDCs in acknowledging and to say thank you very much for your dedicated service 
rendered during your two terms as the DG of the WTO.   In particular Mr Lamy, one of your flagship legacies during your 8 years as the DG of the WTO is 
the Global Aid-for-trade initiative. You as the DG of the WTO and your staff have been at the fore-
front of this great initiative.   
Indeed as an LDC, Solomon Islands is currently benefiting from the Enhance Integrated Framework 
program and has seen positive participation of stakeholders and some encouraging developments 
in the areas of trade at the national level through the EIF program and other AfT initiatives.  
 
On this note, I on-behalf of my Ambassador and the government of Solomon Islands, would like to render and express our heartfelt gratitude and appreciation for your leadership, commitment and outstanding contribution in shaping the WTO to where it is today.  
 
We will greatly miss you, and we wish you every success in your future endeavours.   
Finally, I would also like to express our appreciation to the four DDGs for their support, hard work 
and commitment to the work of the WTO.  
43. Russian Federation  
On behalf of the Russian delegation I would like to extend our sincere and utmost gratitude to Mr. 
Pascal Lamy as well as to his four deputies and director of office for all they did to integrate and accommodate Russia in the WTO family.  
 WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  Dear Pascal, you started your tireless efforts to bring Russia to the WTO in your capacity of Trade 
Commissioner of the EC and then you successfully led our accession process to the finish line as Director-General of the WTO.  
And during all these years we always could rely on your sober and objective assessment of the 
state of play, on your professional involvement an d fair brokering of the most difficult problems. 
 
You should know that your exceptional merits made a lot of people in Russia your true friends and 
even fans.  We wish you all the best in your fu ture professional and personal life. 
 
44. Costa Rica  
Director-General, in October 2005, in a speech given to the Paris Institute of Political Studies
1, you 
said that the WTO should play a greater role in global governance and you highlighted the values 
that the Organization could contribute in this respect. These values include not only the benefits of market opening, but non-discrimination, a principle which renders such benefits universal, 
turning them into a public good that raises th e living standards of people all over the world. 
You also emphasized the WTO's importance as the premier forum for the arbitration of trade values 
and interests. Such arbitration is becoming vital in our intensely globalized environment where paradigm changes in traditional trade structures are commonplace. These changes are forcing 
nations to work with political energy and drive to reach agreements that allow for greater global 
governance.  
You called this new vision the "Geneva Consensus" and clearly warned that it would require mature 
negotiation and the search for common objectives, through complex institutional apparatus, within the existing system of international organizations, including the United Nations system and its 
satellites. 
 Today, I would like to highlight the consistency you have shown regarding these ideas throughout the past eight years. You reminded us of this today in your introduction and it is therefore fair 
to acknowledge your efforts to turn the WTO into a leading figure in global governance. 
 
 Thanks to your work, the WTO has, since the 2008 financial crisis, played 
an increasingly important role in the fight against protectionism. The monitoring 
of trade measures, which you encouraged, has become part of the WTO's day-to-day work. 
 Aid for Trade, once a mere initiative, has become a consolidated programme and 
a n  a d d i t i o n a l  W T O  p i l l a r .  W e  h o p e  t h a t  t h i s  v a l u a b l e  l e g a c y  w i l l  c o n t i n u e  t o  g a i n  strength. 
 We would also like to acknowledge your tireless efforts to move the Doha Round 
negotiations forward. We would have liked these efforts to culminate in the conclusion 
of the negotiations within the term of your mandate. Our failure to achieve this is not due to a lack of effort on your part. 
 We also acknowledge your efforts to enhance the WTO Secretariat's analytical capacity 
through new and improved analytical studies on issues relating to new trends in world trade, such as value chains and non-tariff barriers, and through the development of 
new resources for the analysis of policies and measures. 
 We would also like to highlight your efforts and determination to provide 
the Secretariat and the Members with a better working environment through the construction of a new building and the refurbishment of the old building. 
                                               
1 Pascal Lamy, Towards global governance? Master of Public Affairs inau gural lecture at the Institut 
d'Études Politiques de Paris, 21 October 2005: http://www.wto.org/english/news_e/sppl_e/sppl12_e.htm  WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  We would like to extend our gratitude to the Deputy Directors-General and the rest of your team, 
in particular Arancha González. They have all done an exceptional job.  On behalf of the Government of Costa Rica, I wish you every success in this new stage of your 
career. We are profoundly grateful for your commitment to the WTO's institutional framework and 
your tireless efforts to ensure that the WTO continues to play a central role in global governance.  
45. Swaziland  
Swaziland associates itself with the statements made by Morocco on behalf of the African Group 
and by Jamaica on behalf of the ACP Group. We wish to join other Members who have congratulated Mr Pascal Lamy for his remarkable stewardship as Director-General of the WTO.  
 
My delegation would particularly like to pay trib ute to the unceasing, tireless efforts made by Mr 
Lamy over the past 8 years. His commitment to address the challenges faced by vulnerable 
members of this Organization in trying to integrate into the Multilateral Trading System has been 
borne out in the numerous initiatives undertaken by his capable team for example, on Aid for 
Trade, the Enhanced Integrated Framework and the Director General’s Consultative Framework 
Mechanism on Cotton.  
 Mr Lamy’s two terms at the helm of this Organization, have, however, been blemished by Member’s intransigence. The failure to conclude the Doha Development Round during his tenure 
has been in spite of his best efforts. It is most unfortunate that Mr Lamy’s creativity, hard work 
and persistence have not fostered the desired result for the Organization. Director General, the WTO Membership will certainly miss you and my delegation wishes you all success in your future 
endeavours.  We believe that the membership has made a prudent choice in your replacement and 
we trust that he will exercise a steady hand to build on your efforts to bridge differences and foster compromise, so as to conclude the Doha Development Round of negotiations and to take the 
Organization to greater heights.  
 46. Central African Republic  
I would also like to thank Pascal Lamy for his co mmitment, his determination and his leadership at 
the Head of our Organization during his term. Ev en though the LDCs wanted and believed that the 
Doha Round would end during his mandate, we ran out of time. There is a new DG, Roberto Azevêdo, and we hope that we will have success under his term. 
 
My country would like to recognize Mr Lamy's personal commitment to Aid for Trade and the Enhance Integrated Framework which has allowed my country to integrate its development plan in 
trade, and also fight against poverty and integrate our system into the multilateral trading system. 
This exercise for us was very enriching and my Government is very thankful to you because of it.  I would like to end by thanking Mr Lamy for his charisma, his optimism, his conciliatory nature for 
all groups, regardless of their size. In our Organi zation, we will miss him but we hope that his 
successor will be put to the task, just as much as Mr Lamy has said, in order to continue bringing the different organizations to the negotiating table. 
 
