RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  TN/RL/M/28 
4 July 2005 
 (05-2886) 
Negotiating Group on Rules  
  
 
SUMMARY REPORT OF THE MEETING 
HELD ON 30 MAY AND 3 JUNE 2005 
 
Note by the Secretariat
 
 
 
1. The Negotiating Group on Rules ("the Group") held a formal meeting on 30 May and 
3 June 2005. 
A. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA  
2. The Group adopted the following agenda: 
A. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA .........................................................................................................1  
B. ANTI -DUMPING ("AD")................................................................................................................1  
C. SUBSIDIES AND COUNTERVAILING MEASURES ("SCM"), INCLUDING FISHERIES 
SUBSIDIES ............................................................................................................................... .....2 
D. OTHER BUSINESS .........................................................................................................................2  
-      Date of the Group's next meeting 
-      Statement regarding the future of the negotiations    
 
B. ANTI -DUMPING ("AD")   
3. The Group discussed a paper entitled "Issues Related to Article 6.10, including "Limited 
Examination", and Article 9.4 "All Others' Rate"  (TN/RL/W/181) and sponsored by 
10 Participants.  The paper sought to clarify and im prove key parameters pert aining to Articles 6 and 
9 of the AD Agreement ("ADA").  On Article 6.10, the main focus was the criterion of 
"representativity".  In this context, a specific th reshold of two-thirds of the imports was proposed 
when dealing with limited examinations.  In add ition, since many of the parameters in a limited 
examination should be case-specific, transparency provisions where authorities explain why they did not apply the general rule were also suggested.  Th e paper also contained elements pertaining to the 
consultation mechanism in Article 6.10.2, a nd to the issue of the all others’ rate.  
4. One Participant supported the transparency, due process, and equity principles that governed 
the proposals and emphasised the need to utilize procedures consistent with these principles in 
selecting respondents.  The consideration of prop osals and comments from a ll interested parties, 
respondents and petitioners alike, would aid in selec ting the appropriate respondents, and it would be 
a positive step to require administrating authorities to explain the decisions made in selecting the 
respondents.  Concern was however expressed about th e application of a two-thirds representativity 
test in the case of statistically valid random samp ling.  It was observed that in random sampling 
situations the sampling fraction or sampling rate could be very small (e.g., 2~5 per cent), and 
requiring sampling fractions of two-thirds or more  would nullify completely the resource-savings 
benefit of sampling.  Extensive coverage of the pop ulation was thus a costly substitute for good cross-TN/RL/M/28 
Page 2  
 
 sectional representation, which normally could be achieved with moderately sized, and sometimes 
even small-sized, random samples.  The paper also  failed to distinguish be tween cooperating and non-
cooperating exporters, whic h could invite non-cooperation.  Furt hermore; it was queried why the 
amendments proposed were limited to the sel ection of the producers or exporters although 
Article 6.10 also concerned importers and typ es of products involved.          
5. The sponsors explained that under the current ADA there are two different methodologies 
pertaining to limited examinations, limitation to a reasonable number of interested parties or products 
by using samples which would be statistically valid, or  to the largest percentage of the volume of the 
exports that could reasonably be investigated.  Th e proposal for a two-thirds threshold would apply 
only to the latter methodology.  Regarding the first methodology, the proposal’s footnote 5 proposed  
that the authorities explain how their sample is statistically valid.     
C. 
SUBSIDIES AND COUNTERVAILING MEASURES ("SCM"), INCLUDING FISHERIES 
SUBSIDIES  
6. No issues were raised under this agenda item. 
D. OTHER BUSINESS  
7. The next meeting of the Group will be held on 11-15 July 2005.  The deadline for any 
informal elaborated proposals for consideration in  the informal mode at that meeting will be 
Thursday, 30 June 2005, close of business.    
8. One Participant made a statement regarding the fu ture of the Rules negotiations in the areas of 
AD and SCM including fisheries subsidies.  It indicated that while the Group had a good process, the number and complexity of the issues raised had sl owed progress compared to that achieved in other 
Groups.  Whether the Group was lagging behind depe nded upon expectations for Hong Kong, but it 
was clear that at some point a draft text would be  required.  There was in any event a need to get 
political guidance from Ministers at Hong Kong, and to  define the level of ambition; a procedural 
outcome or a mere checklist of issues would not suffice.  The Group needed to start talking now about goals for Hong Kong as it would determine how the Gr oup organized its work in the second semester.  
The July report to the Trade Ne gotiations Committee was therefore crucial, and must be based on 
inputs from Members.  The need for informal discussion in this regard before the next meeting of the 
Group in July was stressed.  
9. Participants generally supporte d acceleration and intensification of efforts in the Group.  A 
number of Participants considered that there was a need to begin text-based negotiations after Hong 
Kong, and that therefore a draft text was required before the Ministerial meeting, although one of 
these Participants observed that the author of such a text need not be prejudged.  To this end, all 
Participants should now be subm itting the building blocks in the form of text-based proposals.  
Caution was however expressed about rushing into drafting a text based on a few minority positions, 
which in turn could result in polarisation.  It was s ubmitted that the need to draft the text should arise 
only after exploring areas where progress should be made and where convergence could lie.  It was 
also observed that while the July Report to the Trade Negotiations Committee could be on the 
Chairman's own responsibility, it must be sufficiently  detailed to give a sense of the road ahead.   
10. One Participant suggested that the Secretariat update the comp endium of proposals prepared 
in 2003 (TN/RL/W/143).  This would help identif y areas where there had been proposals advocating 
changes to the current language in the ADA, areas wh ere translating prescriptive proposals into legal 
text could be needed, and areas where certain Par ticipants had identified problems within the current 
ADA, but few or no proposals had been submitted to date.  Although some Participants saw merit in 
this suggestion, others expressed concern that it would consume time and effort, send wrong signals  TN/RL/M/28 
 Page 3 
 
 
 about the degree of maturity of certain proposals, di vert attention and not take  into consideration any 
last-minute proposals.  
11. The Chairman considered it important to have  a collective reflection on July, Hong Kong and 
the end of the Round.  He noted how ever that no single format or model fit all areas of negotiations, 
and that the technical complexity of the AD negotia tions distinguished them from some others.  He 
further observed that Participants must negotiate  among themselves, not with the Chairman.  Any 
Chairman's text would not be pulled out of the air, but had to be constructed on the basis of building 
blocks provided by Participants.  He called for a sen se of pragmatism and warned that drafting a text 
without receiving clear signals from Participants a bout their ambitions and the nature of the product 
sought could lead to deadlock.  In response to the suggestion of some Participants (see para. 8, above), 
the Chairman indicated his intention to consult w ith delegations regarding the road to Hong Kong and 
beyond.   
__________