RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/COMTD/SE/M/16 
2 November 2006 
 (06-5269) 
Committee on Trade and Development 
Sixteenth Dedicated Session  
 
 
 
NOTE ON THE MEETING OF 29 SEPTEMBER 2006 
 
Chairman:  Mr. Faizel Ismail (South Africa) 
  
A.
 ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA ........................................................................................................1  
B. DRAFT REPORT TO THE GENERAL COUNCIL ON MEASURES TO ASSIST SMALL 
ECONOMIES IN MEETING THEIR OBLIGATIONS UNDER THE AGREEMENTS ON SPS  
MEASURES , TBT  AND TRIPS .....................................................................................................1  
C. PARAGRAPH 41 OF THE HONG KONG MINISTERIAL DECLARATION :  MONITORING 
PROGRESS OF THE SMALL ECONOMIES ' PROPOSALS IN THE NEGOTIATING AND OTHER 
BODIES ............................................................................................................................... .........4  
 
 A. A
DOPTION OF THE AGENDA  
1. The Chairman  recalled that the draft agenda for the meeting was contained in 
Airgram WTO/AIR/2889 issued on 19 September 2006. 
2. The agenda was adopted . 
B. DRAFT REPORT TO THE GENERAL COUNCIL ON MEASURES TO ASSIST SMALL ECONOMIES IN 
MEETING THEIR OBLIGATIONS UNDER THE AGREEMENTS ON SPS  MEASURES , TBT  AND 
TRIPS 
3. The Chairman  recalled that the Dedicated Session had discussed a draft text of the report to 
the General Council at an informal, open-ended mee ting on Wednesday, 27 September.  He said that 
the informal discussions were useful and that the Dedicated Session was able to provisionally agree 
on the text of the report.  However, after the meetin g, some delegations noted that the added text was 
not sufficiently clear and set out to improve it.  Th e Chairman said that the agreed draft text from 
Wednesday's meeting and a proposed change by some  Members was available to delegations in the 
back of the room, in the three official languages.   
4. The Chairman said that in paragraph 6 it was proposed that the last sentence read as follows: 
This recommendation is without prejudice both to the identification of other specific 
measures in due course to facilitate the fulle r integration of small economies into the 
multilateral trading system and to the use of regional bodies as described in this 
report by other developing country Members. 
5. The Chairman asked if the proposed change w as acceptable, and if the Dedicated Session 
could agree on the text of the report. WT/COMTD/SE/M/16 
Page 2  
 
  6. It was so agreed
. 
7. The representative of Canada  said that his delegation was very pleased to be able to support 
the Report to General Council, as drafted by th e Chairman.  He thanked Members which had 
identified an area of concern and worked positivel y towards developing a proposal to address the 
underlying problem.  He also thanked Members for their careful considerati on of language that had 
been put forward by the Canadian delegation in prev ious meetings of the Dedicated Session.  He said 
that while his delegation was very pleased to join the consensus for approval of the report, he would 
like to make a small procedural comment on th e process by which the proposals from the small 
economies were considered.  He said that by allowing Members to table proposals within the 
Dedicated Session for the purpose of considering them for adoption, the Dedicated Session may 
appear to be going beyond the guidance laid out  in paragraph 41 of the Hong Kong Ministerial 
Declaration to monitor progress of the proposals in the negotiating and other bodies.  Such a process 
may inadvertently bypass the responsibilities of the committees established to carry out the functions 
necessary to implement the provisions of the vari ous WTO Agreements.  He underscored that the 
Canadian delegation was fully sup portive of Members making use of the Dedicated Session to discuss 
and formulate common proposals for simultaneous c onsideration by several negotiating or other 
bodies.  However, he asked that such proposals also be tabled for adoption in those bodies. 
8. The Chairman  said he was satisfied that the proposals in question had been extensively 
discussed, both in the Dedicated Session and in the TBT, SPS Committees and the TRIPS Council.  
He recalled that ample opportunity had been given to the consulted bodies to guide the discussion on 
the proposals and that the proponents had subsequently  revised their proposals to take into account the 
comments made in those bodies.  He believed th at all questions raised by Members in the 
consultations were addr essed and that their concerns were taken into account in the draft of the report.  
He said that the CTD in Dedicated Session was a body which had the power to take decisions and 
make recommendations to the General Council in its  own right.  However, because the matters 
discussed in the Dedicated Session touched upon issues  that were of concern to other bodies, the 
Dedicated Session consulted those other bodies and the results of those consulta tions were taken into 
account in the drafting of the report.  
9. The representative of the United States  said that her delegation s upported the text of the draft 
report.  She also shared the procedural concerns ra ised by the representative of Canada.  She urged the 
Dedicated Session to exercise caution when adopti ng decisions on issues where other committees had 
direct responsibilities.  She said that it was not ju st a question of consulting these other bodies but also 
of being mindful that they also had the right to take decisions.   
10. The representative of Australia  said that her delegation also  supported the adoption of the 
Report to the General Council on Measures to Assist  Small Economies in Meeting their Obligations 
under the Agreements on SPS Measures, TBT and TRI PS.  She believed the report demonstrated the 
desire and commitment of small economies to comp ly with their WTO obligations, which should be 
supported and acknowledged.  She th anked the proponents for the flexibility that they had shown in 
addressing concerns that other Members had raised.  Sh e also shared some of the procedural concerns 
that had been raised by the Canadian delegation.   However, having listened to the response provided 
by the Chairman, she agreed with his assessment of the situation c oncerning the report.  She thought 
the Dedicated Session should be mindful of the procedural concern that had been raised in carrying out its future work.   
11. The representative of Costa Rica
 said the recommendation would help small economies to 
comply with their WTO obligations in the areas of SPS, TBT and TRIPS.  The recommendation was an adequate response to a trade-related problem id entified by the proponents and helped with their 
integration into the multilateral trade system, wit hout creating a new sub-category of Members.  He 
noted that the types of measures proposed in the recommendations should also be available to other  WT/COMTD/SE/M/16 
 Page 3 
 