We would be remiss without thanking the DDGs who have been there with Pascal Lamy throughout his entire term. We would particularly like to thank Ms Rugwabiza who notwithstanding her 
position, was able to accompany and help our small countries who were making their first forays 
into the international area. Valentine Rugwabiza is a very positive example of a strong female role model and also of a strong African role model. That is what Ms Valentine has represented in this Organization being at the side of Pascal Lamy. We would like to conclude by wishing Mr Lamy the 
best of success in his new adventures and we wish you the best and the best to your family. 
 47. Thailand  
We associate ourselves with the statement made by  Singapore on behalf of ASEAN. We would like 
to join other Members in expressing our sincere thanks and appreciation to you, Pascal, for your tireless contribution to the WTO. On this occasion we would like to focus on the fact that you have 
brought to the forefront the development-orient ed work programmes including Aid for Trade, 
capacity building and technical assistance. Furthermore, during your 8 year tenure of leadership, WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  the WTO's monitoring and surveillance functions such as the trade monitoring system has been 
strengthened and fully implemented.  Pascal your contributions and achievements are not limited to the aforementioned words. 
Undoubtedly we have benefitted as Members of th is house, especially developing Members like 
Thailand. We thank Pascal and your team and wish you all the best in your future endeavours.  
48. Israel  
Israel would like to express its gratitude and appreciation to Director General Pascal Lamy, at his 
last General Council meeting in this capacity.  
Mr. Lamy, you have served us, the membership, in a very crucial point in time. These last eight 
years have been characterized by profound transformation of states and markets, ultimately leading to profound changes on how we perceive  global economic affairs and especially trade 
liberalization. In this context, Israel believes that the historic records will show that you have been 
a progressive leader for this Organisation, and a force for good in the Multilateral Trading System.   
Your mark has been felt in many different area s at the WTO, reflecting numerous institutional 
improvements in areas such as trade policy monitoring , the functioning of Committees, technical assistance, data analysis, transparency, cooperation with other international economic institutions, and much more.  
 
Mr. Lamy, during your tenure, Development has become a core feature of the Organisation. Notably, the work on trade capacity building and the Aid for Trade initiative have become 
embedded into the institutional setting of the WTO. 
 Time after time, you have given us compelling  arguments about the need to make concrete 
progress in the Doha Development round. Not least the need to send the right political signal that 
better economic and trade governance coul d provide global answers much needed.  
 Mr. Lamy, under your tenure the Round, unfortunately, has not been completed, although good 
progress has been achieved to date. 12 years into  the DDA, we hope to take the work we managed 
to achieve, under your leadership, and to make su re we will conclude the Round successfully in the 
near future. 
 
In the midst of the recent economic crisis a sharp decrease in world trade was felt. While growth projections decreased significantly and instances of  protectionism resurfaced alarmingly, you have 
been one of the most vocal leaders urging countries to consider that liberalising trade is still the 
best policy to guide us in escaping economic downturn. You have also been a strong advocate of the realities of globalisation, and the virtues of embracing a rules-based system for developing country members to govern trade. During this pe riod of time a significant number of countries 
have become new members of this organisation, many of them LDCs.   
 Through the many initiatives and institutionally improvements, this young institution has seen a 
crystallisation of its principles over the past couple of years, and has consistently maintained a 
technical level of expertise unique among international organisations.   
Pascal, Israel would like to say to you to your DDGs, cabinet staff, and to Arancha, ‘Toda!’ (merci, 
thank you), for your contribution and all what you have accomplished here, and would like to wish you all the best and much success in your future endeavours.  
49. Kenya  
Thank you Mr. Chairman. I associate this statement to those already delivered by Morocco on 
behalf of the African Group and Jamaica on behalf of the ACP. 
 
Albert  Einstein said the following about learning " the most important thing in learning is never to stop questioning". Mr Director General,  it is through these words and the spirit of this great 
scientist that we have known you in the pa st eight years you have been at the WTO. 
 WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  Your "Never Surrender" dominant character has seen WTO operate afloat during some of the most 
difficult times such as the recent global financial crisis.  In your own ingenious ways, we have heard far-flung analogies such as insurance policy against 
protectionism, heavy-lifting and, last week  during the TNC,  a 2/3s full glass. 
 All these analogies have kept the DDA going since 2005 and have injected practical understanding 
into initiatives such as Aid for Trade, WTO University Chairs Programme and others. 
 As you exit, the indelible foot print that you have left behind, is the renovated and revamped WTO Campus - it is elegant and befitting. We are all proud of this achievement. 
 
DG Lamy, it was a pleasure having you at the WTO over the past eight years and wish you the very best in your future endeavours to gether with the four DDGs and Arancha. 
 
50. Benin  
The delegation of Benin expresses its sincere thanks to, and high appreciation 
of WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy, for the major contribution he has made to the Doha Round 
negotiations in his role as facilitator of the process.  Mr Lamy  has always been very approachable, committed, enterprising, considerate, interactive 
in his steering of the Organization's work, and attentive to the need to find solutions to the 
situations and concerns of WTO Members, especially the weakest Members.  
Under his stewardship, we have examined a substantial volume of issues that we must proceed 
with, expedite and finalize.  
My delegation also takes this opportunity to thank and congratulate his team 
of Deputy Directors-General, all of whom are talented, approachable and considerate individuals. In Valentine, Harsha, Alejandro and Rufus  we have had a good mix of skills,  qualities, experience 
and sensibilities. The highly professional Ar ancha has been an excellent bridge between 
the Director-General's Office and the Members of our Organization. 
 We wish Mr Lamy  every success for the future. 
 
51. Zambia  
My delegation associates with the statements ma de by Morocco on behalf of the African Group, 
Nepal on behalf of the LDC Group and Jamaica on behalf of the ACP Group. 
 My delegation wishes to sincerely thank you Mr Lamy and your team for your tireless effort in 
keeping the WTO at the centre of global economic governance. 
 
You faithfully served both the strong and the weak in this house and you took particular interest in issues of interest and concern to the most weak an d vulnerable economies. For this we give you all 
the credit. 
 For Zambia you will be remembered for the pivotal role you played in Hong Kong, which resulted in 
reaching an agreement on an LDC package, as well  as the visit you undertook to Lusaka in April 
2009 as part of the regional review on aid for trade.  Mr Lamy, you and your team have left an important mark on the EIF programme, the cotton 
initiative, the accession for LDCs and other issues of interest for that we would like to sincerely 
thank you and wish you all the best.  
52. Yemen (speaking as Observer) 
First, I would like to join earlier speakers in conveying Yemen Minister of Industry and Trade, Dr. 
Saadaldeen bin TALIB, sincere appreciation for Mr Lamy's excellent leadership during his two terms 
in office, as WTO Director General. My delegation registers highest regard for Mr Lamy's hard work 
over the last eight years and before. Though he may leave the office in WTO, surely he shall WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  remain as a precious asset for WTO to draw on his wisdom during the years to come. Yemen is 
very appreciative of his good-offices facilitation  extended to its accession process to the WTO, 
throughout all previous years.   
Equally, Minister Talib  looks forward to working closely with Mr Roberto Azevêdo , the new 
Director General, during the upcoming last phase of Yemen accession process and well beyond, as a future full-fledged Member of WTO. 
 
