RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/REG/M/51 
19 December 2008 
 (08-6245) 
Committee on Regional Trade Agreements 
Fifty-first Session  
 
 
 
NOTE ON THE MEETING OF 27-28 NOVEMBER 2008 
 
Chairman:  Mr. D. Brauns (Germany ) 
 
 
A. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA  
1. The 51st Session of the Committee on Regional Trad e Agreements (hereinafter CRTA or the 
Committee) was convened in Airgram WTO/AIR/ 3261, dated 16 October 2008.  Under "Other 
Business", the Chairman  announced his intention to provide information on the proposed programme 
of meetings of the CRTA for 2009;  the RTA Secti on's relocation to the Chemin des Mines;  and the 
issue of technical cooperation activities conducted in 2008 and those scheduled for 2009 in the area of 
regional trade agreements. 
2. The representative of Brazil  said that under "Other Business" he would make a statement on 
the notification of a Regional Trade Agreemen t (RTA) by the European Communities and the 
CARIFORUM States contained in WT/REG255/N/1/Rev.1. 
3. The representative of the United States  wished to note that the review process agreed to under 
the Transparency Mechanism (TM) required a time ly receipt of answers to Members' advanced 
questions.  The purpose of the timeframe for the r eceipt of the answers was specifically to avoid 
spending two meetings on one agreement.  Howeve r, with respect to the EFTA-Tunisia Free Trade 
Agreement (FTA), capitals had not been given thei r allotted time to review the answers to these 
advanced questions.  Thus, the United States was only very reluctantly agreeing to the consideration 
of the EFTA-Tunisia FTA during this meeting.  Similar delays in the future should have 
consequences. 
4. The representative of European Communities (EC)  said that under "Other Business" she 
would raise the issue of the change in notifica tion of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) customs 
union contained in WT/COMTD/66. 
5. The following Agenda was adopted: 
A. Adoption of the Agenda 
B. Consideration of Regional Trade Agreements 
I. Status report on the Committee's work II. Economic Partnership Agreement between Japan and Mexico, goods and 
services 
III. Strategic Economic Partnership Ag reement between Japan and Chile, goods 
and services 
IV. Free Trade Agreement between Jordan and Singapore, goods and services V. Free Trade Agreement between the EFTA States and Tunisia, goods 
VI. Free Trade Agreement between the EFTA States and Egypt, goods 
C. Annual Report (2008) to the General Council WT/REG/M/51 
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  D. Other Business 
 
6. The Chairman
 recalled that the Latin American Integration Association (LAIA) had been 
granted observer status to the CRTA on an ad hoc  basis and sought confirmation to extend an 
invitation to LAIA to attend the Committee's next meeting.  It was so agreed . 
B. CONSIDERATION OF REGIONAL TRADE AGREEMENTS  
B.I. Status Report on the Committee's work 
 7. Before moving to the Status Report on the Co mmittee's work, as the representative of the 
United States had just stated, the Chairman
 wished to draw the Committee's attention to a concern 
which had been raised among dele gations, namely the late distri bution of questions and replies 
documents.  Paragraph 12 of the TM provided for wr itten questions and replies to be distributed at 
least three working days before the corresponding m eeting.  While he was well aware of the time 
pressures that Members were all under, it was importa nt that this deadline was respected, given that a 
single meeting was devoted to the consideration of an RTA.  Thus, he wished to make it clear that in 
future, if the questions and replies document was not  issued at least three working days before the 
meeting for a given RTA, the consideration of th at RTA would be postponed until the following 
Session.  It was his opinion that this was necessary to promote the smooth functioning of the TM.  He proposed that the consideration of the EFTA-Tunisi a FTA should take place in the afternoon at the 
earliest to give delegations time to read the qu estions and replies document for this Agreement. 
