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TN/CTD/M/49  
 
16 June 2015  
(15-3119)  Page: 1/4  
Committee on Trade and Development 
Forty-Ninth Special Session    
 
   
NOTE ON THE MEETING OF 23 MARCH 2015 
Chairman:  Ambassador Harald Neple (Norway) 
 
A. ADOPTION OF TH E AGENDA .................................................................................... 1  
B. REPORT BY THE CHAIR ............................................................................................ 1  
C. ELECTION OF THE CHAIRPERSON ............................................................................ 3  
D. OTHER BUSINESS .................................................................................................... 4  
 
 A. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA 
1. The agenda as contained in Airgram WTO/AIR/TN/CTD/1 of 13 March 2015 was adopted. 
B. REPORT BY THE CHAIR 
2. In accordance with WTO principles of inclusiveness and transparency, the Chairman reported 
to Members on developments which had taken place since the previous formal meeting of the 
Special Session of the Committee on Trade and Development (Special Session) convened in March 2014. He noted that 2014 had been a year where developments on issues outside of the purview of the Committee had very much affected the work that could be done, not only in the 
Special Session, but also across all negotiating areas that covered the entire spectrum of the WTO 
work. This had especially been the case after th e summer break. He recalled that upon assumption 
of the Chairmanship of the Special Session in March 2014, he began an informal consultative 
process with Members, in variable geometry, to tr y to get a better sense of the issues before the 
Committee. He had met the proponents individually, and in groups. He had also met several other delegations to get an overall perspective of the issues before the Committee. His objective had 
been to get a clear sense on whether any new solutions could be pursued, and if so, what could be 
the potential issues on which Members could make progress. 
3. In some of his conversations with the propon ents, he had been informed that they were 
reviewing the special and differential treatment (S &D) provisions in the WTO Agreements, with a 
view to identifying and tabling new proposals on which they wanted the Special Session to focus in 
the work ahead. Throughout 2014, on his side, he had kept in touch with the proponents and 
encouraged them to table their work as soon as  possible. The proponent's work took the better 
part of the year. This, perhaps, was to be expected, also taking into consideration the 
developments outside the Special Session, and the fact that the proponents had informed that they intended to coordinate their positions across various groupings. 
4. He further noted that at the informal open-ended meeting of the Special Session held in 
February 2015, the proponents tabled two lists of S&D provisions which they wished to pursue in 
the Special Session. The African and the ACP Groups  tabled a joint list of 14 S&D provisions, while 
the LDC Group tabled a list of 25 such provisio ns. The LDC submission was later circulated to 
Members as JOB/DEV/28. At that meeting, the proponents had also indicated that they were 
working on finalizing concrete textual proposals on the provisions identified in the two lists that TN/CTD/M/49 
 
