RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/GC/M/106 
1 March 2007 
 (07-0884) 
General Council 
14-15 December 2006  
 
 
 
MINUTES OF MEETING 
 
Held in the Centre William Rappard  
on 14-15 December 2006  
 
Chairman:  Mr Eirik Glenne (Norway) 
 
 Subjects discussed
: Page  
1. Transparency Mechanism for Regional Trade Agreements – Draft Decision – 
Communication from the Chairman of the Trade Negotiations Committee.......................3  
2. China – Transitional Review Under Section 18.2 of the Protocol of Accession to the WTO Ag reement.............................................................................................................. ...4
 
3. Report by the Chairman of th e Trade Negotiati ons Committee ..........................................9  
4. Transparency for Preferential Trade Arrangements – Draft Decision – 
Communication from Brazil and India.................................................................................22  
5. Work Programme on Small Economies – Report by the Chairman of the 
Dedicated Session of the Committee on Trade and Development ......................................23  
6. Work Programme on Special and Differential Treatment .................................................24  
(a) Report by the Chairman of the Special Session of the Committee on Trade and 
Development.................................................................................................................... .........24  
(b) Reports by Chairpersons of other WTO bodies to whom special and differential 
treatment proposals ha ve been referred ....................................................................................24  
7. Committee on Budget, Finan ce and Administration ...........................................................29  
(a) Follow-up to the Committee's recommendations of October 2006 – Report by the 
Director-General on his discussions with the Swiss authorities concerning an 
appropriate solution to the immediate housing needs of the WTO...........................................29  
(b) Recommendations of the Committee following its meetings of November and 
December 2006 .................................................................................................................. .......29  
8. Aid for Trade – Follow-up to the repor t and recommendations of the Task Force 
– Report by the Director-General .........................................................................................30  
9. Follow-up to the 1 August 2004 General Council Decision and the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration on the Doha Work Programme – Statement by the Director-General on the Development Assistance Aspects of Cotton ................................38
 
10. Non-recognition of rights under Article XXIV:6 and Article XXVIII of GATT 1994 – Communications from Honduras and Guatemala – Statement by the 
Chairman....................................................................................................................... ..........44
 WT/GC/M/106 
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  11.
 Procedure for the introduction of Harmonized System 2007 changes to 
Schedules of Concessions using the Consolidated Tariff Schedules (CTS) database – Draft Decision...................................................................................................... .47
 
12. Waivers under Article IX of  the WTO Agreement..............................................................48  
(a) Introduction of Harmonized System 2002 changes into WTO Schedules of tariff 
concessions – Draft decision................................................................................................... ..48 
(b) Introduction of Harmonized System 2007 changes into WTO Schedules of tariff 
concessions – Draft decision................................................................................................... ..48 
(c) Kimberley Process Certification Scheme  for Rough Diamonds – Request for 
extension of waiver............................................................................................................ .......49  
(d) Canada – CARIBCAN – Request for extension of waiver.......................................................49  
(e) Cuba – Article XV:6 of GATT 1994 – Re quest for extension of waiver .................................49  
(f) European Communities – Article XIII waiver for the tariff rate quota for bananas of 
ACP origin – Request for extension – Statement by the Chairman of the Council for Trade in Goods................................................................................................................. .........50
 
(g) Review of waivers pursuant to Article IX:4 of the WTO Agreement ......................................51  
(i) Canada – Caribcan, granted on 14 October 1996 until 31 December 2006............................51  
(ii) United States – Former Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, granted on 
14 October 1996 until 31 December 2006................................................................................51  
(iii) EC – Autonomous preferential treatment to  the countries of the Western Balkans, 
granted on 8 December 2000 until 31 December 2006 ............................................................51  
(iv) EC – The ACP-EC Partnership Agreement, granted on 14 November 2001 until 31 December 2007 ............................................................................................................... .....51
 
(v) Cuba – Article XV:6 of GATT 1994,  granted on 20 December 2001 until 
31 December 2006 ............................................................................................................... .....51  
13. Review under Paragraph 8 of the Decision on the implementation of 
Paragraph 6 of the Doha Declaratio n on the TRIPS Agreement and Public 
Health  – Report of the Council for TRIPS ..........................................................................51  
14. WTO Pension Plan............................................................................................................... ...52 
(a) Election of Alternate to the Management Board – Proposal by the Chairman of the 
General Council ................................................................................................................ ........52  
(b) Annual Report of the Mana gement Board for 2005 .................................................................52  
15. Appointment of Officers to WTO bodi es – Announcement by the Chairman 
pursuant to Paragraph 7.1(a) of the Guidelines...................................................................53  
16. Review of WT O activities....................................................................................................... 54 
 Reports of: 
(a) General Council, Dispute Settlement B ody, and Trade Policy Review Body ...........................54  
(b) Sectoral Councils.............................................................................................................. ........54  
(c) Committees on Trade and Development, Tr ade and Environment, Balance-of-
Payments Restrictions, Budget, Finance and Administration, and Regional Trade Agreements..................................................................................................................... ...........54
 
(d) Working Groups on Trade, Debt and Finance,  and Trade and Transfer of Technology..........54   WT/GC/M/106 
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  (e) Committees under the Plurilateral Trade Agreements .............................................................54  
17. New multimedia facility in the WTO ....................................................................................55  
18. Chairmanships of the Working Parti es on the Accessions of Bosnia and 
Herzegovina, and Iraq.......................................................................................................... ..56 
19. Seventh Session of the Ministerial Conference.....................................................................56  
20. Administrative Measures fo r Members in arrears ..............................................................57  
 
 
1. Transparency Mechanism for Regional Trade Agreements – Draft Decision – 
Communication from the Chairman of th e Trade Negotiations Committee (TN/C/8, 
TN/RL/18) 
1. The Chairman  recalled that in July 2006 the Chairman of the Negotiating Group on Rules, 
Mr Valles Galmes (Uruguay), had submitted a report to the TNC indicating that the Negotiating Group – at its meeting on 10 July – had approved for submission to the TNC the text of a draft decision establishing a Transpar ency Mechanism for RTAs to be  implemented on a provisional 
basis in accordance with paragraph 47 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration.  The text of the draft 
decision – which was negotiated under paragraph 29  of the Doha Ministerial Declaration and in 
accordance with the in structions contained in Section II, paragraph 2 of Annex D of the Hong Kong 
Ministerial Declaration – was contained in the A nnex to the report by the Chair of the Rules 
Negotiating Group in document TN/RL/18.  As  Members knew, under normal circumstances, the 
TNC would have considered this draft decision and subsequently forwarded it to the General 
Council for adoption.  However, in view of the f act that it was not clear that the TNC would meet 
formally before the next meeting of the General Council – and given that the TNC was under the overall authority of the General Council – the Di rector-General, as Chairman of the TNC, had 
suggested to Members in a communication at the en d of November that it would seem sensible to 
avoid undue delay in regard to this draft decision by having Members take it up directly in the 
General Council in December fo r consideration and adoption.  As indicated in the Director-
General's communication, circulated in TN/C/8, th e Director-General had advised him accordingly, 
and this matter had therefore been placed on the Age nda of the present meeting.  In the light of this 
background, as well as info rmal consultations he had held recen tly with a number of delegations – 
including coordinators of regional and other WTO groupings – it was his understanding that Members were in a position to consider this ma tter positively and to adopt the draft decision 
establishing the RTA Transparency Mechanism on a provisional basis at the present meeting on the 
basis of the following observ ations and understandings: 
- First
, paragraph 23 of the draft decision provided  for Members to review the Transparency 
Mechanism, and if necessary to modify it, in light of the experience gained from its 
provisional operation, and replace it by a perman ent Mechanism adopted as part of the overall 
results of the Round.  It was understood that, notwithstanding the current stage of the DDA 
negotiations and the timing of their conclusi on, Members intended to conduct an initial 
review of the Mechanism within one year of the adoption of the draft decision; 
 - Second
, it was also understood that this draft decision was, on an exceptional basis, being 
taken up for consideration and adoption directly in the General Council as the superior body 
of the TNC without having first been considered in the TNC;  and 
 - Third
, it was further understood that the adoption of this draft decision was in keeping with, 
and without prejudice to, the terms of the Single Undertaking as set out in paragraph 47 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration.    WT/GC/M/106 
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2. In the light of these observations and understa ndings, he proposed that the General Council 
adopt the draft decision establishing on a provi sional basis the Transparency Mechanism for 
Regional Trade Agreements contained in the Annex to document TN/RL/18. 
3. The General Council took note
 of the statement and, in th e light of the observations and 
understandings read out by the Chairman, adopted  the draft decision estab lishing on a provisional 
basis the Transparency Mechanis m for Regional Trade Agreements  contained in the Annex to 
document TN/RL/18.1 
2. China – Transitional Review Under Section 18.2 of the Protocol of Accession to the 
WTO Agreement (WT/GC/109, G/L/807, S/C/27, IP/C/43, WT/BOP/R/83) 
4. The Chairman  recalled that Section 18.2 of the Prot ocol of Accession of China to the WTO 
Agreement provided that "[t]he General Council shall, within one year after accession, and in 
accordance with paragraph 4 of Section 18, revi ew the implementation by China of the WTO 
Agreement and the provisions of this Protocol."  Section 18.2 also provided that "[t]he General Council shall conduct such review  in accordance with the framework  set out in Annex 1B and in 
light of the results of any reviews held pursuant to paragraph 1.  China can also raise issues relating 
to any reservations under Section 17 or to any other specific commitments made by other Members 
in this Protocol.  The General Council may make recommendations to China and to other Members in these respects."  The General Council's first re view was conducted in December 2002.  Paragraph 
4 of Section 18 further provided that this review should take place subsequently in each of the eight years following the first review, with a final review in the tenth year, or at an earlier date decided 
by the General Council.  The following issues were to be addressed by the General Council at the 
present meeting in accordance with Annex 1B of China's Pr otocol of Accession:  First, reports of 
subsidiary bodies on China's implementation of the WTO Agreement and of the related provisions 
of the Protocol;  second, development of Chin a's trade with WTO Members and other trading 
partners;  and third, recent deve lopments and cross-sectoral issues regarding China's trade régime.  
He proposed that, in addressing this agenda item, China as well as other delegations address all 
three of these points in a single in tervention.  In connection with this review, he drew attention to a 
communication from China recently circulated in document WT/GC/109, which provided information required under Sectio ns I and III of Annex 1A of the Protocol of Accession.   The 
reports of the subsidiary bodies on their respective reviews of Ch ina's implementation of the WTO 
Agreement and of the related provisions of the Pr otocol of Accession were contained in documents 
G/L/807, S/C/27, IP/C/43 and WT/BOP/R/83. 
5. The representative of China
 recalled that it had been five years since China' s entry into the 
WTO.  On 11 December, China had promulgated the Regulati on of the People's Republic of China 
on the Administration of Foreign-funded Banks and its implementation rules, thus having 
completely implemented its commitments to op en China's banking sector as scheduled in its 
accession protocol.  This was also one of th e last pieces of the extensive market-access 
commitments made by China five years earlier.   Up to the present, most of China's WTO 
commitments had already been fulfilled, leaving only a few very small things remaining to be done 
before the implementation period  expired.  Nevertheless, China' s reform and opening-up policy 
would continue to be a constant and ongoi ng process.  The past five years had witnessed 
tremendous efforts by China to  honour its commitments:  many laws and regulations had been 
overhauled and new ones scrutinized to ensure  their conformity w ith WTO disciplines;  
transparency of the overall trad e and economic regime had been gr eatly enhanced;  China's average 
applied tariff had been reduced to a bound rate of 9.9 per cent, with industrial products at 9 per cent 
and agricultural products at 15.3 per cent, making  China one of the Member s in the front lines of 
                                                      
1 The Decision was subsequently circulated in document WT/L/671.  WT/GC/M/106 
 Page 5 
 
 
  trade liberalization;  China's restriction on trading rights had been lifted, as committed;  quantitative 
restrictions on trade in goods had been totally abolished and TRQ administration, as well as the licensing system, had both been much improved.  Meanwhile, China had also fulfilled its market-
access commitments in various sectors of services, granting foreign prov iders abundant market-
access opportunities.  The enormous amount of work his Government had done in the area of IPRs, 
including its legal regime-building and enforcement, had been introduced by his delegation in the 
TRIPS Council, and he would not repeat that. 
6. The past 27 years of China's continued practice of its reform and opening-up policy, 
especially that of the past five  years following WTO accession, had tremendously deepened China's 
trade and investment liberalization and had turned its economy into an engi ne for global economic 
growth, which was widely recognized by the international community.  China was now one of the 
biggest markets and importers in the world, particularly for goods and services from other 
developing countries.  In the past five years,  China had registered 30.8 per cent average annual 
increase in its imports of goods.  In the first ten months of 2006, China's imports had exceeded 
US$640 billion.  As a developing country with a large population and comparatively low per capita 
GDP, China always cherished a si ncere aspiration that its own de velopment would bring tangible 
opportunities of benefit to other countries, in particular other developing countries.  To this end, 
and as a concrete action to promote its economic and trade cooperation with other developing 
countries, the Beijing Summit of the China-Africa Coop eration Forum had b een successfully held 
in November 2006. 
7. China's faithful fulfilment of its WTO commitments, its great contributions to the world 
economy and its constructive involvement in the Doha Round negotiations had proved its determination to support and safeguard the develo pment of the multilateral trading system.  At the 
first trade policy review of China in April 2006 , many Members had made positive comments on 
China's performance since its accession.  He r ecalled one comment by the discussant from 
Singapore that “there is a clear political deci sion [of China] to fulfil its obligations of WTO 
membership”.  There was nothing perfect in the world.  Even some veteran developed-country 
Members had serious problems in implementing their WTO obligations in areas such as S&D 
treatment and compliance with DSB rulings.  It would be more than natural and understandable for 
Members to have mixed feelings about China's implementation of its commitments as a recently-
acceded Member – on the one hand, complaints from  several Members for various reasons, and on 
the other, the high evaluation of its performance from the great majority of  Members.  Regardless 
of the different sentiments, his Government's poli tical determination to fulfil its commitments was 
consistent, and China would keep working towards perfection through further intensifying its 
capacity-building and better understanding WTO rules.  It was China's sincere hope that developed-
country Members, particularly the major ones with more economic capability and more moral responsibility, would demonstrate their political aspiration and determination to better honour their 
obligation to safeguard the multilateral trading sy stem.  This determination was badly needed, in 
particular when the Doha Round negotiations were still in deadlock.  This transitional review 
mechanism had been in place for five years, and under it China had devoted tremendous resources 
to earnestly answer the th ousands of questions raised by Member s.  He reiterated that it was natural 
for Members to have diverse opinions and posi tions on certain issues due to various reasons, 
including different interpretations of WTO rule s.  He wished to thank the General Council 
Chairman and his predecessors, as well as Chairs of the relevant subsidiary bodies, all Members 
and the Secretariat for the positive efforts and input that had been made in this process for the better 
understanding of matters relating to China's impl ementation of its commitments.  In conclusion, he 
wished to remind the General Council and its rele vant subsidiary bodies th at, as the Chairman had 
said in his opening statement under this item, pursuant to Section 18 of the Protocol on the Accession of China, review of Members' implem entation of some specific commitments to China 
was also within the terms of reference of the tran sitional review mechanism.  This included, among 
others, the lifting of certain quantitative restrictions on imports from China as provided in WT/GC/M/106 
Page 6  
 
  Section 17 of the Protocol.  Since there were still many other important items to be considered at 
the present meeting, he would refrain  from going into the details of th is.  His delegation hoped that 
Members had either already fulfilled or would faithfully fulfil their obligations. 
8. The representative of the United States
 said that as Members concluded this year's TRM for 
China, his delegation wished to share its observations on how those reviews had gone, both from a procedural as well as a substantiv e standpoint.  The United States  a l s o  w i s h e d  t o  m a k e  s o m e  
observations on China's completion of five years of WTO membership.  However, it first wished to 
express appreciation to the Chinese Ambassador and de legation and the many Chinese officials in 
Beijing who had worked hard to provide responses to the numerous questions raised by other Members.  The United States recognized the en ormous amount of time and effort the TRM 
required, particularly on the part of China's Mini stry of Commerce, which oversaw China's efforts 
in this area.  He recalled that the TRM had b een created largely beca use China had become a 
Member before it had revised all of its trade -related laws and regulations to make them WTO-
compatible, and because China had b een allowed a variety of transition periods before it took on 
certain WTO obligations.  As the past year had s hown, the TRM remained an important and useful 
mechanism, serving the interests both of China and of other Members.  The TRM continued to 
provide Members with the opportunity to seek clarifications regarding China's policies and 
practices.  It also provided a fo rum for Members to convey to Chin a their views, expectations and 
concerns regarding China's efforts to comply with its WTO obligations.  China, in turn, had the 
opportunity to clarify its approaches and actions, with the goal of preventing misunderstandings that could lead to trade frictions.  Members were now more than half-way through the life of the TRM.  They had completed five years of annual review s, while China's accession protocol called for three 
more years of annual reviews, followed by a final review within two more years.  Looking back on 
the transitional reviews conducted by the various  Committees and Councils in 2006, it was the 
United States' view that many important questions had been raised, and that many of the reviews 
had generated productive exchanges.  China had obviously put much time and effort into reviewing and considering Members' quest ions and preparing responses. 
9. Since its accession in 2001, Ch ina had worked very hard to reform its economy and 
implement the commitments set fort h in its Protocol of Accession.  Each year, China had made 
annual reductions in its tariff rates, eliminated  non-tariff barriers, expanded market access for 
foreign services providers and impr oved transparency.  All of these steps were designed to deepen 
China's integration into the international trading system, as well as to facilitate and strengthen the economic reforms China had begun 20 years earlier.  Over the past year, Members had seen some 
broad-based procedural pr oblems associated with China's implem entation of its distribution services 
commitments largely disappear, although China conti nued to maintain restrictions on importing and 
distributing certain products, such as foreign publications.  The area of direct selling also remained problematic.  China had continued to pursue an extensive action plan in 2006 in its efforts to develop and implement an effective system fo r IPR enforcement, as re quired by the TRIPS 
Agreement.  More recently, Chin a had issued regulations in th e area of banking services, which 
were intended to implement important commitments  to permit foreign banks to conduct domestic 
currency business with Chinese individuals.  The United States welcomed those regulations, 
although in certain respects they app eared to be overly restrictive.  On a bilateral basis, it had been 
pleased with China's willingness to engage in prod uctive dialogues in a numb er of areas, including 
with regard to China's policies in the steel sector.  Nevertheless , despite significant progress over 
the past five years in many areas, China's r ecord in implementing WTO commitments remained 
mixed.  Enforcement of intellectual property rights in China continued to be ineffective.  Members 
had raised a number of specific aspects of this pr oblem at the TRIPS Council's TRM meeting.  He 
would not repeat those concerns at the present meeting, except to say that the problems were enormous and required the serious attention of China and other Members.  The United States 
welcomed the steps China had been taking in this area, but much more work  needed to be done.  
Measurable progress would not be ac hieved until one began to see significant reductions in IPR  WT/GC/M/106 
 Page 7 
 
 
  infringement levels in China, and that had not yet happened.  China also continued to pursue 
problematic industrial policies that relied on tr ade-distorting measures,  such as local-content 
requirements, import and export restrictions, discri minatory regulations and prohibited subsidies.  
These kinds of measures all raised serious concer ns.  As in prior years, examples of these 
problematic policies were readily available.  They  included the following:  China's regulations 
imposing charges on imported auto parts that pr olonged prohibited local-content requirements for 
motor vehicles;  the telecommunications regu lator's continuing inte rference in commercial 
negotiations over royalty payments to IPR holders in the area of 3G standards;  the Government's continuing pursuit of unique  national standards in many areas of high technology;  a July 2005 steel 
industrial policy that called for the State's manageme nt of nearly every majo r aspect of China's steel 
industry;  China's continuing use of quotas to control the export of raw materials such as coke, a 
key steel input;  and government subsidization that  benefited a range of domestic industries in 
China. 
10. Worrisome new measures over the past year in cluded the following:  new policies calling 
for State control of “critical” e quipment manufacturers;  revised rules for foreign mergers and 
acquisitions that conferred broad and vaguely defined powers on the Government to block 
investments in a range of industries;  and pro posals to steer government purchases to domestic 
manufacturers to promote i nnovation in Chinese enterprises.  In th e area of agriculture, as in past 
years, unpredictable practices by  Chinese customs and quarantine officials delayed or halted 
shipments of agricultural product s into China, while sanitary a nd phytosanitary standards with 
questionable scientific bases and a generally opaque regulatory regime created problems for traders 
in agricultural commodities.  Developments over th e past year made clear that some Government 
agencies and officials had not ye t fully embraced the key WTO prin ciples of market access, non-
discrimination, national treatment and transparen cy.   The United States understood that further 
progress toward market mechanisms, fairness, transparency and predictability was sometimes 
difficult in the face of substantia l continuing challenges, including the need to confront a host of 
dislocations inherent in China's transition fro m a planned economy to a more market-oriented 
economy.  It also recognized th e important contribution China's economic progress was making to 
global growth and develo pment.  However, as the United Stat es had emphasized on prior occasions, 
the true measure of China's progress as a WTO Memb er had to focus on the extent to which China's 
trade regime had institutionalized market reforms and made improvements in transparency, fairness 
and predictability.  In conclusion, he wished to reiterate that the United States appreciated the 
efforts China had made in participating in the 2006 TRM exercise, and looked forward to the 
following year's TRM.  It also looked forward to working with China on a bilateral basis as it 
continued to pursue improvements in its trade regime.  The United States was committed to working with China, both in 2007 and beyond. 
11. The representative of Japan
 said that as had already been mentioned , 2006 was the fifth 
anniversary of China's becoming a WTO Member, th e year of the fifth TRM and the year of the 
first Trade Policy Review of China.  Japan unders tood that these reviews were highly meaningful 
processes in promoting mutual unde rstanding of the implementation of China's commitments since 
its accession, and on how China addressed current trad e-related problems and difficulties.  Japan 
appreciated the effort China put in to these reviews.  In order to contribute to the TRM process, 
Japan had posed a number of written questions to China in each Council a nd Committee.  Most of 
the issues raised in Japan's quest ions were shared concerns among Members.  He would not touch 
on any specific issues at the prese nt time, but wished to state that  Japan had concerns that China's 
replies to some of these questions were not sufficien t or did not provide pertin ent explanations as to 
how China's commitments were be ing implemented.  In this respect, although Japan appreciated 
China's commitment to the TRM, Japan wished to encourage Chin a to make additional efforts to 
engage in this process in a constr uctive manner.  As for the TPR of  China, while Japan appreciated 
the written answers from China, his delegation asked China to provide an swers to the remaining 
questions from Japan in a timely manner.  Japan hop ed that, in making use of these reviews, China WT/GC/M/106 
Page 8  
 
  would exert further efforts to enact  legislation and to strengthen the transparency and coherence of 
laws and regulations, in accordance  with its WTO accession commitments. 
12. The representative of the European Communities
 said that like the United States, the 
Community considered the present year 's transitional review to be le ss than satisfactory.  It was 
disappointed by the lack of China's replies and the multiple procedural difficulties that had 
occurred.  However, he did not wish to elaborate on this in detail now, but rather to look ahead.  
There were quite a few concerns mentioned by the US and Japan which the Community shared.  
China was now reaching the end of its tr ansition period for implementing its accession 
commitments.  It had reaped enormous benefits from its access to the liberal and transparent trade 
environment provided by the WTO.  China was now a major trading partner for all, and had a key 
stake in the proper functioning of the institution.  The Community expected it to show leadership in 
setting the example of providing detailed answers to legitimate concerns of other Members.  In October, the European Commission had issued a co mmunication on its future relations with China, 
which made a strong case for open trade.  However,  in order to resist prot ectionist tendencies that 
inevitably resulted from increased competition from  China, it was essential to demonstrate that 
there was a balance of opportuni ties and that the Chinese market was open.  It was in China's 
interest was to contribute to mutual trust.  WT O accession was the starting point, not the end point, 
of a Member's contribution to the WTO system .  While the Community wished once again to 
recognize the effort made by China to adapt to  the multilateral rules the WTO stood for, it hoped 
China would address the concerns raised, make an additional effort and an swer all the questions 
posed. 
13. The representative of Cuba
 said that China's entr y into the WTO had been an important step 
for the organization as well as for China.  China had fulfilled its commitments and was making 
efforts to play a positive, constr uctive and active role in the organization in the context of the 
present process of negotiations.  In the five y ears since China's accession, it had modified or 
amended more than 2,000 laws and procedures, bringi ng greater transparency to its procedures.  It 
had to a great extent brought down customs tariffs both for agricultural goods and other consumer 
goods, moving from an average tariff of 43.2 per cent in 1992 to 9.9 per cent at present.  In non-
tariff related measures, China had modified import licensing and quota system s.  Liberalization in 
the services sector had also been intense.  Transp arency in legislative work was also improving, and 
notable efforts had been made regarding laws a nd regulations related to intellectual property.  
China's economy had now moved up to rank as fourth  in the world, and evident success had been 
seen in poverty reduction and in raising living standards, with a reduction in pove rty of 5 million 
people.  China had made unprecedented development progress.  It had turned a multi-ethnic over-
populated country that was highly agricultural and poor into a prosperous, stable nation that was growing and showed solidarity.  Its prowess in  achieving development while maintaining its 
independence made it the greatest hope and the b est example for all developing countries and a 
main promoter of their economic development. 
14. One had to bear in mind that  in the context of China's acces sion in 2001, it had assumed 
commitments in many cases that were similar to  – and in some cases even  higher than – the 
commitments developed countries had assumed, desp ite its developing-country status.  China had 
reviewed and examined a large number of laws and disciplines in order to adapt them to its 
commitments by simplifying trad e procedures and increasing their transparency.  Despite being a 
developing country, China had made and continued to make considerable efforts to promote the 
participation of other developing countries in its ma rket and to facilitate development assistance.  
One also had to bear in mind th at China's economy was very la rge and very complex, and all 
countries had an interest in preser ving its stability, in view of the not very promising signals of 
continued growth in some of the other major world economies.  Cuba also wished to state its views 
regarding the discriminatory nature of the TRM re view process which applied to only one Member 
– no other Member was subject to this obligation.   There was also discrimination in some of the  WT/GC/M/106 
 Page 9 
 
