RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/GC/M/104 
5 December 2006 
 (06-5833) 
General Council 
10 October 2006  
 
 
  
MINUTES OF MEETING 
 
Held in the Centre William Rappard
 
on 10 October 2006  
 
Chairman:  Mr Eirik Glenne (Norway) 
 
 Subjects discussed
: Page  
1. Aid for Trade – Report and recommendations of the Task Force established 
pursuant to Paragraph 57 of the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration ................................1  
2. Report by the Chairman of the Trade Negotiations Committee ........................................15  
3. Work Programme on Small Economies – Report by the Chairman of the Dedicated Session of the Committee on Trade and Development ......................................24
 
4. Non-recognition of rights under Article XXIV:6 and Article XXVIII of GATT 1994 – Communications from Honduras and Guatemala – Statement by the 
Chairman....................................................................................................................... ..........27
 
5. Committee on Budget, Finan ce and Administration ...........................................................33  
(a) Report of the Committee on its meeting of July 2006 ..............................................................33  
(b) Report by the Chairman of the Committee on its meetings of September and October 
2006 and recommendations of the Committee on the future building needs of the 
WTO ............................................................................................................................ .............34  
6. WTO Pension Plan – Election of alternates to the Management Board – 
Proposal by the Chairman of the General Council..............................................................34  
7. Chairmanships of the Working Parties on  the Accessions of Libya, Serbia and 
Ukraine ........................................................................................................................ ............35  
8. Administrative Measures fo r Members in Arrears .............................................................35  
 
 
1. Aid for Trade – Report and recommendations of  the Task Force established pursuant to 
Paragraph 57 of the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration (WT/AFT/1) 
1. The Chairman  recalled that in paragraph 57 of th e Hong Kong Declaration Ministers had 
invited the Director-General to create a Task Force that would provide recommendations, by 
July 2006, on how to operationalize Aid For Trade, and on how AFT might contribute most 
effectively to the development dimension of the DDA.  Ministers had also invited the Director-
General to consult with Members as well as with the IMF and Worl d Bank, relevant  international 
organisations and the regional de velopment banks, with a view to reporting to the General Council on WT/GC/M/104 
Page 2  
 
  appropriate mechanisms to secure additional financ ial resources for AFT, where appropriate through 
grants and concessional loans.  He also recalled th at, in keeping with its mandate, the Task Force on 
Aid for Trade had submitted its report to the Genera l Council in July, which had included a range of 
recommendations in each area of its mandate as well as specific suggestions on next steps to be taken in order to ensure a coherent and effective follow- up.  In the preliminary discussion of the report at 
the July Council, all delegations had welcomed the report and had commended the Task Force and its 
Chairperson, Mrs Horn Af Rantzien (Sweden), as well  as all other delegations who had participated in 
this effort, for their hard work which had enabled an excellent report to be produced within a very 
short deadline.  Delegations had also urged the early implementation of the Task Force's 
recommendations with the aim of operationalizing AFT as soon as possible.  Since Members had 
received the Task Force's report at the start of th e July Council, and had needed adequate time to 
review it, he had suggested that, following Member s' initial discussion, the Council revert to the 
report at the present meeting in order to take action regarding the follow-up.   
2. His intention was to organize the consideration of this matter as follows:  First, he would 
invite the Chairperson of the T ask Force to report to delegations on the informal open-ended 
consultations she had held the previous week to provide an opportunity to Members to discuss the 
report further in an informal setting, as well as to pr ovide any clarifications as necessary in advance of 
the present meeting.  Next, he would invite those de legations wishing to do so to take the floor.  He 
would then invite the General Council to take actio n on the report of the Task Force as follows:  (i) 
take note of the report;  (ii) endorse the recommenda tions contained therein;  and (iii) agree to the 
specific next steps outlined in Section H of the re port, in order to ensure coherent and effective 
follow-up to the report and its recommendations.  Afte r the Council had taken action on the report, he 
would invite the Director-General to update Me mbers on his own consultations pursuant to the 
mandate in paragraph 57 of the Hong Kong Declaration. 
3. The Chairperson of the Task Force on Aid for Trade
, Mrs Horn Af Rantzien (Sweden), said 
this was the second time she had addressed the Genera l Council on the subject of the Task Force's 
recommendations, and expressed her gratitude for Memb ers' attention and patience.  Because much 
had already been said on the subject, she would limit her statement to the points she felt were most important, building on comments received and the discussions in the informal open-ended meeting 
held the previous week.  First and foremost, she wished to emphasize the va lue of the Task Force's 
dialogue with the Members.  AFT might not be a new subject, but it was – to quote the Director-General – very new territory for the WTO.  All we re on a steep learning curve.  Many delegations had 
a key interest in this subject and important ideas to  share.  From the beginning, the Task Force had 
recognized the imperative of reaching out to all Members – through informal consultations, regional 
group meetings and dozens of individual exch anges – and its recommendations, in one way or 
another, reflected Members' input.  In the beginning the process had been one of learning and confidence-building, but it had very quickly turn ed into a coherence-building process.  What the 
consultations had demonstrated – and this was he r second point – was that on all the main issues, 
there was actually a wide consensu s.  In the recommendations, starting from an identification of gaps 
and challenges, a number of areas had been high lighted where improvements were needed:  (i) the 
demand side at country level, including the mainst reaming of trade into development strategies – a 
very important implementing challenge for deve loping countries;  (ii) a more effective donor 
response, including the integration of trade  into aid programming and making targeted funds available 
for building trade-related infrastructure, removi ng supply-side constraints and support for trade-
related adjustment, over and above  capacity building and technical assistance;  and (iii) a more 
effective bridging between demand and response – a challenge for all actors, including multilateral 
and bilateral agencies involved in the implementation at global, regional and country level.  The Task 
Force  had also agreed on the need to draw experien ce together, both from successes and from what 
did not work.  In order to do so, a strong monitoring and evaluation system would be needed, and the 
Task Force had put forward a number of recommendati ons to this end.  Members had agreed that AFT 
was a very important subject, and that, while the WTO should not become a development agency, it  WT/GC/M/104 
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  had a direct and legitimate interest in improving a nd strengthening AFT.  Perhaps above all, there had 
been a clear consensus in the T ask Force and among Members that AFT was important in its own 
right and that it had to be operationalized as soon as possible in order to assist countries facing problems to adapt to and benefit from present opportun ities in the trading system.  At the same time, 
Members had been equally clear that AFT was not – a nd this had to be repeated – and could not be, a 
substitute for the development benefits that woul d flow from a successful Doha Round.  Indeed, as 
she had said in her statement at the July Gene ral Council, the successful conclusion of the Round 
would itself give rise to new AFT needs that woul d have to be assessed and addressed at that time. 
4. The central importance of implementation – a nd moving forward with the "Next Steps" – 
brought her to her third point.  The Task Force' s report represented an important first step in 
advancing AFT, but was by no means the final step.  In fact, it was just the beginning.  While the Task 
Force's work was done, Members' discussion at the pr esent meeting, and their dialogue in the future, 
was extremely important, as it would help shape how the AFT agenda progressed, how ideas were built upon, how priorities were sharpened and, most importantly, how recommendations on paper 
were translated into concrete r esults.  There were big challenges fo r all actors involved, and it had to 
be remembered that this was a long-term effort that could only succeed if all kept up the momentum 
they had created.  It had also been agreed that  this would happen only through greater coherence and 
cooperation – between internati onal organizations, between donors and beneficiaries, between 
different policy areas, and between the trade and development communities.  In implementing AFT, 
governments' ability to act in a coherent way would be  tested.  Coherence started in national capitals, 
both when it concerned coherence among policy areas at national level and when it concerned 
promoting coherence among institutions at the interna tional level.  It was not an issue of changing 
mandates of existing institutions, but rather an insi ght that by combining instruments of different 
institutions and actors, Members would be able to  achieve their goals, such  as increased trade and 
integration, development and pove rty reduction much faster and mo re effectively.  Hence, in 
implementing AFT, Members would be  able to operationalize the idea of coherence in practice and on 
the ground.  Additional, predictable, sustainable and effective financing was fundamental for fulfilling 
the AFT mandate, as was ensuring efficient use of  resources.  All had agreed that the Paris 
Declaration on Aid Effectiveness should guide the work, and a number of recommendations to this 
end had been put forward.  Hence, in implementi ng AFT, Members would have the opportunity to put 
in practice the important insights in the Paris Declara tion.  She again wished to thank her fellow Task 
Force members for their commitment, hard work and, mostly, dedication to bringing this project to a 
successful conclusion.  They had done more  than produce consensus recommendations on 
operationalizing AFT – they had proved that when th e will was there, and the spirit was cooperative, 
this organization was entirely capable of moving fo rward and delivering real results.  This was an 
important message to deliver at the present time of  uncertainty in the Doha Development Round.  She 
also wished to thank DDG Mrs Rugwabiza for he r tireless engagement and support for the Task 
Force's work, and the Secretariat for all the assistance received. 
5. The Chairman
 expressed his sincere appreciation to the Task Force Chair, the members of the 
Task Force, and all delegations who had participated in this work for their efforts, which had enabled 
Members collectively to move further along the road  towards operationalizing AFT.  He wished to 
note that, with the submission of its report, the Task Force had successfully discharged its mandate, 
and it was now up to Members, working togeth er with other partners, to implement its 
recommendations as soon as possible. 
6. All representatives who spoke welcomed the Task Force's report and recommendations, 
thanked the Task Force Chair and DDG Mrs Rugwabi za for their leadership and dedication, and the 
members of the Task Force for their efforts. 
7. The representative of Benin , on behalf of the African Group , said that Members were 
embarking on an important stage in the wo rk on AFT, since after the adoption of the WT/GC/M/104 
Page 4  
 