At this juncture, Yemen is very appreciative of all the support received from WTO Membership and Secretariat to conclude its long journey accession that started more than a decade ago. Many Members and WTO Groups have extended valuable support to enable Yemen wrap up its accession 
in the coming few weeks. My delegation is look ing forward to convening the FINAL Working Party 
meeting next September.   
Yemen needs to conclude its long awaited accession to WTO as a first step to integrate into the 
Multilateral Trading System symbolized by WTO. Fortunately, at this juncture, Yemen accession is ready for harvesting. My delegation would like to  extend its sincere gratitude to WTO Membership, 
as well as Director General and WTO Secretaria t for making this accession achievable and 
deliverable this year.  53. Ethiopia (speaking as Observer) 
We endorse the statements made by Morocco, Jama ica and Nepal on behalf of the African Group, 
ACP and the LDCs, respectively. As a country in th e process of accession to the WTO, Ethiopia has 
enjoyed close collaboration with Director-General Lamy. He travelled frequently to Ethiopia to help 
expedite Ethiopia’s accession and attended African Union Summits. He held extensive consultations 
with high officials of the Ethiopian Government with regard to Ethiopia’s accession and trade 
related regional and global issues. He also met re presentatives of the private sector and the media. 
He kept an open door to the Ethiopian delegation. Ethiopia’s ministerial accession committee 
benefited from his wealth of experience and wisd om. With his encouragement, we have benefitted 
from the technical and capacity building support of the WTO secretariat. In fact, we are processing 
a comprehensive trade related technical and capacity building support framework with the WTO 
Secretariat. We cherish his candid, precise and practical advice. I would like to assure Pascal Lamy 
and Members of the WTO that we are redoubling our efforts to expedite our accession process.  
In addition to Ethiopia’s accession to the WTO, in  my capacity as the Chairperson of the Board of 
the Enhanced Integrated Framework, I have had the opportunity to work closely with Mr. Lamy. I am grateful for his invaluable guidance on the EIF and his pioneering role on the aid-for-trade in 
general. 
 It is therefore fitting to say thank you to Pascal Lamy as a great friend of Ethiopia, and with your deputies and Chief of Cabinet and the entire team with special mention of Valentine for steering 
the affairs of the World Trade Organization for ei ght years with wisdom an d dedication, and extend 
our best wishes for his future endeavour.  
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  ANNEX III 
STATEMENTS BY DELEGATIONS AT TH E TRADE NEGOTIATIO NS COMMITTEE ON 
22 JULY 2013 
At their request, the statements made by a number of delegations at the above-mentioned 
meeting are included below as part of the Minutes of the General Council meeting. 
  
1. Burkina Faso (for Cotton-4) 
I am taking the floor on behalf of the four co-sponsors of the Sectoral Initiative in Favour of Cotton 
(C-4), who of course endorse the statements made  by Morocco on behalf of the African Group, 
by Nepal on behalf of the least developed countries, and by Jamaica on behalf 
of the ACP countries. 
 The C-4 thanks you, Mr Chairman, for the report you have just given on the status of the trade 
negotiations in terms of the preparations for the Ninth WTO Ministerial Conference, to take place 
from 3 to 6 December 2013 in Bali. It agrees with your analysis and your observations.  
With Bali some five months away, and despite the efforts made, the results of our preparatory 
work fall short of our Ministers' expectations in the light of the decisions of the Eighth Ministerial 
Conference of December 2011.  
The C-4 accordingly calls upon all stakeholders to moderate their expectations and keep their 
ambitions in check, to allow compromises to be crafted for Bali which would provide a solid basis for our future work, including post-Bali. 
 
Regarding the cotton issue specifically, the C-4 reaffirms that it is continuing its internal work, as well as its consultations with the Groups which are its strategic partners, with a view 
to submitting a draft decision as soon as possible. It reiterates its commitment and its readiness 
to work with all stakeholders on cotton and on the other key issues currently being addressed.  The C-4 urges all Members to show the necessary political will and flexibility to enable us to reach 
agreement on the balanced proposal which will be submitted on cotton. 
 If I am not mistaken, this is the last meetin g of the Trade Negotiations Committee under the 
current senior management of the WTO Secretariat. 
 Therefore this is the moment for me, on behalf  of the C-4 and all the cotton-producing African 
countries and LDCs, to pay a well-deserved tribute to the Chairman of the Trade Negotiations 
Committee, Mr Pascal Lamy, and the entire Secretariat team, for their sustained efforts over the past eight years, in particular to move forwar d on both the trade and the development aspects 
of the cotton issue. 
 
The C-4 and the other 32 cotton-producing African countries are grateful to you, Mr Chairman, for your campaigning leadership on this issue, even though the results do not do justice 
to your initiatives and actions in this field, as in others where there can be no denying your 
strong commitment.  
The C-4 will continue to work assiduously with all the other stakeholders and the new Secretariat 
team in order to achieve tangible results on the cotton issue before Bali, or in Bali.  Finally, the C-4 requests that this statement also be reflected in the Minutes of the next General 
Council meeting on 24 July 2013. 
 2. El Salvador 
El Salvador thanks the Director-General for his report, which accurately reflects the current 
situation in terms of preparations for the Bali Ministerial Conference and the negotiating areas in particular. I also wish to thank the Chairs of the Negotiating Groups for their efforts to move 
the discussions forward in the areas we have identified as candidates for agreement in December. WT/GC/M/146 
 
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In June, El Salvador called for reflection and open exchange between Members on the production 
of the Bali package so as to make a realistic asse ssment of what specific results might be achieved 
at the Ministerial Conference, the aim being to en sure a successful meeting that yields balanced 
outcomes for all Members and will thus strengthen the multilateral trading system. 
 Now, one month later, we are disappointed to find  that although there has been modest progress 
in some of the negotiating areas, with barely four months to go until the Ministerial meeting we are 
still a very long way from achieving the objectives that we, the Membership, have set ourselves. In the run-up to the Ministerial, all Members must accordingly redouble their efforts to build bridges in the different negotiating areas, but what is needed especially is leadership and political will on 
the part of the main actors in this Organization in order to narrow the gaps between positions. 
 This is essential if we are to engage without delay in a horizontal process so that Members can 
assess the balance of deliverables for Bali. While as a country we are participating very actively 
in this process and negotiating each area on its own merits, we consider that any package resulting from Bali must be balanced and must take into account the interests of all Members, 
including those of countries such as El Salvador. 
 We re-emphasize our concern about how little time we have left to build a substantive and successful agenda in Bali, particularly in view  of the limited resources of the small delegations 
and the fact that much of the outstanding work w ill be concentrated in the months of September 
and October. This situation is further complicated by the fact that the regular items forming part of the Ministerial agenda also remain to be determined. 
 