 
  positions that had been stated and the questions put to China.  Cuba called on those who wished to 
see a reduction in domestic suppor t and subsidies, and compliance in  notifications, to apply these 
appeals to themselves, particularly in the context of the Doha Round of negotiations, which were at an impasse, due to the refusal of some of these countries to accept re ductions and greater disciplines 
for domestic support. 
15. The representative of Benin
, on behalf of the African Group , congratulated the Ambassador 
of China, his team and the Chinese authorities for the efforts they ha d made to bring China into line 
with the WTO system over the past five y ears.  The African Group welcomed China's 
rapprochement with Afri can countries and hoped that these relations would result not only in 
strengthening existing cooperation,  but also lead to growth in the trading relations between Africa 
and China.  The African Group wished China progre ss and hoped to be able to continue in the WTO 
to improve its contacts with the Chinese delegation. 
16. The representative of China  said his delegation had listened attentively to all the statements 
and particularly thanked delegations for the positive and objective comments they had made with regard to China's implementation  of its accession commitments.  Wi th regard to the concerns and 
questions raised by Members, he believed that most  of them had already been effectively addressed 
in the subsidiary bodies of the Ge neral Council.  Therefore, he did not see any point in repeating 
China's responses to those concerns or questions.  Other issues raised  by a couple of Members were 
outside of the mandate of the WTO and China's commitments.  However, China was willing to exchange views further with Members bilaterally ou tside the present meeting, if they so wished. 
17. The General Council took note
 of the statements and of the reports submitted by the 
subsidiary bodies on the conduct of their respective reviews, and agreed  that the fifth review by the 
General Council of China's implementation of the WTO Agreement and the provisions of its 
Protocol of Accession had been concluded. 
3. Report by the Chairman of the Trade Negotiations Committee 
18. The Chairman  invited the Director-General, as Chairm an of the TNC, to report on the 
TNC's activities since his l ast report to the Council. 
19. The Director-General, Chairman of the Trade Negotiations Committee , said that since he 
had last reported to the General Council in October, he had continued his contacts with Ministers, Senior Officials and members of parliaments,  visiting, among other places, Brussels and 
Washington.  He had also attended  the APEC Ministerial meeting in Hanoi, the 20th Anniversary of 
the launching of the Uruguay Round in Montevid eo, and the IPU Parliamentary Conference on the 
WTO.  In all his contacts, the desi re to come back to the negotiating table, and to do so rapidly, had 
been clear.  The political will to conclude the Round was being reaffirmed constantly across the board.  New flexibilities had been announced by major players in general terms.  The challenge 
remained to translate this political will and these signals of flexibility into  substantive changes in 
position, which were necessar y in order to unblock th e process.  In this cont ext, he had convened an 
informal meeting of the TNC on 16 November.  He had done so in the light of the signals he had 
received in his contacts with officials at every leve l, of a growing and widely-shared desire to make 
the most of every opportunity to lay the foundations for further prog ress.  It had become clear that 
the number and frequency of informal contacts among Members, both in Geneva and beyond, which had been going on since the summer, had in creased.  He had suggested that it was time to 
start to multilateralize these contacts and to bring them back to the Negotiating Groups in Geneva.  
In his opening remarks at the November mee ting, which had been circulated in document 
JOB(06)/255, he had set out a number of suggestions  on what this would mean  in practical terms.  
He had made it clear that he was encouraging th e Negotiating Group Chairs  to carry out contacts 
and consultations as they judged most appropriate, underlining that it was only they who could WT/GC/M/106 
Page 10  
 
  determine the way ahead in each area and the speed wi th which the work should take place.  At the 
conclusion of the meeting, he had noted a consensus on the working method he had suggested, which had given the green light to the Chairs to take up again their pro cesses, in keeping with the 
usual principles of transparency and inclusiveness. 
20. In line with what had been agreed, the Chairs had started talking to Members in a variety of 
formats, from "fireside chats" to "transparency foru ms", in order to explore possible options to take 
the negotiations ahead.  Following the lead taken by  the Chair of the Agriculture Special Session, to 
which he had referred at the November informal TNC, the Chairs of the other Negotiating Groups were also now hard at work, undertaking the contacts and cons ultations they judged most 
appropriate, bearing in mind the different circumstances of th e various Negotiating Groups.  He 
knew the Chairs were all mindful of the over-arc hing need for transparen cy and inclusiveness in 
their work, and a good number of open-ended consulta tions had been held so that they could inform 
participants of the contacts and consultations they had had and to offer all delegations an opportunity to exchange views.  While no real changes in numbers – notably in agriculture domestic support or tariff protectio n – had shown up in these discussions so far, an increasing level 
of engagement was starting to appear.  He believed this indicated a willingness to enter into 
discussions on substance.  Members also contin ued to have contacts among themselves, in many 
cases to try to refine their negotiating positions, and he encouraged them to continue to do so.  He 
knew that further contacts were pla nned, including some at Minister ial level early in 2007, at the 
invitation of Switzerland.  In order to be ready to engage fully on substance when the time came, Members needed to maintain the rhythm of the informal work that was under way between now and 
the end-of-year break, and then increase it when they returned after the break, in order to exploit the 
window of opportunity that remained  ahead in the first quarter of 2 007.  As he had said before, all 
knew the value of what was already on the table, the other benefits that were potentially achievable through a successful conclusion to the Round, and the costs to all Members and the trading system 
if Members failed.  Failure could be just around th e corner, but one not need turn that corner.  With 
all contributing and playing their part, Members could stay on track to take this Round to a 
successful conclusion in 2007. 
21. All representatives who spoke thanked the Direct or-General for his report on the status of 
the negotiations, and the Chairs of the negotiating groups for their efforts in trying to find a way to break the deadlock in the negotiations. 
22. The representative of Australia
 said he would not make a long statement or go over some of 
the issues or observations that would no doubt be made by colleagues, but wished to say that 
Australia was pleased – as CAIRNS Ministers had ca lled for in their meeting in September – that 
Members had been able to resume the Geneva pr ocess.  His delegation welcomed the work the 
Chairs had begun and the endeavours of all Members to support this work over the past month or so.  Members knew that an extrao rdinary effort would be required by all if they were to be 
successful in 2007, and his delegation believed that all agreed – particularly with the benefit of 
reflection over the past few months – that completing this Round was not just a worthwhile endeavour but an essential one – essential for what  it would deliver for th e multilateral trading 
system and for what it would deliver to the economi c welfare of all Members.  There were benefits 
that would accrue in all areas of the negotiati ons – the so-called market access and subsidies 
components of agriculture, industrial tariffs and services, and also in the rules area.  Of course, it 
was clear that Members had to find a solution fo r agriculture that met the objectives they had 
collectively set.  For the CAIRNS Group, this me ant Members had to find an outcome that would 
ensure that the Doha Round took the necessary step s to remove distortions in world agriculture 
trade.  As CAIRNS Ministers had recalled in Sept ember, the failure to conclude an agreement on 
agriculture modalities had been the result of significant gaps in positions in both domestic support 
and market access, and genuine and deep policy refo rms in both pillars were necessary if this 
Round was to deliver real change in global agriculture markets.    WT/GC/M/106 
 Page 11 
 
 
  23. The CAIRNS Group had been working hard over the past few months to establish 
approaches that would allow Australia to bridge th e gaps with other Members.  This had included 
work in all pillars of the agriculture negotiations .  In domestic support Members needed effective 
cuts and tight disciplines.  Substantial moves woul d be required by all the major subsidizers to 
remove the water from their commitments.  Member s had to ensure that they eliminated export 
subsidies and made the parallel commitments in other areas of export competition.  On market 
access in particular, Australia was convinced that Me mbers remained too far from an outcome that 
would deliver substantial improve ments as required by the mandate.  Market access was of course 
important in its own right in allowing trade to flow, but it was also essential to ensuring the effectiveness of reforms to the dom estic support pillar.  Australia had refined its thinking on the 
treatment of sensitive products and wished to en gage closely with other Members in a dialogue, 
having listened to their concerns  and remaining open to look at wa ys to address those concerns.  
However, this was in the context of its objectiv e for substantial improvement in all products.  
Australia had also developed new proposals on tropical products and was engaged in a dialogue within the CAIRNS Group on Special Products and the SSM.  It wished to engage closely with 
others in this process.  His co untry was confident that with ap propriate acknowledgement of the 
concerns and sensitivities on all sides, progress co uld be made.  There was little time to waste.  
Members could, if they liked, spend a lot of tim e trying to second-guess what  would happen in the 
political climate in Brussels, Wash ington, Tokyo and other places, or they could get on with their 
work and seek to do their best to move these negotiations forward.  That was the commitment 
Australia had to these negotiations. 
24. The representative of Benin
, on behalf of the African Group , said the present meeting was 
taking place at a crucial stage of the Doha Ro und, four months afte r the suspension of the 
negotiations and one month after the appeal made by Members at the 16 November informal TNC meeting for the resumption of the negotiations.  It was important to recall this in order to highlight 
the equally important challenges Members now f aced together.  It was incumbent upon all, 
following the end-of-year festivities, to move from  what had been called a "s oft resumption" into an 
effective, comprehensive and regular negotiating mode.  This should be one of the main decisions of the present meeting.  It would be difficult over th e next few days to defend  or justify any attitude 
that did not reflect a full and steadfast commitmen t to the task that lay ahead.  Members should 
resume work where they had left off in July, on the basis of the guid elines, principles and 
benchmarks defined in the Doha Declaration, the July 2004 Framework Agreement, and the Hong 
Kong Ministerial Declaration.  Furthermore, the African Group would not accept partial modalities.  
The process should be open to all Members and entir ely transparent.  At the same time, the results 
should take full account of the development dime nsion, which was the central objective of this 
Round.  In addressing the challenge s, concerns and expectations of the African Group in the 
negotiations, a number of issues had to be examined and incorporated in the results of the 
negotiations.  These includ ed agriculture, cotton, NAMA, services,  trade facilitation and accession.  
For the African Group the agricultural negotiations were at the heart of the ongoing process and 
would serve as a locomotive for all other work .  Any consensus outcome of these negotiations 
should aim to include the following:  substan tial reduction in domestic support;  elimination of 
export subsidies, taking account of the interests of the net food-importing developing countries and 
LDCs;  improvement in market access, with due c onsideration given to the impact of preference 
erosion on countries with long-standing preferences;  taking account of the banana issue and the 
difficulties encountered in connection with other basic products and of the need to identify appropriate indicators;  appropriate treatment of Special Pro ducts and establishment of a Special 
Safeguard Mechanism;  and gr anting of S&D treatment.   
25. On cotton, more than three years after the s ubmission to the competent WTO bodies of the 
request for an end to export subsidies and domes tic support that distorted international trade in 
cotton, this issue, altho ugh recognized as an urgent priority, had yet to be settled and remained as 
acute as ever.  The suspension of  the negotiations had merely made matters worse for the cotton WT/GC/M/106 
Page 12  
 
  producers in Africa, particularly  in the least-developed cotton-producing coun tries.  The African 
Group wished to stress, once again, the seriousness  and urgency of the cotton situation, and the 
need to address this issue ambitiously, expediti ously and specifically, as  provided for in the 
July 2004 mandate and recalled by Ministers in  Hong Kong.  It was essential that the necessary 
technical and financial assistance be granted to the African cotton-producing countries to strengthen 
the cotton sector.  In conjunction with these efforts to ensu re the survival of the cotton industry that 
was so vital to the countries concerned, tho se countries also wished  to start work on the 
introduction of a safety net to help manage the reve nue losses caused by the fa ll in cotton prices on 
the international market.  On NAMA, the Africa n Group believed the nego tiating process should 
produce a result that stimulated in dustrialization in Africa.  To th at end, the African Group wished 
to ensure that in developing the formula and determining the coefficients, the situation of the 
developing countries and the level of industrial ization of the African countries were taken into 
account.  This meant that necessary flexibilities would have to be granted to African countries.  
Similarly, the erosion of prefer ences would have to be proper ly addressed and trade solutions 
adopted.  As regards the non-mandatory sectoral approach, this could be properly evaluated only 
once the impact of the formula on the Doha ma ndate had been assessed, and provision had been 
made for longer implementation periods or the use of a correction coefficient to limit the adverse 
impact of the formula.  The situation of the LD Cs should be examined in response to the Hong 
Kong mandate with respect to duty- and quota- free access for products originating in LDCs, taking 
account of their request in connection with concerns  about the remaining margin for the 3 per cent 
of remaining tariff lines.  In the area of serv ices, the African Group recognized the economic 
potential of trade in services.  In this connection it wished to stress  the need to support the African 
countries, in particular the least -developed among them, in their ef forts to identify  the sectors in 
which they had services export inter ests.  The African Group also wi shed to reiterate the importance 
of bearing in mind the level of  development of these countries in formulating commitments, by 
conducting a prior-impact assessment and granting them the necessary flexib ilities regarding both 
market access and domestic regulati ons.  This was necessary in orde r to reassure the countries 
involved in the ongoing pr ocess and to help move forward in this area.  On trade facilitation, for the 
results of the work in this area to be balanced, they would have to take account of the recommendations and requests for technical assista nce, capacity-building and S&D treatment for 
the developing countries, in particular the LDCs .  This meant taking account of the infrastructure 
needs that had been expressed, since trade facilitati on required the elimination of constraints linked 
to the lack or shortage of infrast ructure in the countries concerned.  The recurring difficulties facing 
the landlocked countries should also be addresse d.  Moreover, any measures or initiatives to 
facilitate trade should be seen in a regional contex t, since the problems and situations in different 
countries were often similar.  In the area of accession, the African acceding countries were 
confronted with conditions that went beyond the WTO rules in force.  Thus, in conformity with 
paragraph 59 of the Hong Kong Decl aration, the African Group called on all Members to facilitate 
and accelerate the accession of African countries to th e WTO as an important means of ensuring the 
universal character of the organization.  Fina lly, the African Group hoped that the formal 
resumption of the negotiations wo uld take place as rapidly as poss ible, and that they would be 
comprehensive and dynamic, so that Members coul d do what was needed to obtain the results 
hoped for and to ensure that the Ro und reached a successful conclusion. 
26. The representative of Brazil , on behalf of the G-20,  said that when the G-20 Ministers and 
other developing-country group coordinators – for the G-33, the ACP countries, the LDCs, the SVEs, the C-4, and the NAMA-11 – had met in Rio on 9 September, they had deeply regretted the suspension of the DDA negotiatio ns.  They had seen it as a threat to the Round and to the 
multilateral trading system itself.  In that context, they had reaffirmed their willingness to join 
efforts with a view to ensuring that WTO negotiations in agriculture lived up to the commitments of 
the Doha mandate.  They had urged the Director-G eneral to intensify the process of consultations 
with Members, in an inclusive and transparent manner, in order to creat e the necessary conditions 
for the prompt resumption of the negotiations.  The multilateral process in Geneva had gradually  WT/GC/M/106 
 Page 13 
 
 
  started again with the "soft resumption" of the nego tiations.  This was a po sitive development that 
had been widely supported by Members.  The G-20  supported the process that  had been initiated by 
the Chairman of the agriculture nego tiations to try to reignite the di scussions.  They were pleased to 
see that participants in the Chai r-led process were approaching this exercise with open minds and 
with the willingness to explore areas of convergence.  This process was useful, but there were limits 
to what could be achieved by it in the current circ umstances.  In order to ma ke meaningful progress, 
and in order to move from chats to negotiations, cl ear signals were needed, and sooner rather than 
later. 
27. As pointed out by the G-20 Ministers in September, the current positions of the developed 
countries did not provide an adeq uate basis for leading the negotia tions to a successful conclusion.  
There was need for an early indication by devel oped countries that they were willing to achieve 
effective cuts in trade-distorting domestic support, together with di sciplines to avoid circumvention.  
There was also need for substa ntial improvements in market access, where the differences between 
developed and developing co untries had to be reflected in any outcome.  All of these issues were 
important and all had to be addr essed in order to have a successfu l conclusion of the negotiations 
and in order to achieve full modalities, as had just been highlighted by Benin for the African Group.  
This required addressing issues of direct inter est to developing countries, such as SPs, SSM, 
tropical products and preference erosion.  It also included addressing the concerns of LDCs, SVEs, cotton producers and developing-country RAMS.  The G-20 would continue to engage constructively.  The stakes were high.  This w as the first Round that had placed agriculture and 
development at its heart – it could not be allowed to fail, and failure did not mean just the absence 
of a conclusion.  Falling short of  the development promises of Doha would also be a failure.  The 
risk of not concluding the Round should not be underestimated.  The consequences for the multilateral trading system of a resurgence of protectionism and growing resort to bilateralism would be grave.  There was a window of opportuni ty at the beginning of 2007.  Members could not 
be allowed to lose it.  This entailed efforts by all,  and the G-20 was ready to do its part.  However, 
the real spark for the negotiations had to come from movements by the major players in domestic 
support and market access. 
28. The representative of Bangladesh
, on behalf of the LDCs , said the LDCs had listened 
carefully to the statement by the TNC Chair, and agreed with his assessment on the present 
negotiating scenario.  The LDCs had earlier express ed their full support fo r the Director-General's 
efforts to resume the negotiations in a meanin gful manner.  For the LDCs, trade was a vital 
component of their development efforts.  Trade negotiations were not simply a question of 
advancing or protecting the interests of specific industries or groups.  Given their urgent need for improved market access and attention to supply-side i ssues, the LDCs could not afford the luxury of 
negotiations at a slow pace.  A ccordingly, they urged Members, in particular the key players, to 
contribute to the negotiations in a meaningful manner.  According to UNCTAD's LDC 
Report 2006, "[e]ven if LDCs exported all their output, their share of world exports of goods and 
services would be only 2.4 per cent, even though  their share of world population was over 10 per 
cent …."  LDCs' problems were mainly two-fo ld:  gaining concessional market access for their 
products and services, and addressing supply-sid e constraints.  The LDC Group had submitted 
modalities on duty-free quota-free market access as well as transparent and simplified rules of 
origin under the scope of the CTD Special Session, the Committee on Agriculture Special Session 
and the NAMA Negotiating Group in June 2006.  Regarding market access in services, they had 
submitted revised Mode 4 requests and a mechanis m for according special priority to LDC service 
suppliers under the purview of GATS.  Although th ey had not received the expected response from 
the membership, they continued to be hopeful and looked forward to closer engagement with Members on these issues.  On trade facilitation, it was the LDCs' intent ion to implement, in 
accordance with their capacity, whatever was agreed  upon in the negotiation s.  At the same time, 
Members also had to recognize that LDCs might not be able to implemen t what was agreed upon 
without capacity-building assistance.  For the negotiations to be resu lt-oriented, it was necessary to WT/GC/M/106 
Page 14  
 
  take into account LDCs' needs a nd priority assessments, the provis ion of S&D treatment beyond 
transition periods, and capacity  building, keeping in view the modalities agreed upon in the 
July 2004 Framework. 
29. The representative of Mauritius
, on behalf of the ACP Group , said that as indicated on other 
occasions, the Group welcomed the re sumption of negotiations  at the technical level in Geneva.  It 
also supported the efforts of the Director-General in undertakin g high-level consultations to secure 
the right conditions for a full resumption of the negotiations.  The Group was also grateful to the Chairs of the negotiating bodies for having initiated, in various formats, consultations in a bid to secure the necessary convergence.  As the ACP Gr oup had also said before, for small delegations 
like those of the ACP coun tries, the multilateral process offered th e best platform for inclusiveness.  
Indeed, most of the ACP Members were not always privy to the parallel consultations being held in 
restrictive groups in Geneva or elsewhere.  Thei r fear – which was  legitimate – was that their 
specific concerns might be sidelined in these pa rallel processes, although their common position on 
key issues under negotiation was well-known.  Ther efore, the ACP Group joined other Members in 
calling for an early and full resumption of the negotiations, covering all areas, in full compliance 
with the principles of a bottom- up approach, transparency and in clusiveness and based on the DDA, 
the July 2004 Framework and the Hong Kong Decl aration.  The ACP Group continued to believe 
that a basic precondition for an overall fair, balanced and equitable outcome, to which all aspired, 
was meaningful delivery on the development mandat e, including the special interests of small and 
vulnerable Members. 
30. Although no specific deadline had been set, the Group was fully aware that in the coming 
weeks, rather than months, there had to be important breakthroughs on some of the central issues, 
mainly in agriculture – market access and domestic support – and NAMA, if Members wanted to conclude the negotiations, hopefully in 2007, through the small window of opportunity available until early 2007.  However, given the time constr aints, the ACP countries remained apprehensive 
that in an attempt to clinch hasty deals on those central issues, some of their specific concerns and 
interests would be left unattended.  Therefore, they would continue to insist on full modalities as 
one of the prerequisites for an acceptable outcome.   In this respect, whil e accepting the need for 
sequencing, they would need the necessary in-built guarantees – in any partial deals being struck – 
to the effect that their specific concerns would be  addressed as an integral part of the final deal.  
This was why the ACP Group remained actively engage d in all areas of the negotiations and at all 
stages of the process, and re-affirmed its commitme nt to an ambitious, pro- development outcome of 
the Round.  In keeping with th e Group's constructive engagement from the outset of the 
negotiations, the ACP countries would – in a spirit of fairness and urgency – make their contributions to defend both their defensive and offensive interests in all aspects of direct relevance to them.  These included:  substantial improvement in market access with due regard to the issues of 
longstanding preferences, SPs and SSM, commodi ty and NFIDCs-related issues;  effective 
reduction of all trade-distorting domestic supp ort;  early implementation of the Hong Kong 
Declaration on duty-free quota- free market access to LDCs;  cotton;  trade-related concerns of 
SVEs;  and paragraphs 8 and 6 flexibilities in NAMA.  In this respect, the ACP Group reiterated its call on the major players to show  the necessary flexibilities for prov iding an acceptable basis for a 
successful conclusion of the negoti ations.  The ACP Group stood read y to work with the Director-
General and other Members to find the middle grou nd as a first necessary step to moving forward. 
31. The representative of South Africa
, on behalf of the NAMA-11 Group ,2 said these countries 
remained disappointed that the negotiations had had to be suspended at the end of July due to the inability of some Members to make significant move ments in agriculture.  A continued delay in the 
progress of the Doha Round was a delay in the pr omise of the development outcomes of the DDA.  
                                                     
 
2 Argentina, Brazil, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Namibia, Philippines, South Africa, Tunisia and 
Venezuela.  WT/GC/M/106 
 Page 15 
 
