JOB/GC/146  
 
27 October 2017  
(17-5855) Page: 1/2 
General Council  Original: English  
 
AGENDA ITEM 2: IMPLEMENTATION OF THE BALI AND NAIROBI  OUTCOMES - 
STATEMENT BY THE CHA IRMAN  
THURSDAY, 26 OCTOBER  2017 
1.1.  This item remains on the agenda to allow us to continue to follow up on the decisions 
adopted in Bali and Nairobi – and do so in an inclusive and transparent manner.  
1.2.  On 18 October, I held a meeting with the Chairs of Regular Bodies, where we updated each 
other on the work taking place in our respective bodies, including – but not only – with respect to 
the implementation of the Bali an d Nairobi mandates, as well as the preparations for the 
Ministerial Conference. As in the past, the discussions and inputs from that meeting are the basis 
of my statement today.  
1.3.  We will deal with the Work Programmes on Small Economies under the next Agenda  item; 
and I will provide an update on my consultations regarding the preparations towards a possible 
draft recommendation to Ministers at MC11 on E -Commerce under Agenda Item 4.  
1.4.  So, let me begin with TRIPS non -violation and situations complaints. The TRIP S Council has 
discussed this matter at each of its regular meetings since MC10, and the Chair has consulted with 
delegations in various formats. At its meeting last week (19 -20 October), the TRIPS Cou ncil 
continued its discussion on this  matter. Since it w as not yet ready to agree on its recommendation, 
the Council agreed to keep that agenda item open, and to reconvene at short notice once further 
work was sufficiently mature with a view to agreeing on a recommendation to MC11.  
1.5.  We now turn to Agriculture. W ith respect to the Nairobi Decision on Export Competition, 
Members with scheduled export subsidy reduction commitments continue to provide updates on 
the steps they are taking to implement the Decision. In particular, the EU informed the Committee 
on Agric ulture in October that it had submitted, as part of the draft goods schedule for its 
28 member S tates, a change of commitments incorporating the implementation of the Nairobi 
Decision to eliminate farm export subsidies – making it the second WTO Member wit h export 
subsidy reduction commitments to do so.  
1.6.  The Nairobi Export Competition Decision also includes provisions specifying that the 
Committee on Agriculture should conduct a review process of the Decisions' disciplines every three 
years. The Committee o n Agriculture will conduct this review during the annual dedicated 
discussion in June next year. The Co A will also review the Decision' s provisions on international 
food aid during the monitoring of the implementation of the Marrakesh Decision on Net Food 
Importing Developing Countries (NFIDCs) – and  this will take place in the first meeting in 2018.  
1.7.  Moving to TRQ Administration, the Bali Decision requires that a review of the operation of 
that Decision should begin no later than the end of 2017. The objec tive of this review is to 
promote a continuing process of improvement in the utilization of TRQs. The Committee on 
Agriculture initiated this review at its October meeting and will hold an informal meeting in 
February 2018 to continue the discussions.  
1.8.   Regarding the implementation of the Decision on Public Stockholding for Food Security 
Purposes, no Member has sought to use the interim solution, and therefore the Committee on 
Agriculture has not been called upon to take action and no information has been pr ovided by 
Members in the context of the monitoring foreseen.  JOB/GC/146  
 
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  1.9.  Let us move now to Development and LDC matters. Concerning the Decision on Preferential 
Rules of Origin for LDCs, the Committee on Rules of Origin met earlier this month and conducted 
an annual r eview of recent developments related to preferential rules of origin for LDCs. A report 
summarizing the main developments was adopted, and is before the General Council in G/RO/85.  
1.10.   All elements in the Ministerial Decision which required follow -up action b y the Committee 
have been implemented: the Committee adopted a new template for the notification of preferential 
rules of origin; it adopted a methodology for the calculation of utilization rates; and it heard a first 
report on utilization rates prepared b y the Secretariat.  
1.11.   The remaining areas of work related to the Decision concern its substantive provisions. The 
Committee has therefore intensified its technical work to examine Members' existing practices with 
respect to preferential origin requirements fo r LDCs, in order to better understand these 
requirements, to analyse their possible impact on the ability of LDCs to fully utilize preferences, 
and to encourage the adoption of best practices.  
1.12.   It is encouraging that some preference -granting Members have a lready informed the 
Committee about positive modifications to their preferential rules of origin as a result of 
discussions related to the Ministerial Decision.  
1.13.   With respect to the LDCs Services Waiver, at the meeting of the Council for Trade in 
Services held on 6 October, the LDC Group shared its appraisal of the preferential measures 
notified by two Members, thereby concluding its review of the preferences not ified under the 
Waiver so far. One Member reverted to its notification, to provide detailed answ ers to the 
questions that had been posed by LDCs at the Council meeting in June.  
1.14.   In welcoming the Waiver services preferences, the LDC Group called on Members to help 
LDC suppliers avail themselves of those preferences.  Members were urged to develop proje cts in 
LDCs that built supply capacity on the ground and to raise awareness of the Waiver among their 
respective domestic constituencies. Recalling paragraph 1.6 of the Nairobi Waiver Decision, LDCs 
also advocated that Members explore what recommendations the Council may make "on steps that 
could be taken towards enhancing the operationalisation of the Waiver". The tally of notifications 
of preferences in favour of LDC services and service suppliers remains at 24 ( on the part of 
51 Members).  
1.15.   Moving to DFQF market access for LDCs,  this remains a standing item on the CTD's agenda. 
At the November meeting of the CTD, the Committee will undertake its annual DFQF review on the 
basis of a Secretariat report, as provided for in the Bali Decision.  
1.16.   On the Monitoring Mechanism, the CTD's Dedicated Session on this matter has met several 
times since the Bali Ministerial Conference. No written submissions have thus far been received. At 
the last CTD meeting in June, Members shared their thoughts on why the Monitoring Mech anism 
had not yet been tested and whether or not there should be a review of the Mechanism at this 
stage. The discussion showed that Members had different perspectives on how the review should 
proceed in the absence of any experience about the functioning of the mechanism. I understand 
that the CTD Chair intends to convene an informal meeting in early November 2017 in order to 
allow Members to share their views on the way forward on this issue. This will take place prior to 
the formal CTD meetings of mid -November.  
1.17.   Now, for a brief update on Trade Facilitation: Since July, one additional Member has 
deposited its instrument of acceptance of the Trade Facilitation Agreement – which as you know 
entered into force on 22 February this year – bringing the overall n umber to 122.  
1.18.   Lastly, regarding Paragraph 28 of the Nairobi Declaration, which instr ucts the Committee on 
Regional T rade Agreements " 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 
he has conducted consultations on this matter and that some discussions have also taken place in 
the CRTA. I will continue to provide updates on this issue, as more information becomes available.  
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