El Salvador is committed to continuing to work constructively and step up its efforts to pave the way for a successful Bali Ministerial, which will be a launching pad for securing agreement in other 
negotiating areas post-Bali. 
 3. Jamaica (for ACP Group) 
On behalf of the members of the ACP Group, my delegation is grateful to you for your frank 
assessment of state of play in the negotiations le ading up to the Bali Ministerial Conference in 
December 2013. We also wish to reaffirm our deep  appreciation to you as well as the Chairs and 
Friends of the Chair for your tireless efforts to promote sustained engagement across the three 
pillars under negotiation viz., Trade Facilitation, Agriculture and Development and LDC issues. 
Mr. Chairman,  
The ACP acknowledges that we are now at the summer break and that considerable work remains 
if we are to achieve success in Bali. The ACP remains committed to securing a balanced and meaningful outcome in all three pillars.  
In Trade Facilitation, the ACP has taken a proactive approach and has submitted a comprehensive 
proposal on Section 2 of the Draft Consolidated Negotiating Text and has provided further revisions, taking account of critical elements that have emerged in the course of the negotiations. 
We acknowledge that the provision of timely and effective TFACB assi stance at the multilateral and 
other levels will contribute to the assumption of  binding commitments, in accordance with the TF 
mandates. This is in line with the ACP's promotion of a 21st century S & D approach to TFACB for 
Trade Facilitation. 
 In Agriculture, the ACP salutes the considerable technical work that has been undertaken under the 
Chairmanship of H.E. John Adank. We acknowledge the state of play in relation to the various 
proposals on the table and call on members to redouble efforts to close gaps that remain in the 
limited period after the summer break. The ACP also looks forward to the incorporation of a 
meaningful outcome on Cotton in the framework of the negotiations. 
 
On Development and LDC issues, the ACP will remain engaged and recognizes that this too is an area where differences will need to be narrowed in a short period and calls on Members to pursue 
a constructive and committed approach in the coming weeks. 
 The ACP remains committed to the Multilateral Tr ading System and looks forward to a successful 
outcome in Bali. WT/GC/M/146 
 
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4. Kenya 
I associate this statement to those already deliver ed by Morocco on behalf of the African Group, 
Jamaica on behalf of the ACP and Indonesia on behalf of G33. 
 
Let me start by appreciating your comprehensive statement that has given us the current state of play and where we stand regarding the three pi llars - Agriculture, Trade Facilitation and 
Development Issues, that have been the focus of our negotiations. I thank you for this statement. 
Obviously, we take note of the enormous work that has gone into intensified negotiations over the last three months as well as the undertaken consultations both in formal and informal sessions and therefore wishes to commend the chairs of the nego tiating groups for their hard work and tireless 
effort.  Besides, they have exhibited the determination that is admirable which has attempted to 
move the negotiations forward however modest it is. Indeed, it is this modest but steady movement that might probably end up to be an answer to the conclusion of the entire DDA if it 
delivers the desired results in Bali.  This notwithstanding, it is quite clear that the small package 
that we anticipate to harvest in Bali during the 9th Ministerial Conference is still elusive. It 
therefore needs concerted and collective effort by all of us to be able to bring it within reach if Bali 
is going to wrap it up and ultimately tagged as a successful ministerial conference.  In this respect, 
two things comes into my mind. First and foremost , as already advised by our ministers, we need 
to change our negotiating gear and inject more momentum into the negotiations necessary to accelerate our work as we continue to explore different ways and approaches of concluding the Bali 
package without necessarily drifting away from the mandate. Second, we need to look at all issues 
under the three pillars objectively in order to be in a position of addressing them from a more practical and all-inclusive manner. Norway, through their oral conceptual proposal on downward 
adjustment of administered prices as relates to pu blic stockholding for purposes of food security 
presented during the last meeting of the Comm ittee of Agriculture in Special Session, has 
demonstrated that this is indeed doable.  
 
Finally, we all know that the multilateral tradin g system has served us well since 1947. It enabled 
the international trade to recover from the adverse effects of the First and Second World Wars, the Great Depression and recently, the Global Financial Crisis. Undoubtedly, the impasse and delay in 
concluding the DDA is subjecting the system to some turbulences which are not healthy. The only 
way to weather them is by concluding the much anticipated small package in Bali to rekindle the confidence and optimism that the MTS deserves. The Kenya delegation will continue to remain 
constructively engaged in that respect. 
 5. Mauritius 
My delegation associates itself with the interventions made by Morocco and Jamaica who have 
expressed the views, hopes and concerns of the African and ACP Group of States respectively. 
 As Chairman of the TNC who set the course and steered the process for Bali since December, 2012 
you managed to maintain the momentum. As we continue work on the elements of a possible Bali 
Ministerial package, your report on the consultations you conducted in different formats, provides my delegation a sense of cautious optimism on the possible agreement for a credible and 
meaningful outcome in Bali. But we are not yet there and the challenges facing us demand that we 
trust each other and agree that any Bali outcome would be limited in scope.  
Having also taken cognizance of the work conducted by the Chairs who are shepherding the 
different processes, my delegation believes that the road to Bali would pose many challenges which would demand full engagement of WTO Members and constant interaction with our respective capitals. In the light that Bali is only four months away, each WTO Member ought to be 
realistic on possible outcomes since a Bali package should not be equated with wish lists, the more 
so, since all elements to be agreed before we proceed to Bali should enjoy consensus of all Members and should do no harm to any WTO Member. We also share your view, Mr. Chairman, 
that Bali should not become a negotiating forum. 
 Bali is an important sign post and should we su cceed in agreeing on the sort of package I just 
referred to, then only could we give this organisation the possibility to re-order its work for an 
early conclusion of the Doha Development Agenda, elements of which have been under intense negotiations under your eight years at the Head of the WTO. To my delegation many, if not all, WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  elements in Rev.4 of the July 2008 Framework Agreement could be adopted with slight 
modifications. Therefore, Bali comes at a de fining moment in the history of the WTO. 
 Mauritius, an island developing State with an op en economy, endowed with very limited resources, 
depends heavily on trade for its continued developm ent. Hence, multilateralism is a cornerstone of 
our foreign policy, it being on trade or other issues.  
My delegation, therefore, pledges full support to the Chairs and the Friends of the Chairs who are 
leading the complex and painstaking processes in an attempt at building consensus on those issues which you identified under the three pillars.  
My delegation is supportive of concluding an agreement on Trade Facilitation. While we agree that 
we want an agreement with real commitments, we also need to understand that implementation of reforms is a painful process. Unless those reforms in developing and Least Developed Counties are 
adequately supported through the provision of technical assistance and capacity building (TACB), 
we could end in Bali signing another agreement and agree on new commitments which many among us would be unable to honour. My delegation would also call for constructive engagement in 
the discussions on Section II of the TF Agreement wi thout any apriori thinking or conditionalites. 
By re-orienting the whole concept of Special and Differential Treatment, the Membership has a unique chance to embark on the establishmen t of a new relationship based on real co-
development. 
 