 
  Developed countries too had major gains to make fr om a successful Doha Rou nd.  What was on the 
table in NAMA – notwithstanding the specific Swiss formula to be agreed – would yield the most significant cuts in developing-country tariffs from  bound rates, compared to efforts undertaken by 
developed, and developing, countries in all previous eight GATT Rounds on industrial tariffs.  Developed countries were still the major exporters of industrial goods and would be the major 
beneficiaries.  The NAMA-11 welcomed the "soft resumption" of the Doha negotiations the 
Director-General had called for at the informal TNC in November .  At that same meeting, the 
Director-General had stated that the negotiations were "somewhere between the quiet diplomacy of the last months and the fully-fledged negotiations  which will only come when Members are ready 
to put numbers to the flexibilities they have already expressed in general terms on key issues, in 
particular on agriculture, market access and domestic  support."  In addition , the Director-General 
had called for work to take place across all areas of the negotiations under the direction of the 
Chairs of the negotiating groups.  The NAMA-11 were pleased to repo rt that in response to this 
call, they had been fully engaged in the informal  consultation process undertaken by the Chair of 
the NAMA negotiations.  While the NAMA-11 were all committed to advancing the substance of 
the negotiations, they were also concerned to ensure that the sequencing of the negotiations under 
the DDA was careful to incorporate development i ssues first, agricultural modalities second, and 
then NAMA modalities, and that this was not abandoned or turned on its head – i.e. NAMA modalities first, agriculture modalities second, an d then possibly development issues such as duty-
free quota-free market access – as some Members we re now suggesting.  As the negotiations 
resumed, Members should also ensure that the sequencing within NAMA was mindful of the 
progress in the negotiations in agri culture.  Sectorals were not part of the core modalities, nor were 
they mandatory, and therefore would need to be appropriately sequenced in the negotiations.   
32. In addition, while the NAMA-11 were fully sup portive of transparency  in the negotiations, 
this would have to be accomplished in an appr opriate manner, and prop erly sequenced, without 
compromising the right of develo ping countries to designate the products that required greater 
flexibility and more careful adjustment.  In ad dition, the issues of export taxes and export 
restrictions were not part of the NAMA mandate and could not be brought into the negotiations at this late stage.  As the NAMA-11 Ministers had stated in a Ministerial Communiqué on 
29 June 2006, the NAMA-11 were willing to contribute to the NAMA negotiations.  This 
contribution would be based on the objective of achieving a fair, balanced and development-oriented set of NAMA modalities predicated on the following mandated principles:  placing 
development concerns at the hear t of the negotiations;  ensuring less-than-full reciprocity in 
reduction commitments for developing countries;  a comparable level of ambition with agricultural 
market access;  and appropriate flexibilities to manage adjustment costs and address development 
needs.  The NAMA-11 were willing to resume work on  the basis of the Chairm an's status report of 
June 2006.  However, this was on the understanding that that report was not a negotiated text and 
did not claim to represent all the views expressed on each of the elements of the NAMA modalities.  
The NAMA-11 had expressed their views on the TNC Chair's report at a meeting of the NAMA 
Negotiating Group in July, and did not need to repeat these views in detail at the present meeting.  
They merely wished to refer Members to one impor tant issue.  The concep t of "real market access" 
that was reflected in the Chair's status report was neither part of the mandate nor a principle of the 
NAMA negotiations.  "Real market access" or "new  trade flows" in NAMA was an ambition of 
developed countries in the NAMA negotiations, and th is ambition could not be claimed for free, but 
would require being paid for by an appropriately high level of ambition reflected in the developed 
countries' offers on agricultural market access and cu ts and disciplines in domestic support, as well 
as their own opening for industrial  products, in accordance with th e mandate to address tariff peaks 
and tariff escalation, particularly in products of  export interest to de veloping countries.  In 
conclusion, the NAMA-11 Member s wished to stress that they  were all fully committed to 
contributing to the current pr ocess in the negotiations led by the Chairman of the NAMA 
Negotiating Group. WT/GC/M/106 
Page 16  
 
  33. The representative of Argentina
 said his delegation had listened carefully to the Director-
General's statement and supported all his effort s in grappling with the pending issues Members 
needed to deal with in order to push the Doha Ro und forward.  He wished to stress the priority 
Argentina attached to the multilateral trading system .  Argentina agreed with the Director-General 
when he referred to the concern felt at the pro liferation of bilateral agreements, when Members 
should be focussed on st rengthening the multilateral system and in bringing progress to the Round.  
Argentina also wished to underscore its suppor t for the statement by Australia regarding the 
CAIRNS Group and the reference made to the need fo r reform in agriculture.  It also supported the 
statements by Brazil for the G-20, by South Afri ca for the NAMA-11 and by Mauritius for the 
ACP.  The developing countries were showing, through their active participation and through their 
proposals, the direction Members should be taking.  Furthermore, through these proposals they had 
effectively pointed to their co ntribution in market access and in  the strengthening of other 
disciplines that were so importa nt for the success of the Round and for the multilateral system.  
Argentina agreed with Brazil and South Africa, who had stressed that agriculture was relevant in 
order to unblock the negotiations.  While agriculture did not represent a large share of international 
trade – often the Director-General had referred to th e fact that it represented only 9 per cent – this 
percentage would be higher if there was liberalization in agricultural trade.  However, on the other hand, studies in Argentina had led his country to draw certain conclusions which had been shared with the groups in which Argentina participated.  For example, if one compared the situation in 
1970 – when market organizations were starting to be set up in Europe – and 2005, the drop in developing countries' market shar e in international trade in agriculture had been US$100 billion per 
year.  This was a significant figure and went far beyond any international aid offered.  Benin had 
referred to the African countries' concerns.  African countries sto od to lose the most – 
US$40 billion per year.  Thus, liberalization and the elimination of distortions in trade in agriculture would imply considerable progr ess for the African continent and,  of course, for all developing 
countries and for the multilateral trading system. 
34. There were two substantive issues – domestic  support and market access in agriculture – 
where movement and greater flexibility were necessary.  Argentina was very pleased to see a 
resumption of the negotiations at a technical level with the fire-side chats as a means of moving 
forward in discussions and to be tter specify certain elements.  However, there was no doubt 
whatsoever for Argentina that wh at was needed was political movement, which required leadership 
and determination, and a willingness at a high level.  Here the United  States, the European 
Community and the G-10 countries had a lot to do.  This was wh ere one could see the possibility 
for the Round to be unblocked.  There had to be movement there regarding domestic support and market access for this possibility to exist.  As had been aptly stated by South Africa for the 
NAMA-11 and Brazil for the G-20, the developing coun tries were showing that they wanted to see 
substantial progress in market opening.  Their access proposals for industri al goods as well as for 
agricultural goods exceeded the offers made by the developed countries in the Uruguay Round.  
These proposals were mid-way and implied a possibil ity of solving some of the conflicts in the 
Round.  There were extreme positions.  Howeve r, in NAMA, as well as in agriculture, the 
developing countries had made middle-ground proposals that were ambitious and that would make it possible to solve some of the difficulties Members were facing in  the Round.  Members had to be 
aware of this fact, and all needed to call for polit ical leadership, so there was an understanding of 
what developing countries were doing in indicating  a path to follow.  Without political movement, 
it would be extremely difficult to take advantage of this window of opportunity.  Above all, windows of opportunity could be extended in time.  It was important for Members to be patient and persistent in their efforts, and to be constant if they wanted to achieve the significant result needed 
from this Round in order to maintain and strengthen the multilateral trading system. 
35. The representative of Indonesia
, on behalf of the G-33 , welcomed the soft resumption of the 
negotiations to which the Director-General had re ferred, and the initiative of the Chairman of the 
agriculture negotiations to restart the multilateral process in agriculture.  The G-33 Ministers, at  WT/GC/M/106 
 Page 17 
 
 
  their Ministerial meeting in Rio in  September and in the margins of the G-20 meeting, had stressed 
their commitment and willingness to put the negotiations back on track as soon as possible, as a 
successful outcome was critical for economic growth , development and liveli hoods in developing 
countries.  The G-33 had always  been supportive of transparency , inclusiveness and the bottom-up 
approach in the negotiations.  Engaging all Memb ers was the most favourab le approach to ensuring 
a truly multilateral result.  The G-33 remained rea dy to engage in a dialogue that was constructive 
in its process and substance without being select ive.  The Group wished to emphasize that all 
outstanding issues in agriculture would have to be dealt with in a balanced and timely manner in the resumed negotiations.  These aspects were criti cal to creating the ri ght conditions for the 
negotiations and to imparting confidence among developing countries that the negotiations would 
not in any way subvert their development interests.   The G-33 were committed to ensuring that the 
final outcome did not put at risk the livelihoods of the vulnerable and disadvantaged section of their populations.  In this spirit, it was critical that all adhered to the Doha mandate, further complemented by the July  2004 Framework and the Hong Kong Declaration, in particular to the 
core development instruments su ch as Special Products and the Special Safeguard Mechanism.  
These instruments were vital to delivering the de velopment imperatives of the Doha Round.  The 
flexibilities sought for the food security, livelihood security and ru ral development needs of G-33 
Members were not being sought as open-ended opt-outs.  The outcome in the Doha negotiations for these flexibilities could only be sustainable if it enabled the developing countries to meet their 
development objectives.  It had to be appreciated that the issue of developing countries' flexibilities was not part of the problem – it was part of the solution.  The interests and needs of developing 
countries should rightly be placed at the heart of the Round so th at the development dimension of 
the Round was appropriately delivered.  The G-33 would continue to engage and cooperate constructively within the framework of achieving a fair trading system and a genuine development outcome in the negotiations through an inclusive and transparent process. 
36. The representative of Japan
 said his delegation shared the Director-General's sense that in 
this Round, Members were at the very edge of a high cliff.  All should recogn ize that the credibility 
of the multilateral trading system itself was at st ake.  Japan was satisfied that all the negotiating 
group Chairs were undert aking their initiatives.  The negotia tions should proceed in a balanced 
manner in all fields.  Japan was happy to report that its new Government, which had come into power two and a half months earlier, was very mu ch committed to the success of this development 
Round and determined to engage positively and eagerly. 
37. The representative of Romania
, on behalf of CEFTA Members , supported the Director-
General's report and shared his assessment of the stat e of play.  Members were coming closer to the 
moment when they would have to choose between what was right and what was easy, in order to get results in this negotiating process.  Fo r the CEFTA Members, the soft resumption of 
negotiations was the first step to wards hard work.  Members needed  to understand better what was 
at stake for all.  As the Director-General had said , failure might be lurking around the next corner.  
Then again, challenges were oppor tunities to prove one's best.  Members' job was to take all 
opportunities to push the negotia tions further and the Round clos er to a successful conclusion. 
38. The representative of India
 thanked the Director-General fo r his continuing efforts to push 
Members towards a successful completion of the Ro und.  He associated his delegation with the 
statements by Brazil for the G- 20, Indonesia for the G-33 and So uth Africa for the NAMA-11.  
India also supported the statements by Benin fo r the African Group, Mauritius for the ACP and 
Bangladesh for the LDCs.  Members were now almost four weeks into the new phase of consultations.  In agriculture esp ecially, there had been a fairly in tensive process in which Members 
had discussed a number of ideas and options in a ve ry constructive manner.  There had not been any 
major breakthroughs, but Members were making sin cere efforts to understand each other's concerns 
and aspirations.  India was also mindful that if  Members were to achieve closure by 2007, they 
needed to find common ground on the key areas w ithin the next few weeks.  It was becoming WT/GC/M/106 
Page 18  
 
  increasingly clear that the spark th at would ignite the negotiations would have to come through the 
political process in general and de veloped countries in pa rticular.  The process had to balance the 
need to hurry with the need to be complete.  Me mbers could not allow timelines to force them into 
an outcome that either circumvented the mandate or deferred some areas for future consideration, a 
point which had been made earlier by Benin for the African Group and by Mauritius for the ACP.  
All areas of the single undertaking were equall y important, and outcomes on all areas, consistent 
with the mandate, were required to provide a balance for all Members.  The main deliverable in this negotiation was an outcome that did justice to  the development promise of the Round.  In 
agriculture, this implied an outcome that substantially reduced distortions in developed countries, improved market access and provided developing countries with the flexibilities they required to 
address the needs of their poor and vulnerable farmers.  The removal of distortions would need to 
be accompanied by appropriate disciplines to ensure that they did not re-appear in another form.   
39. In NAMA, the development outcome had to be  based on the princi ple of less-than-full 
reciprocity with appropriate flexibilities for de veloping countries to address their development 
needs.  There could be no new conditions on any developing country's recourse to flexibility 
provisions.  India did no t see sectorals – participation in which it had already been agreed was non-
mandatory – as part of the core modalities.  Sectorals could not be part of the central equation and, therefore, needed to be sequenced at the end of th e tariff negotiations.  In services, India remained 
committed to a meaningful outcome, both in mark et access and disciplines in domestic regulations.  
In this area, India already had a significantly ambitious revised offer on the table, which was well 
over and above its Uruguay Round commitments.  It  wished to see similar market openings in 
sectors and modes of interest to developing countri es.  He also wished to  underline that in the 
services negotiations, the development aspect could largely be addressed through meeting 
developing-country requests in Modes 1 and 4.  Indeed, an indication of liberal commitments from developed countries in all Modes, but particularly Modes 1 and 4, would provide a strong incentive for developing countries in the negotiations and would enhance the latter's ability to respond to 
plurilateral and bilateral requests made of them.  Concerning domestic regulations, India had noted 
that liberal market-access commitments were often ne gated by invoking domestic regulations.  This 
could be prevented by putting in place disciplines on domestic regulations, which had been 
mandated by the Hong Kong Declaration.  India looked  at such disciplines as an integral part of the 
outcome in the services negotiations, since the latte r were meant to promote free and fair trade, 
rather than restrict trade.  The key, of course, was to strike the right ba lance between the right to 
regulate and ensuring that domestic regulation s did not negate market access.  To address the 
concerns of developing countries, appropriate S& D treatment provisions would also have to be 
added.  Without an outcome in this area, the servi ces negotiations would be incomplete.  In Rules, 
Members needed to make substantial progress in  clarifying and improv ing disciplines on anti-
dumping, subsidies, counte rvailing measures and RTAs.  Needless to say, the special concerns of 
LDCs, SVEs, cotton producers and developing-country RAMs would need to be an integral part of 
the outcome, as would a positive and concrete de cision on implementatio n issues, especially the 
CBD-TRIPS issue.  India also urged an early operationaliz ation of the duty-free quota-free 
arrangements for LDCs, as well as the Aid-for-Trade initiative. 
40. The representative of Kenya
 associated her delegation with th e statements by Benin for the 
African Group, Mauritius for the ACP Group and Indonesia for the G-33.  Kenya also welcomed 
the soft resumption of the negotiations which had led to the informal consultations that were being 
carried out through the Chairs of the various negotia ting bodies.  In specific reference to the current 
process, Kenya not only encouraged  those Chairs to intensify thei r consultations in the various 
configurations, but also to be as in clusive as possible.  In  particular, in the informal negotiations on 
agriculture, Kenya wished to see more fire-side chats, which embraced a much wider participation 
of the membership, es pecially those from the African region.  WT/GC/M/106 
 Page 19 
 
 
  41. The representative of China  said that as a member of the G-20 and the G-33, China fully 
associated itself with the statemen ts by Brazil and Indonesia.  It also shared many concerns 
expressed in statements by other developing-count ry Members and groups.  Like others, China 
welcomed the recent soft resumption of the Doha Round negotiations after over three months of 
suspension, and had taken note of the constructi ve engagement of Members in various negotiating 
bodies with the guidance of their respective chairpersons.  However, it should be underlined that up 
to the present, such engagement had not resulted in any of the tangible progress needed for the 
momentum in and an early successful conclusion of the Round, either in the most important pillars 
in agriculture or in any other areas of the negotiati ons.  China wished to reiterate the common view 
shared by most Members on the centrality of agriculture in the Round and to endorse the 
importance and gravity of an understanding on a high level of ambition among the major 
developed-country Members on trade-distor ting domestic support and market access  in agriculture, 
which would facilitate other areas of negotiatio ns  moving forward and would encourage other 
Members to take more flexible positions.  China reco gnized that progress in other areas as early as 
possible was also indispensable fo r the eventual single undertaki ng of the negotiations.  His 
delegation therefore wished to appeal to the developed-country players to demonstrate their 
political will and leading role in translating th eir repeatedly stated commitment into specific 
actions. 
42. In discussing market access for agricultural produ cts, one should always  bear in mind the 
different roles that agriculture played in developed and developing-country economies.  For the latter, agriculture was the basic m eans of survival for billions of subsistence farmers.  Therefore, 
the legitimate concerns of developing-country Members on Special Products and the Special 
Safeguard Mechanism had to be fully addressed.  M eanwhile, appropriate solutions had to be found 
to other issues of equal importance for developing-country Members, such as universally applied S&D treatment, duty-free and quota-free market access for LDCs, cotton, specif ic concerns of the 
SVEs and RAMs.  After all, the Doha Round was a development round.  It would be useless, 
particularly for the major players,  to repeat the game of "crying wolf" by issuing any more warning 
signals about the time constraint being faced and the possibility of a failure of the Round, which were well known to all.  Unless Members were r esolutely determined on the political front and took 
concrete action to meet the challenges, they would have no other option than to face all the serious 
consequences of failure of the negotiations.  Members had to try their best to avoid this. 
43. The representative of Chinese Taipei
 said that at this critical  juncture for the DDA, his 
delegation wished to reiterate its  strong support for th e negotiations and for a successful conclusion 
of the Round sooner rather  than later.  That support was based  on the conviction that all had a key 
stake in today's global economy, which was more integrated than ever before, and therefore each 
had a major interest in promoting an open and stable trading environment.  Chinese Taipei's own experience over the past few decad es had led it to the firm convictio n that trade would serve as one 
of the most effective engines for driving economic development and improving living standards.  
This objective could be achieved only through a successful conclusion to the current Round.  At 
present, with only a limited window of opportunit y in which to complete the DDA negotiations, his 
delegation called on Members to demonstrate the flexibility and political will needed to bridge the differences and reach a breakthro ugh by the spring of 2007.  It welcomed the resumption of 
technical discussions since the mo st recent informal meeting of th e TNC.  Good progress in these 
would surely lay a sound foundation on which Members could grasp opportunity in the new year. 
44. The representative of Nigeria
 said his delegation agreed with the Director-General's 
assessment on the state of play in the negotiations .  Nigeria noted and appreciated the current 
efforts to get the DDA negotiations back on track,  and remained committed to contributing to this 
endeavour.  It was clear that unresolved issues in the agriculture negotiations had contributed 
significantly to the limited achievements in the en tire negotiations.  The current situation had 
undoubtedly jeopardized the Decem ber 2006 deadline.  The agricu lture negotiations had been WT/GC/M/106 
Page 20  
 
  overtly concentrated on market-access issues, arguab ly to the detriment of other pillars of the 
negotiations.  Even on market access, there was a n eed to put high priority on development issues.  
The search for compromise had to be reinvigorated .  Members had to increase the pace of work 
towards achieving the goal of an ambitious and bala nced outcome.  Therefor e, the present meeting 
was a critical stepping stone in this direction.  The opportunity provided by this meeting would 
enable Members to obtain clarity on the way forw ard in terms of process.  Nigeria welcomed the 
recent efforts by all to overcome differences thro ugh consultations.  It was encouraged by the 
prevailing spirit of willingness to resume negotiati ons.  Nigeria favoured an early removal of all 
obstacles that had so far prevented the timely conclu sion of the negotiations.  The tireless efforts of 
the Director-General, his Deputies and the Chairs of the Negotiating Groups should not go 
unnoticed.  They should be encouraged to take further initiatives with the support of the entire 
membership to advance the negotiations.  If the Doha Round was to be concluded with minimal further delay, the major players had to be substantially flexible in their positions, particularly on agriculture, which held the key to unlocking the rest of th e agenda.  It was highly regrettable that no 
indications of such flexibilities currently existed.  Nigeria also wished to reiterate the need for a 
bottom-up approach, incl usiveness and a transparent process, as necessary conditions for achieving 
a result that responded to the needs of all Memb ers.  Nigeria stood ready, as it had always, to 
engage fully in the process.  Nigeria fully suppor ted the statements by Benin for the African Group, 
Mauritius for the ACP Group, Brazil for the G-20 and Indonesia for the G-33. 
45. The representative of Cuba
 said his delegation supported th e statements by Brazil for the 
G-20, Indonesia for the G-33, Mauritius for th e ACP Group, Benin for the African Group, 
Bangladesh for the LDCs and South Africa for th e NAMA-11.  Cuba support ed the resumption of 
the negotiation process and contin ued to be committed to a successful outcome to the Round.  It 
also supported the multilateral format with the incl usion and participation of all, which should not 
be reduced to the so-called transparency of reporting on small-format groups without providing full details.  Cuba was committed to a plan that woul d produce results, but not as an end in itself.  
Members had to comply with the development mandate of the Round, which was its reason for 
being.  They needed to include solutions for th e application of S&D treatment, flexibilities for the 
developing countries, the realization of paragraph 50 of the July 2004 Framework text on Agriculture concerning export prohibitions and restrictions, paragraphs 6 and 8 of the NAMA Framework text, the treatment of SVEs, cotton-p roducing countries and NFIDCs, long-standing 
preferences, duty-free quota-free access for LDCs, as well as the Special Safeguard Mechanism and 
Special Products.  There did not seem to have been  any significant changes in the positions of the 
US and the EC since July 2006.  What was needed was political will on the part of the major 
powers to meet the Doha commitments and those of Hong Kong.  Cuba did not favour setting new artificial deadlines once again – be they three months  or a year – which had proven to be unrealistic 
in the past, particularly  if these deadlines were linked to the internal political schedules of an 
important Member.  No Member could be allowed to have such a disproportionate influence on the 
scheduling and content of negotiations in an organization made up of 150 Members that were equal.  Times had changed since the Uruguay Round.  It was no longer possible to have a draft document agreed among a small number of Members, however important and influential they might be, or a draft agreement among chairmen or a last-minute ag reement that could be acceptable to a majority 
of the Members.   
46. Cuba agreed with the declaration by the African  Union that agriculture had a central role in 
the DDA and that the main trading partners had to  agree on reducing agricultural subsidies and 
providing market access, because this was at the heart of the issues Members were facing.  
Concessions in market access would benefit only a few countries, so the ma jority of developing 
countries would be losers and woul d gain little or nothing if they  accepted the current proposals put 
forward by developed countries.  Unless agricult ural subsidies were reduced or eliminated and 
market access was provided, no agreem ent would be acceptable to the ma jority of countries.  Cuts 
in domestic support were also n ecessary.  The process had to be b ased on the current DDA, the July  WT/GC/M/106 
 Page 21 
 