8. The Chairman
 provided Members with an update on the implementation of the TM.  First he 
informed them that 31 early announcements had be en placed on the WTO website (not counting three 
RTAs which had been subsequently notified).  He thanked those Member s who had submitted an 
early announcement and encouraged others to do so.  As regards the factual abstracts to be prepared 
on those RTAs for which a factual examination had already been completed, 19 had been posted on 
the WTO website, and 32 had been prepared and sent to  the relevant parties for their comments.  He 
urged those parties to submit their comments as soon as possible.  The remaining three factual 
abstracts were being drafted.  The Secretariat had informed him that the preparation of factual abstracts in services was underway and that these woul d be sent to the relevant parties for comment as 
soon as they had been drafted. 
9. As regards the preparation of the factual pr esentations under the remit of the CRTA, there 
were presently 43 RTAs for which a factual presen tation had to be prepared, counting goods and 
services separately.  The figure did not include 42 RT As for which factual presentations were on hold 
involving non-Members, or for which specific commitmen ts had not yet been agreed.  In this respect, 
he said he had held informal c onsultations on the issue of the c onsideration of RTAs involving non-
Members and he hoped to report back to the Comm ittee shortly the progress on these consultations.  
He then asked the Secretariat to provide further details on the preparation of factual presentations. 
10. A representative of the Secretariat
 said that 13 RTAs (counting goods and services separately) 
had been scheduled for consideration in this CRTA meeting;  none was on the current Session's 
Agenda.  The situation with regard to these wa s as follows:  for EFTA-Korea, goods and services, 
outstanding data issues had been solved and th e Agreement would be considered at the CRTA 
meeting in March 2009.  For US-Bahrain, goods a nd services, data had been received from the 
Parties.  However, some outstanding data issues had to be solved with  Bahrain.  It had been scheduled 
for the consideration in the CRTA in late 2009.  For Korea-Singapore, the factual presentation was 
being drafted and consideration of  this Agreement was scheduled fo r late 2009.  For EC-South Africa, 
data had been initially requested from the Parties in February 2007 and had been received from the 
EC in May 2007.  In August 2007 South Africa had indi cated that it would be able to provide data by 
June 2008, but then had informed the Secretariat at the beginning of September 2008 that the data  WT/REG/M/51 
 Page 3 
 
 
  would not be available until the end of September or  beginning of October.  The Secretariat had not 
yet received it and was in touch with the South African  authorities to try to speed up the process.  For 
CAFTA-Dominican Republic, the Secretariat was awaiting notification from Costa Rica that the 
Agreement had entered into force for Costa Rica be fore proceeding with the consideration of this 
Agreement.  For Mexico-Northern Triangle whic h included Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, 
the factual presentation on the goods aspects had been drafted and sent to the Parties.  The factual 
presentation on the services aspects was being prep ared and the Agreement would be considered 
during the course of 2009.  For Mexico-Nicaragua, data originally requested by November 2007 had 
still not been received.  The Secretariat was in touch with the authorities in an effort to resolve this 
situation. 
11. There were also a number of RTAs not yet mentioned that had been scheduled to be 
considered during the course of 2008, but where so me difficulties had been experienced.  For SACU, 
the factual presentation had been distributed and c onsideration was scheduled for the CRTA in March 
2009.  For EU Enlargement (25), services, the difficulties had been solved, and the factual 
presentation would be issued shortly for consid eration in March 2009.  For EU(27), goods and 
services, the factual presentation had been drafted and would shortly to be sent to the Parties for their 
comments.  It was scheduled for consideration late r in 2009.  For Turkey-Tunisia, there were some 
outstanding data issues which the Secretariat hope d to resolve shortly in order to consider the 
Agreement in March 2009.  For EC-Egypt, originally  scheduled for consideration in July 2007, the 
Secretariat was still awaiting tariff data from Egypt.   The Secretariat continued to liaise with the 
Egyptian authorities in an effort to resolve this matter.  For Japan-Malaysia, goods and services, the 
factual presentation had been sent to the Parties and the consideration was scheduled for March 2009.  
