RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/MIN(05)/SR/1 
22 February 2006 
 (06-0758) 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
Sixth Session Hong Kong, 13 - 18 December 2005  
 
  
SUMMARY RECORD OF THE FIRST MEETING 
 
Held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong, China
 
on Tuesday, 13 December 2005, at 3 p.m.  
 
Chairperson :  Secretary John C Tsang (Hong Kong, China) 
  
Subjects
: 1. Opening Statements 
  2. Adoption of the Agenda   3. Order of Business 
 ANNEX: Announcement by the Chairman on the Organization of the 
Informal Consultative Process  
 
 
1. Opening Statements 
The Chairman
 called the meeting to orde r, and declared the Sixth Session of the Ministerial 
Conference open.  He requested delegations to ri se as the Honourable Donald Tsang, Chief Executive 
of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, was escorted to 
into the hall and to the Podium.  He then welcomed  the Chief Executive to the meeting.  The latter's 
presence was a demonstration not only of his own commitment, but also that of the Hong Kong 
Special Administrative Region, to furthering Me mbers' common goals under the Doha Development 
Agenda with its potential for bringing substa ntial economic benefits to all peoples.   
 The Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's 
Republic of China , the Honourable Donald Tsang, deliver ed an opening address (WT/MIN(05)/11). 
  The Chairman
 then delivered an address (WT/MIN(05)/12). 
 The Director-General of WTO , Mr Pascal Lamy, then delivered an address 
(WT/MIN(05)/13). 
 The Chairman of the General Council , and Permanent Representative of Kenya, HE Ms Amina 
Mohamed, then delivered an address (WT/MIN(05)/14). 
 The Secretary-General of UNCTAD , Dr Supachai Panitchpakdi, on behalf of the Secretary-
General of the United Nations, then delivered an address (WT/MIN(05)/15). 
 The Chairman  then declared the Inaugural Session clo sed, and invited all de legations to rise 
as the Honourable Donald Tsang was escorted from the meeting hall. 
  WT/MIN(05)/SR/1 
Page 2  
 
  2. Adoption of the Agenda 
 
 The Chairman
 drew attention to the proposed Age nda for the Ministerial Conference in 
document WT/MIN(05)/W/1 and Corr.1.  
 The Ministerial Conference adopted
 the following agenda as proposed in 
WT/MIN(05)/W/1and Corr.1:   "1. Overview of Activities of the WTO    2. Items Proposed by Members for Inclusion in the Agenda 
 (a) Poverty Reduction – Sectoral Initiative in Favour of Cotton
1 
 (b) EC Compliance with all MFN Right and Interests on Bananas under the Doha 
Ministerial Decision of 14 November 2001 (WT/MIN(01)/15), the Award of Arbitrator of 1 August 2005 (WT/L/616), the Award of Arbitrator of 27 October 2005 (WT/L/625), GATT Ar ticle XIII, GATT Article XXVIII, 
and all other WTO Obligations
2 
  3. Accessions   4. Action by Ministers    5. Date and Venue of the Seventh Session    6. Election of Officers."  3. Order of Business 
 The Chairman
 drew attention to the Proposed Orde r of Business in WT/MIN(05)/3/Rev.2, 
and noted that, in accordance with the programme of work set out therein, the Plenary meeting would resume on Wednesday 14 December at 10 a.m. with  Agenda Item 1 – "Overview of Activities of the 
WTO".  At 8 p.m. on the 14
th, the Ministerial Conference would take up Agenda Item 2 – "Items 
Proposed by Members for Inclusion in the Agenda" a nd consider first the item on Sectoral Initiative in 
Favour of Cotton proposed by Benin on behalf also of Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali.  It would then consider the item on EC Compliance with all MFN Rights and Interests on Bananas, as proposed by 
Honduras.  On Thursday 15 December, at 6.10 p.m., the Ministerial Conference would take up Agenda Item 3 on Accessions to  formally conclude the accession process of Tonga, as well as to 
review ongoing accession processes and welcome others that had recently been completed.  The 
remaining Agenda items would be taken up at the last Plenary Session of the Conference scheduled 
for 12 noon on Sunday 18 December.  While he had heard some speculation about the deadline of 18 December for the closing of the Conference, he wished to be very clear that this was a firm 
deadline, and that he was thoroughly committed to concluding the Conference by that date.  There 
was no doubt about that deadline as far as he was concer ned.  He then proposed that the Ministerial 
Conference agree on the organization of work as out lined out in the Proposed Order of Business in 
WT/MIN(05)/3/Rev.2.   The Ministerial Conference so agreed
. 
  The Chairman
 invited delegations wishing to speak u nder Agenda Items 2 and 3 to inform the 
Secretariat as soon as possible in order to establish list s of speakers.  With regard to Agenda Item 3, 
he invited delegations to address in one statem ent both the accession of Tonga as well as the ongoing 
accession processes and those that had recently been  completed.  All speakers under these items 
would be invited to speak from the rostrum.  They were also invited to provide their statements in 
advance to the Secretariat. 
 