 
  2004 Framework agreement and the Hong Kong De claration, with full  respect for the full 
modalities and the logical sequences that had been agreed upon.  One had heard references to the 
negative impact of the paralysis or failure of  the Round on developing countries, but no one 
mentioned the negative impact already being felt by many of these countries.  There had been little or no progress to date on the questions of implementation and S&D treatment, which were two key 
issues in creating a new balance si nce the Uruguay Round.  The agriculture proposals of the EC and 
the US were not as generous as they appeared.  Developed countries could significantly reduce their 
levels of trade-distorting internal supports and con tinue to make changes in disciplines in this area, 
without the real or applied levels of such support actually being affected.  Their offers to reduce agricultural tariffs were also inadequate.  The NAMA line-by-line cuts were contrasted with the 
flexibilities that had been offered by the develope d countries to themselves in agriculture.  In 
conclusion, Cuba wished to underline that the offers and requests of the developed countries in the area of NAMA were far from living up to the principle of less-than-full reciprocity.  With the so-called Swiss formula, and the co-efficients that were put forward by the developed countries, a 
result of trade liberalization, would be, accord ing to some calculations , the following:  the 
developed countries would have a reduction under the Swiss formula of about 25 per cent, which 
would be equivalent to 1.5 and 1.9 percentage points.  The developing countries would, with a co-efficient of 15 under the Swiss formula, be reducing their tariffs by more than 60 per cent, which was equivalent to more than 20 percentage points.  It was naive to think that the resulting trade liberalization would benefit the poorer countri es, without internal accumulation of capital and 
foreign investment, transfer of technology an d assistance for sustainable development without 
conditions.  The fact that the developing countr ies would be the ones who would lose the most if 
the Round were to fail did not mean they would accept the conclusions of th e Round at any price, 
particularly if this involved de nouncing the little or no space for industrial development and trade 
policy they had in respect of tariffs. 
47. The representative of Mexico
 said the resumption of the negotiations, however timid, was a 
very good sign and reflected the positive response of  Members in all areas of the Round.  It was a 
demonstration of the collective political will to avoid what could be very serious damage to the multilateral trading system.  The approval of the transparency mechanism for RTAs was proof that with this political will, Members could reach the necessary agreements, and his delegation wished 
to congratulate the Chai r of the Negotiating Gr oup on Rules on that success.   However, to reach 
agreement, Members had to seek, however gradually,  to carry their work beyond meetings which, 
although valuable, were still timid and reflected  a reluctance to go beyond uncertain promises 
concerning flexibilities.  Member s had to reveal what these flexibi lities were.  It was said that the 
road to hell was paved with good intentions and, it seemed, particularly with promised flexibilities. 
All were aware of what each and every Member needed to do, and what was hoped others would 
do.  He would not provide a wish list, but merely wished to say that the new Government was 
willing to cooperate with all in order to achieve a successful conclusi on to the Round in a very short 
time. 
48. The representative of Barbados
, on behalf of the small, vulnerable economies , thanked the 
Director-General and all delegations who had all uded to the concerns of SVEs at the present 
meeting.  At the previous General Council mee ting, he had said that the small success achieved 
then, as reported by the Chair of  the CTD in Dedicated Session, reminded him of the words of the 
US astronaut on the first moon-landing, but had gone on to note that the SVEs anxiously awaited 
the resumption of the negotiations.  The SVEs were  pleased to be included in the process the soft 
resumption had made possible and intended to make a contribution.  They were not looking for a Round for free and were indeed ready to make a contribution, but they would continue to insist that this contribution be consistent with their ability.  In this context, they wished to thank the Chairs of 
the various bodies for giving them a fair opport unity to pursue the adopti on of "specific measures 
that would facilitate the fuller integration of small, vulnerable economies into the multilateral trading system", as stated in paragraph 41 of the Hong Kong Declaration.  This objective could not WT/GC/M/106 
Page 22  
 
  be achieved unless the SVEs' major trading partners  resolved key issues, such as the level of 
domestic support in agriculture and the other elements in the triangle of issues identified.  The SVEs understood the current political difficulties and could only hope for a quick resolution so that what was on the table was not lost. 
49. The representative of Chile
 said there had been some very interesting statements regarding 
the Doha Round.  There had also been several refe rences to the possibility of failure.  This had been 
mentioned by the Director-General and Japan, and both, in one way or another, had said that Members were on the brink of failure, on the edge of  a precipice.  He wished to stress this particular 
point, because it was possible for the Round to fa il.  That was a fact, and many statements had 
referred to the need for flexibility.  However, the majority of this flexibility was being referred to as 
defensive.  As Argentina had said, what was need ed were flexibilities in  the big markets, which 
would imply opening markets and dropping protection, for the Round to effectively move forward and become a development Round.  Chile had on many occasions referred to the  possible 
consequences of failure, and wished to repeat some of them.  The entire WTO system was in jeopardy.  If there was a failure, protectionism throughout the world would inevitably grow, 
because the credibil ity of a regulated trading system would be jeopardized.  If there was a failure, 
there would be an increase in free-trade agreemen ts throughout the world,  and these would probably 
be even less WTO-compatible than currently was the case, as there were already several that were 
not compatible.  There would be an increase, pe rhaps unsustainable, in complaints and dispute 
settlement proceedings within th e WTO, and the regulated and negotiated system would not accept 
new rules through the dispute settle ment proceedings.  Failure would be highly regrettable.  Chile 
saw the need for some type of an agreement by the spring of 2007.  If this did not happen, the 
negotiating process would be put o ff until 2010 or even later.  He  hoped that history would not 
judge Members poorly, and that they co uld make the necessary effort in time. 
50. The General Council took note
 of the Director-General's re port and of the statements. 
4. Transparency for Preferential Trade Arrang ements – Draft Decision – Communication 
from Brazil and India (WT/GC/W/574) 
51. The Chairman  drew attention to the communication from Brazil and India in document 
WT/GC/W/574.  He said it was his understanding that  in the light of the discussions that had been 
taking place in the Negotiating Group on Rules with regard to a Transparency Mechanism for 
RTAs, some Members had begun to give thought al so to the need to cons ider transparency for 
preferential arrangements that would not be cove red by the RTA Transparency Mechanism.  With 
this in mind, the draft text which had been circulated by the delegations of Brazil and India in 
document WT/GC/W/574 proposed that the Comm ittee on Trade and Development be asked to 
consider transparency for preferential arrangements under paragraph 2 of the Enabling Clause – other than RTAs – and to report back within six months for appropriate action by the General Council.  As Brazil and India had explained in their communication, this would be in keeping with 
the shared objective of enhancing the transparency level of all preferential arrangements notified to 
the WTO.  In the light of this  background, as well as informal c onsultations he had held recently 
with a number of delegations – including coordinators of regional and other WTO groupings – it was his understanding that Members were in a positi on to consider this matter positively and to 
adopt the draft decision with rega rd to Transparency for Preferen tial Trade Arrangements contained 
in the Annex to document WT/GC/W/574, without pr ejudice to the results of  the deliberations the 
CTD would be called upon to undertake.  Based on th is understanding, he pr oposed that the General 
Council adopt the draft decisi on regarding Transparency for Preferential Trade Arrangements 
contained in the Annex to document WT/GC/W/574.  WT/GC/M/106 
 Page 23 
 
 
  52. The General Council took note  of the statement and, based on the understanding read out by 
the Chairman, adopted  the draft decision regarding Tr ansparency for Preferential Trade 
Arrangements contained in the Annex to document WT/GC/W/574.3 
5. Work Programme on Small Economies – Report by the Chairman of the Dedicated 
Session of the Committee on Trade and Development 
53. The Chairman  recalled that at its meeting in February and March 2002, the General Council 
had taken note of a framework and procedures for the conduct of the Work Programme on Small Economies, under which this Work Programme shall be a standing item on the General Council's agenda.  The framework and procedures also provided that the Committee on Trade and 
Development shall report regularly to the General Council on the progress of work in its Dedicated 
Sessions on this subject.  Furtherm ore, Ministers at Hong Kong ha d instructed the CTD, under the 
overall responsibility of the General Council, to continue the work in the Dedicated Session and to monitor progress of the small economies' proposals in the negotiating and other bodies, with the aim of providing responses to the trade-related is sues of small economies as soon as possible, but 
no later than 31 December 2006. 
54. Mr Ismail (South Africa), Chairman of the Dedicated Session of the Committee on Trade 
and Development , said that many proponents of the small economies work programme had recently 
been in Geneva to take part in the 13th "Geneva Week" event, and he had used the occasion to brief 
the non-residents on the recent developments in the Dedicated Session and, in particular, the 
Dedicated Session's last report to the General Council on Measures to A ssist Small Economies in 
Meeting their Obligations under the Agreements on SPS Measures,  TBT and TRIPS.  He recalled 
that this report had been circulated in document WT/COMTD/SE/5 and that the General Council in 
October had agreed to the report's recommendations.  As part of the Geneva Week programme, there had also been two presentations by the Secretariat on issues of interest to small economies.  The first presentation had been given in response to  a request by several of the non-residents to 
learn more about the work of the Committee on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures, where 
several of the small-economy proponents had made  requests for extensions of their transition 
periods for the progressive elimination of export s ubsidies.  The second presentation had focused on 
the difficulties some small economies had with in creasing their share of world markets.  The 
Secretariat had presented some recent economic res earch and had outlined specific problems small 
economies had with income volatility and diversifying their production.  He believed that his recent update to the non-reside nts, as well as these two presentations,  would help Members identify some 
other specific measures to facilitate the fuller integration of small economies into the multilateral 
trading system.  This  would be the focus of the Dedicated Session's work in 2007.  At the same 
time, the Dedicated Session would continue in the course of 2007 its monitori ng of past and future 
proposals submitted by the small economies in the negotiations and in the regular bodies of the 
WTO. 
55. The Chairman
 said he wished to note that, as stated  by the Chair of the CTD in Dedicated 
Session, Members in the Dedicated  Session would be pursuing the substantive work under the 
Small Economies Work Programme in the new year. 
56. The representative of Barbados , on behalf of the small, vulnerable economies , thanked the 
Chairman of the CTD in Dedicated Session for his report, which accurately reflected the successes 
achieved thus far in implementing paragraph 35 of the Doha Declaration and paragraph 41 of the 
Hong Kong Declaration.  More pert inently, it illustrated that a great deal of work still remained to 
be undertaken if Members were to honour these respective mandates.  The SVEs echoed the 
statement by the Chair of the CT D in Dedicated Session that engagement and progress on small-
                                                      
3 The Decision was subsequently circulated in document WT/L/672. WT/GC/M/106 
Page 24  
 
  economies issues had to continue in 2007, and this had to unfold in parallel with the other important 
areas in the negotiations.  As they had done over the past year, the SVEs would continue to pursue 
their interests in the De dicated Session and also  in the negotiating and other bodies, where many 
SVEs had submitted proposals – in the areas of ag riculture, NAMA, services, trade facilitation, 
subsidies and fisheries subsidies and on issues such  as AFT.  The decision by the General Council 
in October on the SPS, TBT and TRIPS proposals by  some of the SVEs had sent a strong signal to 
their constituents that the WTO could address the interests of SVEs , who pledged to continue to 
engage constructively on areas of the negotiat ions where they, and all other Members, had 
particular interests. 
57. The General Council took note
 of the statements and of the report by the Chairman of the 
Dedicated Session of the Committee on Trade and Development, and also took note  that Members 
in the CTD in Dedicated Session would be pu rsuing the substantive work under the Small 
Economies Work  Programme in the new year. 
6. Work Programme on Special and Differential Treatment 
(a) Report by the Chairman of the Special Sessi on of the Committee on Trade and Development 
(b) Reports by Chairpersons of other WTO bodies to whom special and differential treatment 
proposals have been referred 
58. The Chairman  proposed that the Council take up th e two sub-items together.  He recalled 
that Ministers at Hong Kong ha d instructed the Committee on Tr ade and Development in Special 
Session to expeditiously complete the review of  all the outstanding Agr eement-specific proposals 
and to report to the General Council – with clear recommendations for a decision – by 
December 2006.  Regarding the Cate gory II proposals that had been  referred to other WTO bodies 
and negotiating groups, Ministers in Hong Kong had instructed that these bod ies also expeditiously 
complete the consideration of these proposals and report periodically  to the General Council, with 
the objective of ensuring that clear recommendations for a deci sion were made no later than 
December 2006.  Ministers had further instructed the Special Session to coordinate its efforts with 
these bodies, so as to ensu re that this work was completed on time.  Finally, Ministers had also 
instructed the Special Session, wi thin the parameters of the Doha mandate, to resume work on all 
other outstanding issues – includi ng on the cross-cutting issues, the monitoring mechanism, and the 
incorporation of S&D treatment in to the architecture of  WTO rules – and to report on a regular 
basis to the General Counci l.  The Chairpersons of  the Special Session of the CTD and of the other 
WTO bodies had last updated the General Council on the status of work in this area at the General 
Council meeting in July. 
59. Mr Gafoor (Singapore), Chairman  of the CTD in Special Session , recalled that at the July 
Council meeting he had reported that Members ha d been engaged in a text-based discussion on the 
16 remaining Agreement-specific proposals and had b een able to make progress on six of them, and 
that on the remaining ten, the divergences had been  considerable.  As for the outstanding issues, 
including the cross-cuttin g issues, he had reported that Memb ers had focused their discussions on 
the monitoring mechanism.  Since the suspension of the negotiations in July, no further progress on 
the remaining Agreement-specific proposals had b een made, and no further discussions had been 
held in the Special Session on th e duty-free quota-free market access fo r LDCs or on the monitoring 
mechanism.  Accordingly, th e July report in document TN/CTD/18 remained an accurate 
description of the current  situation in the Special Session.  As the Council Chairman had stated, 
Ministers in Hong Kong had given the CTD in Sp ecial Session a deadline of December 2006 to 
make clear recommendations on the Agreement-speci fic proposals.  Clearly , the Special Session 
was not in a position to meet this deadline, an d needed to continue its work on the Agreement-
specific proposals beyond December 2006.  Followi ng the soft resumption of activity in the various  WT/GC/M/106 
 Page 25 
 
 
  Negotiating Groups since the informal meeting of  the TNC in November, he had convened a series 
of informal consultations with individual and small groups of delegations to see how and when to resume the work of the Special S ession.  In this regard, he wish ed to thank Members, both the 
proponents and others, for taking time to meet w ith him during the past few weeks.  In general, 
Members had indicated that they were ready to re sume work at an approp riate moment in 2007.  
Some Members had indicated that, in view of the scheduled meeting of the African Union in Addis 
Ababa in mid-January 2007,  they would prefer the Special Sessi on to meet after that meeting.  A 
number of delegations had also indicated that th e work of the Special Session should move in 
tandem with what was being done in other Nego tiating Groups.  Taking into account Members' 
views, it was his intention to c onvene an informal, open-ended mee ting of the Special Session in 
mid-February 2007.  If the situation warranted, such a meeting could even be convened earlier, as 
long as Members were ready to engage and show flexibility.  Clearly, much depended on the 
overall situation of the Doha Round.  As always , he was available at any time to any delegation 
wishing to discuss its concerns with him.  He ho ped that progress could be made when Members 
resumed work in 2007. 
60. The Chairman
 said it was clear that the Special Sessio n of the CTD would need to continue 
with its consideration of the remaining Agreement-sp ecific proposals, and wished to note, as stated 
by the Chair of the CTD in Special Session, that Members would be pursuing this work in the new 
year.  Before inviting the Chairs of the other WTO bodies to  update Members on the work carried 
out in their respective areas, he wished to recall the statement by  the TRIPS Council Chairman at 
the May 2006 meeting of the Gene ral Council in which the latter had indicated that the TRIPS 
Council had authorized him to report (i) that the situation in regard to the Category II proposals 
referred to that Council remained as reported in July  2005 in document IP/C/36;  (ii) that the TRIPS 
Council reiterated its earlier recommendation as reproduced in that document;  and (iii) that no further action was otherwise needed on the proposals re ferred to that Council.  In the light of this 
report at the May 2006 Council meeting, he would not be inviting the TRIPS Council Chair to 
report further at the present meeting. 
61. Mr Falconer (New Zealand), Chairman of  the Special Session of the Committee on 
Agriculture , said he had nothing further to report to what he had last reported to the Council in July, 
for reasons that were obvious to all.  He wished to note that with the resumption of the negotiations, however one wished to characterize that, it was clear  that these issues – along with all others that 
were part of the work programme – would have to be dealt with effectively.  This was clearly the 
will of the Members, of which he was very conscious. 
62. Mr de Mateo (Mexico), Chairman of the Sp ecial Session of the Council for Trade in 
Services , said that since his last report to the Co uncil, little progress had been made on the 
discussion of Category II S&D proposals relating to  trade in services, alth ough the importance of 
the topic had been frequentl y underlined at the meetings of the Sp ecial Session.  At the most recent 
formal meeting of the Special Session on 14 July, he had reminded delegations that Ministers had 
mandated the expeditious completion of considerat ion of these proposals with a view to making 
clear recommendations for a decision to be adopte d at the General Council by December 2006.  The 
African Group – which was the main proponent – had circulated a revised proposal relating to Category II proposals 79(A) and (C).  The revised document attempted to narrow the wide differences among Members on the original proposals.  The revised proposals aimed to set out a 
means to implement effectively Article IV of the GATS.  They provided that the Council for Trade 
in Services should:  (i ) ensure generally that the outcom e of the Round "contributes, in a 
meaningful manner, to the full and effective implemen tation of Article IV";  (ii) undertake, before 
the end of the Round, an evaluation  of the extent to which the serv ices package contributed to the 
full and effective implementation of Article IV;  (iii) conduct a regular review of the 
implementation of Article IV based on bienni al reports by Members;  and (iv) make 
recommendations to Members to ensure the full  and effective implementation of Article IV WT/GC/M/106 
Page 26  
 
  "including on adjustment of negotiations  based on the trade, financial and development needs of 
developing countries".  Since other delegations had not had time to study the proposal, there had been no discussion of it at th e July meeting.  Instead, the Special Session had accepted his 
suggestion that it take up the topic again "as soon as it was practicable ", in order to have substantial 
discussion of the item.  During his latest consultations, undertaken in the light of the soft 
resumption agreed by the TNC in November, Me mbers had stressed again the importance of the 
S&D issues and had called for further progress on them. 
63. Mr Kim (Korea), Chairman of the Committee on Safeguards
, said that notwithstanding 
numerous efforts, the situation had not developed at all since the Safeguards Committee had last 
reported in detail to the General Council in July.  In order to co ntribute to the process, he had 
personally tried to contact the proponents several  times, informing them that the S&D proposal 
referred to the Safeguards Committee would continue to be dormant unless they raised it again with 
a certain level of support from other Members.  However, so far he had not heard anything, either from the proponents or from any other Member. U nder these circumstances, he had to repeat that 
the proposals referred to the Safeguards Committee had been effectively set aside and there was no 
need to revert to them in that forum until the proponents decided to revive the matter. 
64. Mr Saborio Soto (Costa Rica), Chairman  of the Special Session of the DSB
, said that the 
situation as reflected in the report he had circulated in September 2006 (TN/DS/18) remained the same.  Since then, there had not been any other op portunity to consider the proposals submitted to 
the DSB in Special Session.  Nonetheless, followin g the consultations he ha d recently held with 
Members, he hoped that work in the Special S ession would advance starti ng in January.  The 
questions reflected in the proposals could then be taken up in the context of that work. 
65. Mr Massot (France), Chairman  of the Committee on Trade-Related Investment Measures
, 
said that pursuant to paragraph 37 of the Hong Kong Declaration, the Committee on TRIMs had considered two Category II S&D proposals relating to Articles 4 and 5.3 of the TRIMs Agreement 
submitted by the African Group.  It had also examined a revised version of the proposals, submitted 
by Kenya on behalf of the African Group.  Recent discussions in the Committee had shed some 
light on the proposals and had given rise to a useful exchange of views.  At the June meeting in particular, some interesting pr oposals had emerged which could help Members to progress on a 
number of key points.  For example, it had been suggested that one deal first with those aspects of the proposals on which there was most agreemen t, and examine separately the matter of the 
Member countries to which the proposals would apply.  The authors of the proposals had appeared 
to be open to these suggestions and had indicate d that they were ready to work on alternative 
language in the interests of an acceptable result.  For his part, he had offered his assistance in this 
process if Members felt it would be useful.  However,  since his last report to the General Council in 
July and the ensuing suspension of the negotiations in all areas of the Doha Round, there had been 
no new developments on this matter.  That said, he remained convinced th at the authors of the 
proposals and the other Members were ready to wo rk together to seek solu tions.  He therefore 
recommended that Members, and particularly the authors of the proposals, pursue discussions, approaching their work with flexibility in the inte rests of finding the basi s for an agreement, if 
necessary by putting forward new prop osals.  He was ready to pursue these discussions in the 
TRIMs Committee and remained avai lable for informal contacts and open-ended consultations if 
and when Members so wished. 
66. Mr Dorantes (Mexico), Chairman of the Committee on SPS Measures
, recalled that in 
July 2006 he had circulated a written report, on  his own responsibility as Chairperson of the SPS 
Committee (G/SPS/41) with regard to the consideration by the Committee of the five S&D proposals which had been referred to it.  At that time he had noted that despite some difficulties in the scheduling of meetings of the SPS Committ ee caused by the schedule of negotiations, the 
Committee had nonetheless maintained the issue of S& D on the agenda of all of its meetings during  WT/GC/M/106 
 Page 27 
 
 
  2006, and had provided ample opportunity to further discuss the proposals and related issues.  He 
had also noted in July that there had been some progress in the discussions of  the proposals, sparked 
by the informal submission by the African Group of a draft revision of one of their proposals.  
Unfortunately, since that time the draft revision had not been  formally tabled, nor had there been 
any other revisions submitted by any Member for consideration by the Committee.  On the other 
hand, there had been significant further discussion on how to address some of the underlying 
concerns identified by developing-country Members.  In particular, in October the SPS Committee had considered the issue of how to ensure that  technical assistance most effectively addressed the 
needs of developing-country Members.  The Secret ariat had prepared a preliminary analysis of 
technical assistance provided in the SPS area, which had focused discussion on this important 
matter.  The Committee had agreed that there wa s a need for further work on evaluating the 
effectiveness of assistance, and had agreed to continue its discussion of this issue at its next meeting 
in 2007.  He wished to draw a ttention again to the Committee's report on S&D from June 2005 in 
document G/SPS/35, which contained a summary of Members' comments with respect to the S&D 
proposals, and a consideration of the underlying concerns identified by developing-country 
Members and of actions already taken to addres s them.  Most importantly, the Committee had 
agreed to continue to examin e the proposals before it with the aim of developing specific 
recommendations, and at the same time to undert ake discussions on furthe r work to address the 
concerns underlying the proposals with a view to fulfilling the Doha mandate.  This was indeed what the SPS Committee had done in 2006, and what  it was prepared to continue to do.  The 
Committee had agreed to hold an informal meetin g on S&D immediately preceding its next regular 
meeting in 2007, and S&D was also on the agenda of the regular meeting. 
67. The Chairman
 said that in the absence of the Chai rpersons of the Negotiating Group on 
Rules and of the Committee on Agriculture – and on their request and behalf – he would read out their statements.   The statemen t by the Chair of the of the Ne gotiating Group on Rules was as 
follows: 
"As I reported to the General Council in July, while the proposals on special and differential 
treatment were placed on the agenda of the Gr oup at a number of meetings, there was little 
discussion.  In light of the suspension of the negotiations this summer, there has been no 
further opportunity to discuss these proposals in any meeting of the Group, nor has any delegation requested that I engage in any consulta tions or other informal activity in respect of 
them.  Under these circumstances, you will not be surprised to hear that the Group is not in a 
position to make any recommendations for a decision at this time.  I should mention that 
while these specific proposals have not been th e subject of significant discussion, that does 
not mean that the interests of developing Members have not been receiving attention.  Developing Members have been very active in the Group and have sponsored numerous 
proposals.  I have no doubt that they will con tinue to be active once the negotiations resume." 
 