For Japan-Thailand, a number of outstanding data issues remained to be resolved.  The Secretariat had 
rescheduled this Agreement for later in 2009 and was in touch with the authorities in an effort to 
resolve the data issues.  For Costa Rica-Mexico, data requested by 7 December 2007 had been 
received only from Costa Rica.  The Secretariat had rescheduled this agreement for 2009 and was in 
touch with Mexico to obtain the necessary  data for the factual presentation. 
12. At present, ten RTAs were scheduled for consideration in the next CRTA meeting in March 
2009.  A proposed work programme for 2009 would be sent to delegations in early January 2009.  He 
pointed out that in the first two years of the ope ration of this Mechanism, the Committee would have 
considered 35 RTAs which, in his opinion, w as a considerable achievement.  He thanked the 
Members for their help in allowing the Secretar iat to prepare the factual presentations for the 
Committee's consideration. 
13. The Chairman  informed the Committee that the Secr etariat had prepared a note as a room 
document on procedures for requesting data for f actual presentations, highlighting some of the 
problems experienced thus far.  Electronic copies of this note were available from the Secretariat.  He then opened the floor for comments fro m Members on the Committee's work. 
14. The representative of India
 thanked the Chairman for the info rmal consultations in the last 
few weeks on the important systemic issue of tr ansparency for RTAs involving non-Members.  His 
delegation attached high importance to transparency .  For that reason India was a co-sponsor of the 
Transparency Mechanism being considered for Pr eferential Trade Agreements (PTAs) and other non-
reciprocal preferential schemes.  His delegation also wanted a full implementation of the Transparency Mechanism for RTAs established by the General Council Decision in December 2006.  
India was disappointed to note that factual presentations for a large number of RTAs, 42 as mentioned 
in the Chairman's statement, were on hold.  Th e General Council Decision of 2006 had been a 
watershed in terms of transparency of RTAs.  It had defined what an RTA was for its purpose, i.e. a 
"trade agreement, and, of a mutually preferential nature" – clearly there was no mention of whether it 
was with Members or non-Members.  There was also no mention of consistency with 
GATT Article XXIV or the Enabling Clause.  The Co mmittee must not forget that the objective of WT/REG/M/51 
Page 4  
 
  this exercise was transparency, not approval.  Mo reover, Paragraph 5 of the TM provided that upon 
notification an RTA should be considered by Members under the procedures established in the Decision.  It was, therefore, an obligation to cons ider notified RTAs.  His delegation believed that all 
RTAs, whether with Members or non-Members requir ed equal transparency.  His delegation would 
like to see the consideration of all RTAs in accord ance with the rules and procedures of the TM and 
with immediate effect.  This should be done withou t bringing in any new criteria for scheduling of 
factual presentations and the Committee should c ontinue with the practices followed by the CRTA 
since December 2006.  If Members wished to consider new criteria , this could be done during the 
revision, which was provided for in Paragraph 23 of the TM. 
15. The representative of China
 thanked the Chairman's continuous  efforts to resolve the systemic 
and important issues of RTAs involving non-WTO Members.  His delegation was pleased that some 
progress had been made during recent informal cons ultations.  At least the Committee had already 
reached a consensus that the objec tive of this discussion was to enha nce the transparency of various 
RTAs without prejudging the rights and obligations of  WTO Members.  China believed that this was a 
good starting point and the Committee should conti nue its work to find a proper methodology to 
achieve the transparency objectives.  China's positio n was clear that all RTAs whether with Members 
or non-Members required transparency since a valu able outcome of the Doha Round was to obtain 
more details and a greater understanding of all RTAs .  For its part, China was waiting to contribute to 
this process and he encouraged Members to construc tively engage in this issue and resolve it as soon 
as possible. 