 
  developing countries.  Therefore, he welcomed th e clarification introduced in paragraph 6 of the 
report.  His delegation understood that the recommendations in the report did not limit the rights of developing countries to request technical assistance individually.  Nor did it oblige donors or the WTO to channel technical assistance solely to regional organizations.   
12. The representative of Mexico
 expressed support for the report to the General Council and 
welcomed the amendment to paragraph 6 of the report.  She noted that the report resulted from 
discussions, both within the Committees on TBT a nd SPS and the TRIPS Council, as well as the 
Dedicated Session.  She also noted that the pur pose of the recommendations was to help small 
economies comply with their WTO obligations, w ithout altering the rights and obligations of 
Members.  She highlighted that the report:  (i) recognized that Members would continue to be 
responsible, on an individual basis, for their notif ications and for other ob ligations under the covered 
agreements;  (ii) was in accordance with paragra ph 41 of the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration, 
which expressly cautioned against the creation of new sub-categories of Members;  and (iii) recognized in paragraph 6 that other de veloping countries may also use regional bodies as 
described in the report.  She said that her de legation joined the consensus in adopting the 
recommendation and transmitting it to the General Counc il.  She also suggested that the Chairman 
inform the Chairpersons of the SPS and TBT Commi ttees, and TRIPS Council, about the adoption of 
this decision by the Dedicated Session. 
13. The representative of Barbados
 on behalf of the small economies accepted that the procedural 
concerns that had been raised by some delegations  were important.  However, he agreed with the 
analysis of the situation made by the Chairman.  On behalf of the small economies, he thanked the 
Chairman, the Secretariat and the former Chairman  of the Dedicated Session for the impartial support 
that had been given throughout this process.  He  also thanked the delegations of the European 
Communities, Canada, the United States, Colombia  and India for helping with suggestions for 
specific language to be included in the report.  He expressed support for the suggestion made by the 
representative of Mexico to inform the Chairmen of the SPS and TBT Committees and TRIPS 
Council.  He noted that the report reflected the inte ntion of small countries to honour and respect their 
responsibilities in the WTO, with the help of WTO technical assistance  and capacity-building 
programmes. 
14. The representative of the Solomon Islands  said that for small-island countries in the Pacific, 
regionalism constitutes the only way to ensure th at their obligations under the SPS and TBT and 
TRIPS Agreements were effectively implemented.  He, therefore, looked forward to a favourable 
consideration by the General Counc il of the report and recommendations. 
15. The representative of Antigua and Barbuda  said that the adoption of the report sends an 
important positive signal to constituencies in sm all countries that the WTO is making progress in 
addressing the trade-related problems of small economies.  Therefore, there was value in the multilateral trading system for the sm all economies and their development. 
16. The Chairman
 proposed that the CTD in Dedicated Sessi on take note of all the statements that 
had been made.  He also proposed that the CTD in  Dedicated Session adopt the Report to the General 
Council on Measures to Assist Small Economies in Meeting their Obligations under the Agreements 
on SPS Measures, TBT and TRIPS and forward it to the General Council for its 10 October 2006 
meeting. 
17. It was so agreed . WT/COMTD/SE/M/16 
Page 4  
 