68. The statement by the Chair of the Co mmittee on Agriculture was as follows: 
 "My progress report to the General Council relates to a proposal by the African Group which 
was submitted to the Committee on Trade and Deve lopment on 17 July 2002.   The African 
Group proposal has been considered by the Co mmittee on Agriculture as part of its follow-up 
to the NFIDC Decision, as well as in the context of the Doha Ministerial Decision on 
Implementation-Related Issues a nd Concerns. The African Group calls for developed country 
Members to embody in their schedules of commi tments undertakings on, and contributions to, 
a revolving fund for normal levels of food imports, providing food aid in fully grant form, and 
maintaining food aid levels c onsistently with recommendations and rules under the Food Aid 
Convention.  No progress nor change in positions  has been registered since my last oral 
reports on this matter to the General Council at its  meetings in May and July 2006.  Also, at 
the October 2006 meeting of the Committee on Ag riculture, no Member intervened on this WT/GC/M/106 
Page 28  
 
  matter.  The situation remains therefore as reflected in document G/AG/22.  The commitment 
entered into by the membership at Marrak esh, in the afore-mentioned NFIDC decision, 
remains unfulfilled." 
 69. The Chairman
 then thanked all the Chairs for their repo rts.  With regard to further work, it 
was his understanding that, as in the Special S ession of the CTD, Members would also need to 
continue in the new year with their consideration of the outsta nding Agreement-specific proposals 
in the other WTO bodies to which such proposals had been referred. 
70. The representative of Bangladesh , on behalf of the LDCs , said that since the Hong Kong 
Ministerial Conference there had been four formal meetings of the CTD in Special Session.  The 
Chair of that body had also he ld informal consultations w ith LDCs, the most recent on 
11 December.  Ministers at Hong Kong had reitera ted that S&D treatment was an integral part of 
WTO agreements and had reaffirmed their commitment to fulfil the mandate contained in paragraph 44 of the Doha Declaration and the July  2004 Framework.  The LDCs had also expressed 
their readiness to support the Chair of the CTD in Special Se ssion in completing the expeditious 
review of all outstanding Agreement-specific pr oposals as mandated by Ministers in Hong Kong.  
They had also supported the Ch air's intention to build consen sus on the remaining Agreement-
specific proposals on the b asis of textual discussion.  The LDCs had repeatedly stated that the duty-
free quota-free issue was of vital economic intere st to them.  As a resu lt of the Hong Kong 
Ministerial Conference, this issue was now within the single undertaking and hence, should be dealt 
with in negotiating bodies like the CTD in Special Session, the Comm ittee on Agriculture in 
Special Session and the Negotiating Group on Market  Access.  As stated in Annex F of the Hong 
Kong Declaration, the CTD was to  review annually the steps take n to provide duty-free and quota-
free market access to the LDCs and to report to th e General Council.  The LDCs reiterated their 
requests to developed countries, and to developing countries in a position to do so, to implement the duty-free quota-free decision contained in Annex F.  
71. The representative of Kenya
 thanked the Chair of the CT D in Special Session and the 
Chairs of the other WTO bodies for their repo rts on the outstanding Agreement-specific S&D 
proposals.  However, Kenya was concerned that Members had not made any meaningful progress on this issue.  When this exercise had started in  early 2002, Kenya had been hopeful that it would 
be finalized within the timeframe set in the Doha Declaration.  As already noted, despite all the 
effort and the extension of deadlines, work ha d not progressed as expected on this important 
development-related issue.  His delegation wished to recall that in the past, the African Group had 
requested that the work on all outstanding S&D issues be brought back to the CTD in Special 
Session.  However, the General Council had not resp onded to this request.  In this connection, in 
the past year, the General Council Ch air had promised to hold consultations on this important issue.  
The African Group had yet to be consulted and looked forward to this consultation, with a view to 
finding innovative ways of resolving all outsta nding S&D provisions, including cross-cutting 
issues. 
72. The General Council took note
 of the reports by the Chairper sons and of the statements, and 
also took note  that work on the outstanding Agreement-specific proposals would need to continue 
both in the Special Session of  the Committee on Trade and Development and in the other WTO 
bodies to which such proposals had been referred.  WT/GC/M/106 
 Page 29 
 
 
  7. Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration 
(a) Follow-up to the Committee's recommendations of October 2006 (WT/BFA/90) – Report by 
the Director-General on his discussions with the Swiss authorities concerning an appropriate solution to the immediate housing needs of the WTO 
73. The Chairman
 recalled that at its meeting in October, the General Council had approved a 
recommendation of the Budget Committee – in document WT/BFA/90 – which called on the 
Director-General to hold intensiv e discussions with the Swiss author ities concerning an appropriate 
solution to the immediate housing needs of the WTO, with a view to reporting to the General Council at its present meeting. 
74. The Director-General
 recalled that in October, the General Council had adopted three 
recommendations concerning the fu ture building needs of the WTO:  first, that intensive 
discussions should be held with  the Swiss authorities concerning an  appropriate solution to the 
immediate housing needs of the WTO;  second, that the Swiss authorities be urged to ensure that 
the premises occupied by the IUHEI library in the Centre William Rappard be vacated at the 
earliest possible date;  and third, that discussions be started with the Swiss authorities with respect 
to a comprehensive examination of all aspects concer ning the identification of  a suitable site and all 
other relevant issues regarding a possible new permanent headquarters for the WTO, and without prejudice to the final outcome.  In line with th ese recommendations, a regul ar series of intensive 
consultations with the Swiss authorities ha d taken place on all three aspects of these 
recommendations.  He was pleased  to report that these consulta tions had been conducted in a 
cordial and cooperative spirit, wi th the result that progress was be ing made on all three fronts.  
Different alternatives had been considered to  address both the immediate and the longer-term 
housing needs of the WTO.  Progress was also bein g made on the issue of the IUHEI library, which 
might be solved in the not-too-distant future.  He wished to take this opportunity to thank the Swiss 
authorities for the constructive ma nner in which they had approached  these issues.  It had become 
clear during these consultations th at a complex array of questions  had to be dealt with.  The 
complexity of the issues would re quire that intensive consultations continue over the coming weeks 
in order to move matters forward,  and he would report to the Ge neral Council on the progress in 
these discussions. 
75. The General Council took note
 of the report by the Director-General. 
(b) Recommendations of the Committee following its meetings of November and December 2006 
(WT/BFA/93 and Add.1) 
76. The Chairman  drew attention to the recommendati ons of the Budget Committee resulting 
from its meetings of November an d December (WT/BFA/93 and Add.1). 
77. Mr March (Spain), Chairman of the Comm ittee on Budget, Finance and Administration , 
said that in view of the schedule of meetings of  the Committee, which had been completed only on 
5 December, a full narrative report of the meetin gs of November and December would be presented 
to the General Council at its next meeting.  Th erefore, the documents before Members contained 
only the recommendations the Committee was putt ing forward to the General Council.  The 
Committee had examined the Director General's Bu dgetary and Financial Report for 2005 and the 
Report of the External Auditor thereon, as well as the Report on Extra-Budg etary Funds for 2005.  
The Committee had taken note of the reports and recommended to the General Council the approval of the transfers between budgetary sections as outlined in paragraphs 44 and 48 of document 
WT/BFA/W/142.  The Committee had further reco mmended that the General Council approve the 
audited accounts for 2005 and convey to the external auditor their thanks for the valuable assistance 
provided in the audit of these accounts.  As to  setting the target amount for 2007 for the DDA WT/GC/M/106 
Page 30  
 
  Global Trust Fund, pursuant to paragraph 40 of the Doha Declaration, the Committee had 
recommended to the General Council that:  (i) the target level of r esources in the Global Trust Fund 
be set at Sw F 24 million for 2007;  (ii) the purpose of the Global Trust Fund in 2007 be to finance the implementation of the WTO T echnical Assistance and Training Plan, as authorised by the CTD;  
(iii) Members be reminded that, according to th e terms of reference of the Global Trust Fund 
approved by the General Council on 19-20 December 2001, actual contributions equivalent to 
25 per cent of the target amount, i.e. Sw F 6 million, should be received in the WTO bank account by 31 December 2006;  (iv) in this context, Memb ers be informed that, in order to cover the 25 per 
cent of the target amount, pledges registered to date amounting to Sw F 5 million would need to be received before the end of the year and to fu lly implement the 2007 Technical Assistance and 
Training Plan, additional contributions of at least Sw F 20 million would need to be pledged and 
paid by 30 June 2007;  and (v) Governments be ur ged to make financial contributions in a manner 
which would preserve the global nature of the programme and facilitate the management and 
reporting with a view to greater transparency, i. e. making un-earmarked contributions and limiting 
the degree of constraints in  earmarked contributions. 
78. Concerning the revised budget estimates fo r 2007 for the WTO Secretariat and the 
Appellate Body and its Secretariat, the Committee, having examined the proposed revision to the 2007 budget as presented by the Director-General  (WT/BFA/SPEC/155), s ubmitted to the General 
Council  for consideration and approval a draft resolution on the expenditure of the World Trade Organization and the ways and means to meet such expenditure.  With resp ect to the Restructuring 
Operating Fund, the Secretariat had requested appr oval to utilize restructuring funds originally 
approved as part of the 2006 budg et for the same purpose in 2007.  In effect, this would mean that 
the entire spending for restructuri ng would occur in 2007, rather than being spread out over both 
years, and that the total funding available for this  purpose would be Sw F 1.5 million.  Therefore, 
the Committee recommended to the General Council that, in light of the fact that developments in the course of 2006 had precluded the finalization of  a restructuring plan, a Restructuring Operating 
Fund be created and the funds foreseen for this purpo se in 2006 and 2007 be transferred thereto, on 
the understanding that (i) any balance in the fund at the end of 2007 would be returned to the 2007 budget and (ii) the policy outlined in WT/BFA/W/137 would apply. 
79. The Chairman
 proposed that the General Council (i) ta ke note of the statement and approve 
the Budget Committee's specific recommendations in paragraphs 1 and 2  of document WT/BFA/93, including the draft Resolution referr ed to in paragraph 2, as well as the specific 
recommendations contained in paragraphs 3 and 4 of document WT/BFA/93/Add.1;  and (ii)  adopt 
the draft Resolution on the Revised Expenditure of the WTO in 2007 and the Ways and Means to 
Meet Such Expenditure, in paragraph 2 of document WT/BFA/93. 
80. The General Council so agreed
. 
8. Aid for Trade – Follow-up to the report and recommendations of the Task Force 
(WT/AFT/1) – Report by the Director-General 
81. The Chairman  recalled that at its meeting in October, the General Council had taken note of 
the report of the Task Force on Aid for Tr ade in document WT/AFT/1, endorsed the 
recommendations contained therein, and agreed to the specific next steps ou tlined in Section H of 
the report, in order to ensure coherent an d effective follow-up to the report and its 
recommendations.  At that meeting the Dir ector-General, in updating Members on his own 
consultations pursuant to the mandate in paragraph 57 of the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration 
regarding appropriate mechanisms to secure additio nal financial resources for AFT, had said that he 
would report on the follow-up to the report and recommendations of the Task Force at the present General Council meeting.  In connection with this  item, he drew attention to a report recently  WT/GC/M/106 
 Page 31 
 
 
  circulated by the Director-General regarding WTO Monitoring and Evaluation of Aid for Trade 
(JOB(06)/262). 
82. The Director-General  recalled that at the October  Council meeting, he had undertaken to 
report at the present meeting on progress in impl ementing the AFT agenda – and in particular, on 
his Hong Kong mandate to cons ult "on appropriate m echanisms to secure additional financial 
resources for Aid for Trade" – as well as his plans,  following the recommendations of the AFT Task 
Force, which had included, among other things, setting up a monitoring and evaluation function in the WTO.  Before getting into specifics, he wish ed to make three observations to help put the 
discussion in context.  First
, Members needed to remind them selves that AFT was a work in 
progress, and that they were at the beginning of what would be a long road.  Just as improvements 
in trade capacity or infrastructure would not happen overnight, Members could not expect – nor 
should they try to have – all the answers now.  This process was about l earning by doing, and 
learning invariably involved tria l and error.  This was why he placed so much emphasis on getting 
monitoring or "transparency" right.  Members coul d only improve AFT if they had a clearer picture 
of what was happening now, and what needed to happen in the future.  Greater transparency also 
provided an incentive for all to work together  more effectively to advance the AFT agenda.  
Second , Members needed to be clear about what the WTO should be doing in AFT, and what it 
should not be doing.  As he had said previously, AFT was a test of Members' ability to work more cooperatively, or "coherently", with national, regional, and international actors.  He had no 
intention – and there was no appetite among Members – to expand the mandate, to over-stretch resources, or to turn the WTO into a developmen t agency.  There were already more than enough 
international agencies working in the development field, and this was obviously not where the 
WTO's comparative advantage lay.  The challenge was not to invent a new mechanism, but rather to 
get the many existing mechanisms to work together  more effectively.  In this respect the WTO had 
a catalytic role to play – ensuring that releva nt agencies and organizations understood the trade 
needs of Members and encouraging them to work toge ther more effectively to address those needs.  
There was a coherence mandate – to make sure that others were doing the wo rk that needed to be 
done to help the majority of Members, including th e poorest, to reap the benefits of the multilateral 
trading system – and not to do their work for them.  So far, the WTO had received excellent 
cooperation from other agencies, and this augu red well for the future of AFT.  Third
, since 
December 2005, when Ministers had given Memb ers a mandate on AFT for the first time, 
impressive progress had been made in a relatively short time, and despite this difficult moment for 
the WTO.  There was a work pr ogramme, an intensifying dialogu e with donors and agencies, and 
an excellent Task Force report, endorsed by the General Council,  which set out Members' shared 
objectives.  However, one needed now to bring the discussion down from studies and policy debates to the practicalities of implementation.   
83. With regard to his consultations on securing additional financing for AFT, as set out in the 
Hong Kong mandate and as reinforced by the recommendations of the AFT Task Force, his 
objective had been two-fold:  first, to ask the donors who had made pledges in Hong Kong to clarify their plans so there was a better picture of the additional resources that  would be available;  
and second, to expand the circle of consultati ons to include medium-s ized, smaller and non-
traditional donors in order to ca pture the full range of AFT reso urces and activities that existed, 
ranging from financial assistance to South-South technical cooperation.   He could repor t that all of 
the key donors had confirmed to him that they re mained committed to following through with their 
Hong Kong pledges.  He had also had very fruitful discussions with a number of other donors, both developed and developing, who had signalled their willingness to be part of this process, including 
describing their current and forecasted AFT activities.   There was still a need to do more work on 
technical issues.  More broadly, Members needed to keep in mind that if AFT was to be "demand-
driven" – as it should be, and as the Task Force had recommended – any additional resources would 
ultimately depend on recipient countries making trade funding a priority and putting together viable projects and business plans.  Members now needed to move on from the additionality debate in full WT/GC/M/106 
Page 32  
 
  confidence – and expectation – that donors would deliver on the pledges they had made in Hong 
Kong, and this was what they  had reaffirmed to him.  Regarding the plan for setting up a 
monitoring and evaluation function in the WTO, the best way to ensure that pledges were honoured, needs were met, and financial assistance was bein g used effectively, was to shine a brighter 
spotlight on AFT.  This would not be a simple ta sk.  There was the definitional challenge – how to 
draw a line between AFT, on the one hand, a nd overall economic assistance, on the other, 
recognizing that this line was easily blurred.  The Task Force had given guidance on appropriate 
categories, but Members needed to operationalize th em.  There was also th e challenge that donors 
and recipient countries often had their own distinct idea of which programmes and projects constituted AFT – the question was how Member s could respect these differences while also 
providing a coherent picture.  The biggest challenge would be to arrive at a qualitative, as well as 
quantitative, assessment of AFT, because the importa nt question was not just how much AFT was 
available, but whether it was effective and actually  benefiting developing countries.  His concept 
paper in JOB(06)/262 gave an overview of the thinking on this, although the proposals therein 
would need to be further developed and refine d, based on Members' feedback.  This paper 
envisaged monitoring and evaluation at three levels.  The firs t level would aim to give a global 
picture of AFT flows, and here one would rely on the existing OECD-DAC's database, the Creditor Reporting System or CRS.  The rationale of this  approach was that Members could save the time 
and cost of setting up a parallel  reporting process, which no one  wanted, and benefit from the 
availability of comprehensive da ta on expenditures as well as commitments in each of the AFT 
categories set out by the Task Force.  This approach would provide a broad picture of flows and 
trends, but not necessarily a precise on e.  For example, on infrastructur e it was neither practical nor, 
in his view, sensible to try to identify precisely wh ich type or share of infrastructure activities were 
"trade-related".  However, a line would need to  be drawn somewhere to  avoid clas sifying all 
infrastructure spending as AFT.  This and othe r technical questions wo uld be the focus of 
discussions over the coming weeks with OECD-DAC, where the WTO had had outstanding 
cooperation.   
84. The second level would aim to give a more speci fic and detailed pictur e of AFT activities, 
and would rely on relevant multilateral, regional and bilateral development agencies to report on 
their current work and to eval uate their progress.  Whereas OECD data would provide a broad 
picture of AFT trends – showing overall flows and additionality – individual agencies and organizations were best placed to  undertake self-assessments, both quantitative and qualitative, on 
the scope and effectiveness of their AFT activities.   The third and most important level would be 
country-based monitoring and evaluation, in order to provide a more focused, country-specific perspective on whether trade needs were being me t, financial resources were being provided, and 
AFT was effective on the ground.  This went back  to the point that one was not monitoring the 
money, but what the money achieved.  This was information that only c ountries themselves could 
provide, in cooperation with other stakeholders.  Different mechanisms would be used to achieve 
these objectives, and it was up to  individual countries to  decide which mechan ism worked best for 
them.  The enhanced IF focussed on improved moni toring, and was well-pl aced to evaluate, over 
the years, whether LDCs' trade needs assessments were being met effectively.  Steps were also being taken to include a general assessment of AF T – for individual donors and recipients – in 
future TPRs.  Further, one wo uld need to explore with othe r agencies the sc ope for helping 
countries set up national AFT committees – as th e Task Force recommended – which could be 
another focal point for local monitoring.  As a prac tical matter, it would be difficult to collect and 
absorb information from all developing countries.   Instead, one should look in detail at a limited 
number of "case studies" – so that those countri es that had successfully accessed and implemented 
AFT could lead by example.  Regarding how this information would be made relevant to Members, 
he proposed that the focal point should be an annual AFT debate in the General Council, beginning 
in the autumn of 2007.  In keep ing with the goal of increasing transparency, a series of seminars 
and roundtables would be built around this event in  order to open up the AFT discussion to outside 
agencies, civil society, and the medi a.  In the lead-up to this event,  the CTD should be tasked with  WT/GC/M/106 
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  carrying out periodic reviews of AFT, in which all Members would have an opportunity to express 
their views, interests and concerns.  An ad hoc consultative group – comprised of a network of donor agencies, organizations, and private-sector representatives – would serve as a resource and 
sounding board in preparing the periodic reviews.  He wished to conclude his report with one last thought.  AFT was clearly very  important to a large number of Members.  The steps taken to 
advance Members' shared agenda had to be practic al, achievable and results-oriented.  Nothing was 
served by developing grand schemes that could not be implemented or by making big promises that could not be delivered.  Disappointed expectations would only discredit and undermine the real and tangible progress that could be made on AFT.  His consultations up to the present had led him to 
believe that the monitoring prop osals he had just outlined repr esented a constructive and doable 
first step, and he was grateful for Members'  views while the Secretariat organized itself 
operationally. 
85. All representatives who spoke thanked the Direct or-General for his report and for his efforts 
in following up on the report and recommendations of the AFT Task Force and for his report.   
86. The representative of Egypt
 said his delegation commended th e Director-General's efforts 
to consult with Members as well as relevant international organizations and regional development 
banks, with a view to reporting on the approp riate mechanisms to secure additional financial 
resources for AFT, where appropri ate, through grants and con cessional loans.  Egypt urged 
Members to work on ensuring the effective and coherent implementation of the recommendations 
on AFT.  The Task Force's recommendations hinge d crucially on the availability of resources – 
which should be additional  and sustainable.  It should be recognized  that AFT was not only 
different from existing trade-related funding commitments and arrangements, but also 
complementary to development assist ance, poverty alleviation progra mmes, and debt relief.  Egypt 
wished to stress the importance of "domestic owne rship" in the design of  trade programmes, in 
accordance with national development strategies.  The "r egional dimension" of AFT should be duly taken 
into consideration, given that developing-country Members shared a common understanding of the 
challenges they faced.  While Egypt extended its full su pport to the Director-Gener al, due attention should 
be given during consultations to enhance clarity rega rding the additional resources .  In Gleneagles in 2005, 
the pledge had been to increase these to US$50 bill ion by 2010.  An assessment would be needed to 
evaluate how far Members were from reaching this target.  Egypt reiterated its conv iction that the benefits 
of this initiative would be maximized if the Round was successfully concluded.  AFT was not a substitute 
for, but a complement to, a successful Round. 
87. The representative of Switzerland  said his country attached gr eat importance to effective 
AFT.  Following the statement by the Director-General, and in par ticular the very clear and firm 
principles he had set out and the parameters he had defined, his delegation did not need to read out 
the longer statement it had prepared.  In addition to the points made by the Director-General, he 
wished to mention the importance of and justification for the optimal use of the joint WTO-OECD-
DAC database.  Switzerland hoped that the comprehe nsive role to be entrusted to the CTD would 
not lead to it spending an undue amount of time on this, rather than devoting itself to the rest of its 
mandate.  He confirmed Switzerland's support fo r the AFT initiative and underlined the continuing 
importance it attached to making it operational.  His delegation was ready and willing to contribute to the work of the ad hoc consultative group and fe lt it was essential for this  group to function in an 
open and transparent manner. 
88. The representative of Bangladesh
, on behalf of the LDCs , said there were some key 
challenges for AFT, of which mobilization of funds was one.  In Hong Kong, Ministers had assigned the Director-General the task of consul ting with Members as we ll as the World Bank, IMF 
and relevant international organizations and regi onal development banks, and to report to the 
General Council on appropriate mechanisms to se cure additional financial resources.  From the 
Director-General's report, it app eared that there had not been any tangible progress in the WT/GC/M/106 
Page 34  
 
  mobilization of funds for AFT.  The LDCs did not feel encouraged at the state of play in AFT.  
However, they urged the Director-General to continue his consultations with potential donors for firm commitments and also to report to the Ge neral Council on appropriate mechanisms to secure 
additional resources in future.  The size of the fund envelope, as  well as the scope of funds, was 
another challenge that needed to be sorted out.  The management of AFT funds was another 
important area where further clarity was required.  The LDCs reiterated their position that AFT 
should be additional, predictable, adequate and provided in grant form. 
89. The representative of Moldova
, also on behalf of Armenia and the Kyrgyz Republic , said 
that these three small, low-income, recently-accede d economies in transition wi shed to mention that 
they had recently submitted a communication on AFT in document WT/AFT/W/23, and wished to 
highlight the main concerns expressed in that co mmunication.  She recalled that at the General 
Council meeting in October 2006, these countries had welcomed th e recommendations of the Task 
Force, but had also stated that, unfortunately, the Task Force had failed to take explicitly on board 
their substantive concerns as small low-income countries with economies in transition.  These 
countries also noted that implic itly the Task Force had recommended exploring the necessity of 
establishing a "separately funded,  in-country process for non-LD Cs 'International Development 
Assistance (IDA)-only' countries".  Armenia, the Kyrgyz Republic and the Republic of Moldova 
were "IDA-only" countries, and in their communi cation proposed that the recommendation of the 
Task Force be acted upon  without delay, so that the small low-income countries with economies in 
transition, which were "IDA-only" countries, co uld benefit from AFT from the outset.  It was 
important to recognize that small low-income countries with economie s in transition were 
considered to be direct beneficiaries of AFT pr ogrammes and mechanisms.  The main elements of 
these countries' position were as follows.  Paragra ph 38 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration clearly 
recognized the particular situation of low-income countries in transition and their need for technical 
assistance to adjust to WTO rules and disciplines, to implem ent obligations and to exercise the 
rights of membership, including drawing on the bene fits of an open, rules-based multilateral trading 
system.  Small low-income countries with econom ies in transition were at the same stage of 
economic development, if not lower, as many de veloping countries.  These countries were listed 
among the world's poorest economies benefiting from Official Development Assistance (ODA) in the DAC list of ODA recipients.  They needed subs tantive international su pport to adjust their 
economies to trade liberalization, as well as to impl ement and to begin fully benefiting from WTO 
Agreements.  AFT should theref ore help these countries overcome their challenges and enhance 
their capacities and competitiveness.  She recalled that in the contex t of trade facilitation, the needs 
of low-income economies in transition had already been recognized by the Core Group of Developing Countries on Trade Facilitation and other developing and developed-country Members.  It was proposed that these countri es should enjoy the same treatment as developing countries in the 
negotiations on trade facilitation.  It was hoped that other Members would understand and support 
this request to be among the direct beneficiaries of  AFT.  In this context,  they wished to suggest 
that the ad-hoc consultative gr oup to be established explore a m echanism to support the non-LDCs, 
IDA-only countries, including Arme nia, the Kyrgyz Republic and the Republic of Moldova, and to 
stress their needs and co ntribute to and fac ilitate donor response. 
90. The representative of Nicaragua
 thanked the Director-General  and the AFT Task Force for 
the work they had done and the recommendations they had put forward in the course of the past 
year.  Nicaragua wished to emphasize the importan ce of adopting a holistic and systemic approach 
to the analysis and management of the AFT concept.  Building up logistical and international trade management capacity, promoting innovation and improving quality in production processes were paramount.  Several of the Task Force's r ecommendations, therefore, seemed to be very 
appropriate.  In particular, she wi shed to highlight the strengthening of support to address regional, 
sub-regional and cross-border needs through programmes designed to develop cross-border 
infrastructure and to mainstream policies that facilitated trade management and governance among the beneficiary countries, and the use of value chain analysis to make it easier to identify  WT/GC/M/106 
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  opportunities and comparative advantages that generated greater value added and helped developing 
countries achieve better integration in the global  economy.  Likewise, Ni caragua recognized how 
critical it was for AFT to respond to expectations on the part of the recipient countries, so as to 
ensure cohesion with long-term national development plans, and for it to be possible to measure its effectiveness over time.  However, regarding th e establishment of national and regional AFT 
committees, it was most important to rely on the experience and kn ow-how of exis ting institutions 
and to analyse and build up their capacities.  This would prevent duplication of institutional efforts at the national, regional and international leve ls, as well as the creation of new institutional 
structures, and would lead to greater ownership of the national agenda on the part of the players 
involved.  She wished to highlight a point in a document circulated by Guyana, Honduras, 
Mongolia, the Kyrgyz Republic, Sri Lanka and Nicaragua in WT/AFT/W/20, which emphasized the 
importance that disbursements be prioritized to LDCs and IDA-only eligible coun tries, so as also to 
accommodate the needs of countries not classified as LDCs but also facing major challenges.  Given the substantial increase in the volume of aid, a dilution of benefits to LDCs was unlikely.  
The effectiveness of such a measure would requir e institutional arrangements, similar to those 
provided for LDCs, to organize and manage the concerns and needs of IDA-only eligible countries. 
91. The representative of the European Communities
 said that his delegation had only just 
received the Director-General's paper in JOB(06)/2 62 and would need some time to consider it in 
detail. The Community agreed wi th the Director-General that one was now moving into the 
implementation phase, building on the work and recommendations of the Task Force.  During the coming months, Members would need to put in place  the necessary structures at multilateral level to 
follow through on the recommendations.  In this context, the Community welcomed the suggestions 
by the Director-General and offered its full cooper ation in the process.  There had been an extensive 
discussion in the Task Force on where the boundary lay between AFT and other forms of assistance, as well as on the individu al definitions of types of assi stance falling within the broader 
concept of AFT.  The Task Force had agreed on an approach that was conceptually sound but not 
necessarily easy to implement in pr actice.  There was still a need fo r some work, for example, to 
refine the appropriate way to take trade-related infrastructure and adjustme nt into account.  More 
discussion was needed on these points in order to arrive at workable definitions.  As the Director-
General had said, Members would have to learn by doing, and in cooperation and dialogue with the development actors already active in the field.  Th e Community took note of  the Director-General's 
proposals on the composition of the ad hoc consultative group.  As he understood it, the 
consultative group would be a forum for the WTO to interact with relevant international agencies, 
while the CTD would be the main channel for Members to make their input into the ongoing monitoring process and preparation of debate in the General Counci l.  The Community was open to 
working on the basis of this model.   At the same time, if this was to work well, there would be a 
need for the formal deliberations in the CTD to be supplemented by informal consultations, as 
appropriate.  There were alread y some good examples of working in this way in the CTD, for 
example, in respect of WTO tec hnical assistance and training activit ies.  As agreed in the Task 
Force, the future role of the WTO in AFT woul d be essentially one of monitoring the follow-up to 
the Task Force's report and the br oader progress in the delivery of  enhanced AFT.  That would 
involve improvements to AFT in terms of both qua ntity and quality.  It was clear that the WTO 
would not be directly involved in the planning, programming or deliver y of trade-related assistance.  
Nonetheless, Members would have an important role  in stimulating and helping to ensure that 
increased and more effective AFT was mobilized a nd deployed to best effect.  The EU would 
continue to work actively towards this end. 
92. The representative of Benin
, on behalf of the African Group , said that thanks to the efforts 
made, the Task Force had been able to produce the recommendations presented to the General 
Council in July.  However, no w that those recommendations had been adopted, it was essential that 
Members do their utmost to be coherent and consis tent in ensuring the eff ective implementation of 
the recommendations.  The African Group looked fo rward to AFT resources that were effectively WT/GC/M/106 
Page 36  
 