16. The representative of Trinidad and Tobago , on behalf of the CARIFORUM group, wished to 
register its appreciation for the Chairman's efforts over recent weeks, and that of the Secretariat in 
developing a credible process for the review of RTAs involving non-WTO Members.  The group was 
aware that the issue was a long-standing one, of a systemic nature, and it therefore welcomed efforts 
to seek an outcome to which all Members could gi ve their active support.  The CARIFORUM States 
wished to reiterate their unwavering commitment to  transparency, and their recognition of Members' 
interest in having full information on the EC-CAR IFORUM Economic Partnership Agreement.  In 
this regard, he assured the Chairman of their full cooperation and constr uctive engagement as 
consultations on this matter continued.  The representative of the European Communities  added her 
delegation's voice to the statement made by the representative of Trinidad and Tobago on behalf of 
the CARIFORUM group. 
17. The representative of Japan  expressed her appreciation for the Chair's consultations and 
indicated her willingness to participate constructively in further consultations to achieve a practical 
solution as soon as possible. 
18. As regards the database on RTAs, the Chairman  reminded the Committee of the Secretariat's 
presentation following the Committee's last meeting in  September and that access to the database had 
been available to Members via the Members' website since then.  Given that the database appeared to 
be functioning well and very little feedback had b een received, he proposed that the Secretariat took 
the necessary steps to make the database available to the public, in accordance with paragraph 21 of 
the Transparency Mechanism. 
19. The representative of Brazil  said that his delegation had found the database very useful in 
providing and organizing information available on RTAs  and was in favour of it being made available 
to the WTO Membership.  He wished to recall that at the September meeting, his delegation had made 
a few preliminary comments on the database which he was sure that the Secretariat and the 
Committee had taken note of. 
B. II-VI. (The minutes of the consideration of th e Agreements listed under agenda items B.II-VI are 
being distributed as separate documents).  WT/REG/M/51 
 Page 5 
 
 
  C. ANNUAL REPORT (2008)  TO THE GENERAL COUNCIL  
20. Under this agenda item, the Chairman  said that a draft of this report had been distributed in 
document WT/REG/W/52.  In his fax of 10 Nove mber, he had asked delegations to submit any 
preliminary comments on this Report to the Secretar iat in advance of this meeting.  It was his 
understanding that comments had b een received from one delegation. 
21. He proposed that the Committee entrust the Secret ariat with the task of modifying the report 
with the agreed changes, and th at the Committee adopt the Annual Report, which would be submitted 
to the General Council.  It was so agreed . 
D. OTHER BUSINESS  
22. Under this Agenda item, the Chairman  informed Members of the dates for the CRTA's 
meetings in 2009 scheduled for: 19-20 March, 14-15 September and 18-20 November.  He also 
informed the Committee that the RTA Section woul d move to the Chemin des Mines the following 
week.  Telephone and contact details would remain the same, but some disruption in the availability 
of RTA Section staff was to be expected during the period of the move.  The last issue he wished to 
bring the Committee's attention was technical c ooperation activities conducted in 2008 in the area of 
RTAs.  The Committee would recall that at its 32nd Session, it had been agreed to regularly review the 
RTA-related technical assistance activities undertaken by the Secretariat.  Thus, the Secretariat would give an account of the activities carried  out in 2008 and planned for 2009. 
23. A representative of the Secretariat
 said the CRTA Secretariat had conducted 12 technical 
assistance activities in 2008 thus far.  Two more act ivities were scheduled for December 2008.  An 
additional 11 activities were  scheduled for 2009, of which four we re RTA specific regional seminars 
(Arab and Middle East;  Asia Pacific;  and both  English and French speaking African countries).  