  recommendations by the General Council, it was im portant to make them operational.  Indeed, 
interesting as the AFT Task Force's recommenda tions and conclusions were, unless they were 
implemented in an effective, sustained and coherent manner, they would not have the desired effects.  
This was why the African Group strongly recomme nded that developed-c ountry Members and the 
multilateral partners activate their delivery mechanisms  for AFT.  It was also important that, in the 
interests of transparency, Member s and the international institutions  provide the Secretariat, the 
beneficiary countries, and the secretariats of the re gional and sub-regional orga nizations to which they 
belonged, with information on their financial cont ributions and technical assistance.  The African 
Group wished to stress that, in order to achieve th e objectives set out in paragraph 57 of the Hong 
Kong Declaration and those reaffirmed in the releva nt recommendations of the AFT Task Force, the 
resources to be allocated under AFT had to be ad ditional, substantial, fo reseeable, sustained and 
provided in the form of grants.  The African Gr oup expected these resources to be mobilized and 
managed through mechanisms that would ensure the e ffectiveness, tran sparency and efficiency of the 
aid.  Furthermore, the periodicity of the AFT revi ew would have to be clearly defined, and would 
have to be conducted with the full participation of the various actors and parties involved.  The Group 
also wished to stress that info rmation from capitals and regions concerning the needs identified, 
efforts already made and activities still to be c onducted should be communicated regularly and on an 
ongoing basis.  Mobilization of these resources would make it possible to eliminate supply constraints, develop production infrastructures, supp ort Members' development efforts – particularly 
those of the LDCs aimed at strengthening their human and institutional capacities – and address the 
costs of implementing the multilateral trade rules.   The African Group urged Members to work to 
ensure the effective and coherent implementation of the recommendations on AFT.  The necessary 
adaptations would be made in the light of the actua l circumstances and situat ions encountered in the 
course of implementation.  Members now had to em bark on the actions and initiatives without further 
ado, for the needs and constraints on the ground were many and pressing. 
8. The representative of Bangladesh
, on behalf of the LDCs , said the Task Force Chair and its 
members had worked hard to produce a document th at was acceptable to the membership.  Some 
might have concerns with parts of the text, but all knew that the process of negotiation invariably 
meant compromises.  Members now had a document that the LDC Group endorsed.  The Group again wished to thank the Task Force Chair for her l eadership.  It had made lengthy comments when the 
subject had been discussed at the July General C ouncil, and would not repeat them.  At the present 
stage, the Group wished to express its views on the implementation of the recommendations that were 
before Members.  At the informal discussion th e previous week, one delegation had described the 
recommendations as a work in progress.  The LDCs  fully agreed.  The structure Members were 
approving at the present meeting would be the base from which AFT would be developed.  The LDCs 
wished to mention some areas spec ifically.  First, many interna tional organizations and countries 
would be key players in making AFT a reality.  Th e LDCs  urged these organizations and countries to 
cooperate very closely, and to ach ieve the degree of coherence requ ired to make AFT operational, and 
meaningful.  Second, for AFT to have an impact, it should be adequately funded.  Moreover, to the 
LDCs and the IDA-only countries, the funds should be made available in grant form, and without 
conditionality.  This would require  a change in the culture of the multilateral institutions and the 
countries concerned.  Third, AFT was essential for LDCs to expand their expor ts and benefit from the 
process of globalization.  This required attention to  supply-side issues and on finding markets for their 
products.  Again, major changes were required in  the way the programmes were designed, approved 
and implemented.  Fourth, considerable work would need to be undertaken within the WTO 
Secretariat to implement the recommendations.  At the next General Council meeting, they wished to 
have a brief report from the Secretariat on the type  of structure that would be put in place to 
implement the recommendations Members were appr oving at the present meeting.  An expectation 
had been created that AFT was the panacea for LD C requirements of trade-related assistance and 
capacity building.  He hoped that the expectations of  the LDCs would materialize, that funding would 
be available, and that concrete projects from  AFT would materialize in their countries.  WT/GC/M/104 
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  9. The representative of Mauritius , on behalf of the ACP Group , said that Members now had to 
consider how to implement the Task Force's reco mmendations.  As the Task Force Chair had said, 
this was the start of the AFT process and not its end.   At a juncture where the Doha Round had yet to 
deliver on its development objectives, and while th e ACP Group would continue to press for a prompt 
resumption of the negotiations, AFT represented a necessary complement in helping developing 
countries – especially the most vulnerable – deal w ith urgent trade and economic challenges.  While 
trying not to be too prescriptive, the Task Force, in its recommendations, had highlighted a number of 
these challenges, such as:  low attention to trad e as a tool for development;  inadequate linking 
mechanisms and lack of predictability in donor r esponse to trade priorities;  slow, duplicative and 
bureaucratic processes in the assessment and deli very of trade assistance;  limited support for 
regional, sub-regional and cross-bor der trade-related programmes;  inadequate support to address the 
adjustment costs of trade liberalization;  and in sufficient resources for infrastructure and productive 
capacity-building.  For ACP countries, the situatio n was exacerbated by the steady erosion of long-
held trade preferences, with serious socio-economic  implications for the countries concerned.  All 
these made it imperative for ACP countries to put in  place coherent trade and development strategies 
to avoid further marginalization and to reduce poverty levels.  This implied, inter alia , having 
economies that were more competitive by increasing supply-side capacity, enhancing human, institutional and physical infrastructure, creati ng an environment conducive for investment, both 
domestic and foreign, consolidating existing sect ors and seeking new opportunities for growth.  Many 
ACP countries had already embarked on bold refo rm programmes to meet  the challenges of 
globalization and compete in a trade liberalization environment.  The challenge for them was to 
transfer resources, land, labour, capital and technol ogy from sectors that were no longer competitive 
to emerging sectors of their economies, while at th e same time modernising and reforming existing 
sectors that could be saved.  Therefore, consolidation and diversification had to go hand in hand.  This 
would demand a package of accompanying measures to  prepare the ACP economies to take advantage 
of trade opportunities. 
10. The AFT initiative should therefore concentr ate resources on two areas:  a soft component 
that would provide for ad justment through capacity building an d address the social costs of this 
adjustment, and a hard-core physical component that would address the issues of trade infrastructure and diversification.  The AFT recommendations provided a good framework upon which developing countrie s could base their trade-related devel opment strategies, be it at national 
or regional level, to access funds under the initia tive.  However, the recommendations were yet to 
be translated into concrete action, because the re port of the Task Force wa s confined only to the 
operationalization of AFT and did not address the is sue of resource requirements or how additional, 
predictable, sustainable and effective financin g should be mobilized.  The ACP Group hoped that 
the Director-General's mandate to consult with do nors and agencies on "appropriate mechanisms to 
secure additional fina ncial resources for Aid for Trade" would complement this missing link in 
AFT.  While the success of AFT hinged mainly on the mobilization and size of funding, other key 
aspects should also be addressed at the country , regional and global levels, including the 
establishment of a monitoring and evaluation mechan ism.  At the country level, the Task Force 
recommended the establishment of national AFT co mmittees tasked with important responsibilities, 
such as to ensure the mainstreaming of trade in national development strate gies, determine country 
needs and priorities, assist in matching country needs and donor responses, identify co-financing or 
leverage funds from other larger funds, and assess adju stment needs.  This would imply coherence in 
trade-policy formulation at the national level in addition to strengthened coordination between key 
Ministries and institutions, as well as the private sector.  At the regional level, the Task Force 
recommended the strengthening of functions relati ng to regional, sub-regional and cross-border 
issues.  The Task Force further recommended th at the merits of establishing a regional AFT 
committee be explored.  It was incumbent upon Me mbers to optimally harness regional resources and 
expertise, including within regi onal economic communities, with a view to promoting South-South 
cooperation and making regional inte gration an effective building block for the multilateral trading 
system.  At the global level, a number of specific tasks would have to be strengthened and assigned, WT/GC/M/104 
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  especially those relating to data collection and an alysis on trade policies, knowledge-sharing and 
development of guidelines.  More importantly, the Task Force recommended that the WTO should 
convene a global periodic review of AFT within  the context of a monitoring and evaluation 
mechanism.  In that respect, Members would have to  reflect seriously on the institutional role of the 
WTO and its capacity to assess aid delivery and effectiv eness.  Finally, the role of the agencies would 
have to be clearly delineated, especially where they  were called on to work together with donors and 
governments on needs assessments, have greater c oordination of their AFT operations, support the 
activities of national AFT committees, including performing a coordinating role if requested by a recipient country, and participate in the global mo nitoring and evaluation process.  While a lot of 
conceptual work had been done on AFT, Members' future work should focus on addressing the issues 
just mentioned and on transforming AFT into concrete  and visible results for all developing countries. 
11. The representative of Brazil
 said the Task Force's report and recommendations were the result 
of a very fruitful discussion and exchange of views, not only within the Task Force, but also with the 
wider membership, other international organizati ons, NGOs and the private sector.  His delegation 
had been honoured to take part in the Task Fo rce, and endorsed its recommendations.  The report 
highlighted the importance of domestic ownership in  the design of trade programmes, in accordance 
with national development strategi es.  Donors had to be mindful and respectful of the priorities 
assigned by recipients, and not impose conditionalit ies.  The recommendations of the Task Force 
provided general guidelines for action, but those suggestions depended on implementation and the 
provision of adequate additional r esources, delivered in an expeditious  and effective way.  Thus far, 
the pledges were impressive.  They should material ize into additional funds that could be disbursed 
effectively.  In order to ensure that, AFT had to be  subject to adequate monitoring and surveillance, as 
well as political guidance.  This was one of th e aims of the recommendations.  The report also 
stressed that AFT was not a substitute for the de velopment gains that could accrue from increased 
market access and the removal of trade-distortin g policies within the context of the successful 
conclusion of an ambitious, balanced and pro-de velopment Doha Round.  It should be emphasized, 
however, that to maximize the benefits of an A FT initiative, programmes should be coherent with 
broader economic policies, as the T ask Force Chair had said.  Assist ance to poor farmers in Africa to 
diversify and improve their production could not pro duce results if those farmers had to compete in 
international markets with subsidized  agricultural exports.  The presen t report was just a first step to 
materialize the AFT initiative.  Other steps were impor tant.  First, the Director-General had to present 
his report on the provision of additional funding for AFT projects. The Secretariat had to work in 
collaboration with the OECD Development Assi stance Committee in orde r to update the Joint 
Database in light of the categories of AFT identif ied in the recommendations.  The Secretariat also 
had to start appropriate action to elaborate a se ction on AFT in upcoming reports under the Trade 
Policy Review Mechanism.  Those measures were necessary to give Members a clear picture of where they stood on AFT.  The real test of AFT was implementation on the ground.  Members' task was to 
create the conditions to make it happen in the most effective and development-oriented way.  Brazil 
was willing to contribute in the context of the ad hoc consultative group envisaged to follow-up on the 
implementation of the recommendations, as well as to support AFT activities in the context of South-South cooperation. 
12. The representative of Djibouti
 said that developing countries had struggled with donors and 
with various regional institutions active in these areas  to have projects accepted at the multilateral and 
regional levels.  Subsequently, these projects had been assessed by Ministers in Hong Kong.  He 
wished to comment on these projects.  All knew that  the Nordic countries had different approaches to 
development.  He himself had worked in the fiel d, especially with Ambassadors dealing with the 
Djibouti dossier, and also with companies which, wh en they took initiatives, did things that had a 
lasting effect on development and we re part and parcel of the traditi ons of certain countries.  Members 
had met in informal consultations with the Task  Force Chair and had decided that aid should be 
without reciprocation and free of any conditionalities.  Unless the approach to this aid – and the mind-
sets of the donors, the institutions and the benefici aries themselves – changed, the aid would never be  WT/GC/M/104 
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  sufficient.  Developing countries had to be consider ed as fully-fledged partners and not as vulnerable, 
weak Members whose hands had constantly to be held.  Members had to be clear about this.  
Otherwise, one risked repeating the situation of the 1960s when many projects were pursued and 
many resources spent with no real r esults.  This had to be avoided. 
13. The representative of Ecuador  welcomed the report of the Task Force with a view to making 
its recommendations operational, on the understanding that this initiative was a complement to and 
not a substitute for the results to be derived fro m the Doha Development Round, with particular 
regard to market access, which was the crux of the development dimension for Ecuador.  
Implementation of the AFT programme  would require proper identifica tion of the financing and scope 
of the new and additional resources,  and also a delineation of the ad ministrative costs associated with 
the projects, on the basis of the specific priorities and needs of all the developing countries.  The 
WTO's activities in this area could complement the work by other international and regional entities, 
with a view to avoiding duplication.  Ecuador also hoped that the resour ces would be unconditional 
and could be utilized in a timely and appropriate manner. 
14. The representative of Canada  said he had had the pleasure of participating in the work of the 
Task Force and in many other discussions in other fo ra on the same set of issues.  There appeared to 
be a very wide consensus, or almost a full consen sus, on several points.  The first was that AFT was 
an initiative that, while having important links to  the DDA, was a response to needs that existed 
independently of the Round, an d that AFT should therefore not be conditional on the successful 
conclusion of the Round.  The second point was that AFT was also not a substitute for a development 
outcome within the Round.  Trade could make a c ontribution to development many times greater than 
development aid, and in this regard it was importa nt to underline that the greatest contribution to 
development within the DDA would come from the most ambitious outcome, the greatest reduction in 
subsidies and the greatest new market access.  Ho wever, market access was not enough, and countries 
needed to be helped to deal with  the adjustment costs of trade agreements and to build their supply-
side capacity, in order to be in a position to take  advantage of market-access opportunities.  Another 
point on which there appeared to be consensus was that for these reasons, AFT was a legitimate part 
of the development Round and a legitimate concern of the WTO – but not because the WTO was 
becoming or should become a development agency.  In his delegation's view, nothing in the recommendations could reasonably be viewed as suggesting the WTO take on the role of a 
development agency.  The recommendations simply  proposed that the WTO assume its responsibility 
for coherence between the trade agenda  and the broader development agenda. 
15. The final point on which Canada felt there was consensus was that it was time to get on with 
it, and that the challenge now was implementation.  Thus, Canada was pleased to receive the report, 
which was the fruit of excellent discussion of a br oadly representative group of Members.  The work 
had been led with both skill and commitment by th e Task Force Chair, to whom his delegation was 
very grateful.  There was much in the report that was useful.  It provided a workable definition of 
AFT that Members could use to guide their future work and that would allow them to track their 
progress and monitor their success.  Members now had a better understanding of what resources were already in play and what new resources were likely to  be made available, and they had a better sense 
of what the mechanisms already in use were and what  gaps needed to be filled.  However, as he had 
said, it was now time to get on with it.  In moving to the implementation stage Members needed, first, 
a forum for continuing discussion in which they coul d continue to monitor their progress.  Second, 
they needed to take special account  of those suggestions that fell w ithin the competence of the WTO 
and to flesh out the approach to be taken.  Fo r example, the report suggested that the WTO follow 
progress on AFT, and this recommendation had consider able merit, but Members should now move to 
the discussion of how it should happen – whether they  could make use of existing mechanisms and 
what the WTO's comparative advant age was in undertaking this work.  Canada was also  pleased that 
there was a reference in the recommendations to th e importance of needs assessments, and that this 
was the best way to marshal the efforts of many to  address the specific needs of individual countries.  WT/GC/M/104 
Page 8  
 
  In this regard, he wished to take this opportunity to make the link to the Task Force on the Integrated 
Framework, which addressed that question very squa rely, and to note that the implementation of the 
IF recommendations would be the first critical test  of Members' collective would to advance AFT. 
16. The representative of the European Communities
 said that as he had already made clear at the 
July General Council meeting and again at the inform al meeting of Heads of Delegation on 3 October, 
the Community supported the report of the Task Fo rce and strongly welcomed its recommendations.  
These clearly set out how to operationalize AFT and provided a solid basis on which to improve both its quality and its quantity.  Members should capita lize on the momentum provided by the Task Force 
and expeditiously start to implement the recommenda tions.  His delegation could be very brief as it 
agreed fully with the statement by Canada.  Th e General Council should welcome and endorse the 
report and its recommendations, and agree to the specif ic follow-up actions set out in Section H of the 
report.  This would give the signal to all actors i nvolved to follow up on the report, and would help 
ensure that the recommendations were used as gui dance to national policy makers in both donor 
countries and developing countries.  Members should invite the Director-General to report back periodically to the General Council on progress in the tasks falling to him under the recommended 
next steps. 
17. The representative of the United States
 said that AFT was a very complex subject, and the 
Task Force Chair and DDG Mrs Rugwabiza had guid ed Members to a very substantive, pragmatic, 
forward-looking, initial work product.  He stressed th e word initial because, as several others had said, 
the report was just the first step on a path, not the final result.  Also, the members of the Task Force 
had taken a constructive, cooperativ e approach, and all had approached this work as a joint problem-
solving effort, which Members needed to replicat e in the overall negotiations.  The United States was 
pleased that Members had been able to reach agreem ent on many aspects of this complex issue.  This 
was a new area for all in the WTO.  Despite the comp lexity, the Task Force ha d been able to outline 
the key issues, develop some broad recommendations , and define initial parameters for the work 
ahead.  His delegation therefore agreed with the Task Force Chair's and the General Council Chair's 
recommendation that Members should welcome the report, endorse its recommendations and start 
working promptly on the next steps.  Since the re port was not fully operational in its focus, Members 
would need to continue work on how to advance the work in this area intensively.  There had been 
several references at the present meeting to aid effe ctiveness.  All had a responsibility to make AFT 
effective – both donors, in providing aid effectively,  and recipients, in using aid effectively.  The 
United States would continue to be an active and s upportive player in this process to ensure that AFT 
work in the WTO and elsewhere advanced steadily.  It was important to continue work on AFT during 
the current pause in the negotiations, but it was even  more important to bring the negotiations to a 
successful conclusion.  In this regard, one of the things that had impressed him the most about the 
Task Force was the way in which everyone had a pproached it as a common problem-solving effort.  If 
Members could replicate that approach in the nego tiations, they would have a success in the even 
bigger challenge of completing the negotiations successfully. 
18. The representative of Moldova , also on behalf of Armenia and the Kyrgyz Republic , said that 
given the substantive content of the Task Force's report, it appeared that its recommendations were 
still of a rather preliminary and general nature.  The Task Force obviously should continue its work 
and move towards more practical and operational proposal s.  In this context, these countries wished to 
stress that, unfortunately, the report did not yet ta ke into account their substantive concerns on AFT, 
and in particular, their general interest that sma ll low-income countries in transition be treated from 
the outset as major and direct beneficiaries of any eventual operational measures under this 
endeavour.  This interest had been very clearly  expressed in these countries' formal proposal in 
document WT/AFT/W/19 of 20 June 2006.  Since that proposal had not yet received any meaningful reaction, these countries wished to reiterate its basi c elements.  First, the small low-income economies 
in transition, all of which had recently acceded to the WTO, currently faced huge difficulties in their 
efforts to implement economic and trade-policy re forms.  Objective economic indicators clearly  WT/GC/M/104 
 Page 9 
 
 
  showed that the level of development of their economies was comparable to low-income developing 
countries.  Second, these countries were all landl ocked and faced additional economic and trade 
difficulties caused by this geographical handicap.  Th ird, their human and institutional capacities were 
quite limited, while supply capacity and the level of competitiveness were very much restrained, 
much the same as in the case of many developing  countries.  Since none of these countries were 
members of the Task Force, they reiterated their cal l to the Task Force that it treat the small low-
income countries in transition as major and direct beneficiaries of any eventual measures under this 
endeavour.  They hoped their request would be imme diately taken into account by the Task Force for 
the next stage of its work and clearly reflected in all components of its work, particularly under section F.1 on objectives, section F.3 on strengthe ning the "demand side", and section F.5 on 
strengthening the bridge betw een "demand" and "response". 
19. The representative of India
 welcome the statement by the T ask Force Chair.  As she and 
others had pointed out, the recommendations of the Task Force depended crucially on the availability 
of additional, measurable, and sust ainable financial resources.  Without such additional resources, the 
initiative would be a non-starter.  India fully suppor ted the view that AFT was not part of the single 
undertaking under the Doha Round and therefore had to continue to be pursued regardless of progress 
in the negotiations.  His delegation also supported the idea that Members now had to move to the 
implementation phase of the Task Force's report and to leave it to the Director-General to see how 
best to proceed in that direction.  India also called upon the Director-General to pursue his task of 
exploring "appropriate mechanisms to secure add itional financial resources" with renewed vigour, to 
make the AFT initiative a success.  However, Members needed to be careful to ensure that AFT was 
not used either as a carrot or a stick for reachi ng any WTO agreement.  AFT should therefore not be 
made conditional on any aspect of the Doha negotiati ons.  His delegation urged the Council to take 
note of the recommendations and endorse them for early  implementation.  India recognized that more 
work was required before the recommendations c ould be implemented, and looked forward to 
working with others in this endeavour. 
20. The representative of Zambia  endorsed the statements by Benin for the African Group, by 
Bangladesh for the LDCs, and Mauritius for the AC P group.  Zambia wished to emphasize that it 
understood AFT to really mean Aid for Trade – in  other words, making it possible for developing 
countries, and especially LDCs, to be properly and e ffectively integrated into the multilateral trading 
system.  Unless, at the end of the day, these count ries were able to participate and gain from the 
multilateral trading system, the noble efforts of AFT would have been in vain.  Zambia wished to 
thank all those countries that had already announced  financial support for AFT which, of course, was 
additional and supplementary to existing aid flow s and unconditional.  His delegation had no doubt 
that many other countries would in the near future  indicate their commitments to AFT.  He also 
wished to thank the Director-General and his staff, including DDG Mrs Rugwabiza, for their 
commitment to the purposes and objectives of AFT.   Zambia hoped they would continue to apply 
themselves with the same vigour and zeal to ensu re that AFT achieved its intended objectives. 
21. The representative of Japan  said it was a long-standing policy of Japan that in order to help 
developing countries realize their full potential in the area of trade, aid for strengthening their supply-
side capability was important.  Of course, this was on top of lowering the barriers their products faced 
in importing countries.  His Government had been channelling assistance to precisely such areas and had the statistics of the OECD to demonstrate this.  These showed that roughly half of all the official 
development assistance provided by the Developmen t Assistance Committee member countries in the 
economic infrastructure and services sector, i.e. Sector 2, and the production sector, i.e. Sector 3 during the years 1990-2004 had originated from Japan.  Of course, in the absence of a precise definition of what constituted AFT, he was citing this  figure only to give a rough idea of the size of 
Japan's efforts in these sectors.  In view of this , Japan welcomed the attention that AFT was getting 
recently and hoped that cooperation in this area w ould be expanded further.  Members should follow 
up on the Task Force's work with concrete ac tion based on its recommendations.  The development WT/GC/M/104 
Page 10  
 