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  they had tabled. Since then, he had been in touch with the proponents and had urged them to 
expedite this work so that meaningful and substa ntive work could start in the Special Session as 
soon as possible. He hoped the texts would be presented soon in order to get work started. 
5. In terms of his personal thoughts on where things stood in the Special Session, he noted 
that Members now had a list of provisions from the African and the ACP Groups and also from the 
LDC Group. It was his understanding, and he hoped it was correct, that those two lists could potentially be the universe of S&D provisions that the Special Session would need to consider, as 
Members prepared for the post-Bali Work Program. However, these were only lists of provisions in 
different WTO Agreements and not, at that stag e, Agreement-specific proposals which could be 
discussed in the Special Session. It was clear from his consultations that work in the Special Session could only begin subsequent to the tabling of those textual proposals. It had also been 
stressed by many that the proposals needed to be accompanied by identification of problems, 
rationale and justification on why these were being proposed. 
6. Concerning preparations for the post-Bali Work Program, he stated that the weeks and 
months that followed were critical for the Special Session to define the contours of its work that 
could be incorporated in the post-Bali Work Program. In this context, he called on the proponents to come forth with their proposals as soon as po ssible. He also encouraged all Members to keep 
their eyes on the bigger picture of development wi thin the core negotiating areas of agriculture, 
NAMA and Services, which also had very important development components.   
7. In the discussion that followed the Chair's briefing, the representative of Nepal speaking on 
behalf of the LDCs, thanked the Chair for his report and aligned himself with the statement that 
would subsequently be made by the LDC Coordinator (Bangladesh). He stated that The LDC Group 
had submitted its indicative list of S&D propos als in February 2015. The LDC Group was in the 
process of submitting detailed textual proposals with the objective of improving the effectiveness 
of S&D provisions within the mandate of paragraph 44 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration. It was 
still not clear how the work would proceed in the Special Session. He understood that Members needed the textual proposals so as to have en gagement. The LDCs wanted this too, but they 
needed clarity on the process, so as not to have a fruitless, circuitous process. In the context of 
the two distinct timelines, Members needed to be  clear about what to do and what they aim to 
achieve by July and what the target was for Nairobi in December. The structure of the work in moving forward was also important to better understand the objectives and possible outcomes. 
The question was whether Members would start negotiations on the S&D provisions with precise 
language? How would this then get reflected in the Work Program? He said that it was rather unclear whether textual proposals would become part of the Work Program or whether negotiated 
language in these proposals would be reflected in the Work Program. If it was the second scenario, 
then what would Members do between July and December? Would the negotiation process have been exhausted? He reiterated their longstanding conviction that S&D provisions were an integral 
part and core element of the multilateral trading sy stem (MTS) that provided flexibility to resource 
poor countries in order to facilitate their meaningful integration into the world trading system. The main objective of S&D in the WTO Agreement and Ministerial and other Decisions was to assist such countries to compete with others so that they could also reap economic benefits 
commensurate with their levels of development. The LDCs had significantly calibrated their 
ambition with respect to reviewing S&D provisions  in keeping with the principle of doability as 
emphasized by the Director-General. They had analysed all 88 S&D proposals and also assessed 
the Cancún 28 proposals from the perspective of economic value for developing and LDC Members. 
In doing so, they had revisited all earlier submi ssions and reassessed previous proposals from the 
perspective of economic value. The 25 textual proposals they were working on should reflect their 
economic development needs, enhance their trad e capacity, including productive capacity and 
contribute to structural transformation. It was their conviction that without logical delivery on S&D, the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) could not come to a successful conclusion. He emphasized that strengthening S&D provisions in general, and those specifically pertaining to 
LDCs, needed to be an inherent component of the post-Bali Work Program. He looked forward to 
working with the Chair and other colleagues to ensu re that proposals on S&D were one of the key 
components in the post-Bali Work Program, as well as an important outcome from MC10.  
8. The Chairman noted that some of the issues that had been raised by Nepal, on behalf of the 
LDCs, were exactly the ones that the Committee would have to discuss. As he had said in his introduction, the focus needed to be on the Work Program. The Special Session would have to 
define its own input into that - which could only be done through consultations with Members. In TN/CTD/M/49 
 