  additional, substantial, predictable, lasting and pr ovided in the form of a grant.  Once again, the 
African Group stressed the need to  introduce a mechanism to mobili ze these resources in order to 
ensure that the international trade-promotion activ ities were effectively car ried out – including the 
strengthening of supply capacity, the developm ent of production infrast ructure, and human and 
institutional capacity-build ing – and that adjustment costs were  taken into consideration.  The 
African Group had taken note of the recommendati ons of the Director-Gen eral and promised to 
participate actively in any initiative in this  area for the effective implementation of the 
recommendations of the Task Force. 
93. The representative of Norway
 recalled that in October, the General Council had adopted the 
recommendations on next steps contained in th e AFT Task Force's repo rt.  Following these 
recommendations, next steps were to be taken not only by the Director -General, but also by 
Members, developing and developed alike.  The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs would produce an action plan for trade-related assistance du ring the first half of 2007.  Even though his 
Government had not completed that action plan, he wished to indicate Norway 's current thinking in 
a few key areas.  Like other Members, Norway had not taken a position on where to draw the 
dividing line between AFT and the more general economic growth and development agenda.  It had 
thus far relied on the definitions contained in th e OECD/DAC report "Aid for Trade:  Making it 
Effective", and would look carefully into the broader definition drawn up in the report of the WTO Task Force.  Certainly, a pragmatic approach was called for, driven by th e needs and priorities of 
developing and least-developed countries.  A number of issues needed to be made clearer.  Among these were the extent to which adjustment ass istance should be incl uded in the agenda, 
compensation for preference erosion to a limited number of countries, and criteria to be used for 
dividing assistance into grants an d soft loans.  Norway broadl y supported the suggestions the 
Director-General had laid out at the present mee ting, and the latter's cons ultations on additional 
financing should yield positive and clearer indications from donors in 2007.  His delegation had been heartened by the Director-G eneral's confidence that financing was actually more or less in 
place.  For its part, Norway intend ed to maintain its co ntributions to the Doha Global Trust Fund 
and to increase contributions first to the Enhanced IF in 2007.  Furthermore, its AFT contributions would be considered in general in connection with the development of the national action plan he had mentioned .  Regarding the monitoring and evaluation mechanism, Norway supported a yearly 
event back-to-back with a General Council meeting, organized by the CTD in a way that permitted the full participation of the agen cies.  Of particular importance was the monitoring that would take 
place in recipient countries.  In  addition to measuring what ha d been received, the monitoring 
process should demonstrate that AFT had been implemented in accordance with the general 
development strategy or poverty-reductio n strategy in the country concerned. 
94. The representative of Rwanda
 commended the Director-General on his comprehensive 
report, which contained many insi ghtful ideas.  Before commenting on some of them, he first 
wished to associate his delegation with the statements by Benin for the African Group and 
Bangladesh for the LDCs.  Three issues among others highlighted by the Director-General merited particular attention, namely:  that donors had reiterated the commitments made in Hong Kong, particularly on the additionality of aid;  that new donors would soon be joining the traditional donors;  and that a monitoring system was being initiated in the WTO.  It was unanimously recognized that AFT should be additional, predictable and provided in grant form.  This would 
allow enhancing supply capabilities, developing trade-related infrastructures, and building human 
and institutional capacities in th e recipient countries.  This assistance had to be timely, and 
Members were waiting for its implementation.  The LDCs, particularly, had to be appropriately assisted in order to fully benefit from the Enhanced IF, so as to be able to develop trade as an 
engine for economic growth and poverty reduction.   Regarding the monitoring mechanism, Rwanda 
supported reviewing the WTO/OECD  database in line with the r ecommendations of the AFT Task 
Force.  This review should be done as soon as possible, in order to  retain only activities considered 
as falling under AFT.  This tool should be shared  with Members before its implementation.  AFT  WT/GC/M/106 
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  had to follow the Paris Declaration principles, particularly country ownership, donor harmonization 
and mutual accountability.  Rwanda hoped that this monitoring and evaluation mechanism would assist in evaluating  the attainment of those principles.  In the LDCs , country ownership would 
depend on substantial financial and technical assistance for human and institutional capacity building.  This would also ensure a proper reporting from capital, which would render the WTO 
monitoring mechanism more efficient.  Rwanda wi shed to encourage the Di rector-General in his 
further consultations, and had full confidence in him.  
95. The representative of Bolivia
 recalled that her delegation had earlier submitted to the Task 
Force a number of comments and ideas on its work .  Bolivia appreciated the Directo r-General's 
efforts in the area of securing financing, and th e commitments Members had made.  However, her 
delegation wished to consider in more depth the three levels of monitoring that had been 
recommended, in particular the recommendation relating to the evaluation in beneficiary countries and also the actions geared to ensuring br oader participation of all the sectors. 
96. The representative of the United States
 said his delegation appreciated the Director-
General's efforts to consult widely with Member s, existing donors, new donors and recipient 
countries.  It was clear that this  was an evolving process and one that  required both a "big picture" 
perspective as well as attention to a large body of important technical details.  The EC had 
identified a number of areas for useful refinement  of the concepts in document WT/AFT/1.  The 
United States appreciated the Dir ector-General's openn ess to this further refinement, and looked 
forward to continuing to work constructively with the him, the Secretariat and its trading partners to achieve the most practical, efficient and useful ways  to better improve AFT.  His delegation agreed 
with the Director-General that  the WTO was not a developmen t agency, but could serve an 
important role as a neutral coordinator of information and catalyst for coherence in this area.  A successful effort would require clo se contact with donor agencies, b ilateral and international, as 
well as recipient countries, and the United States lo oked forward to the annual review as a way to 
achieve that.  An accurate picture would require information on funds spent and what those funds 
achieved.  The United States looked forward to continuing this work, including maximizing the use 
of existing structures and instit utions, as Members sought to incr ease transparency in the system, 
both for donors and recipients, and to integrate th e Paris principles into that work.  Mainstreaming 
trade into development was a serious objective and one that deserved Members' further attention.  
He assured all that this work would have the furt her attention and commitment of the United States. 
97. The representative of Peru
 said that AFT was of great im portance to the whole of the 
membership and to Peru in particular.  Peru tha nked the Director-General fo r having identified very 
specifically the elemen ts that would make effective the work of the organization in terms of AFT, 
on the basis of the document pr esented by the Task Force – on which Peru had commented on a 
previous occasion.  Peru agreed, to a great ex tent, with the elements outlined in document 
WT/AFT/1.  Specifically, regarding the importance of the third level of monitoring, Peru 
considered that, as the Director-G eneral had said, it was the coun tries themselves who were best 
placed to determine whether their trade needs were being met, if the financial means were being provided and if AFT was really effect ive in the field.  It was in this  respect that Peru wished to ask 
the Director-General a specific question in relation to paragraph 8 of document JOB(06)/262, 
concerning an assessment of Aid for Tr ade in the trade policy reviews.  Peru felt it was important to 
include this in the trade policy reviews in future .  Peru's TPR was coming up in October 2007, and 
in this connection it wished to know if there w as already some idea of how this issue would be 
included in forthcoming trade policy reviews and how Peru – and other countries coming up for review – could cooperate in order to structure the debate and, in terms of AFT, how to create greater coherence among the trade, financial and de velopment policies, as set out in paragraph 8 of 
the Director-General's concept pape r.  Peru therefore hoped to be able to continue to work and 
cooperate with the Director-General in the a pplication and implementation of the elements 
contained in that paper, which would enable Members to better operationalize AFT. WT/GC/M/106 
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  98. The representative of Mexico
 said the work being carried out on AFT was a fundamental 
component for the fulfilment of Members' mandate a nd should be an effective tool to ensure that 
developing countries could overcome their supply-side constraints.  As his delegation had said on previous occasions, in order to maximize the benefits of this initiative, it was key that the Doha Round come to a fruitful conclusion.  On this there was consensus.  AF T was not a substitute for 
but a complement to a successful Round, whose ma in benefit for developm ent would be greater 
access to markets of developed countr ies for goods and services of intere st to developing countries.  
Similarly, Mexico wished to recall that each Memb er had a role to play, and while not all could 
contribute to the same extent, he  wished to reiterate the availability of his Government to 
participate in technical ca pacity-building that would enable othe r countries to reach the same level 
of integration into the multilateral trading system. 
99. The representative of Brazil
 said the recommendations of th e Task Force provided general 
guidelines for action, but the suggestions made depended on implementation of the provision on adequate additional resources delive red in an expeditious and effec tive way.  So far, pledges had 
been impressive.  They should materialize into ad ditional funds that could effectively be disbursed, 
as highlighted by Egypt and others.  The Task Force had also highlighted the importance of 
domestic ownership in the design of trade programs, in accordan ce with national development 
strategies.  Donors had to be mindful and respect ful of the priorities assigne d by recipients, and not 
impose conditionalities.  In order to ensure that, AFT had to be subject to adequate monitoring and surveillance, as well as political guidance.  Br azil  welcomed the recommendation on a well 
prepared annual discussion in the General Council on AFT.  The real test of AFT, however, was 
implementation on the ground.  Memb ers' task was to create the cond itions to make it happen in the 
most effective and development-oriented way.  Brazil was willing to contribute to the ad hoc consultative group envisaged to follow-up the im plementation of the recommendations of the Task 
Force, as well as to support AFT activ ities in the context of South-South cooperation, in particular, 
in relation to developing Portuguese-speaking countries. 
100. The representative of Japan
 said Japan attached importance to  AFT and would live up to the 
commitment to address, inter alia , constraints in the field of dist ribution and supply side.  Japan 
would continue to work with others to follow up on the Task Force report and supported the idea of monitoring and evaluation. 
101. The Chairman
 said that all Members would be able  to make inputs and raise specific 
concerns regarding the follow-up to any of the recommendations of the Task Force in the periodic 
reviews of AFT that were proposed to be held in the Committee on Trade and Development.  This 
applied as well, of course, to the specifi c questions raised by Peru and Moldova. 
102. The General Council took note  of the report by the Directo r-General and of the statements. 
9. Follow-up to the 1 August 2004 General Council Decision and the Hong Kong 
Ministerial Declaration on the Doha Work  Programme – Statement by the Director-
General on the Development Assistance Aspects of Cotton 
103. The Chairman  recalled that the mandates for the treat ment of this item were contained in 
Paragraph 1(b) of the Decision adopted by the General Council on 1 August 2004, and in Paragraph 12 of the Hong Kong Ministerial Declara tion.  At Hong Kong, Ministers had reaffirmed 
the 2004 mandate and had welcomed the efforts of the Director-General in the implementation of 
that mandate, pursuant to the 1 August 2004 Decision of the General Council.  They had welcomed 
in particular the Consultative Framework process initiated by the Director-General, and had taken 
note of the Director-General's Second Periodic Report and the ass essment of the positive evolution 
of development assistance geared to the cotton secto r.  Ministers had also extended the mandate on 
cotton development assistance in some  respects.  In inviting the Di rector-General to furnish them  WT/GC/M/106 
 Page 39 
 
 
  with a Third Periodic Report at their next Sessi on, Ministers had asked th e Director-General to 
"keep the Sub-Committee on Cotton fully informed of progress", and to provide "updates, at appropriate intervals ... to  the General Council".  In carrying ou t this mandate, the Director-General 
had last reported on this matter to the Ge neral Council at its meeting in July 2006. 
104. The Director-General
 said that the present meeting of the General Council was coming in 
the wake of the meeting of the West African Economic and Monetary Union in Dakar on 16 
November. The Dakar Declaration on the Resumption of the Negotiations had drawn attention, yet again, to the importance of the cott on dossier to Africa.  He recalled that his most recent report on 
the development assistance aspects of cotton had been made at the Ju ly General Council meeting.  
On that occasion, he had briefed Members on the st ate of play of cotton development assistance.  
Although the General Council had taken note of th e suspension of the negotiations on that day, he 
had urged Members that no proposal made, whether with respect to the trade or the development aspects of cotton, be taken-off the table. He had urged that the suspension should not take Members 
back, but rather raise their level of ambition.  At that meeting, he had requested that every African 
cotton-producing country send the Working Table on Cotton Developmen t Assistance back to 
capital to examine its accuracy and provide feedback.  He had also requested donors to review the 
Table, distinguishing between actual disbursements  and commitments, and to rapidly operationalize 
programmes.  Since that report, he  believed Members had made some progress in the process of the verification of the figures submitted by the bilateral and multilateral donor community.  There had also been two other developments:  (i) the 11-15 September meeting of the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) held in Brazil, and ( ii) the 26 October International Conference on 
Cotton held in Washington. 
105. He wished first to comment on the verificat ion process.  There was no doubt that the 
verification process was an extrem ely tedious exercise.  It invo lved scrutiny of the figures 
submitted by the donor community.  However, no matter how tedious this exercise – both for donors and beneficiaries – he strongly believed it had to be completed.  It would allow for a more 
accurate assessment of the magnitude of the assistance the cotton sector was receiving.  At the most 
recent Consultative Framework meeting on 14 June , the table containing the latest numbers on 
cotton development assistance had been distributed to  participants.  Donors and recipients alike had 
been requested by the Chairman of the Consultative Framework to verify the data contained in that table and to report back.  He had also circulated this Table at the "International Cotton Seminar" held in Ouagadougou from 19-20 June, and had reque sted feedback.  All responses received to date 
had been integrated by the Secretariat into what had become the "rolling" Table on Cotton 
Development Assistance.  However, while some  donors, and indeed some recipients, had 
commented on the figures, some had yet to respond.  He wished to take this opportunity to urge those who had not yet given their feedback to do so  as soon as possible.  Th at contribution was vital 
to bringing accuracy to this exer cise.  The Secretariat would be issu ing, in the course of the present 
week, the "rolling" Table on Cotton Development A ssistance as it currently stood.  The Table was 
far from being final, and this work  was far from complete.  However,  it was essential to periodically 
circulate the Table to all participants for transpar ency and accountability.  He asked all to see this 
new document as an opportunity for greater and more precise feedback. 
106. He also wished to draw the Coun cil's attention to a serious gap that he had perceived in this 
exercise – a gap in determining the level of actua l disbursements.  While it was important to know 
how much assistance had been committed to the cotton sector, it was equally vital to begin to 
distinguish monies committed from monies actually disbursed.  In the latest version of the rolling Table that would be circulated to Members, the aggregate figures had changed only slightly since 
14 June.  Having said that, the aggregates had in deed climbed since his Second Periodic Report 
which had been submitted to the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference – hence, the need for 
continued verification and classification of the type of  assistance received.  In the latest version of 
the rolling Table, of the 184 entries, 38 per cent of all projects had actually been completed, and WT/GC/M/106 
Page 40  
 
  another 45 per cent were in progress.  Members had to continue to build on these achievements.  It 
was his understanding that anothe r meeting of the Consultative Framework would take place early 
in 2007, and he looked forward to Members' active engagement.  He would be remiss if he did not mention the importance of cotton sector  reform in beneficiary countri es.  Reform had to go hand in 
hand with greater levels of deve lopment assistance, in order to make  the assistance meaningful.  He 
hoped that beneficiaries would continue to report on the progress they were making on that front.  
Finally, he wished to say a few words on the ICAC meeting and the Washington Conference to 
which he had referred earlier.  Both meetings had reaffirmed the importance of the approach taken by the WTO to deal with cotton through:  (i) the specific negotiations on cotton within the 
agricultural chapter of the Doha  Round;  (ii) the consultation s on development assistance;  and 
(iii) the ongoing cotton dispute, which had also been discussed at the Wa shington Conference.  
Overall, he would say that both meetings had rais ed awareness of the importance of cotton to some 
of the world's poorest countries, and that the input, the numbers a nd the reports of the Secretariat 
had been an important contribution to that process.  He and the Secretariat would continue do whatever was possible to assist this process, bu t as the Table showed, one was extremely, and 
logically, reliant on the information which both donors and recipients had to provide with more and 
more precision each time. 
107. All representatives who spoke thanked the Director-General for his report. 
108. The representative of Benin
, on behalf of the African Group , said one could see from the 
Director-General's report that actions and initiatives had been taken by bilateral, regional and multilateral partners in order to strengthen cotton  production in Africa.  The African Group thanked 
the countries and bilateral donors  that had provided such assistan ce.  The Group also wished to 
thank the Secretariat for the excel lent work it had been doing.  These countries wished to invite 
Members and institutions that had not yet done so to  provide this type of assistance to th e countries 
concerned, in order to enable them to strengthen their cotton sectors.  The African Group welcomed the developed and developing countries, in particular, which had shown interest in this, and 
particularly Brazil, which had undertaken actions to assist th e African cotton producers to 
strengthen the cotton sector.  In  accordance with the recommendations  of the International Seminar 
on the Development of Cotton Production in West Africa in Ouagadougou in June 2006 on the implementation of the recommenda tions of the cotton workshop of May 2004, the African cotton-
producing countries had begun to  receive assistance from their part ners to streng then the cotton 
sector.  The African Group called on donors to proceed  with the same type of evaluation in order to 
bring together the relevant data and to ensure an appropriate follow-up to the actions undertaken in 
respect of these initiatives.  This work, as the Di rector-General had said, was essential in order to 
have verifiable and reliable figures.  The Dir ector-General – following the mandate conferred on 
him by Ministers in Hong Kong regarding explor ing the possibility of establishing a mechanism 
that would manage the deficits that were a result of the drop in revenue due to fluctuation in the 
value of cotton on the international market – had held consultations with the donors.  The African 
Group hoped that these consultations  on setting up a safety net would continue, and would result in 
speeding up the actual creation of this mechan ism.  The African Group recommended that the 
Assessment Seminar of the Regional WTO Workshop on Cotton, which had been held in Cotonou on 23-24 March, be organized during the course of 2007.  This was one of the strong recommendations that had emerged from the Ou agadougou Ministers' meetings and had been 
included by the Director -General in his report. 
109. The representative of India
 said his delegation wished to sh are with Members an initiative 
taken by India in regard to the development assistance aspects of cotton.  Between 20 November 
and 1 December 2006, his country had conducted a training programme on "Cotton Cultivation, 
Commerce, Quality Aspects and Va lue Addition" for 21 particip ants from four East African 
countries – Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia  – in collaboration with the International Trade  WT/GC/M/106 
 Page 41 
 
 
  Centre.  Following the success of this programme, In dia was in the process of planning a similar 
programme for West African co tton growers and exporters. 
110. The representative of Chad , on behalf of the co-sponsors of the Cotton Initiative , said these 
countries wished to thank their bilateral and multil ateral partners for their technical and financial 
assistance in connection with the development of th e cotton sector in Afri ca.  These countries had 
taken note of the work being done by the Secretariat to verify the programmes and projects relating 
to the development of the cotton sector in African countries, and of  the resources allocated in that 
connection.  A number of recipient countries am ong the co-sponsors of the Cotton Initiative had 
already conducted this verification and communicated the relevant information to the Secretariat.  Others were still doing so, and would soon be co mmunicating the results.  The co-sponsors of the 
Cotton Initiative wished to reiterate their hope that the evaluation seminar to be organized by the 
WTO on the development assistance aspects of the cotton issue would be held as soon as possible 
and would be well attended by the actors concerned.  At the meeting of the General Council in July 2006, the Director-G eneral had noted that during his consultations with Members, they had 
expressed reservations regarding the introduction of  a mechanism to enable the African cotton-
producing countries to deal with income declines in  that sector.  For the co -sponsors of the Cotton 
Initiative, this continued to be a source of great concern in view  of the growing losses caused by the 
fall in cotton prices on the intern ational market.  During that mee ting of the General Council, the 
Director-General had suggested that  solutions to deal with this problem might be sought with the 
FAO and the Common Fund for Commodities.  Other ideas existed, and could be combined with any mechanism that these two in stitutions proposed.  The pro cess of setting up this safeguard 
mechanism had to be launched as rapidly as possible, since the situation on the ground in the 
African cotton-producing coun tries was becoming more and more difficult each day. 
111. The representative of Brazil
 thanked the Director-General for his statement and welcomed 
the assistance provided to strengthen the cotton se ctor in African countries.  Brazil had noted the 
documents circulated by Mali (WT/L/660) and Burkina Faso (WT/L/657 ) in November and 
October, respectively, with comments on that assist ance.  As pointed out in these documents, much 
of the assistance provided was either  not operational or did not concern cotton specifically.  Brazil 
called on donors and the recipient countries to continue their consultations and coordination in order to allow for the best possibl e use of the announced assistance.  Brazil, as indicated by Benin, 
had been collaborating with the Cotton-4 countries and a delegation from these countries would visit Brazil early in 2007, with  the support of Brazil's South-South cooperation programme, to 
discuss ways in which Brazil could cooperate for the development of these countries' cotton 
production.  Development assistance could help, bu t a solution to this issue necessarily had to 
include its trade aspect – effective cuts in trade-distorting dome stic support and disciplines that not 
only ensured the effectiveness of these cuts, bu t also prevented concentration of support. 
112. The representative of Burkina Faso
 said his delegation endorsed the statements by Benin for 
the African Group and by Chad for the co-sponsors of the Cotton Initiative.  The present meeting 
came at a critical moment in the negotiations.  Th e negotiating process had been suspended in July, 
and this indefinite suspension had prompted great concern and even dismay among cotton growers, who were already dissatisfied with the outcome of the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference.  
Suspending the negotiations had also, for the mome nt, quashed hopes to see an end to the ordeal 
suffered by millions of Africans who relied on cotton as their only source of income.  Unaware of 
the dynamics of the negotiations, these farmers we re wondering what delegations did every day at 
the WTO – an organization that w as supposed to protect them.  At  the informal TNC meeting in 
November, the TNC Chair had noted that the nego tiations were slowly beginning to resume.  
Indeed, a number of delegations had consistently expressed their willingness and determination to 
re-start the negotiations so that the Doha Round could be concluded as soon as possible.  However, 
not all delegations had shown the same level of de termination.  All around one heard delegations 
saying they were ready to resume the negotiating  process and would make concessions as long as WT/GC/M/106 
Page 42  
 