  initiative announced by Japan in December 2005 which addressed all the aspects of effectively 
bringing developing countries'  goods to consumers in importing countries was already well on its 
way.  This initiative would be carried out regardless of the stat e of the Doha Round negotiations. 
22. The representative of Colombia
 said the package of recommendations from the Task Force, 
which was now being formally submitted to th e General Council, was th e fruit of the intense 
consultations by the Task Force Chair, the contri butions and discussions by the Task Force members, 
and the technical support from the Secretariat.  This  work did not end with the submission of this 
report.  The report also made recommendations for the future.  In particular, it urged Members to 
expeditiously implement the recommendations, and inv ited the Director-General to carry out various 
activities, the most important among them being to s ecure additional financial resources for AFT.  As 
for the countries requesting aid, their remaining task s included proposing projects for financing by the 
donors and establishing the institutions proposed, su ch as the national AFT committees.  These 
committees would be of great use in the task of coor dination with various actors, including the private 
sector, and in seeking co-financing for projects.  The periodic global review would be of great value 
in making adjustments to the system.  Particular ly important would be th e annual debate in the 
General Council, enabling this body to be the policy guide for AFT.  While it was true that AFT was 
not a new issue, its inclusion in the Hong Kong  Declaration conferred on it the importance it 
deserved.  The recommendations of the Task For ce suggested some guidelines which, if properly 
implemented, would enable the developing countries to benefit fully from the possibilities offered by 
freer trade. 
23. The representative of China  said that as a member of the Task Force, China fully supported its 
recommendations.  This programme represented a great  contribution to the cause of development and 
to the multilateral trading system.  An effective and operational AFT progr amme would be conducive 
to meeting the development needs of developing co untries, particularly the LDCs.  China strongly 
supported the efforts by the Director-General to se cure additional funding for the programme and was 
in favour of an early implementation of all th e recommendations, without waiting for the conclusion 
of the Round.  China would work closely with ot her Members for the smooth implementation of the 
programme. 
24. The representative of Peru  endorsed the conclusions and recommendations of the report and 
wished to highlight some of its essential features.  The report had the conceptual merit of establishing 
an adequate definition of AFT as a complement to, but not a substitute for, the results of the Doha 
Round.  AFT had to create a capacity in the privat e and public sectors of the developing and least-
developed countries to make the best use of trade incentives, but those incentives first had to exist.  
To the extent that the Doha Round provided the de veloping and least-developed countries with market 
access conditions for their agricultural exports, reduc ing or substantially e liminating domestic support 
and subsidies, Members would provide the right c limate for AFT to become  a reality.  To this 
conceptual vision, the report added operational questions concerning the actions that AFT could 
promote, such as improving infrastructure, aid to increase production capacity, effective measures to 
exert a positive influence on supply and demand, and so on.  Nevertheless, all this would depend on 
something very specific.  The history of AFT in the United Nations since 1962 showed there had always been an impediment to effective applica tion of the programmes, wh ich depended on financing, 
which, in turn, required specific programmes and projects if it was to become effective.  There were two additional factors that would enable Members to  ensure the efficiency of the system – how to 
utilize it, and how to make it effective.  For this it was necessary to align AFT with the prioritization 
of national, i.e. endogenous, devel opment strategies.  This in turn had to be implemented through an 
evaluation system that had reliable indicators allo wing for proper monitoring of the financing and the 
aid.  His delegation did not know whether implementati on of the system would in itself be a factor for 
development, but if it increased free trade incentives,  the system would already have fulfilled its 
purpose.  The key to success was in the financing.   The idea that a WTO body should conduct an 
evaluation, which could be followed up in trade policy reviews and in the General Council, was a  WT/GC/M/104 
 Page 11 
 
 
  means of implementing AFT effectively.  Peru was grateful to those countries that had undertaken to 
make fresh contributions.  Without financing,  there could be no mechanism for practical 
implementation.  With financing, Members would have succeeded in making this an effective AFT 
system. 
25. The representative of Mexico  welcomed the recommendations of the Task Force and joined 
the consensus on putting them into e ffect as soon as possible.  As the Task Force Chair had said, when 
there was political will, this organization could pr oduce important results – and this should be in 
everyone's mind.  As the Task Force Chair had also  said, these recommendations were a first step in a 
longer-term process of implementing AFT, in which coherence was of fundamental importance.  The 
AFT programme was not part of the Doha Round and should be implemented as soon as possible.  
Furthermore, in order to maximize the benefits of this initiative, it was also of fundamental 
importance that the Doha Round be successfully c oncluded, and on this there appeared to be 
consensus.  AFT was not a substitute for, but comp lementary to, a successful Round, whose principal 
benefit for development would be better access to markets for goods and services of interest to 
developing countries.  As the Director-General had pointed out recently in another forum, AFT was a 
key component in the coherent relationship betw een trade, development and growth.  The report 
contained recommendations that were directed to ma ny different actors, and each would have a role to 
play.  Mexico supported the recommendations, stood ready to support concrete  actions for additional 
technical cooperation, and was ready to participate in the activities to be organized by the Director-
General to implement the recommendations. 
26. The representative of Sri Lanka  said that, like others, his delegation believed it was necessary 
to recognize that AFT was not a part of the DDA, but  a stand-alone issue.  Members should continue 
to work on AFT irrespective of what happened in the negotiations, and an e ffective and tangible AFT 
package that addressed the concerns of LDCs a nd other vulnerable countries would help take the 
negotiating process forward.  However, as the Ta sk Force Chair had already pointed out, the 
successful conclusion of the Round would bring new AFT needs.  At the present meeting, Members 
were to take note of the report of the Task For ce and endorse its recommendations.  The report made a 
number of important recommendations , and Members had to start moving forward on this very early.  
Though the WTO was not a development agency or a donor, it had a responsibility to take the AFT 
agenda forward.  As Members proceeded with the practical follow-up to these recommendations, his 
delegation wished to draw attention to two sp ecific areas.  There was a need to undertake a 
comprehensive needs assessment at  country level as well as at re gional and global levels.  The 
country-level needs assessment was already in pl ace for LDCs under the Integrated Framework.  
Members now had to take this to other countries with  similar needs, where a needs assessment had not 
been undertaken, beginning with IDA-only countri es, perhaps with a mechanism similar to the 
Integrated Framework for them.  Members had to  identify needs within the categorized list, as 
outlined in the report.  It was also necessary to di fferentiate between projects which formed part of 
AFT and other development assistance programmes.  This had to be done very early and was critical 
if Members were to undertake the required reviews and evaluation in an effective manner.  This 
would bring Members to the next area of importanc e, which was how to monitor the implementation 
of AFT – whether the WTO, other international orga nizations, donors, recipients, or all of these would 
be responsible.  The recommendation for global pe riodic review contained in the report was 
important.  However, it appeared that at the pr esent stage, it looked unworkable due to the large 
number of reports required by various stakeholders.  The process needed to be further streamlined as 
Members moved forward.  He asked what Members wa nted the Secretariat to do in this area.  As 
Canada had already pointed out, it needed to be determined what the WTO's comparative advantage 
was in this area.  These were the two areas Members had to organize very early – assessment and monitoring mechanisms – if they were  to have an effective programme. 
27. The representative of Switzerland
 said that his country was not a member of the Task Force 
but considered the recommendations as moving in th e right direction, and thus supported their WT/GC/M/104 
Page 12  
 
  adoption.  For some years Switzerland had been actively committed to the various AFT domains and 
was ready to redouble its efforts for trade over the ne xt few years.  Having said this, he wished to 
make two comments and conclude with an idea about  the place of AFT in the WTO.  The comments 
were that  Switzerland wanted the AFT initiative to be  fully consistent with the Paris Declaration on 
Aid Effectiveness and the integration of trade into na tional development strategies.  It also requested 
that a special effort be made to make maximum use of the structures and existing arrangements at 
local, regional and global levels for the identificatio n of needs, as also for the financing and securing 
of resources.  Regarding the place of AFT in the WTO, he referred to the statement he had made at the July Council under the agenda item concerning th e report of the Chairman of the TNC on the state 
of the negotiations, that the WTO should refocus on what it did best – namely, promotion of the 
opening up of trade through legally binding agreemen ts.  In concluding, he said that his delegation 
fully supported the statement made by Canada. 
28. The representative of Kenya
 said his country was one of those who had sought some 
clarifications in July, and this had been provided at the informal consultations held the previous week.  
Kenya was pleased to note the recommendations in Section H of the report concerning the next steps.  
Judging from the sentiments expressed at the present m eeting, there seemed to be a meeting of minds 
on this particular subject, and Kenya hoped the same would prevail as Members moved into the 
implementation phase, because that was the most cr itical and the most important.  His delegation 
wished to avoid the problems it had faced in othe r areas, e.g. in S&D, where after much discussion 
Members had not come up with anything concrete.  Kenya hoped this same meeting of minds would 
prevail when Members got to the implementation phase.   Kenya was also keen to see the Secretariat 
produce the report requested by the LDCs through Bangladesh at the present meeting, which would 
help these countries see the pace and also the avenue  Members would be following to implement the 
recommendations.  Kenya hoped the ad hoc consulta tive group that would be established by the 
Director-General would not follow the same format as the Task Force, but would be open to all so that 
all could contribute. 
29. The representative of Nicaragua  welcomed the report, which demonstrated that the WTO 
remained incontestably relevant and that it was capa ble of carrying out the tasks entrusted to it by its 
Members.  While Nicaragua supported all of the r ecommendations contained in the report, it wished 
to single out three points mentioned by the Task Force Chair:  First, that AFT was an independent initiative that stood on its own merits and was not a substitute for any other process;  second, that 
considerable efforts were needed  to find the necessary financing to implement the recommendations;  
and third, that the WTO Trade Policy Review Mechan ism could play an important role – and in this 
regard, she wished to associate her delegation with  the statement by Peru.  Nicaragua wished to 
express its gratitude for the specific mention of the "IDA-only countries", and supported the statement 
by Bangladesh on this matter. 
30. The representative of Norway
 said it was clear that national needs and priorities had to be the 
starting point for addressing the trade agenda in a given country, as different countries faced different 
challenges.  The recognition of the need to adhere  to the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness was 
important.  Stronger national owners hip, and alignment of donor prac tices with national development 
strategies, would be necessary to carry the agen da forward.  When Members moved towards 
implementation, they should also recognize how AFT should not be used – increased AFT should not 
be used as an instrument to make developing co untries, and in particular LDCs, accept a new WTO 
agreement that was unbalanced and to their disadvant age.  AFT should not be used for adjustment to 
trade reform and liberalization in a way that w as contrary to the will and wishes of developing 
countries.  Norway was committed to working with the Director-General when he took on the tasks 
assigned to him in the follow-up to the report. 
31. The representative of Nepal  associated his delegation with the statement by Bangladesh for 
the LDCs.  In the process of integrating LDCs into  the multilateral trading system, AFT would be  an  WT/GC/M/104 
 Page 13 
 
 
  important element.  AFT was not a part of the single undertaking of the DDA.  AFT would be 
instrumental in developing productive capacities and trade-related infrastructur es in these countries.  
The Task Force report pointed out that AFT was a complement to, not a substitute for, a successful 
Doha Round.  The report emphasized that trade oppor tunities for developing countries, in particular 
the LDCs, remained the important contribution the WTO could make to development.  In this context, 
Nepal urged all concerned to work towards the e ffective materialisation of the AFT mechanism in 
order to translate its desired objective into action. 
32. The representative of Cuba  said his delegation wished to underscore some of the fundamental 
conclusions and arguments highlighted in the Task  Force's report.  First, AFT went beyond the 
traditional purposes of technical assistance and aid in the domain of international trade.  Its purpose 
was to provide assistance to developing countries so  they could increase their exports of goods and 
services and become part of the multilateral trad ing system, and thus benefit from the WTO and 
increased access to markets.  The Ta sk Force had also clearly recognized that in order to achieve the 
AFT agenda, there had to be additional funding that was predictable, sustainable and effective, and 
that the efficacy of its recommendations woul d depend on a substantial volume of additional 
resources.  Similarly, it was important to mention one  or two of the fundamental principles that should 
govern AFT programmes, especially the question of national appropriation, the mutual responsibility 
of aligning aid with national development strategies,  the need for predictable undertakings, and also a 
reduction in the administrative quotas traditionally associated with the supply of development aid.  The Task Force had also recommended that a monitoring body in the WTO should undertake a 
regular periodic review of AFT.  This was one of the important issues – the evaluation, assessment 
and monitoring of the discharge of commitments unde r this arrangement.  It was also important that 
this assistance become operative as quickly as possibl e.  Cuba wished to underscore that AFT was a 
complement to and not a substitute for the developm ent dimension of the Doha Round, and that it was 
not subject to the success of the latter.  In addition, AFT should not be used, as had been said by 
previous speakers, as an exchange currency or a wa y of imposing commitments in other areas.  It was 
fundamental that Members adopt the proper appro ach.  Otherwise, there would be no substantial 
added value in this.  There were many ways in whic h to exact credit.  Therefore, Cuba wished to 
underscore that most of this aid should be give n in the form of a donation.  AFT should not be 
allowed to become a new substitute for funds promis ed under official development aid arrangements.  
As other speakers had said, the action by the Gene ral Council at the present meeting of endorsing the 
recommendations of the Task Force would constitute ju st a first step.  It was important that these 
commitments and recommendations be translated into concrete action, and not take the path of other 
initiatives, particularly the official developmen t aid commitments which for 30 years had been 
without any effect. 
33. The representative of Barbados
 said that the excellent report of the Task Force would be most 
useful in guiding the delivery of AFT.  As all kne w, AFT was intended to assist developing countries, 
especially LDCs, but not excluding small economies.  Hi s delegation wished to be associated with all 
of the statements by previous speakers, as there was clearly no division in the organization on this 
occasion.  Barbados also wished to draw attention to  the last bullet under "Next Steps" in Section H of 
the report, which recognized that developing countri es might be affected by the outcome of the DDA 
and which recommended that the Secretariat prep are an assessment of associated AFT needs, 
particularly of those countries most affected.  Ba rbados urged Members to endorse the report and to 
move expeditiously to implementation. 
34. The representative of Bolivia  said her delegation was committed to continuing to contribute 
actively to the discussion on AFT in the forthcomin g phases.  Bolivia supported the suggestion by 
Kenya that the structure of the ad hoc group to be established should be ope n.  The purpose of AFT 
should be aimed at obtaining more equitable trade that echoed the policies of the countries involved, 
whether their economies were liberal or otherwise.  The assessment of the AFT system was extremely 
important, because within a scheme of mutual acc ountability, issues such as a cap on the amount the WT/GC/M/104 
Page 14  
 
