JOB/GC/70  
 
25 July  2014 
(14-4320) Page: 1/3 
General Council  
24-25 July 2014   
 
  AGENDA ITEM 4 – IMPL EMENTATION OF THE BA LI OUTCOMES  
STATEMENT BY THE CHA IRMAN 
At our meeting in March, when I took over the Chairmanship, I highlighted that the General 
Council, as the body that is entrusted with overseeing the work of WTO bodies, must ens ure that 
there is full implementation for all the matters that Ministers decided in Bali, and that they are all 
given appropriate priority in the ongoing work of the various Councils and Committees.  At that 
meeting, I announced that I would be meeting reg ularly with Chairs of regular bodies to review the 
implementation of the Bali Decisions in their respective Councils and Committees.  And I wish to 
reiterate here today my strong commitment, as General Council Chairman, to giving the highest 
priority to th e implementation of the whole of the Bali package.  
 
Following the March meeting, I initiated a regular dialogue with the Chairpersons of the WTO 
regular bodies, to facilitate a common, institution -wide view of a strategic direction for the WTO 
and, fundame ntally, to review the work which is taking place in regular bodies following up on the 
mandates in the Bali Ministerial Decisions. I have met the Director -General regularly in this regard 
and have had frequent consultative meetings with Group coordinators.  
 
My consultations show that work to implement the Bali Decisions is proceeding in all areas. 
Progress might be mixed, also depending on the nature of Decisions themselves, but each single 
area of the Bali Package is engaged.  Allow me therefore to give yo u an overview of where we 
stand – starting with the Decisions on regular work.   
 
Regarding TRIPS Non-Violation and Situation Complaints, the TRIPS Council discussed the matter 
at its meetings in February and June. The June meeting had before it a submissi on from the United 
States (IP/C/W/599). The Council will continue its discussions at its meeting in October, with a 
view to agreeing on its recommendations for the next Ministerial Conference.   
 
On the Work Programme on E-Commerce, as you know there is a separate item on our agenda on 
the review of progress in the work programme, in line with the Bali Ministerial Decision. We al so 
have a separate item on the W ork Programme on Small Economies, which is a standing one on the 
GC agenda, so relevant updates wi ll be provided under the two respective items.  
 
On Aid for Trade, a new Work Programme covering the period 2014 -2015 was developed, which 
the General Council took note of at its May meeting. The CTD Chair subsequently also met with 
delegations that had tak en the floor during the meeting to discuss their views.  A formal meeting 
of the CTD to consider and discuss implementation of the new Aid -for-Trade Work Programme was 
held on 18 June.  
 
And on Trade and Transfer of Technology, a Workshop was held on 16 Ju ne 2014. Mexico, Peru, 
Costa Rica and El Salvador were the main proponents for the Workshop.  The panellists and 
participants agreed that technology transfer remains a key determinant of increased labour 
productivity, and thus of economic growth and develo pment. Members expressed hope that the 
deliberations would facilitate a better understanding of the relationship between trade and transfer 
of technology and consequently contribute to the fulfilment of the mandate of the Working Group.  
 
Let me now turn to  the DDA Bali Package – and I will start with Agriculture.  
 
The first annual dedicated discussion on export competition, as mandated by the Bali Ministerial 
Declaration, was held by the Committee on Agriculture on 5 June, based on a background JOB/GC/70  
 
- 2 - 
 
  document cir culated by the Secretariat which compiled information from Members. Following this 
meeting, the Chair held at the beginning of July consultations with a view to improving the 
completeness and quality of Members' replies for the next dedicated discussion sc heduled in 
June 2015.  In the informal meeting of the Committee on Agriculture in July, the Members 
supported the proposals made by the Chair as a result of these various exchanges. With respect to 
the 2015 export competition dedicated discussion, the ques tionnaire to be circulated by the 
Secretariat will remain unchanged. In addition, the Chair will compile the Members' suggestions for 
enhancing the quality and quantity of Members' responses. Members were invited to send any 
additional suggestion by 19 Sep tember. These suggestions will be circulated with the questionnaire 
in the second half of the year.  The Chair also invited Members willing to reply or amend their 
reply to the questionnaire circulated on 10 February to do so before 31 July 2014.  The Secr etariat 
will update accordingly the G/AG/W/125 document and its four addenda in September. This will 
conclude the 2014 dedicated discussion exercise.  
 
