JOB/GC/93  
 
13 May 2016  
(16-2656)  Page: 1/2  
General Council    
 
 AGENDA ITEM 2: IMPLEMENTATION OF THE BALI AND NAIROBI OUTCOMES –  
STATEMENT BY THE CHAIRMAN 
THURSDAY, 12 MAY 2016 
1.1.  When I took over the chairmanship of the General Council in February, I said that I believed 
it was essential to continue to follow up the decisions made in Bali and Nairobi – and to do that in an inclusive and transparent manner. To effectively fulfil the mandates, I suggest therefore that 
we keep this item on the agenda and that I co ntinue to provide a report on implementation 
matters at our meetings, where updates are availabl e. On 28 April, I met with the Chairpersons of 
Regular Bodies to discuss implementation issues and to review our collective agenda this year. I thank them for their cooperation and the work they are taking forward in their respective bodies – 
their updates from that meeting form the basis of my statement today. 
1.2.  On TRIPS non-violation and situation comp laints, further to the MC10 Decision, the Council 
for TRIPS has discussed the matter at its meeting on 1 March when Members mostly reiterated 
their well-known positions based on earlier submissi ons. As agreed at that meeting, the Chair will 
consult with delegations on the matter before the Council's next meeting in June. 
1.3.  On the work programme on electronic comme rce, the Friend of the Chair, Amb. Suescum, 
has scheduled consultations with Members on 17 May. I urge Members to start engaging more 
actively on e-commerce in the relevant Councils and Committees, and to come forward with concrete ideas and proposals on the topic. In line with the Nairobi Decision, the General Council will undertake a review of progress in the work programme at our July meeting.   
1.4.  Regarding Aid for Trade, as a first action in support of the Aid-for-Trade mandate elaborated 
in the Nairobi Ministerial Declaration, a new Work Programme for 2016-2017 was developed – with the theme "Promoting Connectivity" – which the General Council took note of at its last meeting. A 
formal CTD to consider and discuss implementation of the new Work Programme will be held on 
25 May. This will be followed on 26 May by a joint WTO/World Bank Group Trade and Poverty Forum entitled "Connecting to Trade: Policies and Programmes for Maximizing Poverty Reduction 
Impact".  
1.5.  Let us move now to Agriculture. In the Nairobi Decision on Export Competition Members 
agreed that, in line with the Bali Ministerial Declaration on the subject, they will continue to provide information on export subsidies, export credit, export credit guarantees or insurance 
programs, international food aid and agricultural exporting state trading enterprises, within the 
context of an annual examination process based on the structure contained in the Annex to the Decision. The 2016 annual examination process will take place in the CoA on 7 June and, as has 
been the practice, will be based on Members' no tifications as well as responses provided by 
Members to the export competition questionnaire contained in the Decision's annex.  
1.6.  Members also agreed in the Nairobi Export Competition Decision to review the provisions on 
international food aid in the context of the annual monitoring exercise held by the CoA on the 
implementation of the NFIDC Decision – this monitoring exercise was held in March 2016.  
1.7.  On the Nairobi Ministerial Decisions on Public Stockholding for Food Security Purposes and 
the SSM for Developing Country Members, dedicate d discussions were held this week on these two 
issues. While Members had constructive exchanges, persistent gaps remain between Members' 
fundamental positions on both issues. The Chair urged delegations to increase efforts to actively engage with each other.  JOB/GC/93 
 
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  1.8.  The other implementation issue undertaken by  the CoA is the follow-up on the Bali Decision 
on TRQ administration. The underfill mechanism included in the Annex to this Decision has not been invoked. A review of the operation of this Decision by the CoA should begin in 2018 with a view to informing recommendations from the General Council to the 12th Ministerial Conference. 
1.9.  Let me move now to LDC issues. On the Oper ationalization of the LDC Services Waiver, at its 
March meeting, the Council for Trade in Services addressed the notifications of preferences for LDC 
services and service suppliers received since its October meeting.  As required by the Waiver 
Decision, the notified preferential measures goin g beyond GATS Article XVI need to be approved 
by the Services Council.  The Nairobi Decision also instructs the Council to expeditiously consider approval of such preferential measures. I am plea sed to report that, at its meeting in March, the 
Services Council approved such preferences, which were contained in five of the notifications on 
the agenda for that meeting. Some Members provided updates with regard to the implementation 
of preferences they had previously notified. Th e tally of notifications of preferences for LDC 
services and service suppliers received by the Serv ices Council currently stands at 23. The Council 
will take up this issue, which is a standing item on its agenda, at its next meeting in June. 
1.10.  On Preferential Rules of Origin for LDCs, the Committee on Rules of Origin held its formal 
meeting on 22 April. The Committee will focus on monitoring the implementation of the Decision 
and on conducting follow-up work as mandated by the Decision. The Committee will discuss ways 
to enhance transparency of preferential rules of origin, including a template for notifications and the availability of trade data for the calculation of utilization rates; and, it will monitor the steps 
being taken by preference-granting Members to implement their commitments under the Decision. 
1.11.  On Duty Free Quota Free, at the CTD's meeting in March this year, Benin – the LDC 
Coordinator – indicated that the LDC Group will be submitting a proposal on the parameters of a Secretariat study on DFQF implementation. The possibility of such a Secretariat study was also 
discussed in the CTD in the run-up to MC10. Once  the proposal by the LDC Group is completed, 
the CTD Chair intends to work with Members and explore ways to move forward on the matter. 
1.12.  On the Monitoring Mechanism on Special an d Differential Treatment, four meetings of the 
Dedicated Session of the CTD have been held since Bali, but no written submissions from Members 
have yet been received. Previous CTD Chairs have  called on Members to make written submissions 
to make the Mechanism operational. The next meeting of the Monitoring Mechanism will be in July. 
1.13.  Work on Trade Facilitation continues to progress. Members have presented a series of 
category A notifications, bringing their current tota l to 83. They also started to hand in category B 
and C notifications, although the respective numbers  still lags behind. Very positive developments 
can be reported from the ratification front. As of this morning, 79 instruments were deposited, and 
more are close to being submitted. With now over 70 per cent of the required ratifications already 
having been registered, we have reached an important step on the path to seeing the Trade Facilitation Agreement enter into force. To further advance this process, I urge Members to hand 
in the outstanding notifications, especially with respect to categories B and C, and to accelerate 
the completion of the ratification process where this has not already been achieved. 
1.14.  I would also like to draw your attention to the mandates contained in paragraphs 28 and 29 
of the Nairobi Ministerial Declaration. Specifically, paragraph 28 instructs the CRTA "to discuss the 
systemic implications of RTAs for the multilateral trading system and their relationship with WTO 
rules." I understand from the CRTA Chairman that preliminary discussions have taken place at the last meeting of the Committee, and that the Chair is also consulting on the second part of the 
mandate, which provides that work should be conducted on the transformation of the current 
provisional Transparency Mechanism into a permanent mechanism. 
1.15.  In Paragraph 29, Ministers agreed to reinvi gorate the work of regular bodies and directed 
the General Council "to consider the need for ad justments in the structure of their subsidiary 
bodies in light of their relevance to the implemen tation and operation of the Covered Agreements." 
In this regard, I have started to consult with the proponents and I will further discuss with all interested delegations to see how we can take this issue forward. 
 
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