Most of the activities indicated in the distributed table had been financed by the WTO regular budget, 
donations by Member countries, or by th e Global Trust Fund for activities under the 
Doha Development Agenda.  The participants' cost s for some of the activities had been incurred by 
the hosting organization.  The objectives of the activities listed varied from raising awareness on 
RTA dynamics in global trade, to training and advising government officials on WTO rules and 
procedures on RTAs, including the new Transparency Mechanism.  Virtually all technical assistance 
activities were addressed to participants from broa d regional groupings.  Their underlying objective 
was to contribute to the development of RTAs that were beneficial to their members and that complemented the objectives of the WTO.  Since D oha, the RTA Section had been entrusted with the 
additional task of clarifying issues related to  the negotiations on RTA rules to WTO Members 
requesting such aid. 
24. The representative of Brazil
 made a statement concerning the notification of an RTA in 
document WT/REG255/N/1/Rev.1.  His delegation we lcomed the recent notification of the Economic 
Partnership Agreement signed between the EC and CARIFORUM States to the CRTA on 16 October 
2008.  This notification constituted a positive and important step toward greater transparency in the 
WTO.  In that regard, Brazil looked forward to the consideration of this RTA in the context of the 
Transparency Decision of 14 December 2006.  His delegation was aware of the discussions currently 
being sponsored by the Chairman on the procedures for the consideration of RTAs between WTO Members and non-Members.  Brazil favoured the continuation and completion of these discussions with a view to achieving the necessary degree of transparency for those agreements.  
Recalling the statements of the Parties in the Ge neral Council meetings in  February and May 2008 
and having heard today that they were indeed in fa vour of transparency, Brazil was confident that the 
consideration of this agreement woul d be made possible without delay. 
 WT/REG/M/51 
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  25. The representative of th e European Communities
 drew Members’ attention to the written 
comments the EC had submitted that week, in respon se to Saudi Arabia's request during the last CTD 
meeting of 16 October.  Document WT/COMTD/66/ Add.2 contained a detailed explanation of the 
EC's concerns regarding the proposed change of notification of the GCC customs union from 
GATT Article XXIV to the Enabling Clause.  The EC stressed that the Enabling Clause did not 
provide the appropriate legal basis for justifying the formation of a customs union which included the 
elimination of non-tariff barriers.  Furthermore, a customs union provided for the application of a 
common external tariff, as was th e case of the GCC customs union.  If, as she understood was the case 
of the GCC, the harmonization of external tariffs implied that the common external tariff was set, for certain products, at a level above the tariff binding of certain members of the customs union, those 
members would breach their WTO obligations under GATT Article II.1.  She recalled that 
GATT Article XXIV:6 allowed the renegotiation of su ch bindings, and that without recourse to the 
relevant adjustments, a breach in WTO bindings would persist.  She therefore urged the GCC States to reconsider the proposed change in notification.   Lastly, her delegation considered that further 
discussions should take place in the CRTA since it was the natural forum for discussing an agreement 
which had been originally notified under Article XXIV, and which her dele gation understood could 
only be justified under such a provision. 
26. The representative of the United States
 supported the EC and repeated the concern expressed 
by his colleague at the 16 October Session of the CT D.  The United States continued to be concerned 
about the change in the notification of the GCC customs union to be exclusively under the Enabling 
Clause.  His delegation did not s upport moving forward with the process of reviewing the Agreement 
under the Transparency Mechanism until clarification was forthcom ing from the GCC States.  The 
representative of Saudi Arabia had indicated in the CTD that the GCC States were all developing countries and the Agreement was a regional agreemen t for the mutual reduction or elimination of 
tariffs.  It followed, in his view, that the Agreemen t dealt with paragraph 2(c) of the Enabling Clause 
under which it was appropriate for GCC States to notif y the Agreement.  This interpretation was still 
under discussion.  He added that the Enabling Clause,  in contrast to GATT Article XXIV, allowed for 
action inconsistent with GATT Article I only.  In th e event a regional agreement under paragraph 2(c) 
resulted in measures inconsistent with other prov isions of the GATT, that inconsistency would 
generally not be excused unless the regional agreem ent were an FTA or a customs union covered by 
GATT Article XXIV.  In reviewing the WTO tariff bi ndings of the GCC States, it appeared that at 
least three of the six members had bindings that we re below the common external tariff for the GCC.  