  donor countries would grant in terms of salaries, equipment, the number of employees in an AFT 
project coming from countries of the South, had to be priority issues.  As she had said previously, these aspects and others were elements of the evaluation format on which Members would be working in the future. 
35. The representative of the Philippines
 thanked the Chair of the Task Force and its members 
their excellent work. 
36. The Chairman  proposed that the General Council take note of the report of the Task Force on 
Aid for Trade in document WT/AFT/1, endorse the r ecommendations contained therein, and agree to 
the specific next steps outlined in Section H of the report. 
37. The General Council so agreed . 
38. The Chairman  then invited the Director-General to upda te the Council on his work in the area 
of Aid for Trade. 
39. The Director-General  said that since his last report to the General Council in July, and 
pursuant to the mandate given him in paragraph 57 of the Hong Kong Declara tion, he had continued 
his consultations with Members, the IMF, th e World Bank, relevant UN bodies and regional 
development banks, with the active support of DDG Mrs Rugwabiza.  He had also participated in the 
recent IMF/World Bank meeting in Singapore, where AFT had figured on the agenda.  These consultations had been focussed on trying to enhance clarity rega rding the resources pledged and on 
strategies for securing additionality to current AFT spending.  Taking into account the recommendations of the Task Force, he had also used  these consultations to urge partners to consider 
carefully how they could contribute to their implem entation.  He wished to highlight three points 
concerning his consultations since July.  First and foremost, he remained c onvinced that there was a 
strong and broad commitment to increasing AFT in the context of a projected overall increase in 
overseas development assistance.  In Gleneagles in  2005, pledges had been made to increase these 
flows to US$50 billion by 2010.  In Hong Kong, donors had also pledged to increase AFT significantly by 2010.  Since July, he had been wo rking with the United States, the EC and Japan to 
clarify the pledges made in Hong Kong, both in  their content as well as in the modalities for 
implementation.  This went in the direction of a number of views expressed in the present discussion. 
40. Second, he also believed there was broad agre ement that Members could not continue to do 
AFT in the same way they had in the past.  This supported the view expressed in the report and by Members at the present meeting, that this initia tive was not about replacing or duplicating existing 
mechanisms, but making them work better, more eff ectively, with measurable results in a focused 
manner.  In this context, the WTO was working with the OECD on possible ways to improve the 
effectiveness of AFT, in particular  with the joint database they we re working on regarding trade-
related technical and development assistance.  The OECD had been very cooperative on this issue, for 
which he wished to thank them.  A third observatio n was that there was a wide and diverse range of 
priorities that needed to be met in order to promot e regional and global integration, and to help realise 
the developmental potential of trade opening.  It was important to note that how these needs could 
best be addressed could only be determined by countries themselves, working closely with national 
stakeholders, particularly the private sector, and w ith their development partners.  Ownership should 
not just be a buzzword – it was precondition for making AFT effective.  This has been the focus of the 
various  meetings he had held since July with the African Development Bank and with the Inter-
American Development Bank, as well as with a number of Finance Ministers that he had met recently 
in Singapore.  The recommendations of the Task Fo rce had also highlighted key areas for follow up, 
including the critical issue of monitoring AFT.  In this respect, the Secretariat had already started 
reflecting on how the WTO's own internal mechanisms  could best be utilised for this purpose.  He 
was also discussing with a number of partners, in cluding the international financial institutions and  WT/GC/M/104 
 Page 15 
 
 
  the regional development banks, to see how to set up  this monitoring activity.  It was important to 
move forward on AFT, building on the progress and momentum that clearly existed despite the 
current temporary setback in the negotiations.  Although AFT was not part of the single undertaking – and although all knew that its bene fits would be less – there were obvious synergies with the Doha 
Round, and it was clear that its benefits would be diminished without new trade opportunities that 
would flow from a successful Round.  Members c ould rely on the vigorous engagement of the 
Secretariat on this issue.  He would report on the follow-up to the present decision at the General 
Council meeting in December.  As many had said at the present meeting, the real test now lay in the field, and Members had to build the capacity to monitor this.  The key concept remained coherence 
between trade and development – coherence on th e donors side, coherence on the receiving side, and 
coherence on the WTO side.  He wished to join previous speakers in commending the Task Force 
Chair on her outstanding performance. 
41. The General Council took note
 of the statements.  
2. Report by the Chairman of the Trade Negotiations Committee 
42. The Chairman  invited the Director-General, as Chairman of the Trade Negotiations 
Committee, to report on the TNC's activities since his last report to the Council. 
43. The Director-General, Chairman of  the Trade Negotiations Committee , recalled that at the 
General Council's meeting in July, he had undertaken  to continue his contacts with participants at 
every level in order to try to fac ilitate resumption of the negotiations.1  This remained his top priority.  
He wished to report at the present meeting on the r esults of those contacts so far and on what, in his 
judgement, was still needed before the negotiations c ould usefully resume.  Since July, he had talked 
to many Ministers and officials across a broad range of the membership.  He had attended meetings of 
the G20, the Cairns Group and the World Bank-IMF, and had also visited China and Nigeria.  He 
would be going to Brussels and Washington in October.  He ha d also met in Geneva with the 
Negotiating Group Chairs, coordinators of regional  and other WTO groups, an d various delegations.  
In all these contacts, he had repeatedly stressed the costs – to the global economy and the multilateral 
system which underpinned it – if Members failed to re solve the current impasse.   He believed all were 
very much aware of what was already on the tabl e in this Round, and of the potential benefits for 
every Member and for the global economy if Members we re to able to successfully conclude it.  It 
was now obvious, after a number of weeks of reflection, that the costs of failure, and the missed 
opportunity to rebalance the trading system, would hurt developing countries more than others, which 
was probably why it was developing countries who had been the loudest in clamouring for a 
resumption of the negotiations.  The General Council had just endorsed a very good set of 
recommendations on AFT.  They had been very expl icit about the fact that the Round was on one side 
and AFT was on the other side, with a specific link be tween the two, and Members had to keep this in 
mind in the weeks to come. 
44. As he had stated at the UNCTAD Trade and De velopment Board meeting two weeks earlier, 
the present time-out in the negotiations should allo w Members to think more creatively about how 
trade, development and growth could fit together into a coherent whole.  Given what was at stake in 
the Round, he had also urged governments to work hard with their own constituencies, because he 
was very aware of the political difficulties they face d.  He remained convinced that heavy political 
domestic involvement was key for the main players in  these negotiations.  The fact was now clear that 
there was no acceptable alternativ e to the conclusion of the Round.  From what he had heard from 
different interlocutors, he could say there appeared  to be no doubt on this diagnosis, and that the 
desire to come back to the negotiating table was wi despread and, in his view, genuine.  One had now 
heard calls for a swift resumption of the negotia tions from many quarters – ASEAN, the G20, the 
                                                      
1 The full text of the Director-G eneral's statement was subsequen tly circulated as JOB(06)/245. WT/GC/M/104 
Page 16  
 
  Cairns Group, the World Bank-IMF Finance Committee and many Presidents and Ministers around 
the world.  The African Union was preparing its po sition, to be discussed at the end of October in 
Addis Ababa.  That was where Members were, and th e next step was to determine how and when they 
could bring everyone back to the table.  This was what he was now focu ssing on, and he believed 
Members had now established some of the parameters for it.  First, the negotiations could resume only 
when substantive positions had change d on key problem issues, in particul ar in the area of agriculture, 
which Members had bumped into in July  and which held the key to unlocking the rest of the agenda.  
Thus far, there had been no visible indications of  flexibilities.  Unless and until this happened, the 
negotiations would remain deadlocked.  Second, when the negotiations resumed, the resumption 
should be across the board – the whole negotiating age nda had to resume in step.  Third, the window 
of opportunity available was limited.  If Members were to have a chance of finishing the Round in 
2007, the space to move was somewhere between November 2006 and the spring of 2007, which 
appeared to be the latest time to get the breakthr ough needed.  All efforts over the next weeks had to 
be dedicated to meeting these conditions.  He was qu ite encouraged at the renewed informal contacts 
among governments and the seriousness with which Ministers and offici als were restarting to tackle 
the challenge.  There was also an obvious n eed to renew support for the DDA among the wider 
community, and in this respect he believed the WTO's recent Public Symposium had been helpful, 
and he wished to thank all who had been involved in it.  One had to combat complacency about the 
fate of the Round.  He did not think there was any do ubt that it mattered very much and that it had to 
be brought to a conclusion.  However, as he had said, the resumption of the negotiations had to be 
something all worked to make possible, b ecause resuming would make no sense if nothing had 
changed since July.  He would keep up his enga gement with the membership to facilitate the 
movement needed, and it had been agreed that th e Negotiating Group Chairs would do the same.  This 
was no time for inaction, but rather for discreet a nd quiet activity – quiet diplomacy, as the journalists 
said.  The current pause in the process could be a productive one, where Members laid the foundations 
for success.  He urged all to continue the techni cal work, discreet calculations and private soundings 
to prepare the ground.  He did not believe anyt hing else was acceptable to the global community. 
45. All representatives who spoke thanked the Director-General for his report. 
46. The representative of Benin
, on behalf of the African Group , said it could be seen from the 
Director-General's assessment in his report that Me mbers were in a difficult, indeed delicate, situation 
and that all Members would have to seek appropria te ways and means of saving the current round of 
negotiations.  The African Group wished to express its ve ry real concern at this situation and to make 
an impassioned call on all Members, particularly the major players in the negotiations, to show a 
genuine will to move the negotiation process forward,  by contributing to resuming the work as rapidly 
as possible.  If this were done, the efforts made over the past five years since the Doha Round was 
launched would not be jeopardized.  Members had to  work unswervingly towards resuming this work, 
and above all strive to ensure that real and eff ective account was taken of the fundamental interests 
and concerns of the developing co untries, particularly the LDCs.  This was why the present meeting, 
which was the first since the suspension of the nego tiations almost two and a half months earlier, had 
to result in an unequivocal decision to resume the negotiations at the earliest opportunity.  It was important that, at the present meeting, Members give  the Director-General a mandate to propose, in 
the next few days, a timetable for the earliest po ssible resumption of work , within the window of 
opportunity of which the Director-General had spoken earlier.  Members had to work individually and 
collectively to save the situation.  For its part, the African Group remained committed, and hoped that 
when the work resumed very shortly, the negotiati ng process would be conducted in a consensual and 
constructive spirit, in order to ensure that the development objectives of the Doha Round were 
achieved, and this through an agre ement on full modalities that would provide the basis for a balanced 
agreement that truly incorporated the development dimension. 
47. The representative of Australia
 thanked the Director-General for his efforts over the past 
weeks to assist Members in this period of reflec tion as all sought to establish the basis for resumption  WT/GC/M/104 
 Page 17 
 
 
  of the negotiations.  Without pr olonging the present discussion, he wished to briefly inform the 
membership of developments at the Cairns Group Ministerial Meeting in Cairns, Australia from 20-
22 September.  Cairns Group Ministers had gathered, on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the founding of the Group, to discuss how best to brea k the current deadlock in the DDA.  They had, 
of course, noted their deep disappointment at th e suspension of the talks in July.  The Group had 
confirmed its view that there was no easy path for the negotiations – no Doha-lite option that could be 
contemplated.  Rather, Members had to maintain the level of ambition they had charted in Doha.  The 
present discussion, with the many references to the importance Members attached to the outcome of 
the negotiations and to the developm ent agenda, underlined this point fully.  Of course, all knew that 
improvements were needed to secure that level of ambition – improvements in market access and 
domestic support.  He believed that many Members could see the shape of the sort of outcome that 
would be necessary, but this was not to say it would be easy.  In fact, it was quite hard.  It foresaw further improvements that would make up the necess ary difference between the current unsatisfactory 
level and an outcome that would deliver effective cu ts and new trade flows.  That was the sort of 
outcome Members would need.  The overwhelming vi ew of Ministers in Cairns was that Members 
needed to get quickly back to the negotiating tabl e.  They had therefore called for a resumption of 
negotiations as soon as possible.  Of course, the majo r subsidizers had the key role to play in this 
regard, but all had an important role to play.  Mi nisters had also recognized that the Cairns Group had 
an important role to play in building the conditions  for the successful conclusion of the negotiations.  
This was why they had agreed to a detailed progra mme of work over the next few weeks on all pillars, 
including on the important question of flexibilities in market access, to help build convergence in 
these areas.  The Cairns Group Members were theref ore not sitting on their hands.  Over the past two 
weeks they had started their work programme on market access and domestic support issues.  They 
hoped to see a commitment from others to do the sam e.  Australia would welcome a dialogue with 
others who wished, like it, to make progress.  Members could not wait much longer for a resumption of the negotiations.  The costs of prolonged dela y, as all knew and as the Director-General had 
elaborated, would be very significant.  It was for these reasons that Australia called on all Members to 
establish the conditions for a resumption of the nego tiations before the end of November – and his 
delegation did not underestimate the challenge this would entail.   
48. The representative of Brazil
, on behalf of the G20 , said these countries remained committed 
to the speedy resumption of the Round.  This had b een reaffirmed at the Ministerial meeting of the 
Group in September in Rio de Janeiro with the presence of coordinators from several developing-
country groups.  The G-20 felt that on this occasion they should highlight some of the conclusions of 
the meeting as contained in the statement adopted at that meeting and circulated to Members in 
document JOB(06)/243.  Ministers had stated in Rio th at:  "At such a critical juncture, we reaffirm our 
willingness to join efforts with a view to ensuring that WTO negotiations in agriculture live up to the 
commitments of the Doha Mandate.  This would enta il results that guarantee substantial and effective 
reduction in trade-distorting domestic support coupled with necessary disciplines to prevent box-
shifting and product-shifting of sup port; substantial improvement in market access;  and expeditious 
elimination of all forms of export subsidies.  We underscore the importance of Special and 
Differential treatment (S&D) for developing countries in  all areas of the negotiations.  In this context, 
we emphasize the overall proportionality in the reduc tion commitments and the vital role of special 
products (SPs) and the special safeguard mechan ism (SSM) in addressing the food security, rural 
development and livelihood concerns of developing countries.  We reca ll the pledge made at Doha to 
place the interests and needs of developing countri es, especially the least- developed among them, at 
the heart of the Round.  We reiterate our shared in terest in a pro-development outcome of the Round 
and we highlight the indivi sibility of such a development agenda, in particular the need to preserve a 
balanced and proportionate level of  ambition.  We recognize the urgent need to make operational the 
Hong Kong Ministerial Decision on Duty-Free and Q uota-Free Market Access fo r the LDCs, as well 
as the simplification of rules of origin applicable to  them.  We reaffirm the need to address the issue 
of cotton ambitiously, expeditiously and specifically in its trade-related and development aspects.  We 
stress that the only acceptable outcome is one that fully delivers on the Doha commitments as WT/GC/M/104 
Page 18  
 
  complemented by the July Framework and by the H ong Kong Ministerial Declaration.  Therefore, any 
attempt to renegotiate or rewrite these will not be acceptable.  Developed members, in particular the 
major trading countries, bear a special and specific responsibility for the outcome of the Round.  They 
must show their readiness to implement measures that  remove trade distortions and significantly open 
their markets.  Their current positions do not provide  an adequate basis for leading the negotiations to 
a successful conclusion.  They must, therefore, si gnificantly improve their proposals especially in the 
two crucial areas of domestic support and agricultural market access, as well as be prepared to deliver 
on the development dimension of the DDA.  We note that the substantial political and technical work 
carried out until now provides a solid platform for the eventual resumption of the negotiations.  We 
confirm our readiness to reengage immediately in the negotiations and to work towards its prompt 
resumption." 
49. The representative of Bangladesh
, on behalf of the LDCs , said the Director-General's 
statement was a frank and, in their view, accurate st atement of the current state of play.  The LDCs 
had high expectations from the current Round.  From the Uruguay Round, there was an explicit 
acknowledgement in the multilateral trade rules that  not all countries were at the same level of 
development.  Accordingly, an attempt had been ma de to provide for specific rules or waivers for the 
disadvantaged countries, particularly the least-d eveloped among them.  The LDCs had been happy 
when the Doha Round had been cl assified as a Development Round.  They had hoped, and still hoped, 
that the Round would create a more level playing fiel d for them.  It would hardly be feasible for some 
countries to continue to advance, leaving behind  the rest and thereby enlarging the gap among 
countries.  At the same time, if a structure could be  created for the most disadvantaged to gain from 
the process of globalization, it would benefit all.   The suspension of the Round had been a deep 
disappointment to the LDCs.  They were aware of the circumstances requiring the Round to be 
suspended, and agreed that there had been no alte rnative.  At the same time, they felt that the 
countries concerned had to redouble their efforts to br idge the gaps that remained.  When the G-20 
meeting had convened, and the LDC Coordinator had been invited as an observer, the Group had 
readily agreed to participate.  The LDCs were happy  that the host of the meeting, Brazil, had informed 
the broader WTO membership of the G20 messages,  and thanked Brazil for its statement at the 
present meeting.  The LDCs congratulated Brazil and the G-20 for this initiative and hoped that the 
countries concerned would take note of these views.  The Group was particularly happy that the G20 had showed flexibility in accommodating the concerns of the LDCs. 
50. The representative of Cuba
 said that, like many developing countries, Cuba regretted and 
shared the concerns at the suspen sion of the Doha Development Round sine die , but was even more 
concerned at recent events and press reports which ma de it uncertain whether a balanced final result 
would be achieved.  There was talk of new concepts  such as new trade flows, real market access and 
the equivalence of concessions by developed and developing countries in the various areas of 
negotiation that were not part of the Round's ma ndate.  This was not a market access round for 
developed countries, but a development round, and in any event a round for developing countries' 
access to the markets of industrialized countries.  Pu blic opinion was being manipulated in a clumsy 
effort at equivocation that sought to make developi ng countries and their efforts to designate special 
products responsible for the breakdown in the negot iations.  This was not what had been announced 
when the negotiations had broken down in July.  It was the developing countries that were most interested in the successful outcome of the process.  There had even been talk of the alleged need to 
undertake selective technical work on certain issues .  The problem was not technical but political.  
There was still no political will on the part of deve loped countries, headed by the United States, to 
meet their international commitments and their co mmitments to development, and to give up their 
privileges under the current trading system.  Ther e had been reference to the prejudice suffered by 
developing countries as a result of the deadlock in the Round, but there had been no mention of the 
negative consequences, some of them devastati ng for many countries, if the current negotiating 
proposals promoted by the developed countries, or the proposals they were ready to accept, were adopted.  The so-called trade-off between the me agre concessions on agriculture to be made by  WT/GC/M/104 
 Page 19 
 