Agriculture is an area which could result in win-win situations for the entire membership and would also require to feature prominently in a future post-Bali work programme. Mauritius as a Member 
of the G33 is encouraged by progress achieved at  technical level on the G33 proposal and hopes 
that convergence on public food stockholding to ac hieve food security objectives would result in a 
political agreement in Bali. Food security is also an element which is taking centre-stage in 
discussions in another fora to which all of us belo ng. By adopting a decision on food security, in 
Bali, the WTO which has always adopted a pragmatic approach on issues would have a unique chance to take the lead on this issue of global concern.  
Finally, on development issues, negotiations on the Monitoring Mechanism have advanced much 
since March and Mauritius is optimistic that under the able Chairmanship of the Ambassador of Singapore, the future body that would be established would contribute in further building good 
relations and help promote solidarity and understanding among members in this organization. 
 On the Cancun 28, a first reading is being underta ken and we hope that once this process of 
clarification would be over, the next stage would be conducted in a serene and collaborative 
atmosphere since we all stand to gain if implementation issues, referred to as among those 20th Century issues could be settled once for all. Failure to do so would also imply being haunted by those issues of another age, while we all claim and profess that the WTO should gear itself to 
address new emerging issues or risk being irrelevant. At a time of severe economic crisis we 
should avoid becoming parochial in our approach; rather this crisis should provide the entire membership the opportunity to re-engage and approach negotiations in a transparent and 
consensus building framework. Our on-going prep arations for Bali should set the ball rolling. 
I thank you for your kind attention.  WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  ANNEX IV 
STATEMENTS BY DELEGATIONS AT THE FOURTH GLOBAL REVIEW ON AID FOR TRADE 
ON 10 JULY 2013 
At their request, the statements made by a number of delegations at the above-mentioned 
meeting are included below as part of the Minutes of the General Council meeting. 
  
1. Australia 
As in previous Reviews, this Fourth Global Review  of Aid for Trade has provided an important focus 
to this critical aspect of the WTO’s work. There are too many to list comprehensively, but from Australia’s perspective there are four themes that have caught our eye this week which need to be 
emphasised and kept in mind as we look to th e next phase of the Aid for Trade initiative.   
 The first is Trade facilitation and the real benefits of trade facilitation reform for developing 
countries. On Monday, Australia was pleased to have issued a joint statement with 26 other 
Members and organisations underlining the importance  of trade facilitation for development, and 
signalling that developing countries can be confident of on-going support in implementing trade 
facilitation reform.  
 Second, this Review has highlighted the essential role services play in trade, and in all aspects economic development. Efficient, competitive services sectors can be directly tradable, but also 
increase the competitiveness of other sectors.  
 Third, the monitoring exercise and the discussions at the review have made clear the importance 
of Aid for Trade being seen in the “wide-angle lens” of its context. Aid for Trade helps, but alone it 
cannot drive competitiveness. We have to keep in mind the importance of governments pursuing a range of complementary reforms if the impact  of Aid for Trade is to be maximised.  
 
Fourthly, we need to keep harnessing the value of the Aid for Trade initiative, and its ability to bring together a wide range of partners in this fi eld, to monitor and explain the impact of Aid for 
Trade. Australia’s commitment is clear, with Aid for Trade having increased from 10% of our ODA 
in 2009-10 to 15% of our ODA in 2011-12.   
 Related to this, we have been very pleased to part icipate in a number of side events with a strong 
focus on the Pacific Region, given the unique Aid for Trade challenges faced by small Pacific Island 
economies. We have welcomed the presence of a number of senior Ministers and officials from the 
Pacific, which is a strong testament to the relevance of Aid for Trade as a tool to promote economic 
growth and development in the Pacific Region. 
 Once again, this Review has confirmed we are on the right track, and have been doing very useful 
work. We welcome the hard work put in by the WTO Secretariat and all involved in this Review. We 
particularly note the critical role played by Director General Lamy in the Aid for Trade Initiative, 
and in putting the WTO at the heart of these discussi ons. As we look to the next phase of the Aid 
for Trade initiative, all members should ensure that discussions on Aid for Trade remain central to 
the WTO’s work. 
 2. Canada 
Canada welcomes this timely Review.    Our discussions have provided a useful reminder of the 
changes we have witnessed in the global economy.   They have underscored not only that aid for 
trade is important, but also that the converse is al so true:  trade itself aids development.  In this 
era of global value chains, study after study has shown that countries that participate in such 
chains have faster rates of growth than those that do not.  
 This review allows us to recall the premises of  aid for trade that motivated the creation of the 
original Integrated Framework and the Enhanced In tegrated Framework: first, the importance of 
donor coordination, and secondly, the necessity of  recipient country ownership.  Drawing on the 
experiences shared in the course of our discussion s, permit me to draw three lessons consistent 
with these premises.  WT/GC/M/146 
 
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The first lesion is that trade cannot make its contribution to growth and development without “infrastructure”, by which I mean both the physical and regulatory environment.    
Developing country success in connecting to value chains requires a country to do some work on 
the fundamentals of production at home.   A solid foundation begins with a business climate that enables investment and trade.  Essentials include a regulatory environment that provides certainty 
and predictability – often captured by referring to the notion of “the rule of law”; reliable 
infrastructure; access to finance; a skilled workforce; and two-way market access.  In sum, it is incumbent on a recipient country to invest in creating and maintaining an environment conducive for both domestic and foreign investment.   
 