These members were Oman, Qatar and the United Ar ab Emirates (UAE).  Applying tariffs that 
exceeded a Member's bindings would be inconsis tent with that Member's obligations under 
GATT Article II unless otherwise permitted under the GATT.  It would appear therefore that the GCC States sought to apply tariffs beyond their bi ndings.  The GCC Agreement would need to be a 
FTA or a customs union consistent with GATT Ar ticle XXIV, and accordingly would need to be 
promptly notified in accordance with paragraph 7(a)  of that Article.  He encouraged the GCC to 
submit its notification under paragraph 7(a) of GA TT Article XXIV.  His delegation requested this 
item be again discussed at next month's CTD meeting and be added to the Agenda for that meeting. 
27. The representative of Canada
 shared the concerns identif ied by the representatives of the 
EC and the United States on Saudi Arabia's notif ication of the GCC under the Enabling Clause.  
Canada was of the view that Saudi Arabia's in terpretation of the Enabling Clause was still under 
discussion and supported the argument put forth by th e previous speakers.  Her delegation subscribed 
to the view that for th e Enabling Clause to apply to an agreement covering non-tariff measures, the 
criteria and conditions applicable to the elimin ation of non-tariff measur es should be established by 
the Contracting Parties.  Such criteria and cond itions had not been established by WTO Members, 
thus precluding the use of the Enabling Clause for an Agreement that went beyond tariff reduction or 
elimination.  Canada also supported the argument that in order for the GCC States to apply their 
common external tariff above their WTO bindings as f our out of the six GCC Parties appeared to do, 
their Agreement needed to be consistent with GATT Article XXIV and therefore needed to be notified  WT/REG/M/51 
 Page 7 
 
 
  under that Article.  Canada encouraged the GCC States to reconsider the proposed change of 
notification and submit it under GATT Article XXIV. 
28. The representative of Japan  thanked the representative of the EC for having taken this issue 
up in the Committee again because Japa n shared an interest in knowing the background of the change 
in the GCC notification from GATT Article XXIV to the Enabling Clause.  Her delegation had 
carefully reviewed the Communication from Saudi Ar abia on behalf of the GCC in the July CTD 
contained in WT/COMTD/66, as well as the Communication from the EC which had been recently circulated during the October CTD.  Her delegation put the following questions to the GCC in this 
regard: i) did the GCC apply a common external tariff as a result of its formation?;  ii) if so, was there 
any case where any member of the GCC had rais ed duties on some products beyond the duties bound 
under the WTO in order to harmonize duties to the external tariff of the GCC?;  iii) If so, had the 
GCC conducted negotiations on the modifica tion of its schedules prescribed under 
GATT Article XXVIII?;  iv) If the GCC had a common external tariff and the duty on any product by 
any member of the GCC had been raised beyond the bound duty rate, and if that member had not yet 
conducted negotiations to modify its schedules, it was her delegation's opinion that the Enabling 
Clause itself could not justify the GCC custom union.  Japan would like to have an opportunity to see 
if the GCC had had a negative impact on other WTO Me mbers, as a result of its formation.  It was a 
fact that Mercosur had been notified to the WTO und er the Enabling Clause and it was also a fact that 
the review of Mercosur had been conducted in the CRTA.  Her delegation was interested in 
continuing the discussion in order to find a solution with which all Members were comfortable. 
29. The representative of Australia
 thanked the EC for having rai sed this issue at the current 
meeting and shared the concerns of previous speak ers about the GCC's desire to notify its customs 
union exclusively under the Enabling Clause, rather than under GATT Article XXIV.  His delegation queried whether this was the most appropriate a pproach and whether it would be in the GCC's own 
legal interests, given that the le gal coverage of Paragraph 2(c) of  the Enabling Clause was limited.  