 
  developed countries and the conces sions demanded of developing count ries on industrial products and 
services would maintain and exacerbate the current st atus quo, to the detriment of the majority of 
developing countries, which made up almost four-fift hs of the world's population, but constituted only 
one-third of international trade.  A number of st atistical studies recently conducted by international 
non-governmental organizations and other interna tional bodies concurred that the majority of 
developing countries would obtain little or no bene fits if the current negotiating proposals were 
approved.  There had to date been little or no progress on the questions of implementation and S&D 
treatment – two key issues, if balance were to be  restored following the inequities inherited from the 
Uruguay Round – and these had been relegated to the background compared to market-access issues.  
Agriculture – particularly the phasing out of the domestic multi-million dollar subsidies by developed 
countries, which distorted trade and created an ar tificial unfair competitive advantage – continued to 
be the key issue.  The agricultural proposals by th e United States and the EC were not as generous as 
they appeared.  Developed countries could signi ficantly lower the permitted levels of domestic 
support that distorted trade, without the real or app lied levels under this concept being affected.  They 
would be able to continue changing boxes, maki ng transfers to the Green Box in the absence of 
disciplines or limits in this respect, thereby cancelling out any effect.  The offers to lower agricultural 
tariffs made by the developed countries were insuffi cient because they would lead to figures of over 
100 per cent, and in some cases the highest tariffs  on certain agricultural products would be over 
1,000 per cent.  The coefficients for the tariff  reduction formula for non-agricultural products being 
considered for the developing countries would lower the bound rates, which were already low, below 
the applied tariffs in many cases.  This would accelerate de-industrialization and would deprive many 
developing countries, which depe nded on tariffs for 20-30 per cent of their revenue, of an 
irreplaceable source of funds for soci al and development spending.   
51. The line-by-line tariff cuts in NAMA contrasted  with the generous flexibility proposed by 
developed countries for themselves in agriculture  in their proposals on sensitive products, which 
would only be subject to reductions lower than t hose in the formula.  In  summary, all these proposals 
tended to reduce or eliminate the political room for manoeuvre that was available to those countries at 
earlier stages of development, the stages at whic h developing countries currently found themselves.  
Any resumption of the negotiations  could only be on the basis of the mandates of the DDA, Annex A 
to the Framework Agreement of 1 August 2004 and the Hong Kong Declaration.  These could not be 
replaced, modified, segmented or subject to selec tive and self-serving interpretation, as some might 
wish.  The DDA was not a menu of options to be selected from at convenience.  It was a single 
undertaking in which all the components were indivi sible, interdependent and interrelated.  The 
process had to be conducted with total transparency , as well as the inclusion and real and effective 
participation of all Members at all stages of developm ent, so as to ensure that the diversity of interests 
and situations of Members was reflected.  The process had to be returned to wh ere it belonged – to the 
bodies in which all Members were represented.  Give n the failure, thus far, to meet any of the 
deadlines set in the Hong Kong Declaration, the ai m of completing the Round in December 2006, as 
originally envisaged, could not feasi bly be achieved, nor c ould an artificial date related to the expiry 
of the United States Trade Negotiating Authority in Ju ly 2007 be fixed.  Members could not be held 
hostage to the domestic policy designs and dictates of this country.  It did not seem feasible either that 
Members could achieve in five months what they had not been able to achieve in five years of 
negotiations.  It was not possible to intensify th e process to such an extent, and the simultaneous 
convening of some 20 negotiating groups would pr event the overwhelming majority of developing 
countries from participating and w ould make it impossible for their proposals and interests to be 
adequately reflected in all the areas of negotiati on.  Cuba was in favour of resuming negotiations 
whenever possible and concluding the Round;  however, not as an end in itself, but rather in complete fulfilment of the mandates on development, S&D tr eatment for developing countries, treatment of 
small and vulnerable economies, and special measures – taking into account the needs of LDCs and of 
ensuring food safety, secure subsistence farming, rural development and so on.  Members could not 
afford the loss of more than four and half years of  work by all, nor could they begin from scratch.  
The proposals and important documents such as tho se on possible modalities prepared by the Chairs WT/GC/M/104 
Page 20  
 
  of the agriculture and NAMA negotiating groups, th ough imperfect and not the subject of consensus, 
constituted the basis for future work.  Many st atements had been made reiterating Members' 
commitment to completion of the Doha Round.  C uba hoped these would be translated into reality 
sooner rather than later. 
52. The representative of Malaysia
 recalled that ASEAN Economic Ministers had met in 
Guadeloupe in the third week of August and had issued a stand-alone statement on the Doha 
negotiations on 23 August.  In that statement, th ey had expressed deep concern and disappointment on 
the suspension of the DDA negotiatio ns in July.  They had emphasized that the multilateral trading 
system could not afford a failure of the DDA negotiations.  To ASEAN, the DDA negotiations were critical to continuing economic growth and deve lopment of its member countries and developing 
countries as a whole.  Therefore, the ASEAN Economic Ministers had urged that the process be put 
back on track before the end of 2006.  In that cont ext, all Members had to be prepared to review and 
make the necessary adjustments in their positions.  Fo r its part, ASEAN was prepared to make its own 
contribution.  At the same time, ASEAN attached importance to the development dimensions of the 
negotiations as well as to a transparent and incl usive process.  ASEAN also called on the major 
players to show the leadership and political will n eeded to bring the Round to a successful conclusion. 
53. The representative of Uruguay
 said that the central ideas of his delegation's statement had 
already been expressed clearly by Brazil and Austra lia, in their respective capacities as coordinators 
of the G20 and the Cairns Group.  Without prejudi ce to the suspension of negotiations, the time had 
come for "quiet diplomacy", which translated into at least three actions:  Comparing data and analysing actual situations;  envisaging scenarios an d options;  and, above all, continuing to build 
bridges.  Uruguay understood the current difficulties and sensitivities – a time  of deadlock in the 
negotiations from which Members would emerge only when the main actors show ed real flexibility in 
their dealings with other Members.  It was indeed a time of deadlock, but need not be a time of paralysis.  An old adage held that "movement is not  action".  Perhaps this was true, and it was not yet 
the time for action, but it was certainly the time for preparations.  Uruguay understood that it would 
be necessary to recreate the climate for negotiatio ns, to promote rapprochement and come up with 
compromise solutions.  All this had to come s oon.  In recent weeks there had been calls from 
countless Members and many interest groups to take  advantage of this last opportunity, which all 
knew existed but which all also knew would be fragile  and fleeting.  If Members were to do this, all 
would have to be prepared.  The possibilities, if any, would be slender.  Uruguay would not resign 
itself, now or in the future, to the failure of the multilateral system.  The risks were too great and the 
opportunities too tangible for Members to allow themselves to be won over by defeatism or 
pessimism. 
54. The representative of Japan
 said he would spare the meeting repetitive statements since what 
he had intended to stress had already been mentione d by the TNC Chair in his report, especially with 
regard to the costs of the failure of the negotiati ons.  However, he wished to report on one political 
event in Japan, namely the change of government , as Prime Minister Koizumi had stepped down and 
Mr Abe had become the new Prime Minister.  In co ntrast to the other political event on the mind of 
all, no one had been holding his or her breath in anticipation of this event in Japan and with good reason – Mr Abe had held successively very important posts within the government of 
Prime Minister Koizumi and had himself been very  heavily involved in the formulation of Japanese 
policy vis-à-vis  the WTO.  In his first policy statemen t, Mr Abe had pledged to work for the 
resumption of the Doha negotiations.  The change  in government also meant that the former 
Agriculture and Trade Ministers, Mr Nakagawa and Mr Nikai, had also stepped down to be replaced 
by Mr Matsuoka and Mr Amari, respectively.  However, Mr Nakagawa would be holding a key 
position within his own party which was responsible fo r formulating overall policy.  All of this was 
meant to indicate that the Government of Japan would continue to make the utmost effort to bring the 
negotiations to a successful conclusion.  WT/GC/M/104 
 Page 21 
 
 
  55. The representative of Peru  said that his country, as part of the G20, wished to associate itself 
fully with the comments by Brazil for that Group, par ticularly regarding the definitions produced by 
the G20 Ministers concerning the agricultural nego tiations, and above all regarding securing effective 
reductions in trade-distorting measures in domestic  support, which would have to be accompanied by 
disciplines leading to a substantial improvement in market access and rapid elimination of all forms of 
subsidies.  His delegation also fu lly concurred with some of the concerns expressed by Australia for 
the Cairns Group.  The issues considered by the G20 Ministers could help Members meet the objectives of a balanced ambition, particularly in the agriculture negotiations.  Peru considered it 
imperative to swiftly resume the negotiations with a renewed focus on balance and equity.  To achieve 
this, the countries that applied the most trade-dist orting measures had a special responsibility to relax 
their positions sufficiently to return to balance and equitable reciprocity and to ensure the success of 
the Round.  The legitimacy of the multilateral syst em was at stake, and the wisest counsel therefore 
had to be to make the necessary concessions in a spirit of pragmatism. 
56. The representative of Indonesia
, on behalf of the G33 , said he wished to share with Members 
some of the Group's reflections since the negotiations  had been suspended.  G-33 Ministers had met in 
Rio de Janeiro in September 2006 at the margins of  the G20 meeting and had issued a statement, a 
copy of which had been circulated in the meeting room.  The G33 had also been a party to the joint 
statement issued at Rio by the G20 and other de veloping-country groups, th e details of which had 
already been outlined by Brazil at  the present meeting.  The G33 ha d already stressed their political 
commitment and readiness to put the negotiations b ack on track as soon as possible in order to secure 
a successful pro-development outcome.  The Group ha d emphasized that it was critical to adhere to 
the Doha mandate across all issues, including in r espect of the core development instruments of 
Special Products and the Special Safeguard Mechanis m.  These instruments were vital to delivering 
on the development imperatives of the Doha Round and meeting the expectations of the poor and 
vulnerable around the world.  To establish the conditions for a successful resumption of the 
negotiations, it was imperative that Members not lose sight of what the TNC Chair had said in his 
report that the main blockage was on the Agriculture  leg of the triangle of issues that were being 
sought to be addressed.  Accordingly, bridging th e gaps across domestic support and market access in 
agriculture had to remain Members' main  focus in this period of reflection. 
57. The G33 Ministers had emphasized, justifiabl y, that developed-country Members, in 
particular the major players, had to show the re quisite political will and readiness to make tangible 
contributions to bring the negotiations to a successf ul resumption and conclusion.  Attempts were 
continuing to be made to target the flexibilities soug ht by developing countries, which showed a lack 
of sensitivity to address the concerns of the global poo r.  In addition, on substantive considerations as 
well, the G33 were deeply concerned and dismayed by  the attempts of some of the major players to 
shift the focus and responsibility onto developing count ries to provide market access to their corporate 
agri-businesses, and were seeking to introduce new con cepts and parameters into the negotiations.  By 
doing so, they were discrediting the legitimate ne eds of the poor and vulnerable in developing 
countries.  Misleading claims were being made th at the development instruments of SPs and SSM, 
agreed upon by all in the 1 August 2004 Framewor k Agreement and at Hong Kong, were loopholes 
from market access commitments and would have a dverse consequences for South-South trade.  
Moreover, the three agreed criteria of food security , livelihood security and rural development needs 
were being sought to be undermined  and questioned by the introduction of a new concept of so-called 
new trade flows.  This was disingenuous.  These a ttempts amounted to undoing the progress made so 
far, and would be detrimental to a successful ear ly conclusion to the Development Round.  The G-33 
had repeatedly stressed that the purpose of SPs and SSM was not to impede market access.  This was clear, since they had not sought any increased protection.  On the contrary, the G33 proposal on SPs entailed tariff reductions on 90 per cent of the ag ricultural tariff lines, with lower liberalization on 
some of them than would otherwise be the case, while allowing developing countries to provide 
exemption from tariff cuts on 10 per cent of agricu ltural tariff lines for SPs.  The G33 proposal on the 
SSM was simply a remedy against import surges and pr ice decreases.  As had been evident thus far, WT/GC/M/104 
Page 22  
 
  the G33 remained ready to engage in a dialogue that was constructive in its process and substance 
without being selective.  Obviously, all outstanding i ssues across all the three pillars would have to be 
dealt with in a balanced and timely manner in the resumed negotiations.  These aspects were critical 
to creating the right conditions for the successful re sumption of negotiations, and to impart confidence 
among developing countries that the negotiations were not being designed to subvert their 
development interests.  The contribution from the G33 to a successful outcome could not be at the 
expense of the livelihood of the rural poor and the disadvantaged. 
58. The representative of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
 associated his delegation with the 
statements by Brazil for the G20 and by Indonesia for th e G33.  Venezuela wished to stress that both 
of these statements offered an affirmative reply to  the question about whether the negotiations should 
be resumed.  However, that "yes" was conditional on the preservation of the integrity of the mandate, 
on the principle of the single undertaking and of S&D treatment.  His delegation was pleased and gratified to see that the Director-General, in his re port, also shared Venezuel a's view that these were 
the conditions for resumption of the negotiations.  While it might be the moment for discreet and quiet diplomacy, this diplomacy should not be so discreet a nd so quiet that delegations could not discern it. 
59. The representative of Singapore
, recalling that it had been more than three months since the 
suspension of the negotiations, said that Members were unfortunately not any closer to putting things 
back on track.  There had been some encouragin g reaffirmations of commitment in the past few 
months, but no concrete indication of the flexibility needed to break the impa sse on the key issues of 
agriculture and NAMA.  Against this background, the possibilities of a failure of the Doha Round 
were very real.  All knew the cost of failure.  At risk was five years of negotiations that had brought 
Members close to the finishing line.  If Members fa iled, the credibility of the rules-based multilateral 
trading system would be severely damaged.  Put differently, Members needed to conclude the Round 
in order to preserve the system.  He asked what pr ice each was prepared to pay in order to save the 
system, and how many billions it would cost to pr eserve the credibility of the WTO.  These were not 
easy questions, especially when they  were seen against the matrix of domestic politics.  However, 
what was clear was that each Member had to make a contribution to resume this Round and to 
conclude it.  He wished to make three observations .  First, the suspension of the negotiations could 
not continue indefinitely.  The d ecision to suspend the negotiations in July had been forced by the 
impasse on the key questions of agricultural mark et access and domestic support.  A time-out was 
sometimes helpful, but had to be temporary.  The danger was that a prolonged suspension would 
remove the pressure of finding a solution.  There was the risk that people would get too comfortable 
with the current state of affairs.  Singapore theref ore endorsed the Director-Gen eral's call for quiet and 
intense diplomacy among the key players, and hope d that these quiet diplomatic manoeuvres would 
produce results in the weeks and months to come.  Second, in terms of timing, there would never be 
an ideal moment to resume negotiations.  The stars might never be fully aligned for a resumption.  His 
delegation agreed with the Director-General that  nothing had substantivel y changed and that the 
suspension had to continue for the moment.  Howeve r, Members also had to keep in mind that the 
signals of flexibility which all sought and hoped for might never come.  Therefore, at some point, 
Members had to be prepared to bite the bullet a nd re-start the process.  This had to happen sooner 
rather than later.  The precise timing was of cour se a matter of judgment.  On this point, Singapore 
would be looking to the Director-General to update  the membership on a regular basis and agreed 
with his assessment with regard to the window of opp ortunity.  Third, it was important to prepare the 
ground for a formal resumption.  Resuming negotiations was not simply a matter of turning on the 
ignition and starting to drive.  The engine needed to  be warmed up.  It was therefore important for all 
delegations in Geneva to continue  to consult each other informally, both on substance and on process.  
Singapore would also welcome any effort by the Chairs of the Negotiating Groups to undertake informal consultations in order to build on the vari ous signals from the key players.  Such informal 
consultations, including by the Negotiating Group Chai rs, were necessary to prepare the ground for an 
early resumption of the Round.  The success or fa ilure of the Doha Round depended not just on the 
major players reaching political convergence to break the current impasse on agriculture, but also on  WT/GC/M/104 
 Page 23 
 