  others did the same.  This refrain maintained a status quo that might be beneficial to some 
countries, but was certainly  not so for the developing countries.  As one would say in the colloquial 
French spoken in Africa, " Votre disque là est rayé, il faut le changer ", i.e. your record's stuck, it's 
time to change it.  Burkina Faso therefore called on its partners to truly take stock of the gravity of the situation and to get the negotiations up and running again with a view to achieving the objective 
Members had set themselves in July  2004.  Sadly, the cotton-producing and exporting countries had 
no other choice but to continue to echo the heartfelt cries of millions of dismayed and discouraged African cotton growers.  While it might seem that the record was stuck, the truth of the matter was 
that if the cotton-p roducing African countries stopped playing it they would be leaving thousands of 
people to die in silence, not to mention indifference.   His delegation did not think this was the result 
Members were aiming for. 
113. The Director-General had just described the efforts he had ma de in respect of development 
aspects of the cotton issue.  Burk ina Faso thanked him sincerely an d was extremely grateful for his 
endeavours.  The Director-General's qualities as a marathon runner, together with his talents as an outstanding negotiator, were factors that provided  some hope of success.  His delegation was also 
profoundly grateful to its develo pment partners for their countless interventions in favour of the  
cotton sector.  The C-4 countries had carried out research in order to be able to compare their 
statistics with those of their partners and thus shed  light on the different forms of action taken in the 
cotton sphere.  Some development partners had also commented on the information provided on development aspects.  This would provide a precise idea of the state of play as far as cooperation was concerned and would, above all, provide food for thought for improving this partnership and 
making it productive.  His delegation remained convinced that a meeting such as the one held in 
Cotonou in March 2004 should be held to review in detail the development aspects of the cotton issue, and therefore asked the Director-General to  consider convening such a meeting as soon as 
possible.  At a forum on cotton held on 26 October 2006, his country's President had highlighted the urgency and necessity of finding so lutions to the difficulties faced by the cotton sector by giving a 
video-conference in which he had addressed the US Government and a number of members of 
Congress before replying to questions from jour nalists.  At the sub-regional level, the trade 
Ministers of the member countri es of the West African Economic and Monetary Union, meeting on 
16 November 2006 in Dakar, had issued a Declaration calling for the resumption of negotiations. 
114. The representative of Bangladesh
, on behalf of the LDCs , thanked the Director-General for 
updating the General Council on the work being undertaken on this matter since the Hong Kong 
Ministerial, including his consultations with the co-sponsors of the Cotton Initiative, the African 
Group and the LDCs, and the exer cise under his Consultative Framew ork aimed at verifying actual 
contributions and checking actual disbursements and operational im plementation.  The LDCs asked 
the Director-General to continue his efforts to he lp cotton-growing LDCs as a follow-up action to 
the 1 August 2004 General Council Decision and the Hong Kong Declaration on the development 
assistance aspects of cotton.  The LDCs wished to express their solida rity with the cotton-exporting 
LDCs.  Cotton was a question of life and death for them and their farmers.  There were two issues – 
one was trade and the other was development.  Th e trade issue was the fundamental one that had 
created the cotton -growers' plight – that is, subsidies to the cotton growers of some developed-
country Members.  The LDCs wish ed to stress the complementarity between the two issues, and the 
need to achieve results with speed. 
115. The representative of the European Communities  said his delegation recognized the useful 
role the Secretariat was playing in compiling an overview of cotton-related development assistance.  Over the past months, the quality of the information had much improved through interactive processes with donors and recipients .  The Secretariat would need to continue its efforts to make 
sure that this information was well-balanced and sufficiently related to cotton for it to be a 
meaningful tool in discussions and programming of development assistance re lated to cotton.  The 
Community also recognized  that there was additional assistance that was not directly related to  WT/GC/M/106 
 Page 43 
 
 
  cotton, but had an important eff ect on the functioning of cotton sectors in developing countries.  
This was related to general improvements in infrastru cture, such as roads, to trade facilitation, such 
as port handling, to private sector development and to general macro-economic assistance.  The EC 
itself was a main provider of support to infrastruct ure and of budget support in many of the cotton-
producing countries in Africa.  It had not included  such support in the WTO cotton assistance table, 
as it believed the table would be more credible if it was specifically focused on cotton-related 
projects and programmes.  As a general remark, the Community wished to stress that the WTO 
should not duplicate or complicate the tasks and functions of traditional government-donor dialogue 
and of donor coordination frameworks.  Such mechan isms generally existed at the country level.  
Cotton project proposals and financing intentions should first and foremost  be discussed at these 
levels.  For the EC, the EU-Africa Partnership on Cotton agreed in Pari s in 2004 remained the 
relevant framework for its development cooperation in cotton.  This Partnership addressed a range 
of relevant issues in re-vitalizing African cotton sectors, including institutional reforms, sector 
strategies, technological improvements, risk manageme nt and so forth.  If anything, this Partnership 
needed to be strengthened and possibly broadened.   The EC had mobilized an important amount of 
development assistance in the framework of the Part nership – roughly 100 m illion euros.  Overall 
assistance to Africa in cotton-relate d projects by both the EC and its member States was well above 
200 million euros.  Much of th e assistance was for improvements in competitiveness of the cotton 
sectors and took a medium-term outlook.  Many of the projects would become operational in 2007.  
For the EU to remain financially engaged, it requ ired a strong expression of  prioritization for cotton 
assistance by African Governments in their developm ent plans, in PRSPs and in discussions with 
the EC on the areas of future cooperation. 
116. The representative of Côte d'Ivoire  said his delegation wished to  thank the Director-General 
for his tireless efforts in defence of the African cotton cause since his appointment as the Head of 
the WTO.  In different fora throughout the world, he had constantly defended the cause of the cotton producers in Africa, in keeping with the co mmitments he had made when he took office.  
Côte d'Ivoire endorsed the statements by Beni n for the African Group and by Chad for the co-
sponsors of the Cotton Initiative.  It appreciated  the support provided by  Brazil to the African 
cotton producers, and also wished to thank India for its initiative in favour of the African countries, 
starting with East Africa in 2006 and extending to West Africa in 2007.  His country supported 
these two initiatives, which were a clear manifest ation of the concrete South-South cooperation 
which it truly welcomed as a means of boosting its development.  Cotton was both a vertical and 
horizontal diversification crop in Côte d'Ivoire, where it was the main source of income for the rural 
population in the northern half of the country.  As  a contribution to the Dir ector-General's efforts to 
promote the African cotton sector,  his delegation had initiated, under the auspices of the local 
representation of the African Union, a "cotton evening" which had been attended by many Ambassadors and Directors of the WTO, led by Depu ty Director-General R ugwabiza.  The evening 
had included the projection of a film by French di rector Jean-Michel Rodrigo on the war of cotton, 
followed by a lecture by the Am bassador of Benin, and a cocktail party with a display by artists 
from Burkina Faso.  Côte d'Ivoire was currently examining the table of aid allocated to it under 
development assistance.  He wished to thank the donors who had reacted positively to the four 
projects his country had transmitted through the Di rector of the DDA Special Duties Division and 
his team.  He urged those who had not yet done so to join the above donors, in the hope that all of 
the different promises made could become a reality. 
117. The representative of Benin
, speaking on behalf of the African Group , referring to the 
statement by India, said the Group  wished to stress how much it welcomed the fact that in the 
framework of South-South cooperation, certain develo ping countries, aware of the threat to the very 
existence of cotton in Africa, we re stepping in to help the Africa n cotton-producing countries.  The 
African Group hoped that this gesture by Brazil and India, which it very much appreciated, would 
inspire other countries, and in particular the develo ped countries, to redouble their efforts to ensure 
that cotton did not disappear from the economi es of the African countr ies.  Whatever the WT/GC/M/106 
Page 44  
 
  importance of the development aspect , the main solution resided in th e trade aspect, and the African 
Group hoped that the negotiations would resume so on.  Whatever the development factor might be, 
without this there would be  no success in this area. 
118. The representative of Cuba
 said her delegation agreed with the statements by Brazil and by 
Benin for the African Group that although the development assistance aspects were of great 
importance to implementing the mandates on cotton, the trade aspects – and particularly the 
substantial reduction in levels of support – woul d be essential to the specific, expeditious and 
ambitious fulfilment of those mandates.  As on pr evious occasions, Cuba supported the rightful 
claim of the African cotton-produ cing countries and thei r insistence on practical fulfilment of the 
commitments undertaken by those who still persis ted in applying unsustainable levels of support 
that brought ruin and poverty to subsistence farmers in developing countries. 
119. The General Council took note  of the Director-General's re port and of the statements. 
10. 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 
120. The Chairman  recalled that this matter had first been raised by the delegations of Honduras 
and Guatemala at the Council meeting in December 2 004.  It had subsequently been considered by 
the General Council at each of its regular meetings  since then, without resolution.  In the light of 
the views expressed at these meetings, and the re quests for consultations made by Honduras and 
Guatemala, both his predecessors and he had been ho lding consultations in orde r to assist in finding 
a way forward.  At the October General Council meeting, he had reported to delegations on his 
most recent consultations, which had been held on 5 October.  In view of the statements at that 
Council, he had proposed that the General Council reve rt to this matter at its next meeting, and that 
he hold further consultations in the meantime with  the aim of moving this matter forward.  He 
informed delegations that on 11 December, he had held further consultations to provide another opportunity for the Members concer ned to seek clarifications, to the extent possible, and to see if 
he, as Chair, could facilitate a satisfactory resolu tion to the concerns that had been expressed 
regarding this matter.  He had invited to those consultations all the 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 once again that the consultations had not resulted in any meeting of mi nds as yet on the specific matter referred to the 
General Council, which was the non- recognition of substantial supplier rights in the very specific 
context of the EC's modification of its con cessions as a result of enlargement from 15 to 
25 members, and the modification of its concessio n on bananas in its move to a new tariff-only 
regime as from 1 January 2006.  Both side s continued to reiterate their positions. 
121. He recalled that this matter had been brought to the General Council in keeping with 
Paragraph 4 of the 1980 Procedures for Negotiatio ns under Article XXVIII, under which, when a 
Member renegotiating its Schedule does not recognize a claim of principal or substantial supplying 
interest, the Member making the claim "may refe r the matter to the Council".  While the 1980 
Procedures remained silent on the exact role to be played by the General Council in such situations, any action by the Council on this matter would ha ve to be taken by Members collectively, in 
keeping with their practice of decision-making by consensus.  Obviously, the Council would not be in a position to take action if the parties directly concerned were still in disagreement.  He remained 
willing to facilitate a resolution in every way possi ble, 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.  WT/GC/M/106 
 Page 45 
 
 
  122. All representatives who spoke thanked the Chai rman for his dedicated attention to this 
matter and for his continuing efforts to find a solution. 
123. The representative of Honduras  referred to her delegation's statements at previous Council 
meetings and said that she once again had to express  Honduras' concern about the lack of progress 
on this issue.  In the two years since Honduras ha d first requested the Community to recognize its 
interests as a substantial supplier in the banana sector, the Community had ma intained the following 
position:  (i) it had repeatedly denied recognition of Honduras' interests on the basis of arguments 
that had no foundation in WTO rules;   (ii) it had modified its schedules of concessions relating to 
bananas in a manner contrary to the "Bananas III" findings and the arbitral awards  of 2005;  (iii) it 
had refused to make appropriate adjustments for, or to pay compensation to, the Latin American 
suppliers once the schedules had been amende d, on the sole grounds that it "owed no 
compensation";  (iv) it had refused to clarify at what level it would bind its modified banana tariff;  and (v) it had disregarded its obligations to prov ide compensation as a result of the enlargement of 
the European Union that had ta ken place in May 2004, although a new enlargement was about to 
occur in two weeks' time.  Such actions and omissi ons on the part of the Community were contrary 
to WTO principles and decisions, which Honduras had detailed extensively in the past.  The 
irregularities associated with the modification of the tariff were so sign ificant that developing 
countries were now facing new and even greater systemic problems.  If the Community and other developed-country Members were allowed unilaterally, inflexibly and illegally to deny appropriate compensation, the poorest and sm allest supplying Members would never be compensated for the 
loss of their bound rights.  If developed-country Members such as the EC were free to reject any 
claim of substantial supplier in terest, the poorest Members of the organization would never even 
have the opportunity of a proper hearing.  If the rules of the system regarding tariffs and 
enlargement were so informal as to enable any Member to modify its schedules without 
transparency, compensation or due process, this wo uld eventually undermine the trade interests of 
all Members.  As recent developments had clearly  shown, concerns rega rding the EC's banana 
regime were increasing, not decreasing.  The time had come for the Community  to comply with its 
obligations on the banana issue,  to recognize Honduras' inter ests as a substantial supplier of 
bananas, and to make significant adju stments to its illegal arrangement. 
124. The representative of Guatemala
 said that when his delegation had decided to put this item 
on the General Council's agenda, he had never imagined that it would remain there for so long, particularly in light of the intens e effort and arduous work involved  in the consultations undertaken 
to resolve this matter.  However, it appeared th at neither Guatemala's cl ear intentions nor the 
Chairman's excellent work had b een enough to obtain a favourable  agreement with the Community.  
Without wishing to be pessimistic, he said that this  matter ran the risk of becoming a standing item 
on the General Council's agenda.  As the next EU  enlargement process drew near, one could expect 
a resurgence of problems related to the non-recognition of negotiating rights for small and medium-
sized suppliers.  Strangely, since this item had be en on the Council's agenda, concerns had been 
expressed by 17 developing, and no developed, coun tries.  It would thus appear that for an 
exclusive group of Members, the renegotiati on processes arising from the EU's enlargement 
generated no problems.  However, the situation was less fortunate fo r the rest of the countries, 
including Guatemala.  First, alth ough Guatemala qualified as Member with a substantial interest or 
a principal supplying interest, it had had to figh t ceaselessly for recognition of its rights.  Second, 
even if it had been lucky enough to have its rights  recognized, Guatemala wo uld still have to deal 
with the persistent refusals to grant it compensatio n.  Lastly, had it been possible to overcome these 
obstacles and have its right to compensation recognized, the amount would have proven so 
insignificant that it would have not been worth the effort.  Surprising as this might sound, it was 
true, and all of this was the result of the in terpretations of one Member.  These unilateral 
interpretations had unfortunately had serious consequences for Guatem ala's trade.  In an earlier 
statement, he had said that the outcome of negotiations in this organization had to be extended to all Members, whether small, mid-sized or large.  In  the light of this, his present statement had two WT/GC/M/106 
Page 46  
 
  purposes.  The first was to ask the Community to recognize that this was a negotiating issue and 
that it should accordingly show flexibility and commitment.  Memb ers' positions were not cast in 
stone and the Community was not the custodian of the absolute truth.  The second was to remind 
the Community that all Members had collective responsibility for the multilateral trading system, and the best response to the multilateral system and to this organization was respect for the 
expectations and concerns of all Me mbers, whatever their level of development.  With this in mind, 
he wished to draw the Community's attention to the new situation of the accession to the EU of 
Bulgaria and Romania.  
125. Guatemala had had to take up the challenge of developing its institutional and export 
capacity in order to become a par ticipant in world trade.  Despite intrinsic limitations, Guatemalan 
producers had made an immense effort to place th eir products on the world market.  A case in point 
was its sugar industry, whose rema rkable endeavours had enabled it to compete effectively and to 
seize the opportunities offe red by multilateral trade.  The EC's  suggestions that Guatemala did not 
have a substantial trade interest, when it did, and that on the stre ngth of this claim it was seeking 
not to accommodate Guatemala's legitimate expect ations regarding access for sugar, were matters 
of great concern to his country.  If the Community could not respond to the concerns expressed by 
developing countries and if it could not affo rd Guatemala fair treatment through a serious 
negotiating process, then the ne gotiating processes arising from the EU's enlargement could be 
considered neither fair nor consistent with WTO principles.  Accordingly, he asked the Community to reflect seriously on the manner in which it would deal with this matter in the course of 2007.  He 
again thanked the Chairman for the time and atten tion he had devoted to this matter, and reiterated 
that his delegation stood ready to  work with him in ex ploring ideas and alternat ives to allow this 
matter to be resolved. 
126. The representative of Nicaragua
 said that Nicaragua was a small economy and shared, 
together with other Members, a systemic interest in this issue.  It therefor e supported the statements 
by Honduras and Guatemala.  Nicaragua hoped to be able to count on the commitment and good 
offices of the Council Chair to find a reasonable an d satisfactory solution fo r the parties who were 
being affected.  Nicaragua was fully aware of th e importance of these issues for small economies. 
127. The representative of Mexico  said that the continued non-recognition of rights by the EC 
had given rise to a truly distressing situation.  In light of the repeat ed disputes on the banana issue, 
the last thing needed now was for a minor issue to  continue to further complicate relations between 
the countries of Latin America and the European Un ion.  Mexico was gratef ul to the Chairman for 
his efforts, and asked all of the parties to work towards putting this problem behind them. 
128. The representative of Panama  said his country regretted that this matter was still on the 
Council's agenda, despite the efforts made, and su pported the statements by Nicaragua, Honduras, 
Guatemala and Mexico. 
129. The representative of Argentina  said that, as others had noted, this issue had been on the 
Council's agenda since 2004.  It was also an issue that Argentina would have liked to have seen 
resolved quite some time earlier.   The EU's enlargement from 15 to 25 members States had caused 
differences with Members who were still maintaining that their claims had not been recognized by 
the EC, and this problem was worsening as two additional member States were about to join the EU.  The resolution of this issue required, in addition to the applicat ion of WTO rules, the 
application of general principles such as good faith and fair treatment.  His delegation hoped that in 
2007 a solution would be found to this issue. 
130. The representative of Brazil
 said that, like previous speakers,  Brazil hoped that a solution 
could be found that was favourable and that satisfi ed the claims submitted by the parties involved in 
this issue, and that this would happen as soon as possible.  WT/GC/M/106 
 Page 47 
 
 
  131. The representative of El Salvador  said her delegation wished to reiterate the importance it 
attached to the issues ra ised by Guatemala and H onduras because of th eir systemic implications.  El 
Salvador trusted in the Chairman's good offices, and hoped that he would be able to continue the consultation process with a view to finding a sp eedy and satisfactory solu tion to this problem, 
which had been under discussion in the General Council for a long time. 
132. The representative of the European Communities
 said that when he had first come to the 
General Council six years earlier, bananas had been  on the top of the age nda and he had received 
his share of EU-bashing, both in the DSB and the General Council.  While it might take some time to find acceptable solutions to th e problems that had arisen, he was sure this could be done.  
However, one had to bear in mind that the banana dossier was probably the most complex one in 
WTO history.  It was certainly possible to find a solution in 2007, and in the meantime the good 
news was that overall imports into the EC in 2006  had increased by some 10 per cent.  He regretted 
that his statement under this item at the present meeting was similar to the ones his delegation had 
made at previous General Council meetings.  Hi s own view was that whenever lawyers dug into 
such matters, arguments seemed to be set in conc rete after a certain time.  At the most recent 
General Council meeting, his delegation had sugges ted a way out through a structural solution for 
suppliers who were small and vulnerable economies.  Apparently this idea had not been taken up.  Nonetheless, he believed that it was an avenue wo rth considering further, and he would leave some 
ideas for his successor.  In the meantime, regrettably, he would ha ve to reiterate the EC's previous 
position, which was exactly the same as it had been for some time, including at the Council's most 
recent meeting.  He still believ ed that there was scope for furt her consultations by the Council 
Chair, including on building on the idea of findi ng a structural solution for small suppliers.  He 
wished the Council Chair and his successor every success in this endeavour, and also wished to 
assure the delegations who had spoken under this item that the EC remained  open to any possible 
discussion to resolve this matter as soon as possible. 
133. The General Council took note
 of the statements and agreed  to revert to this matter at it 
next meeting and that the Chair would continue consultations in the meantime with the aim of 
moving this matter forward. 
11. Procedure for the introduction of Harmon ized System 2007 changes to Schedules of 
Concessions using the Consolidated Tariff Sc hedules (CTS) database – Draft Decision 
(G/C/W/565) 
134. The Chairman  drew attention to the draft decision in document G/C/W/565 regarding a 
procedure for the introduc tion of HS 2007 changes to schedul es of tariff concessions using the 
Consolidated Tariff Schedules Database. 
135. Mr Agah (Nigeria), Chairman of  the Council for Trade in Goods , said that at its meeting on 
20 November 2006, the Goods Council had approved the Procedure for the Introduction of Harmonized System 2007 Changes to Schedules of  Concessions Using the Consolidated Tariff 
Schedules (CTS) Database contained in document G/C/W/565, and had recommended that it be 
forwarded to the General Council for adoption. 
136. The General Council took note
 of the statements and adopted  the draft decision in document 
G/C/W/565.4 
                                                      
4 The Decision was subsequently circulated as WT/L/673. WT/GC/M/106 
Page 48  
 
  12. Waivers under Article IX of the WTO Agreement 
137. The Chairman
 noted that the draft waiver decisions for the matters in sub-items 12(a) 
through 12(e) below had been taken up for consideration by the Council for Trade in Goods at its meeting on 20 November, and were matters on which the Goods Council Chair had to report to the General Council.  In order to facilitate the smoot h and efficient considerati on of the draft decisions 
by the General Council, he would invite the Ch airman of the Goods Council to report on the 
Council's consideration of these matters in a sing le intervention.  The General Council would then 
take up each draft decision for action separately. 
138. Mr Agah (Nigeria), Chairman of  the Council fo r Trade in Goods
, said that at its meeting of 
20 November, the Goods Council ha d approved the draft waiver d ecisions for the matters in sub-
items 12(a) through 12(e) below.  The Goods Council had further recommended that these draft 
decisions be forwarded to the Ge neral Council for adoption.  With respect to sub-item 12(b), he 
wished to add that the Goods Council had approved  the draft decision in G/C/W/566, along with 
some minor textual changes which had been incorporated into document G/C/W/566/Rev.1.  Since the Goods Council's approval of th at draft decision, he had been informed that two additional 
Members – Argentina and India – had requested to be included in the Annex to the draft decision 
which listed the Members covered by the waiver.  He therefore suggested that the General Council 
consider for adoption the draft decision in G/C/W/566/Rev.1 with  the addition of Argentina and 
India to its Annex. 
139. The General Council took note
 of the statements. 
(a) Introduction of Harmonized System 2002 changes into WTO Schedules of tariff concessions 
– Draft decision (G/C/W/564) 
140. The Chairman  drew attention to the draft decision in document G/C/W/564 which provided 
for a waiver from provisions of Article II of GAT T 1994 until 31 December 2007 for a number of 
Members to enable them to impl ement the HS 2002 changes into their Schedules of concessions, 
subject to certain conditions. 
141. He proposed that, in the light of the report made above by the Chairman of the Goods 
Council, and in accordance with the Decision-Making Procedures u nder Articles IX and XII of the 
WTO Agreement agreed in November 1995 (W T/L/93), the General Council adopt the draft 
decision in G/C/W/564. 
142. The General Council so agreed .5 
(b) Introduction of Harmonized System 2007 changes into WTO Schedules of tariff concessions 
– Draft decision (G/C/W/566/Rev.1) 
143. The Chairman  drew attention to the draft decisi on in document G/C/W/566/Rev.1 which 
provided for a waiver from the pr ovisions of Article II of GATT 19 94 until 31 December 2007 for a 
number of Members to enable them to implement the HS 2007 changes into their Schedules of concessions, subject to  certain conditions. 
144. He proposed that, in the light of the report ma de above by the Chairman of the Goods Council, 
and in accordance with the Deci sion-Making Procedures under Ar ticles IX and XII of the WTO 
Agreement agreed in November 1995 (WT/L/93), th e General Council adopt the draft Decision in 
G/C/W/566/Rev.1 with the addition of Argentina and India to the Annex. 
                                                     
 
5 The Decision was subsequently circulated as WT/L/674.   WT/GC/M/106 
 Page 49 
 
 
  145. The General Council so agreed .6 
(c) Kimberley Process Certification Scheme fo r Rough Diamonds – Request for extension of 
waiver (G/C/W/559/Rev.1) 
146. The Chairman  drew attention to the draft decision in document G/C/W/559/Rev.1 on 
extension of the waiver regarding the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme for Rough Diamonds 
to 31 December 2012 
147. He proposed that, in the light  of the report made above by  the Chairman of the Goods 
Council, and in accordance with the Decision-Making Procedures u nder Articles IX and XII of the 
WTO Agreement agreed in November 1995 (W T/L/93), the General Council adopt the draft 
Decision in G/C/W/559/Rev.1. 
148. The General Council so agreed .7 
(d) Canada – CARIBCAN – Request for ex tension of waiver (G/C/W/558) 
149. The Chairman  drew attention to the draft decision in document G/C/W/558 on extension of 
the waiver regarding Canada's provision of duty-free treatment for imports of eligible products originating in beneficiary Caribbea n countries to 31 December 2011. 
150. He proposed that, in the light  of the report made above by  the Chairman of the Goods 
Council, and in accordance with the Decision-Making Procedures u nder Articles IX and XII of the 
WTO Agreement agreed in November 1995 (W T/L/93), the General Council adopt the draft 
Decision in G/C/W/558. 
151. The General Council so agreed
.8 
152. The representative of Saint Kitts and Nevis , on behalf of the CARICOM Members , said his 
delegation wished to thank Canada for the fulfilment of its commitment to the commonwealth 
Caribbean.  Approval of this request by th e General Council sent a strong signal that the 
multilateral system could be responsive to the deve lopmental concerns of its Members, by taking 
into account the differences in economic size and leve ls of development.  His delegation wished to 
commend the General Council for its favourable consideration of this request and pledged to 
continue working towards a fa vourable conclusion of the DDA. 
153. The General Council took note  of the statement. 
(e) Cuba – Article XV:6 of GATT 1994 – Request for extension of waiver (G/C/W/562)  
154. The Chairman  drew attention to the request by Cuba for extension of the waiver regarding 
Article XV:6 of the GATT 1994 to 31 December 2011,  and to the draft deci sion to this effect 
contained in the Annex to document G/C/W/562. 
155. He proposed that, in the light  of the report made above by  the Chairman of the Goods 
Council, and in accordance with the Decision-Making Procedures u nder Articles IX and XII of the 
WTO Agreement agreed in Nove mber 1995(WT/L/93), the Gene ral Council adopt the draft 
Decision in G/C/W/562. 
                                                      