Unlike GATT Article XXIV, it was not a horizontal exception.  Rather, it was a limited exception 
from the MFN obligation under GATT Article I which onl y applied to the reduction or elimination of 
tariffs between developing WTO Members.  On the other hand, notification under 
GATT Article XXIV would potentially afford mo re legal cover.  GATT Article XXIV was a 
horizontal exception and its cover applied to all provisions of the GATT, not just GATT Article I 
obligations.  Its cover also applied to all regulations of commerce, not just customs duties.  Finally, he 
drew the attention of the GCC to its obligation not  to raise duties against other WTO Members, in 
excess of WTO bound rates.  As neither GATT Arti cle XXIV nor the Enabling Clause afforded any 
WTO legal cover for this, it would only be permissi ble if the GCC had negotiated compensation with 
other Members in accordance with GATT Article XXV III.  On a procedural note, his delegation 
reiterated its view that, as a general rule, Members should not seek to change the forum for reviewing 
a notification.  Where a Member considered that it was necessary to do so, compelling reasons should 
be provided to the Membership. 
30. The representative of Brazil
 said that it was his delegation' s understanding that agreements 
between developing countries concerning goods coul d be notified either under the Enabling Clause or 
GATT Article XXIV.  Brazil had stated this in pr evious instances, and in other committees and was 
very much in favour of discussing this issue further,  so that a positive outcome could be found.  Based 
on the nature of the Committee's deba te under this agenda item, he r ecalled the rules of procedure for 
the General Council contained in document WT/L/161, particularly rule number 25, which stated very 
clearly that discussions on substantive issues under Other Business should be avoided.  He urged 
delegations wishing to raise substantive issues in this Committee or in any other instance to follow 
rule number 3 of the same document, so that dele gations were properly informed and prepared for a 
substantive debate. WT/REG/M/51 
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  31. The representative of Qatar
, speaking on behalf of the GCC States, Bahrain, United Arab 
Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, and Kuwait, said  that in the view of the GCC States, this item 
could not be discussed in the CRTA at all.  Th e GCC customs union had now been notified under the 
Enabling Clause, and was being examined by the CTD.  The GCC States would like to thank the 
delegations of the United States and the EC for having provided in writing the comments they had 
made at the meeting of the CTD on 16 October, but  they remained unconvinced that there was any 
legal basis for the continued insistence that th e GCC custom union should be examined by the 
CRTA under GATT Article XXIV.  The GCC would r espond to the United States and EC statements 
made in documents WT/COMTD/66/Add.1-2 and woul d circulate the reply in the CTD.  The data 
required for the actual review of the GCC customs union would be provided to the CTD in accordance 
with the Transparency Mechanism.  Finally, they considered that the proper forum for discussion of 
the GCC customs union was the CTD, and they  would not comment further in the CRTA. 
32. The representative of Kuwait  thanked the delegations of the EC and the United States for their 
comments on the communication from Saudi Arabia.  His delegation fully endorsed the statement delivered by Qatar on behalf of the GCC and supporte d the intervention made by the representative of 
Brazil.  He reiterated his delega tion's position that this issue should not be discussed in this 
Committee because it had been notified unde r the Enabling Clause in the CTD. 
33. The representative of the United Arab Emirates
 supported the statement of the representative 
of Qatar.  The GCC States had had a series of meetings with the Secretariat to seek their advice and assistance concerning the notification, and he thanked th e Secretariat for its help.  He added that this 
matter still needed to be discussed among the GCC St ates, and in consultation with the Secretariat's 
relevant division.  The GCC States would certain ly inform the EC, the United States and other 
delegations which had raised th is matter through the Secretariat before the next meeting. 
34. The representative of Saudi Arabia
 associated itself fully with the statement made by the 
representative of Qatar on behalf of the GCC St ates.  The GCC customs union had been notified 
under the Enabling Clause, and was currently being examined by the CTD which was the appropriate 
forum for such examination. 
35. The Committee took note  of the comments made. 
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