So Canada’s development assistance seeks to support this imperative by contributing to building and promoting stable, transparent and accountable institutions and good governance.  Our work 
helps grow efficient businesses in the developing world.   Our bilateral Aid for Trade has supported 
capacity building for business via the Canada-Americas Trade-related Technical Assistance Program and the Canada-Americas Business Environment Reform  Program. We have built trade readiness in 
Africa via a Program for Building African Capacity  for Trade through the ITC, and we have worked 
with Shea Nut and Butter producers in Mali and Burkina Faso, farmers in the Nile Basin, and elsewhere.  
The second lesson is that partnerships matter.  By partnerships, I refer to public-private 
partnerships, to partnerships within regions and sub-regions to facilitate trade, as so many speakers have highlighted, and to partnerships be tween bilateral, regional and multilateral donors 
and institutions.  Here, too, Canada remains committed to support.  Canadian experts have 
presented models that include partnerships between large investors, donors, capacity building experts, and developing country producers. One inspiring example involves the FedeCovera 
Cooperative in Alta Verapaz, a community in Guatemala that, with a relatively small amount of 
Canadian Aid for Trade plus capacity building expert ise, pulled itself out of poverty by creating its 
own market-ready product (cardamom) and engagi ng in international supply chains on its own 
terms.   Our Investment Fund for Africa has leveraged a $100 m government investment to raise 
an additional $ 160 m from the private sector. 
 Our partnerships extend to regional and international institutions as well.  Over the past two years 
we have disbursed, ahead of schedule, $40 million to institutions working on standards, on trade 
facilitation, and on least developed countries’ trade development with a cross-cutting emphasis on gender equality, including the ITC.  We have channelled this Aid for Trade through the African 
Development Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank, We have also 
funded WTO-related trust funds, including the St andards and Trade Development Facility (STDF), 
and of course the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF).  
And Canada works extensively alongside regional partners.  We support the CARICOM Single 
Market and Economy via several programs, includ ing support for the CARICOM Office of Trade 
Negotiations.  In Africa, we are working with NEPAD to support African regional infrastructure 
projects. We are also working with Eastern, So uthern and Western African economic communities 
– COMESA, ECOWAS, the Central African Community and the East African Community -- to build capacity for trade, governance, and for SMEs, includ ing again through institutions such as the ITC. 
 
My third lesson, M/Mme Chair, is that negotiatio ns matter.  In our view, the most significant 
contribution that the WTO can make to enable developing countries’ participation in global value chains is to complete the Trade Facilitation Agreem ent by the Bali Ministerial.  Global value chains 
rely on fast and reliable access to inputs and the ability to export goods efficiently.  A concluded 
Trade Facilitation Agreement would serve to st reamline customs procedures and expedite the 
movement, release and clearance of goods in all countries, particularly in Least Developed 
Countries. Indeed, the World Economic Forum recently affirmed that reducing supply chain barriers 
to trade could increase global GDP by nearly 5% and trade by 15%.
1 We see this Review as an 
important step in acknowledging the link between trade facilitation, global value chains and 
development.  
 
                                               
1 World Economic Forum, Enabling Trade and Valuing Growth Opportunities , 2013, p 13. WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  In conclusion, Canada supports strongly the aid for trade agenda, and for a trade agenda that 
supports development.  We pay tribute to Director General Lamy’s leadership during his tenure, and thank the organizers for a rich set of discussions and side events.  
3. Dominican Republic (for IGDC) 
I would like to congratulate you, the Secretariat and all the other agencies involved in this 4
th 
Global Review on Aid for Trade.  This review has highlighted the impressive progress that has been 
made in the implementation of the mandate give n in paragraph 57 of the Hong Kong Ministerial 
Declaration, notably as regards operationalizing  the recommendations of the Director-General's 
Task Force on Aid for Trade.  
The developing countries acknowledge the efforts the WTO has made in the area of resource 
mobilisation.  These efforts have resulted in an increase of Aid for Trade resources reported by 
bilateral and multilateral donors to the OECD when we compare them with the starting levels 
established in the 2002-2005 baseline. It is also be cause of these efforts that despite tightening 
budgets in some key donors which led to reductions in funding, some multilateral providers have increased their commitments.  Nevertheless, it is important to draw attention to the fact that that 
the G-20 pledge to maintain Aid for Trade spendi ng at the level of at least the average of 2006-
2008 has not been met. Aid for Trade levels for 2011 show a decrease from the previous year, this decreasing trend shows that the outlook for Aid fo r Trade resource mobilization is not reassuring 
particularly in light of the fiscal consolidation pressures on the development budgets of the main 
developed-country donors.  But some donors like the UK have shown that despite serious budget 
restructuring it is still possible to keep to the target of ODA not being below 0.7% of GDP.  
A downward trend in Aid for Trade flows is worrying because, despite the effective use of Aid for 
Trade provided in recent years, developing countri es continue to face supply-side and trade-related 
infrastructure constraints that severely limit the possibility of using trade as a tool to achieve their 
developmental objectives, including the MDGs.  It is therefore very important that development 
partners continue to adhere to the Paris Declaration principles on aid effectiveness and honour their commitments concerning Aid for Trade flows.  
The theme for this 4
th Global Review was integrating into value chains.   As brought out during the 
discussions in this Review, developing countries have problems not just integrating into value chains but also moving up these chains by prov iding more value added products. This is true 
particularly in light of the importance of services for adding value to products which has been 
evidenced in the monitoring and evaluation reports.  In this context, a successful implementation of 
the LDCs services waiver that was decided during MC8 has the potential of greatly assisting LDCs 
in their diversification efforts into trade in services. LDC issues, together with Development, 
Agriculture and Trade Facilitation, are some of the most important deliverables for the Bali Ministerial Conference.  
In fostering the integration into value chains it is also important to provide assistance for the 
creation of small and medium enterprises grouped in to activity clusters.  This would ensure that 
the poor in developing countries really benefit from this insertion into world trade with the creation 
of formal and dignified employment. 
 On the issue of trade facilitation it is import ant to stress the need for sustained, predictable 
assistance to ensure that developing countries derive the expected benefits. There is a significant 
potential for synergies to be derived from Trade Facilitation and Aid for Trade that would help developing countries build capacity and export infrastructure, and reduce trade costs.  This 
assistance should target capacity building, infr astructure development and reducing the costs of 
trade for developing country members.  
 Another issue that deserves our attention is that of trade finance which has been a particular 
constraint as recognized by the joint OECD-WTO AfT monitoring exercise.  It is therefore important 
to continue the work in this area that has been  undertaken by the Director-General of WTO and 
other heads of agencies.  
 
One encouraging element that emerged in this 4
th Global Review is the increase in resources being 
devoted to regional co-operation and regional tr ade performance.  The regional dimension is an 
area where significant progress has been made, thanks to the intervention of regional development WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  agencies, but still more resources and attention are needed if we want to maintain the momentum 
that has been achieved.  Some developing countries have expressed concern about the use of certain indicators, such as 
GDP per capita, to determine eligibility to access aid funding.  This puts middle income countries at 
a great disadvantage as it does not take into account poverty levels or disparities in income distributions, several of these countries have seen their aid levels diminish.   
 