 
  building a broad-based consensus for an outcome.  While the majors bore a special responsibility in 
showing the way forward, all parties had to play their part. 
60. The representative of Mexico  said the progress report from the TNC Chair adequately 
reflected the alarming situation in which Members found themselves.  On the one hand, Mexico noted 
with pleasure the many expressions of intent to resume the discussions, which Mexico had endorsed 
on various occasions.  However, words had to be back ed up by concrete action.  As protagonists, all 
Members had to show flexibility, w ithout making this conditional on the flexibility of others.  In other 
words, Members had to avoid th e game of seeing who would bli nk first, as all knew that the 
negotiations were a single undertaking across the board .  The Director-General's  words at the TNC on 
1 July 2006 that "today, there are only losers" rema ined true now.  The developing countries were the 
greatest losers, especially the LDCs.  This was w hy Mexico considered that the Round had to be 
resumed as early as possible and that Members had to begin to glimpse concrete results.  If the negotiations were to be successful, Members had to have achieved a successful resumption by the end of this year.  Otherwise, the possibility of ach ieving an ambitious, balanced and successful result 
would be significantly limited.  It was important to remember that, while the negotiations had been 
suspended because of a failure to agree on agriculture , the disagreements were not confined to that 
area.  Even if Members were to reach agr eement on market access and domestic support in 
agriculture, they would still have to clear a path  for such issues as NAMA,  services, rules and so 
forth. 
61. The representative of Nigeria
 associated his delegation with the statement by Benin for the 
African Group, by Brazil for the G20 and by Indonesia for the G33.  At the July 2006 meeting of the 
General Council, Members had agreed with the r ecommendation by the Direct or-General to suspend 
the DDA negotiations to allow time for reflection, wh ile at the same time preserving the achievements 
of the negotiations thus far, in order to be able to build on them rather than have them unravel.  
Nigeria was committed to upholding the general agreem ent on the need not to modify the mandate or 
split it for selective progress.  Nigeria agreed with th e Director-General's assessment that it was clear 
that Members were not yet there.  Thus, there wa s a need for further reflection and more intensive 
consultations by Members and the Director-Gener al.  Early resumption of the negotiation would 
restore confidence in the multilateral trading system.  In the course of his consultations, the Director-
General had been in Nigeria on 3 October 2006, wh ere he had met with the President and Commander 
in Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, and with other stakeholders in the Nigerian economy.  The 
consultations seemed to have paid off in the cont ext of confidence-building measures and the need to 
be flexible in the negotiations.  On behalf of his Government, he wished to thank the Director-General 
for having found the time to visit Nigeria, and assured him and the membership of Nigeria's commitment to contribute to the early resumption of the negotiations. 
62. The representative of Ecuador
 said his delegation supported the statement by Brazil for the 
G20, and wished to express its gratitude to members of the G20 for their support for its re-entry into 
this important Group at the Ministerial-level meeting in Rio de Janeiro in September.  His delegation 
had participated actively in the Doha Round negotiati ons, particularly those on agriculture, in which it 
had consistently supported the G20 positions, which it regarded as balanced and constructive ways 
forward with a view to agreeing on new modalities for agricultural trade.  Ecuador reiterated its wish 
to work with the G20 and other Members in re-la unching the Doha Round negotiations with a view to 
securing its main objective, namely, development. 
63. The representative of the Philippines  associated his delegation fully with the statements by 
Brazil for the G20, by Indonesia for the G33 and by  Australia for the Cairns Group.  His delegation 
agreed with the Director-General on the need to fi rst unblock the key issues in agriculture before the 
negotiations could resume, and on the importance of ensuring that the principle of the single 
undertaking was respected and that a resumption of negotiations would be across the board.  It was 
important to agree on the key issues by March 2007 if  Members were to conclude the DDA in 2007.  WT/GC/M/104 
Page 24  
 
  However, Members should also be prepared to  explore other scenarios, such as resuming the 
negotiations in early 2007 and conducting earnest and well-considered negotiations not subject to the 
pressures of artificial deadlines and intended to trul y deliver on the development objectives of this 
Round, which might take longer than 2007 and might last through 2008 or even 2009.  The 
Philippines joined the call to all the major players to address the outstanding roadblocks in agriculture 
and to significantly improve their offers in order to fully align them with the Doha development 
mandate.  Such improvements should be pre-c onditioned on increased market access openings in 
developed-country markets.  The Philippines, along  with its G20 and G33 partners as well as other 
developing countries, was fully prepared to look seriously at any improved proposals of the major parties under a Geneva-based process that ensured tr ansparency and inclusiveness of participation.  
His delegation wished to reiterate that for this Round to be truly a deve lopment Round, developed-
country trading partners should be willing to accep t a smaller share of the benefits from the DDA 
negotiations, in order to offset the entrenched im balances and the greater share and benefits obtained 
already by developed-country Members from previ ous rounds.  The Philippines wished to thank the 
Director-General for his role in travelling to many  capitals in order to build confidence in the WTO 
system and to generate support for resuming the nego tiations at the earliest possible time.  As he had 
stated earlier, his delegation supported the Director-General's call that any resumption of the negotiations had to be across the whole DDA a nd that there could be no selecting and choosing 
particular areas of the DDA where the negotiations  might be resumed.  Regarding the proposed 
timetable – that the negotiations might be resumed by the spring of 2007 –  his delegation urged the 
membership and the Director-General to consider l onger term planning, to consider a Plan B or Plan 
C that would involve resuming the negotiations at  the earliest possible time and concluding, as a 
backup measure, in 2008 or 2009, so that the de velopment dimension of the Round could be truly 
discussed and not rushed into. 
64. The General Council took note
 of the Director-General's report 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 (WT/COMTD/SE/5) 
65. The Chairman  recalled that at its meeting in Febr uary and March 2002, the General Council 
had taken note of a framework and procedures fo r the conduct of the Work Programme on Small 
Economies, under which this Work Programme sh all be a standing item on the General Council's 
agenda.  The framework and procedures also pr ovided that the Committee on Trade and Development 
shall report regularly to the General Council on the pr ogress of work in its Dedicated Sessions on this 
subject.  In connection with the co nsideration of this matter at the present meeting, he drew attention 
to a recent report from the Dedicated Session on measu res to assist small economies in meeting their 
obligations under the Agreements on SPS M easures, TBT and TRIPS (WT/COMTD/SE/5). 
66. Mr Ismail (South Africa), Chairman of the Dedicated Session of the Committee on Trade and 
Development , said that at its meeting on 29 September, the Dedicated Session had discussed the 
monitoring of progress of the proposals made by sm all economies in the negotiating and other WTO 
bodies.  Given the current suspension of the nego tiations, he had proposed, and Members had agreed, 
that the Dedicated Session continue its considera tion of the proposals made in the negotiating bodies 
when those negotiations resumed.  However, the Dedicated Session would continue to discuss the 
proposals made by small economies in the regular WT O bodies.  Therefore, the Secretariat had been 
asked to compile the proposals in a separate document in time for the next meeting of the Dedicated 
Session.  At the 29 September meeting, the Dedi cated Session had also adopted a report to the 
General Council on Measures to Assist Small Econ omies in Meeting their Obligations under the 
Agreements on SPS Measures, TBT and TRIPS.  This  report was now before the General Council in 
document WT/COMTD/SE/5.  The report summarized the work done by the Dedicated Session, in 
consultation with the SPS and TBT Committees and the TRIPS Council, and set out some 
recommendations that would help small, vulnerabl e economies implement their obligations in the  WT/GC/M/104 
 Page 25 
 
 
  areas of SPS, TBT and TRIPS, and thereby facilitate  their fuller integration into the multilateral 
trading system.  In paragraph 6 of the report, the CTD in Dedicated Session recommended as follows:  
"... that the General Council agrees that small eco nomies are allowed to use such regional bodies to 
assist them in the implementation of their obliga tions under the SPS, TBT and TRIPS Agreements.  It 
also recommends that Members and the WTO, with in its competence, when providing technical and 
financial assistance to support small, vulnerable economies in fulfilling their rights and obligations 
under the agreements concerned, shall consider th e advantages of providing that assistance to the 
regional body where such exists."  Taking into acco unt some of the concerns expressed by Members, 
paragraph 6 of the report also made clear the unde rstanding that "... individual Members benefiting 
from these recommendations will con tinue to be legally responsible and accountable for their 
individual notifications and other obligations under these Agreements."  It further noted that "[t]his 
recommendation is without prejudice both to the identification of other specific measures in due course to facilitate the fuller integration of small economies into the multilateral trading system and to 
the use of regional bodies as described in this repor t by other developing country Members."  The idea 
to recognize the use by small economies of regi onal bodies in the areas of SPS, TBT and TRIPS had 
first been raised in a proposal made by a group of small economies to the Dedicated Session in 
June 2002.  This report, therefore, reflected more th an four years of work in the Dedicated Session.  
He was very pleased to be able to present the Ge neral Council with this positive outcome, and wished 
in this connection to thank the two previous Chai rs of the Dedicated Session who had contributed to 
advancing this work and to making this report possibl e.  He also wished to thank the Chairs of the 
TRIPS Council and the SPS and TBT Committees, w ho had undertaken consultations in their 
respective bodies on this matter and had reported b ack to the Dedicated Se ssion.  Their useful 
suggestions and comments about the concerns some  Members had raised in their respective bodies 
had been incorporated in the revised proposals s ubmitted by the small-economy proponents.  He also 
wished to commend the Secretariat for the very competent manner in which it had managed this 
process and had provided technical assistance to all dele gations.  Finally, he wished to thank the many 
delegations who had engage d constructively, notwithstanding their different perspectives, to achieve 
the necessary consensus that  Members had been able to develop in  order to adopt the report.  This 
constructive engagement showed that Members could work together to achieve concrete results.  The 
adoption of this report, although a small step forw ard, sent a positive signal that the WTO was indeed 
working to address the concerns of its small and vulnerable Members. 
67. All representatives who spoke thanked the Chairm an of the Dedicated Session of the CTD for 
his report, and thanked him and his predecessors for their able stewardship and efforts to ensure a 
successful outcome to this work, as well as th e Members of the Dedicated Session for their 
constructive engagement and the Secretariat for its support. 
68. The representative of Barbados
, on behalf of the small-economy countries , thanked the 
members of the Dedicated Session of the CTD w ho, through their questions and comments, had 
helped all to reach the present junctu re where they were able to have an agreement.  This was the first 
recommendation from the Dedicated Session to the Ge neral Council concerning a specific initiative to 
assist small economies in their fuller integration in to the multilateral trading system.  These countries 
also wished to thank the SPS and TBT Committees and the TRIPS Council for their prompt consideration of the proposals, and for the recogn ition that their acceptance would not interfere with 
nor circumvent the responsibility of those bodi es.  The recommendation contained in document 
WT/COMTD/SE/5 concluded almost four years of wo rk, and the proponents were confident that the 
membership understood what they were trying to achieve through this recommendation, which they 
expected would be confirmed as a decision at the present meeting.  While the decision being sought 
might appear simple to many, it was, in fact, a valuable initiative for small economies who wished to 
utilize regional approaches and regional facilities to implement and honour their legal obligations 
under the respective agreements.  Legal certainty, institutional understanding and an appreciation of 
the challenges faced by small countries were not th e only benefits of this exercise.  Investor 
confidence in regional markets, the cost-effectiven ess of pooling resources, and the political signal WT/GC/M/104 
Page 26  
 
  that the WTO was willing to consider the special circumstances of the small economies and to frame 
appropriate responses to assist them in overcoming some of their vulnerabilities, were all foreseeable 
consequences of a positive decision on this matter.  In addition, the recommendations recognized that 
the WTO and Members should give consideration to the regional nature of these bodies when providing technical or financial assistance.  The prop osals neither impacted on nor impaired the rights 
and benefits of other Members, and did not remove  the obligation for compliance from the individual 
Member in a regional group.  However, the proposals could help small economies to honour their commitments in relation to SPS, TBT and TRIPS.  As Members reached a positive outcome at the present meeting on this issue, his delegation looked forward to continuing the discussion and constructive work on other issues of importance to small economies, in the negotiating and other 
bodies, in order to address the needs and concer ns expressed by these Members.  The decision 
Members were about to take reminded him of th e words of Astronaut Neil Armstrong 37 years earlier 
as he had first stepped on the moon, although on th e present occasion, the "giant leap for mankind" 
the latter had referred to was for the small economies, who anxiously  awaited the resumption of the 
negotiations. 
69. The representative of Guatemala
 said his delegation supported the statement by Barbados.  
Guatemala attached great importance to the work carried out within the framework of the Work 
Programme pursuant to paragraph 41 of the H ong Kong Ministerial Declaration.  The small 
economies had worked hard over the past years to achieve concrete goals in the different areas of 
work and negotiations in the WTO.  It was for this  reason that they requested Members to give their 
support for the specific recommendations outlined in  WT/COMTD/SE/5.  This would allow greater 
confidence in the multilateral trading system.  His delegation would continue to follow the work of 
the Committee and was ready to work in a construc tive manner, together with other Members, to 
continue to strive for positive results to meet th e small economies' trade difficulties within the regular 
WTO bodies as, indeed, in the course of the negotia tions which had been temporarily suspended. 
70. The representative of the Solomon Islands  associated his delegation fully with the statement 
by Barbados.  The four years of work on the th ree proposals contained in the report before Members 
had been a long and productive process, exhausting at  times, particularly for small delegations like 
his.  Therefore, his delegation wanted to believe that Members were now approaching the end of this 
process when they adopted the recommendation containe d in the report.  For small economies in the 
Pacific, this recommendation was the best way to assi st them in implementing their WTO obligations.  
The Solomon Islands therefore looked forward to  the Council's favourable consideration of the 
recommendations. 
71. The representative of Honduras  said his delegation joined in the statement by Barbados and  
hoped that the adoption of these specific recommenda tions would enable the small economies to play 
a bigger role in the multilateral trading system.  I ndeed, Members still had to conclude their work on 
the search for actual solutions to the problems face d by the small economies in the negotiating groups 
that were currently suspended,  as well as in other WTO bodies. 
72. The representative of Jamaica  said that in addition to thanking the Chair of the Dedicated of 
the CTD and his predecessor for their tireless efforts that had helped Members reach this important 
juncture, her delegation also wished to thank Memb ers for the flexibility they had showed during the 
consultations, both in the Dedicated Sessions and in the SPS and TBT Committees and the TRIPS 
Council.  Jamaica supported the statement by Barb ados that the adoption of these administrative 
proposals represented an important and valuable st ep by the membership in seeking to address the 
trade-related concerns of the small economies.   These proposals would provide a means by which 
these countries could pool their resources to facilitate  the implementation of their obligations under 
these three Agreements.  WT/GC/M/104 
 Page 27 
 