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  order to facilitate that discussion, the sooner the textual proposals were submitted, the better 
Members could actually have a discussion on what to include in the Work Program.  
9. The representative of Cameroon, speaking on behalf of the ACP Group, thanked the 
Chairman for his efficiency and his ability to listen to Members which was outstanding. The 
management of the process to July and on to Nairobi was important. He was ready to submit 
written proposals, but they also needed clarity on how the work would be organized and have an indication on how the Special Session would work in order to meet the deadlines of July and 
thereafter Nairobi. Members also needed to have a sense of clarity on the broader picture, 
covering all areas of work, on how these would be reflected in the Work Program. 
10. The representative of Nigeria supported the st atement made by Nepal, on behalf of the 
LDCs, and that of Cameroon. He congratulated th e Chair for his effective leadership and pledged 
cooperation and support to the incoming Chair. The Chair's report had mentioned two important 
points; one was that the Special Session did not have control over the activities that took place outside of it, especially, because of the impasse in 2014; second, that constructive engagement 
could only be had on the basis of textual proposals - which was not the case at the moment. 
Members needed to understand the objectives of MC10 and to finalize the Work Program. He hoped that Members would engage on the textual proposal, as and when tabled, with an open 
mind. 
11. The Chairman, in commenting on what had been said by the delegations of Cameroon and 
Nigeria, hoped that the incoming Chair would have  discussions centred on what sort of input this 
Committee could contribute to the July Work Program. At the current stage, Members were not 
certain of the sort of the contours, scope and natu re of the work program they were aiming for. 
The Director-General had been talking about a modalities–like work program and that was what Members were probably aiming for, but no one knew at this stage what the outcome would be. For 
him, it was important that Members engaged in a process and constructive discussion to avoid the 
circuitous dialogue that had been taking place in the Special Session for many years. The fact that the proponents had reviewed all of the S&D provis ions, recalibrated and looked at doability was a 
positive step forward. All Members needed to engage positively, taking account of this work by the 
proponents. He noted that all of the procedures and further steps would remain in the hands of his successor. 
12. The representative of the United States noted th at his delegation was only aware of two lists 
of articles that have been put on the table by the proponents and that these did not constitute 
textual proposals. Unless these textual proposals were submitted, it could not be expected to engage. On his delegation's part, it continued to wait for the proposals. 
13. The Chairman proposed that the Special Session take note of the statements made.  
14. It was so agreed. 
C. ELECTION OF THE CHAIRPERSON 
15. Under this agenda item, the Chair noted that the consultations held by the Chairman of the 
General Council to elect his successor, had resulted in a consensus among Members to appoint H.E. Ambassador Tan Yee Woan of Singapore, as Chairperson of the Special Session. In briefly introducing the incoming Chair, he stated that Ambassador Tan Yee Woan brought sound academic 
background, rich experience in multilateral diplomacy, and a sound familiarity with the Geneva 
scene. He was confident that all of this would come in good stead in advancing, and hopefully, concluding the work in the Special Session. He proposed that the Special Session confirm 
Ambassador Tan Yee Woan's appointment as Chairperson of the body. 
16. It was so agreed. 
17. In assuming the Chair of the Special Session, Ambassador Tan Yee Woan thanked 
Ambassador Neple. She praised the leadership and the creative ways that he employed to advance 
the work of the Special Session. She also thanke d Members for their confidence and trust reposed 
in her.  TN/CTD/M/49 
 
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  18. In her brief statement, she stated that she would soon begin meeting with Members to build 
on the work of her predecessor. She agreed that  the work before Members was very important and 
Members needed to think through and develop a collective view on how to move forward as soon as possible. 
19. She stated that Members were working within the context of the 31 July deadline to come 
up with the post-Bali Work Program. Time was not on their side. She encouraged the proponents to table their textual proposals quickly. Having early sight of the textual proposals would help 
tremendously in the holding of forward-looking and substantive discussions. She would soon be 
reaching out to delegations, starting off with the proponents. She encouraged delegations to contact her directly or through the Secretariat to arrange a meeting. Her door would always be open to any delegation that wished to talk. 
20. She went on to say that as Chair of the Special Session, she would be transparent and 
inclusive in her work. She reiterated that it would be very helpful for all Members to have early sight of the textual proposals so that Members could have a sense of how they would move 
forward. It was already the end of March and if Me mbers were to come up with a Work Program by 
the end of July, the pace of work needed to be accelerated. She was prepared to work every day 
of the week, if that was needed. She urged the pr oponents to table their proposals as quickly as 
possible.  
D. OTHER BUSINESS 
21. No issue was raised under other business. Ambassador Tan Yee Woan thanked Members for 
attending the meeting and hoped that over the coming weeks, Members would work constructively 
in advancing the work in the Special Session. 
22. The meeting was adjourned. 
 
 
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