Developing countries believe that it is necessary to look at the impact and developmental outcomes that have been achieved by Aid for Tr ade, with a view to improving the quality of 
assistance provided.  It is also necessary to see these results through the optic of developing 
countries' own development priorities. What we wa nt to achieve with Aid for Trade needs to be 
aligned with national and regional priorities seek ing to really impact on development.  Although 
there are some methodological challenges in meas uring the outcomes and impact of Aid for Trade, 
monitoring should ideally use national systems as any development impacts must be owned in 
partner countries.  
Another key notion that was evidenced in the 4
th Global Review is how aid can be used to improve 
the investment climate and leverage other forms of  development finance. We have also seen the 
importance of investment for linking developing country suppliers to value chains.  We should continue to further explore the link between aid and private investment particularly in these times 
of fiscal consolidation and shrinking aid budgets we need to find new sources of funds to finance 
development of productive capacity and export infrastructure.   
If I took away all the fancy words then what do I hear our members say - that aid for trade must 
help them build productive capacity and export infrastructure, thereby lowering the cost of trading and enhancing export competitiveness; this is the basic message they have given me, and this is 
the basic message I pass on to you!  
 the IGDC membership includes many developing countries that are seeking to assist their fellow developing countries improve their trade performance through such measures as DFQF access for 
LDCs and trade-related assistance.  In recent time we have seen south-south partners make 
increasingly detailed reports in the CTD aid for trade sessions on their south-south capacity building activities.  We are encouraged by the impr essive growth of south-south trade in the last 
decade which reflects the important complementary role that south-south cooperation can play in 
assisting fellow developing countries.   
Looking now toward the Bali Ministerial Conference , the developing countries are of the view that 
members must update and renew the mandate of the Director-General on Aid for Trade.  Continued work on Aid for Trade is one of the key contributions which the WTO can make to the post-2015 development agenda. Just like the conclu sion of the DDA would be a key contribution to 
achieving the global partnership for development ur ged in the Millennium Development Goals.  And 
at the heart of this renewed initiative must be the target of additional resource mobilization, enhancing productive capacity, building export infrastructure and reducing trading costs for 
developing countries, all of which limit the possibilities for diversification and value addition. 
 4. India 
The 4
th Global Review on Aid for Trade, spanning over the past two days, has highlighted some 
important elements of the debate on Aid for Trade.    What has come to the fore during the discussions is that Aid for Trade can play a vital role in 
assisting developing countries build their infrastructure and productive capacity which is essential 
for promoting trade and investment. The Review has also served to highlight major constraints facing developing countries, and LDCs in particular, in their efforts at integrating into the 
multilateral trading system. These constraints provide a pointer to how Aid for Trade could be 
channelized in the most effective manner.     
While the focus of this Review has been on connecting to value chains, experience has shown that 
the ability of developing countries to effectively integrate into and move up the value chains is severely limited by their low technological base, non-availability of skilled manpower, lack of infrastructure, inability to meet standards, poor manufacturing capacities and weak business WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  environment. As a result, developing countries tend to remain at the low end of the value chain. In 
their case, linking into value chains may not bring gains automatically in terms of net value addition.  
To enable developing countries to cross this threshold is a challenge which needs to be addressed 
through infrastructure development, capacity bu ilding and technology transfer. Aid for Trade can 
help by providing the necessary resources and technical know-how for this purpose.  
 
A large part of the discourse and analysis presented during this Review has tended to revolve around the advantages of lowering trading costs to help developing countries link up to value 
chains. Benefits of Trade Facilitation have been underlined in the context of promoting Value 
Chains. We, however, would urge caution against an excessive emphasis on trade facilitation, vis-
à-vis other more pressing needs of developing co untries including technological up-gradation and 
productive capacity building. The vital need fo r infrastructure development, in the form of 
highways, ports, railways and electricity, has been amply underlined by several speakers, as has 
the need for greater access to finance.   
The Joint WTO-OECD Report released during this Review notes that while Aid for Trade resources 
have been scaled up significantly during the last 5 years, the outlook for the coming years is less positive. Aid for Trade declined by 14% during 2010- 2011 with most of this decline concentrated in 
aid for economic infrastructure in the transport and energy sectors. This period also saw a drop in 
AFT to Africa by 29% and to LDCs on a lesser scale. In terms of donors, there was a reduction in 
aid for trade flows from each of the G7  countries and the 24 DAC countries.   
 
Meanwhile, private sector investment in value chains and South-South cooperation has continued 
to grow. In this context, it is necessary to underline that South-South cooperation continues to grow despite the often severe domestic challenges  and resource constraints faced by the providers 
of South-South cooperation themselves. South-Sout h cooperation is entirely voluntary aimed at 
assisting fellow developing countries through knowledge sharing and learning from each other’s development experiences. It can complement but not replace or substitute North-South aid which forms the primary source of AFT.  
 
India’s development assistance and contribution to South-South cooperation is well documented and well recognized by our partners. Our experience has demonstrated that genuine partnerships 
can be forged only if such assistance is demand driven and based on the development priorities of 
our partners. Moreover, such cooperation has to be sustainable and supported by transfer of skills and technology. 
 
We hope that the 4
th Global Review of Aid for Trade will contribute to the ongoing dialogue on the 
subject of providing additional, pr edictable, sustainable and effective aid to developing countries 
for meeting their development aspirations.  
 
Before concluding Madam Chair, we would like to add our voice to previous speakers in thanking the WTO Secretariat team for organizing this Global Review. 
 
5. Japan 
First and foremost, I would like to express our sincere appreciation to Pascal, who created the 
concept of “Aid for Trade” and started this pr ocess which brought both trade and development 
people together.   AfT started with the demand from developing countri es that, in order to fully benefit from the trade 
liberalization, capacity building would be necessary. 
 A straightforward way to gain such capacities is by receiving FDIs.  If factories are established 
through FDIs, they would contribute to building productive and trade capacities, connecting the 
host countries to global or regional value chains.  Expansion of production and trade would lead to employment creation, stronger growth.  AfT is an instrument to create an attractive investment 
climate which will lead to such benefit. 
 In this light, we also appreciate the idea of Pascal, to connect AfT with value chains as the main theme of this global review.  This was successful to make our discussion relevant to the current WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  business practices and also facilitated our discussion to understand the development in a real 
changing global environment.  A great amount of discussions were conducted how AfT can enhance trade facilitation capabilities.  
This proves that AfT can be a strong supporter of the TF negotiations.  Japanese contributions in 
trade facilitation include various kinds of assistance to customs as well as the establishment of One Stop Border Post in some African countries.  As stated in the joint statement by the donors, Japan 
will continue its efforts on AfT in trade facilitation. 
 Speaking about Africa, 51 African countries, including 39 African leaders, participated in the fifth Tokyo International Conference for African Developm ent (TICAD), which we hosted last month.  At 
the meeting, Japan declared the assistance packag e of 32 billion USD, including ODA amounting to 
14 billion USD as well as private financing.  AfT is the core of this assistance package.  
Japanese AfT is based on the accumulated experience s in Asia and the Pacific.  Regional Technical 
Group on AfT in Asia and the Pacific have produced a report which focuses the mechanism how AfT enhances productive and trade capacities.  We hope this RTG report as well as the side event 
entitled"Asia’s experiences and Dialogue with Afri ca" was a valuable contribution to this Global 
Review.  Finally, given the wide range of activities involved in our work, cooperation with IFIs and other 
international organizations is important.  OECD, which is a co-organizer of the global review with 
WTO, is making significant contributions on the analysis of value chains including the establishment of a database for Trade in Value Adde d.  As a chair of the OECD Ministerial Meeting 
next May, Japan will strengthen cooperation with the OECD and encourage further collaboration 
between WTO and OECD in the analysis of AfT, investment climate, and value chains and in 
encouraging discussions for exploring futu re policy directions in this regard. 
 