 
  73. The representative of Mauritius  said the proposal tabled by the sponsors aimed simply at 
providing and utilizing resources at the level of th e WTO in a joint manner, so as to help small 
economies meet their obligations in terms of administrative requirements under the SPS, TBT and 
TRIPS Agreements.  These proposals attempted neither to change nor adjust the legal architecture of 
the concerned Agreement, nor to circumve nt any national obligation flowing from WTO 
commitments.  The report before the Council was a testimony of the unders tanding and recognition of 
Members of the special circumstances of sma ll economies and the need to frame appropriate 
responses to facilitate their successful integrati on into the multilateral trading system.  Mauritius 
therefore hoped that the Council would adopt the report and thus explicitly recognize that Members 
could designate a regional body to provide techni cal support to assist small economies in fulfilling 
their obligations under the three Agreements. 
74. The representative of the Dominican Republic  supported the statements calling for the 
adoption of the recommendation which was of great importance to many small economies.  The Dominican Republic was committed to continuing the work on small economies in other WTO bodies 
in order to arrive at an adequate solution to the difficulties and problems they faced. 
75. The representative of Bolivia
 said her delegation wished to echo the statement by Barbados, 
which had noted that these recommendations would en able many small economies to find solutions to 
their difficulties.  Her delegation would also be fo llowing very closely the future proposals that small 
economies would be submitting to the different ne gotiating bodies once the negotiations resumed. 
76. The representative of Colombia  said her delegation wished to thank the Dedicated Session of 
the CTD for having carried out the function of monitoring the proposals by small economies.  The 
Dedicated Session had shown great dedication and care on this issue.  During this process, Colombia 
had raised many questions about the proposal and had received some responses.  For this reason it 
supported, and continued to support, the reco mmendations on measures to facilitate the small 
economies' compliance with their WTO obligations.  Colombia noted that some developing countries, 
which also considered themselves small econo mies, had taken the initiative of suggesting a 
mechanism that would enable them to better integrat e into the world trading system.  For this reason , 
Colombia understood that the recommendation Member s were about to adopt would not prejudice the 
possibility of other develo ping countries to take advantage of these measures in implementing their 
obligations under the relevant Agre ements as well as under other agre ements that might be identified 
in future.  Likewise, Colombia understood that this  decision would in no way prejudice the possibility 
of other developing countries to request and obt ain technical assistance from the WTO or other 
Members for their regional bodies. 
77. The General Council took note  of the statements and of the report of the Dedicated Session of 
the Committee on Trade and Development in  document WT/COMTD/SE/5, and agreed  to the 
recommendations and understandings contai ned in paragraph 6 of the report. 
4. Non-recognition of rights under Article XXIV:6 and Article XXVIII of GATT 1994 – 
Communications from Honduras and Guatem ala (WT/GC/85, WT/GC/90 and Corr.1, 
WT/GC/100, WT/MIN(05)/9) – Statement by the Chairman 
78. The Chairman  recalled that this matter had first been  raised by the delegations of Honduras 
and Guatemala at the General Council meeting in December 2004.  It had subsequently been 
considered by the General Council at each of its re gular meetings since then, without resolution.  In 
the light of the views expressed at these meetings, and the requests for consultations made by 
Honduras and Guatemala, both his predecessors and he  had been holding consu ltations in order to 
assist in finding a way forward.  At the July General Council meeting, he had reported on his 
consultations in July.  In view of the statements  made at that meeting, he had proposed that the 
General Council revert to this matter  at its next meeting, and that he hold further consultations in the WT/GC/M/104 
Page 28  
 
  meantime with the aim of moving this matter fo rward.  On 5 October, he had held further 
consultations to provide another opportunity for the Members concerned to seek clarifications or 
make suggestions for ways forward and to see if he , as Chair, could facilitate a satisfactory resolution 
to the concerns expressed regarding this matter.  He  had invited to these consultations all delegations 
who had spoken on this issue at previous meetings  of the Council, and had made clear that the 
consultations were without prejudice to any Member 's rights under the WTO.  He had to report that 
these consultations had not resulted in any meeting of minds as yet on the claims of substantial 
interest submitted by Honduras and Guatemala in c onnection with the EC's enlargement negotiations 
as well as the modification of its Schedule under Artic le XXVIII as regards bananas.  Clearly, the 
status quo was not satisfactory from the point of vi ew of the two delegations that had brought this 
matter to the Council's attention.  However, he was keen to facilitate a resolution in every way 
possible, and would continue to offer his good offices in this process to the parties directly concerned 
and to explore with them further the possibilities of a resolution in the near future. 
79. All representatives who spoke thanked the Chai rman for his consultations and for the 
attention he had devoted to this matter. 
80. The representative of Honduras
 said that to his delegation's great regret, this issue continued 
to show no progress of any kind.  The General Council would recall the lengths to which Honduras 
had worked to satisfy its substantial supplying inte rest claim in the EC ba nana sector, the summary 
manner in which the EC had rejected this claim, and the systemic concerns arising out of that 
summary EC rejection.  His country had aligned ev ery possible justification to ensure recognition of 
its claim.  It had shown why all relevant provisions of GATT Article XXVIII, Ad Article XXVIII: l, 
and the Understanding on the Interp retation of Article XXVIII supporte d its claim.  It had shown, 
using the EC's own data, that Honduras had achieved nearly a 10 per cent share of the EC market during the latest, most undistorted reference period ava ilable.  It had shown also that two prior dispute 
settlement rulings had explicitly found Honduras to be a major EC supplier of bananas before EC-
wide discrimination had taken effect  in 1993.  To the EC, none of this  had mattered.  The EC believed 
that it need not accommodate the needs of smal l developing countries like Honduras that relied 
heavily on EC sales for export revenue.  It claimed fu rther that its view was final and was not subject 
to interference by the General Council.  The systemic  implications of this unsatisfactory EC response 
should be clear.  If developed-count ry Members were unilaterally perm itted to set inflexible, legally 
indefensible compensation hurdles, the smallest  and poorest supplying Members would never be 
compensated for their loss of bound rights.  If de veloped-country Members could summarily reject 
any claim of substantial supplying interest that wa s tabled, the poorest Members would never even get 
a fair hearing.  If the EC was allowed to ignore its compensation obligations in connection with the 
accession of 10 new member States and the breach of its banana binding, this same approach was equally likely to arise when Romania and Bulgaria acceded to the EC at the end of 2006.  The breach 
of bindings that had begun with the accession of 10 new members would become progressively more 
punitive over time.  This was not a matter that woul d require rule changes, as the EC had suggested.  
WTO rules already accorded the EC  the flexibility needed "to secure  a redistribution of negotiating 
rights in favor of small and medium-sized expor ting Members."  Honduras once again urged the EC 
to honor that codified compensation objective by properly recognizing Honduras's substantial 
supplying interests. 
81. The representative of Guatemala
  said the reason his delegation had insisted that this question 
be taken up and kept on the agenda  of the General Council was that Guatemala believed this body was 
a good guarantor of the multilateral system, whose st rength and prestige Guatemala naturally wished 
to preserve.  Nevertheless, the multilateral syst em's strength depended on the perception by all 
Members that its benefits were equitably shared.  It  was indispensable that the main trading partners 
fully adhered to agreed rules and complied with de cisions taken by the organization at its various 
levels.  It was likewise essential to show political c ourage and to work with a view to ensuring that 
world trade was not subject merely to the interest s of a selective and exclus ive group.  The matter at  WT/GC/M/104 
 Page 29 
 
 
  hand provided an excellent opportunity  to give clear demonstrations of  this.  This was why Guatemala 
had agreed with Honduras to place this item on the General Council's agenda.  Their hope was to 
ensure that WTO rules – those regulating tariff re negotiations, i.e. Article s XXIV:6 and XXVIII of 
GATT, the Understanding on the Interpretati on of Article XXVIII, the 1980 Guidelines on 
Negotiations under Article XXVIII, and others – were effectively complied with by one of their most 
important trade partners, the European Communities.  Guatemala's interest was simple, but legitimate 
– to achieve an effective recognition of its negotiati ng rights.  This included, but was not limited to, 
recognition of negotiating rights on the subject of ba nanas.  In other words, Guatemala was seeking, 
and still sought, to achieve an equitable redistribu tion of negotiating rights in favour of small and 
medium-sized exporting Members.  This had b een important in December 2004, when the two 
delegations had placed this item on the agenda, and was as important at the present time, when the 
new enlargement process to include Bulgaria and Romania in the EU was almost upon Members.  
Therefore, the need to find a so lution to this question was ever mo re pressing.  Unfortunately, it was 
not Guatemala's perception that one was moving in this direction. 
82. Guatemala recognized that the exercise conducted in the General Council had been useful.  It 
had been useful inasmuch as it had enabled bot h Guatemala and Honduras to expound on and justify 
their claims, and had also enabled Members to beco me acquainted with this problem and to speak out 
in favour of a speedy solution.  Nevertheless, in sp ite of the usefulness of the exercise, it was clear 
that there were still no tangible results and that th e prospect of a solution seemed to be ever more 
distant.  This might be attributable to the fact that the political courage of which Members had spoken 
earlier was lacking, or, to be more positive, perhaps it was because Members had not tackled the 
question from the right perspective.  Perhaps Memb ers had been focusing on the problem and not the 
solution.  If this was the case, it would be worthwhi le to point the discussion in this General Council 
in a new direction – instead of continuing to focus on the problem, Members should now focus on the solution.  Guatemala did not wish to continue rep eating its arguments in the General Council.  It was 
obvious, as the majority of Members had recognized, that there was a problem.  It was also obvious 
that the questions raised by Guatemala and Honduras  had already been sufficiently clarified.  Ample 
proof of this could be found in the records of the Council meetings.  Guat emala was therefore not 
going to explain, justify or substantiate its rights yet again, but  rather to refer to two assertions by the 
Community with which it was indeed in agreemen t, and on which Members should begin to work 
with a view to resolving this question.  First, the Community had said on previous occasions that "on 
the more systemic issue of the treatment of small suppliers, the EC could not  unilaterally change ... 
the long-standing multilateral rules and practices ... agreed in the GATT and WTO for establishing 
and according supplying rights."  Guatemala agreed with the EC that recognition or non-recognition 
of a negotiating right was not a unilateral decision to be  taken at the whim of countries.  It would also 
add that the same went for the determination of compensation.  Second, the EC had also said that "it would be very ready to engage in a collective ex ercise to find a comprehensive solution to this 
problem."  Once again, Guatemala agreed with the EC  that the purpose of the discussion had to be to 
find a multilateral solution to this question, not an ad hoc solution.  Nor did Guatemala wish to see 
unequal or short-term solutions.  In addition to these two assertions by the Community, it was also 
important to stress that very many other Members had also stated that they were ready to participate, where necessary, in any constructive process aimed at the resolution of this matter.  These voices reflected the political will of Members and also st ressed the need to find practical rather than 
rhetorical solutions to this question.  His delegati on therefore wished to conclude by suggesting that 
Members bring together these elements, focus on them and work with a view to finding an effective 
solution to this question – above all, now that Me mbers were on the brink of a new EU enlargement 
process. 
83. 
The representative of Nicaragua  joined her delegation's voice to those of Honduras and 
Guatemala urging the EC to recognize their rights as  countries with a substantial supplying interest.  
Nicaragua also viewed with considerable concer n the application of criteria to determine those 
countries having a substantial supplying interest in a particular product in a particular market, as it had WT/GC/M/104 
Page 30  
 
  been clearly recognized that the market share of a country with a substantial supplying interest might 
vary by some degree from the 10 per cent used as a guideline to determine what constituted a 
substantial share.  The delegations of Honduras and Guatemala, which Nicaragua supported, had 
provided figures showing the impact of the regime currently being applied by the EC, as well as the 
regulatory framework covering these rights.  They had also referred to the situation in the future, in 
2007, when advantages would be extended to ACP c ountries.  Consequently, Nicaragua again sought 
support from the General Council to ensure that th e EC complied promptly, as it was in everyone's 
interest not to compromise the credibility of the multilateral trading system. 
84. The representative of Paraguay
 supported the statements by Honduras and Guatemala and 
expressed his country's keen disappointment at the fa ilure to achieve the progress that would enable a 
speedy resolution of this dispute, which had alread y lasted a considerable time.  In this regard, 
Paraguay asked the Chairman to continue his consu ltations and to take what ever action he deemed 
appropriate to achieve the settlement between the EC  and the two Central American countries.  This 
would make it possible, first, to safeguard the m echanism that had been placed in the hands of the 
General Council and which c ould be an extremely useful instrument for the small economies that did 
not have the negotiating strength of the larger dele gations, or sufficient ec onomic resources to have 
recourse to the dispute settlement system in every case.  Second, his delegation considered that, in 
addition to the strict application – in accordance with  their own interpretation – of the rules governing 
remedies for injury, the main trading partners ha d an obligation to apply rules of equity, taking 
account of all the factors involved.  Failing that, it would never be possible for small economies, like 
Paraguay, to receive any form of compensation fo r the harm caused their trade, and they would 
remain forever inferior partners in an unequal re lationship, thereby contra dicting the letter and the 
spirit of the Marrakesh Agreement establishing the WTO. 
85. The representative of Brazil  said his country shared the systemic concerns expressed by 
Honduras and Guatemala in connection with the non-recognition of their rights under Articles XXIV 
and XXVIII.  In addition, as an MFN supplier of bana nas to the EC, Brazil considered that the current 
discussion should be a step forward to the achie vement of a common understanding among Members 
on the broader issue of market access for bananas in the EC.  Brazil would support any efforts by 
Members to define a common and expeditious unde rstanding on the matter while fully preserving 
market-access opportunities for all banana suppliers. 
86. The representative of Ecuador  said that as on previous occasions, Ecuador wished to express 
its unreserved support for the requests by Hondur as and Guatemala, and accordingly called upon the 
Community to resolve this ongoing issue in a manne r that was fair and balanced for the parties 
concerned.  Ecuador offered its support and made this request in the firm belief that this was a 
systemic matter relating to the compensation the Community had to grant in the context of its 
enlargement, both under the GATT and under the GATS.   Ecuador hoped that this question, together 
with other matters relating to ba nanas – which were outstanding i ssues, not only on the EC's trade 
agenda but also on its political agenda – would be  resolved promptly, and that Members were not 
witnessing a sort of declaratory ritual with statem ents that did not go beyond good intentions.  Its 
proven leadership and a genuine and transparent will on the part of the EC would enable Members to 
arrive at real solutions that fell within the framework of the principles that had guided this 
organization since the beginning, particularly non- discriminatory treatment in trade relations among 
Members. 
87. The representative of Mexico  said that his delegation had been a witness to several parts of 
this process.  It had participated in the consulta tions convened by the current Chairman as well as by 
his predecessor, and understood fully the frustrati on felt by Guatemala and Honduras with this 
situation.  Mexico agreed with these two delegations  that there was not much point in continuing to 
repeat arguments.  Mexico wished to contribute to  any concrete solution at any level that could be 
found.  WT/GC/M/104 
 Page 31 
 