Concerning the Decision on public stockholding, at the June CoA  the Chair included Bali 
implementation as  a topic for discussion at the informal meeting.  The G -33 requested the 
initiation of discussions on the work programme with the aim of making recommendations for a 
permanent solution, as specified in the Bali Decision. The G -33 called for proposals to be  
submitted in a time -bound manner in order to be able to meet the deadlines set out by Ministers in 
the Decision.  Some Members considered that before the next CoA in November there should be a 
dedicated discussion on this issue. In the July informal CoA, the Chair encouraged any delegation 
who had any new elements to contribute regarding these proposals or any fresh thinking to share 
them with the Committee.  One Member circulated a submission on the Elements for a Work 
Programme on Food Security.  Informa l consultations will be scheduled after the summer break to 
continue work on this issue.  The G -33 circulated a proposal (JOB/AG/27,) re -introducing their 
original proposal from November 2012 and presented it in the CoA Special Session on 23 July 
2014.  
 
Regarding TRQ administration, the discussion in the June CoA focused on notification of TRQ fill 
rates as called for in the Bali Decision on TRQ administration. The Chair proposed that the 
Committee should consider in more detail specific adaptations of not ification requirements and 
formats and Members' notification practices. Some Members thought notification formats could be 
changed. Others considered that this information should be provided but that changes to 
notification format were not necessarily requ ired.  The Secretariat circulated a draft revised format 
for the relevant notification for discussion at the July informal meeting of the CoA. The Chair 
proposed that the CoA consider this revised format at its next formal meeting in November.  
 
Cotton, in line with the Bali Ministerial Decision, this work takes place in the Special Session of the 
Committee on Agriculture, and it is therefore under the umbrella of the TNC. The first dedicated 
discussion mandated by the Bali Ministerial decision was held duri ng an informal special meeting of 
the Special Session of the Committee on Agriculture on 20 June 2014, and the report of the 
meeting was circulated on 18 July (TN/AG/28 and TN/AG/SCC/2). The next dedicated discussion 
will be convened before the end of the year.  On the development -related aspects, work in the 
Director -General's Consultative Framework Mechanism on Cotton (DGCFMC) continues to move 
forward. Notifications of activities in the Evolving Table on Cotton Development Assistance (ET) 
have increased,  showing that new projects have been initiated and many others have been 
completed. This demonstrates the constructive and solid engagement of bilateral donors and 
multilateral agencies in supporting the cotton sector, particularly in LDCs. There is still,  however, 
scope for improvement, especially in narrowing the gap between commitments and disbursements 
in Part I of the ET.  
 
Let us now move to the Decisions on Development and LDC matters.  The first meeting of the 
monitoring mechanism, which as you know operates in a dedicated session of the CTD, was held 
on 7 July.  At that meeting, the CTD Chair made a statement highlighting elements of the Bali 
Decision. Several delegations took the floor after the Chairman's statement and made some 
preliminary observa tions on how they perceived the working and usefulness of the monitoring 
mechanism. As stipulated in the Bali Decision, the mechanism will meet twice a year – the next 
meeting will therefore be held before the end of the year.  
 
Following the Bali Decision,  the Council for Trade in Services begun discussion on the 
operationalization of the LDC Services Waiver. At the same time, the Secretariat has been working 
to assist the participation of LDCs in the process. Work has also taken place on the margins of thi s 
discussion, with a view to helping LDCs gather information on services trade.   Based on this JOB/GC/70  
 
- 3 - 
 
  preparation, the LDCs have tabled their collective request on 22 July, which has been circulated as 
document S/C/W/356, allowing Members to work towards the hig h-level meeting envisaged at Bali 
to help LDCs obtain meaningful preferences for their services and service suppliers.  
 
On Preferential Rules of Origin for LDCs, Members have had an exchange of views in the 
Committee on Rules of Origin on ways to implement  the Decision. The continuous exchange of 
information and enhanced transparency will help Members appreciate the needs of the LDCs and 
build on the guidelines adopted at Bali. Members will have an opportunity to review developments 
at the autumn meeting of  the Committee on Rules of Origin.  
 
And finally, regarding DFQF market access, the Bali Decision instructs the CTD to continue to 
annually review the steps taken to provide DFQF market access to the LDCs, and report to the 
General Council for appropriate a ction. To aid in its review, the Secretariat, in close coordination 
with Members, is to prepare a report on Members’ DFQF market access for LDCs at the tariff line 
level based on their notifications. This report will be prepared for the CTD's next annual r eview, 
which will take place at its November meeting. It may be noted that, in April of this year, Chile 
notified its DFQF scheme for LDCs that entered into force in February 2014.  
 
This concludes my brief overview of the status of implementation of the Ba li outcomes.  
 
As I said at the beginning, discussions are engaged in each single area of the package. They will 
no doubt need to further intensify, and it is my intention to provide regular reports to the General 
Council on the status of implementation in each single area, and to ask the Chairs of the relevant 
bodies to report as appropriate.   
 
Again, I wish to stress that I remain fully committed to giving the highest priority to this 
implementation work.  
 
__________