 The Ministerial Conference took note  of the statement. 
                                                      
1 Proposed by Benin also on behalf of Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali. 
2 Proposed by Honduras.  WT/MIN(05)/SR/1 
 Page 3 
 
 
   
 The Chairman  then declared the Opening Ceremony of the Ministerial Conference closed. 
  The meeting adjourned
 at 4.40 p.m.3 
                                                      
3 Following the closure of the Opening Ceremony, the Chairman informed delegations about the 
organization of the informal consultative process to be conducted throughout the Conference.  The Chairman's statement is reported in the Annex. WT/MIN(05)/SR/1 
Page 4  
 
  ANNEX
 
 
Announcement by the Chairman on the Organiz ation of the Informal Consultative Process 
 
 
 Following the closure of the Opening Ceremony, the Chairman  informed delegations that, as 
at all previous Ministerial Conferences, he would be organizing an intensiv e process of consultations 
throughout this Conference in order to help develo p an improved Ministerial text that could be put 
forward for formal consideration and appropriate  action under Agenda Item 4 entitled "Action by 
Ministers".   
 
 The main forum for this cons ultative process would be the info rmal open-ended meetings of 
all Heads-of-Delegations.  The principal objective of  this process would be to facilitate consensus-
building on a text in a transparent and inclusive manner, while maintaining the necessary flexibility.  
The informal HODs meetings would proceed in pa rallel with the formal Plenary Sessions.  The 
informal HODs meetings would be open to a ll WTO Members and other participants in the 
negotiations, in the format of Head of Delegation-pl us-two officials per delegation.  A final informal 
HODs meeting would be organized just prior to the concluding Plenary Session of the Conference, in 
order that delegations could collectively review the r esults of work in all areas.  All meetings of the 
HODs would be held in the GRAND HALL.  They  would be chaired by himself and would be 
convened as necessary, but at least once each day.  The first meeting would be held on Wednesday, 
14 December, starting at 5 p.m.  Delegations would be kept informed of these meetings through every 
means possible at the Convention Centre.   He would also set aside an hour in the morning, from 8.30 – 9.30 a.m., and an hour in the afternoon, from 2 – 3 p.m., during which no major informal meetings would be scheduled.  The 
purpose of this was to allow delegations the time they would require to consult among themselves and 
in regional groupings as necessary.  He believed that work should have a coherent focus if Ministers 
were to organize their very limited time in an efficient manner.  Therefore, as Members were aware, he had requested the assistance of a number of Mi nisters who had kindly agreed to help him as 
Facilitators on key issues, as follows:  
 1. Agriculture – Minister Kituyi (Kenya); 
 2. Non Agricultural Market Acce ss – Minister Khan (Pakistan); and 
 3. Specific Development Issues – Minister Rohee (Guyana)  
He had also secured the assistance of three additional colleagues to serve as Facilitators-at-
large, and who would assist work as necessary in other areas such as Services, Rules and other issues.  
They were:  
1. Minister Kim (Korea) 
2. Minister Støre (Norway), and 
3. Minister Walker (Chile). 
 
 He was continuing to reflect as to the sp ecific subjects on which he might request the 
assistance of these colleagues, and would advise de legations as soon as possible after a decision was 
taken.  He was very grateful for the assistance of  the Facilitators, who would undertake work on these 
issues assigned to them and report back to the HODs meetings on progress.  They were free to 
organize their work as they judged most effective.  Th ey were all aware of the need to do so with full 
respect for transparency and inclus iveness.  In pursuit of this, he would ask them to make themselves 
available to all delegations wishing to raise issues of  their particular concern, and to seek the views of 
interested Ministers.  So as not to waste time, he was requesting the Facilitators to start work already 
by holding informal contacts that same day, an d to report back to the first HODs meeting on 
Wednesday evening.  Throughout this process, the F acilitators and he would also be able to draw on  WT/MIN(05)/SR/1 
 Page 5 
 
 
  the experience and wisdom of the Chairman of the General Council, and the Chairs of the Geneva 
Negotiating Groups and other WTO bodies, as necessary.      He wished to emphasize strongly that the assistance he would be receiving from the facilitating Ministers – for which he was most grat eful – would in no way be a substitute for the 
Heads-of-Delegations process or detract from the decision-making rights of any Member.  Their task 
was to facilitate work.  Delegations would at all times need to keep in mind that this process was 
aimed at resolving differences and facilitating consen sus, and that any decisions could ultimately be 
taken only by the membership as a whole.  This was very much in keeping w ith the principle of the 
"bottom-up" approach that had guided all in the Ge neva process so far.  In a sense, all Ministers 
present at this Conference were Facilitators, and he would be seeking advice from other Ministers as 
well on a constant basis to get a better view as rega rds overall balance.  He knew that the Director-
General would also be seeking inputs and advice which he would report to him.  It was his hope that 
in this way they could better enable these open mee tings of all Ministers to function and to deliver 
results that reflected the needs of all concerned.   
 
 In view of the limited time available, he intended to follow a very intensive process, and 
asked for the understanding and cooperation of all in helping keep to that schedule.  
__________