 
  88. The representative of the Philippines  said his delegation joined other Members in expressing 
support for Honduras and Guatemala in seeking the assistance of the General Council in preserving and upholding their rights to compensation under Articles XXIV:6 and XXVIII of GATT 1994.  The 
Philippines maintained a strong interest in this ma tter for two reasons:  it maintained its rights and 
entitlement to compensation as a result of the EU's enlargement, and for systemic reasons, it was in 
the interest of all Members that there be clear and fair rules relating to WTO law and procedures that 
had to be followed, and the rights of all Members to compensation as a result of the withdrawal or 
modification of concessions.  Future enlargements of customs unions could be expected as regional 
economies continued to integrate or new arrangement s or unions evolved in the years to come.  The 
1980 Guidelines had been adopted well before the ex istence of the WTO, when there had been a far 
more limited number of Members involved with th e GATT.  Members now numbered 149, and it was 
incumbent upon the General Council to face up to th e challenge of updating the rules governing 
enlargement and compensation, in order to address the current situation and avoid the recurrence of 
the present unsatisfactory state of affairs.  The Philippines therefore supported the call of Guatemala 
to focus on solving the problem at hand, as well as the EC’s position to the effect that it should not 
and could not unilaterally change mu ltilateral rules and that it was read y to participate in approaches 
that created an integral and multilateral soluti on.  The General Council was mandated by the 1980 
Guidelines to resolve disputes or problems relati ng to enlargement and compensation, and it should 
therefore now face the challenge of resolving this problem – or at least provide procedures by which 
this dispute could be resolved or by which clear and fair rules could be established – and thus avoid 
the current unsatisfactory situation that had b een with Members now for nearly two years. 
89. The representative of El Salvador
 said his delegation had always voiced its systemic interest 
in this matter.  Like others who had spoken, El Salvador continued to  encourage all to work towards a 
satisfactory solution to this problem. 
90. The representative of Argentina  encouraged the Community to  come up with a constructive 
position with regard to the legitimate request s made by Honduras and Guatemala, which had a 
systemic impact.  His delegation hoped the Chairman  would continue to strive towards a solution to 
this matter, which had been with Members now for nearly two years. 
91. The representative of the European Communities  said his delegation had listened very 
carefully to all the statements.  It was not the fi rst time that Members were going over this ground, 
and he was afraid it would not be the last.  However,  he hoped that very soon it would be the last time.  
In repeating oneself time and again, there was a ri sk that one might start to believe in one's own 
arguments, and this obviously a pplied to both sides in the pr esent case.  Guatemala and the 
Philippines and others who had made the same point had reason in suggesting that one should try to 
find integral solutions for the problem rather than reiterating respective positions time and again 
which each side considered to be based on the right  interpretation of WTO law and practice.  As the 
EC had repeatedly stated in previous discussions in the General Council concerning this point, it had 
based itself on WTO law and well-established practi ce when recognizing and rejecting claims for 
negotiating rights.  It would continue to do so in  any Article XXIV:6 nego tiations arising from the 
EC's forthcoming enlargement to 27 upon the accessi on of Bulgaria and Romania.  The EC had 
examined closely the information provided by Honduras.  Unfortunately, this information did not allow it to conclude that Honduras had a substantia l supplying interest under Article XXVIII of the 
GATT.  As a matter of fact, Honduras's average expor ts in 2000-2002 had been 2.7 per cent, while the 
established practice was to use 10 per cent for su ch determinations.  The EC had also given 
explanations to Guatemala regarding its claims.  The evidence clearly showed that the latter had no 
negotiating rights in this particular exercise.  Guatemala's average exports in the 2000-2002 period 
had been 0.59 per cent.  However, the Community  of course remained ready to discuss this issue 
further with both Honduras and Guatemala and any other interested party.  He also recalled that the 
EC had clearly expressed its continued readiness to se ek a mutually agreed solution on the EC banana WT/GC/M/104 
Page 32  
 
  import regime with all interested parties, includi ng Honduras and Guatemala, after the introduction of 
the new EC import regime on 1 January 2006. 
92. On the more systemic issue of the treatmen t of small suppliers, the Community had said 
before in the General Council, and was happy to repeat  again, that it would be very ready to engage in 
a collective exercise in an appropriate WTO foru m – which might well be the General Council – to 
review the relevant GATT/WTO rules and proce dures and discuss any changes and improvements 
that should be made in this context.  His dele gation was ready to take up what had been said by 
Guatemala and the Philippines in this respect, and would be happy if the General Council Chair would 
take up this challenge.  In the absence of such a horizontal process, the EC could not unilaterally 
change or add to the long-standing multilateral ru les and practices of the GATT/WTO for establishing 
and according supplying rights.  With the suspension of  the negotiations, all had some time available.  
The Community was ready to use part of this time, together with the Chairman and all the delegations 
who had intervened earlier, to find this kind of in tegral systemic solution regarding the treatment of 
small suppliers, before the end of the year – and the Community had particular reasons to do this 
before the end of the year.  His delegation wished to thank the Chairman for his assistance in trying to 
resolve this matter through informal consultations a nd, more generally, wished to thank him and his 
Minister of Foreign Affairs for the arbitration/f acilitation role they had assumed in the whole banana 
dossier. 
93. The representative of the Philippines
 thanked the EC for its expressed desire that this matter 
be resolved in a comprehensive and integral fashi on.  His delegation merely wished to respond that 
while WTO law and recognized practice existed, th e EC could not on its own declare or allocate unto 
itself the role of arbiter as to what this law a nd practice was or what the compensation rights of 
Honduras and Guatemala were, given the divergence of views and positions between the EC  and 
Honduras and Guatemala.  Therefore, the Genera l Council had been given the task under the 1980 
Guidelines to decide how this dispute was to be resolved and how to arrive at what WTO law and 
practice was or ought to be.  Regarding the banan as dispute, the Philippines noted the EC's statement 
that it wished to enter into discussions after the ne w tariff came into effect.  He would refrain from 
commenting further on this, except to note that this new tariff had already been the subject of legal 
decisions and much criticism and discussion.  On  the EC's statement regarding entering into 
discussions on the question of compensation for sma ll suppliers, the Philippines welcomed this, with 
the qualification and reservation that the subject matter of the discussions, as his delegation had already proposed, should be broader and should address the whole systemic issue and concern, with a  
view to ensuring clear and fair rules relating to enlargement and compensation which could operate to 
the satisfaction of all concerned and avoid the current unsatisfactory situation, and in light of the fact 
that these same issues and concerns c ould possibly arise again in the future. 
94. The representative of Honduras
 said that if developed-c ountry Members were permitted 
unilaterally to establish inflexible and legally inde fensible obstacles to compensation, small, poor 
Member suppliers would never receive compensati on for the loss of bound duties.  If developed-
country Members were able summarily to reject any claim they received for recognition of a substantial supplying interest, the poorest Members would never be given a chance to receive a fair 
hearing.  If the EC were permitted to ignore the obligation to pay compensation as a result of the 
enlargement of the EC by 10 new members, and if  it were permitted to violate its tariff binding on 
bananas, it was also possible that this might happe n when two further countries acceded to the EC at 
the end of the year.  In time, the violation of ta riff bindings that had begun with the EC of ten would 
become progressively more punitive.  This was not a matter requiring a change in the rules, as the EC had suggested.  WTO rules already gave the EC the necessary flexibility to "secure a redistribution of 
negotiating rights in favour of small and medium-s ized exporting Members".  His country once again 
urged the EC to honour this legal objective of  compensation, and to recognize Honduras as having a 
substantial supplying interest.  WT/GC/M/104 
 Page 33 
 
 
  95. The representative of Guatemala  thanked the Philippines for the support it had expressed, as 
well as other delegations who had voiced their sup port.  Regarding the points made by the EC, 
Guatemala was ready to work in a constructive and positive spirit in order to find a solution to this 
matter as soon as possible.  Guatemala had taken note of the points made by the EC because, as it had said earlier, it wished to see a solution found before  the end of the year, for the reasons already set 
out.  His delegation only wished to make clear that for Guatemala, although bananas played an 
important role in this overall issue, this was not a question only of bananas, but indeed of other 
products as well.  It also had in mind the overall i ssue of a systemic nature for other products for 
which it was a supplier. 
96. The Chairman
 said that among the statements made he  had heard some positive signals that 
would improve the basis for the consultations he would be holding on this matter prior to the 
December meeting of the Council.  He would take w ith him into those consultations the ideas he had 
heard at the present meeting, and hopefully Members would be able to take this issue forward.  
97. The General Council took note  of the statements and agreed  to revert to this matter at its next 
meeting and that the Chairman would continue cons ultations in the meantime with the aim of moving 
this matter forward. 
5. Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration 
(a) Report of the Committee on its meeting of July 2006 (WT/BFA/88)  
98. The Chairman  drew attention to the report of the Budget Committee on its meeting in 
July 2006, contained in WT/BFA/88. 
99. Mr March (Spain), Chairman of the Comm ittee on Budget, Finance and Administration , said 
that the agenda for this meeting of the Committee had included (i) various administrative up-dates and 
progress reports and (ii) a report on different options with regard to the WTO building.  In the Human 
Resources Progress Report, the Committee had been info rmed that the Special Recruitment Exercise 
relating to the consolidation of long-term tempor ary assistance had been successfully completed at the 
end of June.  With respect to Trust Funds, Members had been informed that in order to be able to 
implement technical assistance activities in 2007, a reser ve of 25 per cent of the target amount, i.e. Sw 
F 6 million, was needed by the end of December 2006.  With regard to Building Options for the 
WTO, the Committee had been informed  that there were cost savings in  the long term associated with 
a one-site solution to the building needs of the WTO.   In terms of timing, a one-site solution would 
only be available between 2015 and 2018, while th e Avenue de France Annexe was scheduled for 
completion in 2009.  At the July meeting, some Members had considered that a new Annexe would 
not be incompatible with moving eventually to a sing le-site solution, while others had thought that the 
relative costs of an intermediate solution – either Avenue de France or another possibility – should be 
closely examined, especially on th e basis of a recognized formula called "Net Present Value."  In 
summary, the Committee had noted that proceeding with the Avenue de France project would not 
preclude a one-site option in the future, and that acco rding to the Swiss delega te in the Committee, the 
loan approval process for the Avenue de France project  was moving forward.  This issue had been re-
examined at the Committee's meetings on 29 Septembe r and 6 October, to wh ich he would refer under 
sub-item (b). 
100. The General Council took note  of the statement and adopted  the Budget Committee's report in 
document WT/BFA/88. WT/GC/M/104 
Page 34  
 
  (b) Report by the Chairman of the Committee on its meetings of Sept ember and October 2006 
and recommendations of the Committee on the future building needs of the WTO 
(WT/BFA/89, WT/BFA/90) 
101. The Chairman
 drew attention to the recommendati ons of the Budget Committee resulting 
from its meetings of 29 September and 6 Oct ober, which were contai ned in WT/BFA/89 and 
WT/BFA/90. 
102. Mr March (Spain), Chairman of the Comm ittee on Budget, Finance and Administration , said 
that in view of the schedule of meetings of the Co mmittee, a full report on the September and October 
meetings would be presented to the Council at its next meeting.  Howe ver, by way of introduction to 
the recommendations before Members in connection w ith building options for the WTO, he wished to 
provide a progress report on the discussions whic h had led to these recommendations.  At the 
meetings of 26 September and 6 October, the Di rector-General had addressed the Committee and had 
participated in the discussions on this question.  He  had reiterated his strong reservations with respect 
to the idea of having the organization permanently di vided on two sites.  He had also emphasized his 
concern that the WTO should be housed in an effici ent and cost-effective way during the intermediate 
period before a single-site solution could be rea lized, should the latter option be adopted.  At the 
meeting on 29 September, the Committee had fo rmulated the following recommendations in 
document WT/BFA/89, which read as follows:  "The Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration recommends to the General Council th at the Director-General be authorized to 
commence discussions with the Swiss authorities with respect to a comprehensive examination of all 
aspects concerning the identification of a suitable s ite and all other relevant issues regarding a 
possible new permanent headquarters for the WTO a nd without prejudice to the final outcome."  At 
the meeting of the Committee on 6 October, and af ter prior consultations to move the question 
forward, the Committee had formulated two furt her recommendations in document WT/BFA/90 
which read:  "The Committee reco mmends to the General Council:  (a) that the Director-General hold 
intensive discussions with the Swiss authorities con cerning an appropriate solution to the immediate 
housing needs of the WTO, with a view to reporting  to the General Council at its meeting on 14 15 
December 2006, and;  (b) that the Director-General be invited to urge the Swiss authorities to liberate 
the premises occupied by the IUHEI Library in the CWR at the earliest possible date, in view of the 
pressing space and security concerns facing the organization."  These recommendations had been approved by the Committee and he was pleased to submit them to the General Council. 
103. The representative of Brazil
 said that his delegation fully supported the efforts undertaken by 
the Director-General over the past month in tryi ng to address, in a comprehensive manner, the 
growing concern over the lack of adequate physical  space to house the Secretariat.  Brazil therefore 
endorsed the Budget Committee's recommendations. 
104. The General Council took note  of the statements, and approved  the Budget Committee's 
specific recommendations in documents WT/BFA/89 and 90. 
6. WTO Pension Plan – Election of alternates to the Management Board – Proposal by the 
Chairman of the General Council (WT/GC/W/569) 
105. The Chairman  recalled that Article 4(a) of the Regulations of the WTO Pension Plan 
provided, inter alia,  for the election by the General Council of a Chairman, four members and four 
alternates to the Management Board of the Pens ion Plan, each for a three-year term.  In a 
communication circulated to delegations in docum ent WT/GC/W/569, he had indicated that two of 
the alternates elected to the Ma nagement Board by the General C ouncil in May 2005 were no longer 
available to serve on the Board, and that it was th erefore necessary for the Council to decide on their 
replacement.  Accordingly, in his communication he  had proposed the names of two representatives 
who had kindly agreed to have their names put forwar d for election as alternates.  He had also invited  WT/GC/M/104 
 Page 35 
 
 
  Members to submit any comments they might have regarding the proposed nominations by close-of-
business on 9 October.  He had not received any comments regarding the proposed nominations.  
Accordingly, he proposed that the General Council elect Ms Heather Grant (Canada) and Mr Mathias 
Francke (Chile) to serve as alternates on the Management Board of the WTO Pension Plan for the remainder of the term, i.e. until May 2008. 
106. The General Council took note
 of the statement and so agreed .  
7. Chairmanships of the Working Parties on th e Accessions of Libya, Serbia and Ukraine 
107. The Chairman , speaking under "Other Business", informed the General Council that 
following consultations with Members and the authoriti es of Libya, Serbia and Ukraine, respectively, 
and in accordance with usual WTO practi ce, it had been agreed as follows:   
 - that Mr Echevarria Ugarte (Spain) would serve as Chairman of the Working Party on 
the Accession of Libya;   
  - that Mr Vagn Nielsen (Denmark) would replace Mr Roux (Belgium) as Chairman of 
the Working Party on the Accession of Serbia;   
 
 - and that Mr Matus (Chile) would replace Mr Marchi (Canada) as Chairman of the 
Working Party on the Accession of Ukraine.   
 108. On behalf of the General Council, he requested  the delegations of Belgium and Canada to 
express Members' gratitude to Messrs Roux and Ma rchi for their service in Chairing the Accession 
Working Parties on Serbia and Ukraine respectively. 
109. The General Council took note
 of the statement. 
8. Administrative Measures for Members in Arrears 
110. The Chairman , speaking under "Other Business", recalle d that at its meeting on 15 May, the 
General Council had approved a recommendati on from the Committee on Budget, Finance and 
Administration with regard to revised Administrative Measures for Members in Arrears 
(WT/BFA/86).  Among these Administrative Measures was a requirement that, at each meeting of the General Council, the Chairman of the Committee  on Budget, Finance and Administration should 
provide information with regard to which Members were under Administrative Me asures in Categories 
II through IV.  Accordingly, he invited the Chair of  the Budget Committee to provide the Council with 
this information.  
111. Mr March (Spain), Chairman of the Comm ittee on Budget, Finance and Administration
, said 
that as the Chairman had just recalled, the Budget Committee had formulated a recommendation 
regarding Members in arrears which had been approved by the General Council in May.  The 
background to this recommendation was the Committe e's assessment that Members' obligation to 
contribute promptly to the WTO their share in th e expenses of the organization, in accordance with 
the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the WTO, shou ld be reinforced.  The administrative measures 
had been reinforced through the recommendation th at had been approved.  The General Council had 
also authorized the Budget Co mmittee to waive the application of the measures for Members in 
Category IV who agreed to, and abided by, a schedul e of instalment payments aimed at liquidating all 
arrears.  In this context, he invited the Members concerned to contact the Secretariat to discuss the 
modalities for establishing such an instalment plan.   WT/GC/M/104 
Page 36  
 
  112. Finally, in pursuance of the revised Admini strative Measures, he wi shed to inform the 
Council that the Members who were under Categorie s II through IV of the Administrative Measures 
were as follows:  Category II – Argentina, Cate gory IV – Burundi, Category II – Cameroon, Category 
IV – Chad, Category IV – Congo, Category IV – Côte  d'Ivoire, Category IV – Djibouti, Category IV – 
Dominica, Category IV – Gabon, Category IV – Gambia, Category IV – Guinea, Category IV – 
Guinea-Bissau, Category IV – Malawi, Category IV – Mauritania, Category IV – Niger, Category III 
– Paraguay, Category III – Peru, Ca tegory IV – Central African Repub lic, Category IV – Democratic 
Republic of the Congo, Category IV  – Sierra Leone, Categeory II – Suriname, Category IV – Togo. 
113. The Chairman
 then recalled that under the revised Administrative Measures he was also 
required at each Council meeting to request t hose Members in Categories III and IV of the 
Administrative Measures to inform him, before the next meeting of the General Council, as to when 
their payment of arrears might be expected.  In keeping with the Administrative Measures, he would 
report on Members' replies to the ne xt meeting of the General Council. 
114. The General Council took note  of the statements. 
 
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