6. Nepal (for LDC Group) 
Let me begin by congratulating the WTO Secretaria t, OECD and all key agencies for successfully 
organizing the 4
th Global Review on Aid for Trade on the theme ‘Connecting to Value Chains’ with 
multi-stakeholder participation. Since its inception in 2007, global review has remained a 
preeminent multilateral forum to discuss aid, trade and development related issues with particular focus on addressing constraints and challenges that developing countries in particular LDCs face in 
their development efforts.  
 
LDCs active engagement throughout the review periodhas helped them understand the intricate 
relationship between AfT and GVCs and the steps needed to advance their trade agenda within the 
overall framework of national development.  The Istanbul Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the decade 2011-2020 
aims to enable at least half the number of LDCs to reach the stage of graduation by 2020. In this 
process, trade has been recognized as one of the priority areas with a clear target of doubling by 
the end of the decade the share of LDCs in global exports. Meeting this target will require greater 
market access to LDC products together with simplified, transparent and facilitative rules of origin 
and removal oftheir supply-side constraints. In th is context, we call upon the WTO members to 
deliver meaningful outcomes on all core components in the LDC package for the 9
th WTO 
Ministerial Meeting in Bali. 
 In the context of AfT and its future direction, LDCs state the followings: 
 
We recognize the progress made in the implementation of paragraph 57 of the Hong Kong 
Ministerial Declaration, notably as regards operationalizing the recommendations of the Director-General’s task force. Building on the progress made  so far, wecall for the renewable of mandate of 
the Director-General on AfT in the forthcoming 9
th WTO Ministerial Meeting in Bali. AfT will be an 
important contribution of the WTO to the po st 2015 development agenda. We thank the 
development partners for their continued support in LDCs development endeavours. 
 
We underline the need for additionality and predictability in AfT resources and call for maintaining AfT spending at the level of at least the average of 2006-2008 level as pledged by G-20. WT/GC/M/146 
 
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We emphasize that the share of AfT to LDCs should be commensurate with their development 
needs and challenges as well as the structural constraints and multiple vulnerabilities they confront. We urge the development partners to en sure that at least one third of total AfT is 
disbursed to LDCs by next year. 
 We urge the development partners to progressively raise the grant component of AfT to four-fifth 
of total AfT disbursed to LDCs in three years from now. 
 We underline the need for aligning AfT resources with national priorities and needs, respecting the principle of national ownership and leadership  of the country concerned in the development 
process. Due to limited productive capacity, LDCs have not been able to reap benefits from the 
world economy. We, therefore, call for mobilizati on of AfT towards building productive capacity, 
economic diversification, and overcoming infrastructural bottlenecks, including energy, 
connectivity, road and other means of transportation. 
 We need to ensure quality of assistance being provided. Impacts of assistance can best be 
evaluated from the perspective of recipient countri es needs and priorities and monitoring should 
involve national system. Development impacts must be owned in partner countries.  LDCs receive negligible share of FDI. Furthermore, whatever is received is concentrated on 
extractive sector with little or no impact on job creation and poverty reduction. We stress that AfT 
should be leveraged with a view to improving investment climate and mobilizing other sources of development financing. AfT-investment nexus need s to be fully explored. We request the WTO to 
make AfT and investment the main theme of the next global review in 2015. 
 We believe that regional and sub-regional projects have the potential to overcome LDCs supply-
side constraints and promote their access to region al value chains by promoting connectivity and 
reducing thickness of borders. Financing regional projects connecting at least two LDCs should be 
an integral part of AfT resources additional to AfT going bilaterally.  
We underline that transfer of technology and know how will enable LDCs to add value to goods and 
services they produce making them competitive with better market opportunities.   
We reiterate that LDCs need capacity building support in establishing and upgrading labs and 
testing facilities of international standard to ensure quality of their products for an effective participation in GVCs. AfT resources should be mobilized for this purpose. 
 
 We stress that LDCs participation in GVCs and RVCs should be guided by the objective of enabling them to significantly add value and retain wealth  needed for sustainable development and poverty 
eradication. In the context of LDCs growing trade with global south, we request the WTO 
Secretariat to explore possibilities of engaging south-south partners, on a voluntary basis, for 
enhancing LDCs trading capacity through trade rela ted assistance and other scheme such as DFQF. 
 
We recognize the importance and relevance of EIF as an important vehicle for effective and 
consolidated utilization of AfT for the capacity bu ilding of LDCs. We underline the continuity of this 
framework with adequate level of resources. 
 
We visualize AfT as a win-win opportunity for everyone. A recently  carried out research on "The 
Participation of LDCs in Value Chain' by International Trade Centre at the request of LDC 
group, reveals the fact that AfT- launched at targeting infrastructural development and customs 
efficiency program, would generate total US $ 205 billion gains between 2014 to 2025 in World 
GDP. Of which, LDCs accrue US $ 95 billion while other regions accrue US $ 110 billion at 2007 price. It reveals the fact that emerging and developed countries have a clear incentive to support 
Aid for Trade Programme for LDCs. It forecasts that in 2025, OECD and EU gain US $ 2 billion and 
Asia-Pacific Region gains US $ 3.5 billion wort h economic gain if they support AfT program. 
 
It is high time that we genuinely committed to further advancing AfT with the sole objective of 
promoting meaningful opportunities for development with the enhanced contribution of trade for the benefit of all but certainly taking into account the vital development needs of LDCs.   WT/GC/M/146 
 
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  Finally, we pay tribute to DG Pascal Lamy for his committed leadership and sincere efforts in 
advancing AfT agenda and bringing it in the lime light of global trade discourse. AfT will be an 
important legacy of his stewardship of this organization. We sincerely hope that his successor will also pay equal, if not more, attention to this great initiative. 
 
We also acknowledge the valuable works done by DDG Valentine Rugwabiza and her team in this regard. 
 
 
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