  C. P
ARAGRAPH 41 OF THE HONG KONG MINISTERIAL DECLARATION :  MONITORING PROGRESS 
OF THE SMALL ECONOMIES ' PROPOSALS IN THE NEGOTIATING AND OTHER BODIES  
18. The Chairman  recalled that the monitoring role of the Dedicated Session was part of the 
two-track approach on small economies contained in paragraph 41 of th e Hong Kong Ministerial 
Declaration.  He also recalled that at the last m eeting, the Dedicated Session requested the Secretariat 
to prepare, for discussion, a compilation paper on the proposals by the small economies in the 
negotiating and other bodies.  However, given the f act that the negotiations had been suspended, he 
suggested that the Dedicated Session revert back to th e discussion of this item at a future meeting.  He 
asked whether this would be agreeable to Members.  
19. The representative of El Salvador  noted that the small economies had introduced a proposal in 
the Committee on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (SCM) and that it was still being discussed.  
He requested that the monitoring process include t hose proposals that were still being examined in the 
regular WTO bodies.   
20. The Chairman  said that he was in the hands of Members on how to proceed with the 
monitoring of proposals by the small economies in the negotiating and other WTO bodies. 
21. The representative of Barbados  said that he agreed to su spend the Dedicated Session's 
monitoring of the proposals in the negotiating bodies.  However, he was not aw are that there was any 
suspension of discussions in the other bodies.  Th erefore, the Dedicated Session should not suspend 
the monitoring of any of the small economy issu es which were being discussed in WTO bodies.   
22. The Chairman  made two suggestions on how the Dedicated Session should proceed with the 
monitoring process.  The first suggestion was to requ est the Secretariat to compile the proposals that 
concern small economies that are before the WTO bodies that are not negotiating bodies.  The second 
suggestion was that the Dedicated Session review at its next session the situation regarding the negotiations and discuss whether it would be useful to have the Secretariat prepare a compilation of 
all the proposals that had been submitted to the ne gotiating bodies.  The compilation would then be 
discussed at the following meeting of the Dedicated Session.   
23. The representative of the European Communities
 said he did not object continuing the 
monitoring of proposals by the small economies that  were before the regular WTO bodies.  On the 
basis of document WT/COMTD/SE/W/21/Rev.1, he believed that the proposals in the SCM 
Committee and the Working Party on Domestic Regulation should continue to be monitored.  He also 
saw merit in the Chairman's proposal to discuss at the next meeting of the Dedicated Session whether 
there would be any value in continuing the monitoring of the proposals in the negotiating bodies.   
24. The representative of Colombia  clarified that the discussions in the Working Party on 
Domestic Regulation had also been suspended, alt hough that body was not considered to be a DDA 
negotiating body. 
25. The representative of Barbados  noted that the request for a paper by the Secretariat at the 
previous meeting was intended to go beyond a mere compilation of the proposals.  He said that the 
objective of the paper was to take into account the discussions, the minutes and the chairpersons' 
reports in the negotiating and othe r bodies and to give delegates in  the Dedicated Session an overview 
of what was happening in those bodies.  He said that  his delegation supported the proposal to continue 
monitoring the proposals in the regular bodies and to re-evaluate the situation with respect to the 
monitoring of proposals in the negotiating bodies at  the next meeting of the Dedicated Session. 
  WT/COMTD/SE/M/16 
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  26. The Chairman  said that the monitoring idea mandated in Paragraph 41 of the Hong Kong 
Ministerial Declaration was to use the Dedicated  Session to add value to the process without the 
Dedicated Session becoming a forum for negotiations.  He requested the Secretariat to prepare a compilation of all the proposals made by the small economies which were being discussed in the regular WTO bodies.  As for the proposals in the negotiating bodies, the Dedicated Session would 
review the situation at its next meeting.  He asked whether this was agreeable.   
27. It was so agreed
.   
28. The meeting was adjourned . 
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