6 The Decision was subsequen tly circulated as WT/L/675. 
7 The Decision was subsequen tly circulated as WT/L/676. 
8 The Decision was subsequen tly circulated as WT/L/677. WT/GC/M/106 
Page 50  
 
  156. The General Council so agreed
.9 
(f) European Communities – Article XIII waiver fo r the tariff rate quota for bananas of ACP 
origin – Request for extension – Statement by  the Chairman of the Council for Trade in 
Goods 
157. The Chairman  noted that the request by the EC for an  extension of the Article XIII waiver 
for the tariff rate quota for bananas of ACP origin had been on the agenda of the Council for Trade 
in Goods for some time, and said that the Chairman of that Council wished to make a statement 
regarding that body's consideration of this matter so far. 
158. Mr Agah (Nigeria), Chairman of  the Council for Trade in Goods , recalled that the European 
Communities had submitted a request for an extension of its Article XIII waiver for the Tariff Rate 
Quota for bananas of ACP origin, in document G/C/W/529 of 11 October 2005.  The existing 
waiver, contained in document WT/MIN/(01)/16, provided that it would expire on 31 December 2005.  The Community had stated th at the policy objectiv e of the TRQ for ACP 
countries was to maintain prefer ential access for ACP suppliers in a way that ensured total market 
access for MFN suppliers of bananas to the EC market .  The EC had also stated that it did not 
consider that the TRQ was GATT-inconsistent, but  that it was requesting the waiver to provide 
legal certainty for both ACP and MFN operators.  At the meeting of the Goods Council in November 2005, the Council had agreed to defer c onsideration of this agenda item to its 10 March 
2006 meeting.  At that meeting, the EC had proposed to postpone consideration of its waiver request until after the monitoring and review process of its new bana na regime had been concluded.  
This suggestion had been met with statements by concerned Members who had not agreed with this 
proposal, some of whom had not wished to consider this waiver request at all.  At the May 2006 
meeting of the Goods Council, the EC had maintain ed its proposal to postpone consideration of its 
waiver request, which had again met with disagreemen t by certain concerned Members.  At its July 
2006 meeting of the Goods Council, he had concl uded that there were significant divergences in 
Members' positions on this matter.  Some Members had not wanted to consider the EC request, one 
Member had been ready to support the request, and others had been urging its adoption.  Those in 
the first category had viewed the EC waiver reques t as unfounded and with no legal basis.  They did 
not believe that the request met the terms of the U nderstanding in Respect of Waivers, nor that there 
was sufficient information to assess its merits.  The Member in the second category, and a few 
others, in the spirit of seeking a peaceful resolution of the matter, had appeared interested in approving this request.  However, this position had remained premised on having all information at 
hand, including the re-bound tariff on bananas following the phase-in of the tariff-only banana 
regime.  And finally, those in the third category had supported and urged the adoption of this waiver.  He was making this report to Members in the light of the requirement in Article IX:3(b) of 
the WTO Agreement to report to the General Council.    This request had been on the agenda of the 
Goods Council for a year, and whether or not Memb ers agreed it merited approval or further 
consideration, he believed that as the Goods Council Chai r, it was necessary to re port on this matter 
to the General Council.  While some Members had voiced their refusal to consider this waiver 
request, there had also been some analytical discussion of the conten t of the request – in particular, 
whether the request and substantiating documentat ion met the requirements of the Understanding in 
Respect of Waivers.  Given this situation, he could only report that the matter remained inconclusive and that further time was needed for the Goods Council to continue its deliberation of 
the request. 
159. The General Council took note
 of the statement. 
                                                      
9 The Decision was subsequen tly circulated as WT/L/678.  WT/GC/M/106 
 Page 51 
 
 
  (g) Review of waivers pursuant to Ar ticle IX:4 of the WTO Agreement 
(i) Canada – Caribcan, granted on 14 Octob er 1996 until 31 December 2006 (WT/L/185, 
WT/L/664) 
(ii) United States – Former Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, granted on 14 October 1996 
until 31 December 2006 (WT/L/183, WT/L/667) 
(iii) EC – Autonomous preferential treatment to th e countries of the Western Balkans, granted on 
8 December 2000 until 31 December 2006 (WT/L/380, WT/L/668) 
(iv) EC – The ACP-EC Partnership Agreement, granted on 14 November 2001 until 
31 December 2007 (WT/L/436, WT/L/669) 
(v) Cuba – Article XV:6 of GATT 1994, grante d on 20 December 2001 until 31 December 2006 
(WT/L/440, WT/L/666) 
160. The Chairman  recalled that, in accordance with pa ragraph 4 of Article IX of the WTO 
Agreement, "any waiver granted for a period of more than one year shall be reviewed by the 
Ministerial Conference not later th an one year after it is granted,  and thereafter annually until the 
waiver terminates."  In keeping with this provis ion, there were five waivers before the General 
Council for review.  The Decision s on the waivers under review pr ovided that an annual report 
should be submitted by these Members on the ope ration or implementation of the respective 
waivers, with a view to facilitating their annual review by the General Council under paragraph 4 of 
Article IX.  The reports from these Members on the relevant waivers had been circulated in documents WT/L/664 and WT/L/667-669. 
161. The representative of the United States
, referring to sub-item (g)(ii), said that the United 
States recognized that this waiver expired on 31 December 2006 and expected to transmit a request 
for its extension in the coming days.  As these preferences reflected a longstanding historical 
relationship of the Pacific Island s in the Former Trust Territori es with the United States, it hoped 
that at the appropriate time, Members would co nsider its request for extension favourably. 
162. The General Council took note  of the statements and of th e reports in documents WT/L/664 
and WT/L/666-669. 
13. Review under Paragraph 8 of the Decision on the implementation of Paragraph 6 of the 
Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health (WT/L/540 and Corr.1) – 
Report of the Council for TRIPS (IP/C/42) 
163. The Chairman  recalled that on 30 August 2003, the Genera l Council had adopted a 
Decision on the Implementation of Paragraph 6 of  the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement 
and Public Health.  Paragraph 8 of the Council Decision provid ed that the TRIPS Council shall 
review annually the functioning of the system set ou t in the Decision with a view to ensuring its 
effective operation, and shall annu ally report on its operation to the General Council.  The Decision 
also provided that the review by the TRIPS Co uncil shall be deemed to fulfil the review 
requirements of Article IX:4 of the WTO Agreem ent.  The report by the TRIPS Council on its 
review under paragraph 8 of the General Coun cil Decision was before Members in document 
IP/C/42. 
164. Mr Clarke (Barbados), Chairman of the TRIPS Council , said that at its meeting 
in October 2006, the TRIPS Council had taken up the annual review pursuant to Paragraph 8 of the Decision on the Implementation of Paragraph 6 of the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement WT/GC/M/106 
Page 52  
 
  and Public Health.  The TRIPS Council's report to the General Council had been circulated in 
IP/C/42.  The cover note to this document set out factual information regarding the implementation 
of the Decision and the work, pursuant to paragraph 11 of the Decision, leading to the General Council Decision of 6 December 2005 on the Ame ndment of the TRIPS Agreement.  The TRIPS 
Council's report also contained, in an annex, the record of the discussion that had taken place during 
the Council's review of the waiver  decision.  He drew attention to the fact that, as the report 
indicated, so far only three Members had depo sited their instruments of acceptance of the 
Amendment.  Given the importance of this matter and that the present time-frame for its acceptance 
lasted until 1 December 2007, he wished to call on those Members who had not yet done so to carry 
out promptly the necessary internal procedures so that they could deposit their instruments of 
acceptance as soon as possible. 
165. The General Council took note
 of the statement and of the re port of the TRIPS Council in 
IP/C/42. 
14. WTO Pension Plan 
(a) Election of Alternate to the Management Boar d – Proposal by the Chairman of the General 
Council (WT/GC/W/572) 
166. 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 document WT/GC/W/572, he had indicated that one of the alternates elected earlier to the Manageme nt Board by the General Council was no longer 
available to serve on the Board, and that it was therefore necessary for the Council to decide on a 
replacement.  Accordingly, in his communication he  had proposed the name of a representative who 
had kindly agreed to have her name put forward for election as alternate.  He had also invited 
Members to submit any comments they might have regarding the proposed nomination by close-of-business on 8 December.  He wished to inform de legations that he had not received any comments 
regarding the proposed nomination.  Accordingly,  he proposed that the General Council elect 
Ms Salina Yan (Hong Kong, China) to serve as alternate on the Management Board of the WTO Pension Plan for the remainder of the term, i.e. until May 2008. 
167. The General Council so agreed
. 
(b) Annual Report of the Management Board for 2005 (WT/L/663) 
168. The Chairman  drew attention to the annual report of the Management Board for 2005 in 
document WT/L/663.  The annual report of the Management Board was submitted to the General 
Council in accordance with  Article 5(d) of the Regulations of the Pension Plan.  This was the 
seventh report of the Management Board sinc e the establishment of the Pension Plan on 
1 January 1999. 
169. Mrs Demir (Turkey), Chairperson of the Management Board of the WTO Pension Plan , said 
that 2005 had been a particularly good year for the Pension Plan, with a gross portfolio return of 
more than 26 per cent, thanks in particular to  very strong global ma rkets and emerging-market 
equities.  The new investment strategy had began to bear fruit.  In this seventh year of the Pension Plan's existence, the Management Board had pursued its various activities in the seven meetings held in 2005.  It had focused on finalizing the new investment strategy.  Under the new strategy, the breakdown of the portfolio was as follows:  60 per cent international equities, 10 per cent emerging 
market equities, 20 per cent foreign bonds, 5 per cent  European real estate securities, and 5 per cent 
direct investment in European real estate.  The Management Board had continued its regular  WT/GC/M/106 
 Page 53 
 
 
  monitoring of the Pension Plan's actuarial position.  Having consid ered the actuarial assessment at 
31 December 2004, it had decided to establish a wo rking group to  look into the long-term viability 
of the Pension Plan.  The group had continued its work throughout 2006.  Another matter that had been addressed by the Management  Board in 2005 was the procedur e for the treatment of partial 
and total disability cases.  After a review of the pr ocedure, a number of amendments had been made 
to the Plan Regulations and Administrative Rule s.  The amendments had been notified to the 
General Council in December 2005 .  The subject of same-sex marri ages had been discussed in the 
Management Board throughout 2005.  Aware that th is matter had important legal implications, the 
Board had proceeded with caution.  Not until 2006 had it finally decided to recognize such marriages.  In the interests of promoting the po rtability of pension ri ghts while preserving the 
integrity of the Pension Plan, the Board had decided to ask its Secretariat to consider the possibility 
of reaching a transfer arrangement with the Pension Fund of the European Communities.  That arrangement had entered into force on 1 July 2006.  Lastly, 2005 had seen the launching of a new "self service" system on the Web, allowing pa rticipants to access their pension files and estimate 
their pensions themselves.  Judging from the number  of visits to the site, this system was greatly 
appreciated by participants.  It had also eased th e task of the Pension Fund Secretariat, whose 
workload was constantly growing as the Pensi on Plan expanded.  She remained at Members' 
disposal should they any questions or requests for clarification. 
170. The General Council took note
 of the statement and of the Annual Report of the 
Management Board for 2005 in WT/L/663. 
15. Appointment of Officers to WTO bodies – A nnouncement by the Chairman pursuant to 
Paragraph 7.1(a) of the Guidelines (WT/L/510) 
171. The Chairman  recalled that the Guidelines for the Appointment of Officers to WTO bodies 
(WT/L/510) provided that the outgoing Chairman of the General Council would conduct consultations on the appointment of chairpersons to the WTO bodies outlined in Groups 1, 2, 4 and 5 of the Annex to the Guidelines.  The Guidelines al so provided, in paragraph 7.1(a), that in order 
to promote transparency, the selection process sh ould be started with an announcement by the 
Chairman at the General Council meeting held in December each year.  Accordingly, he wished to 
inform the General Council that he would be star ting the selection proces s for the appointment of 
chairpersons to the WTO bodies outlined in Groups 1, 2, 4 and 5 of the Annex to the Guidelines.  In accordance with Paragraph 7.1(b) of the Guidelines,  he would be assisted in  the selection process 
by the serving Chairman of the Dispute Settlement Body, Mr Noor (Malaysia).  In keeping with 
paragraph 7.1(d), Mr Noor and he would communicat e, as early as possible, a specified time-period 
in which they would be available to hear the views and suggestions, if any, of Members, 
individually and/or in groups.  Further, as provided for in Paragraph 7.1(c) of the Guidelines, he would request the Secretariat to distribute to dele gations in the meeting Room a list of past Chairs 
of major bodies in order to provide some structure for Members' subsequent deliberations on the 
possible distribution of chairs based  on past practice and the need for balance.  Finally, he wished to 
note that, in accordance with paragraph 2.1 of the Guidelines, representatives of Members in 
financial arrears for over on e full year could not be c onsidered for appointment. 
172. The General Council took note
 of the statement. WT/GC/M/106 
Page 54  
 
  16. Review of WTO activities 
 Reports of: 
 
(a) General Council (WT/GC/W/573), Dis pute Settlement Body (WT/DSB/42 and 
Add.1), and Trade Policy Review Body (WT/TPR/192) 
(b) Sectoral Councils (G/L/808, S/C/26 and IP/C/44) 
(c) Committees on Trade and Development (WT/COMTD/58), Trade and Environment 
(WT/CTE/13), Balance-of-Payments Restri ctions (WT/BOP/R/85), Budget, Finance 
and Administration (WT/BFA/92), and Re gional Trade Agreements (WT/REG/17) 
(d) Working Groups on Trade, Debt a nd Finance (WT/WGTDF/5), and Trade and 
Transfer of Technology (WT/WGTTT/8) 
(e) Committees under the Plurilateral Trade Agreements (GPA/89, WT/L/665) 
173. The Chairman
 drew attention to the annual reports of the various Councils and Committees 
in the documents referred to under this Agenda item, which had been drawn up in pursuance of the Decision concerning procedures for an annual ove rview of WTO activities and for reporting under 
the WTO (WT/L/105).  In the inter ests of moving the meeting along in a smooth and efficient way, 
he proposed that the Chairpersons of the various bodies not introduce their respective reports at the present meeting. He would, of course, invite any Chairpersons who wished to draw particular attention to some aspect of the work  carried out in their bodies or to add anything to their reports, to 
take the floor. 
174. Mr Cho (Korea), Chairman of the Committee on Government Procurement
, said he wished 
to draw attention to paragraphs 18-27 of the report in GPA/89 which concerned the renegotiation of 
the present plurilateral Agreement.  Preliminary work on the improvement  of the Agreement and 
the expansion of its coverage had been initiate d in 1997, and the negotiating process, properly 
speaking, in 1999.  He was please d to report that, at the meetin g of the Committee on 8 December, 
the negotiators had reached an understanding on the revision of the text of the 1994 Agreement on 
Government Procurement.  This had been circulated in document GPA/W/297.  This Agreement 
was provisional in that it was subject to a mu tually satisfactory outcome to the coverage 
negotiations, which remained to be concluded, and also subject to a legal drafting check.  The new Agreement would represent a substantial improvement over the existing one.  The revised text entailed a complete revision of the provisions of the Agreement, with a view to making them more 
user-friendly.  The provis ions had also been updated to take into account developments in current 
government procurement practice, in cluding the role of electronic to ols in the procurement process.  
Additional flexibility had been built in on some points, for example shorter time-periods for procuring goods and servi ces of a type available on the commercial market place.  S&D treatment 
for developing countries had been more clearly spelled out, in a manner that was hoped would facilitate future accessions by such countries.  A good deal of attention had been given to such 
questions as domestic review procedures for supplier challenges and the rules for modification of 
the coverage lists of Parties.  On the latter ma tter, it had been agreed to develop arbitration 
procedures for resolving differences.  This result had required hard work, creativity and flexibility 
on the part of all participants.  He believed it s howed that political will to reach agreements on 
difficult issues continued to be alive in the WTO.  As he had mentioned, the market access or 
coverage negotiations remained to be completed.  It  was the intention of the participants to conduct 
these on the basis of the revised te xt, with the goal of completing th em, and therefore all aspects of 
the negotiations, in spring 2007.  In addition, it was intended that the revised text be used as the 
basis for consultations and other on going work relating to  the accession of new parties.  One of the  WT/GC/M/106 
 Page 55 
 
 
  underlying aims of the negotiati ons had been to facilitate the accession of more Members, and it 
was hoped that the new Agreement, including th e more specific rules on S&D treatment, would 
prove instrumental in this regard. 
175. Mr Agah (Nigeria), Chairman of  the Council for Trade in Goods , said that further to the 
Goods Council's report in document G/L/808, he wish ed to inform Members that the report of the 
Second Review of the Preshipment Inspection Agreem ent had recently been circulated in document 
G/L/809.  This Review had been carried out in  accordance with Article 6 of the Agreement on 
Preshipment Inspection by the Comm ittee on Customs Valuation.  He  wished to draw attention to 
this report for the information of Members, as it had not been issued in time for consideration by 
the Council for Trade in Goods. 
176. The Chairman  said that on a number of these repo rts delegations had already had a 
substantive discussion in the respect ive bodies.  He suggested theref ore that delegations not repeat 
those discussions in the General Co uncil, and that they take the floor under the respective reports 
only if they felt they had to draw particular attention to any aspect of the work reported on, or to add to a previously expressed position. 
177. The representative of Bangladesh
, on behalf of the LDCs , referring to the report of the 
CTD, said that in the regular sessi on of the CTD on 28 November 2006, his delegation had made a 
statement which had been reflected in the Minut es of that meeting.  Bangladesh's views on 
paragraph 14 of the report in WT/COMTD/58 were  as follows:  The requirements of the Decision 
on Measures in Favour of Least-Developed Countr ies in Annex F of the Hong Kong Declaration 
were quite comprehensive.  They should be follo wed not only in letter, but also in spirit.  
Notification to the CTD of the steps taken to provide duty-free quota- free market access to the 
LDCs should be substantive, along with adequate discussion.  Paragraph 14 of the CTD's report explained part of the discussion.  However, to say that the CTD had conducted an annual review of these notifications might generate a wrong impressi on about the review and the review process.  
This was only the beginning of the review.  Wh at had taken place in the CTD had been only a 
preliminary stage of review. 
178. The General Council took note
 of the statements, adopted  the report of the Committee on 
Trade and Development in document WT/COMTD/58, and took note  of the reports of the other 
WTO bodies, including the reports of the Committ ees under the Plurilateral  Trade Agreements, in 
documents WT/DSB/42 and Add.1, WT/TPR/192 , G/L/808, S/C/26, IP/C/44, WT/CTE/13, 
WT/BOP/R/85, WT/BFA/92, WT/REG/17, WT/WGTDF/5, WT/WGTTT/8, GPA/89 and 
WT/L/665. 
179. The General Council then adopted  the draft report of the General Council contained in 
document WT/GC/W/573, on the understanding that the Secretariat would make the necessary 
adjustments to that draft repo rt to include matters considered at the present meeting.10 
17. New multimedia facility in the WTO 
180. The Director-General , speaking under "Other  Business", recalled th at in 2005, Members 
had approved funding for the establishment of a new multimedia facility that would enable the Secretariat to improve its services to Members and the public.  A return on  this investment was 
already being seen.  Throug h this multimedia facility, the Secretariat had been able to enhance its 
training programmes, to participate more fully in  conferences and meetings and to reach the public 
more easily through teleconferencing and satellite lin kage to television netw orks.  It was expected 
that the use of the faci lity would increase significantly in th e year ahead.  The WTO's technical 
                                                     
 
10 The Annual Report of the General Council was subsequently circulated in document WT/GC/110. WT/GC/M/106 
Page 56  
 
  assistance efforts had been greatly enhanced through the production of  training videos for Member 
governments and the Secretariat.  The WTO had been  able to participate via teleconferencing in a 
number of conferences it would otherwise have missed.  It had also recorded a number of 
interventions that had been broadcast in meetings  and seminars, with significant savings in travel 
costs.  The WTO had also been using this facility with television networks, notably on two 
occasions recently – Vietnam's accession and China' s five-year anniversary of joining the WTO.   
The operating costs of the facili ty were low and the savings that had been generated by less 
frequent travel were already apparent.  While trav el for technical assistance , training missions and 
attending conferences would still be necessary, the av ailability of this fa cility meant that the 
Secretariat could reduce travel costs through the us e of telephone and satellite connections.  In the 
coming year, the Secretariat envisaged workin g more closely with Members, with other 
international institutions and with the public in ways that had previously not been possible.  It would, for instance, be able to connect to several locations simultaneously, to participate more 
actively in the World Bank's Gl obal Distance Learning Programme and to communicate more often 
with the public via television links.  Members in terested in learning more about the multi-media 
facility and how to take advantage of it were invited to contact the WTO Conference Office.  
181. The General Council took note
 of the statement. 
18. Chairmanships of the Working Parties on the Accessions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 
and Iraq 
182. The Chairman , speaking under "Other Business", informed delegations that, following 
consultations with Members and the authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Iraq, respectively, 
and in keeping with usual WTO practice, it had been agreed as follows: 
- that Mr Major (Hungary) would serve as Chairman of the Working Party on the 
Accession of Bosnia and Herzegovina a nd would replace Mr Jenkins (UK), who 
was no longer available to  serve in this capacity; 
- that Mrs Uribe (Colombia) would serve as Chairperson of the Wo rking Party on the 
Accession of Iraq. 
183. On behalf of the General Council, he wished to thank Mr Jenkins for having served as Chair 
of the Working Party on the Accession of  Bosnia and Herzegovina since 1999. 
184. The General Council  took note  of the statement. 
19. Seventh Session of the Ministerial Conference 
185. The Chairman , speaking under "Other Business", said that as delegations were aware, 
Article IV, paragraph 1 of the WTO Agreement prov ided that the Ministeria l Conference "... shall 
meet at least once every two years."  Since the l ast session of the Ministerial Conference had been 
held in Hong Kong in December 2005, the periodi city stipulated in th e WTO Agreement would 
imply that the next Ministerial Co nference should be held at least before the end of 2007.  Members 
also needed to keep in mind that , in keeping with paragraph 45 of the Doha Declaration, when the 
results of the negotiations in all areas had been established, a Special Session of the Ministerial 
Conference should be held to take decisions regarding the adoption and implementation of those results.  Given these requirements, and the time n ecessary to organize such an event, he thought it 
prudent to begin sounding out the membership informally as to how they envisaged dealing with them.  He had had a number of conversations with delegations on this point and, in the interests of transparency, wished to inform the Council about what he had heard thus far.  He could do so quite 
concisely, because all of his conversations so far po inted in the same directio n.  It appeared that  WT/GC/M/106 
 Page 57 
 
 
  Members were not yet in a position to approach a d ecision on issues related to the next Ministerial.  
Clearly, the current situat ion in the DDA negotiations was a relevant factor in this respect, and all 
hoped this would be clarified in a positive way be fore long.  For the present, all he could say was 
that he remained available, as always, to delegati ons wishing to discuss this issue, and suggested 
that the Council return to it at  an appropriate time in 2007. 
186. The General Council took note  of the statement. 
20. Administrative Measures for Members in arrears 
187. 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 regarding 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 Budg et, Finance and Administration should provide 
information with regard to which Members were  under Administrative Meas ures in Categories II 
through IV. 
188. Mr Echvarria Ugarte (Spain), speaking on behalf of the Chairman of the Committee on 
Budget, Finance and Administration , said that as the Chairman ha d just recalled, the Budget 
Committee had formulated a recommendation rega rding Members in arrears which had been 
approved by the General Council in May .  The background to this  recommendation was the 
Committee's assessment that Members' obligation to contribute prompt ly to the WTO their share in 
the expenses of the organizati on, in accordance with the Marrake sh Agreement Establishing the 
WTO, should be reinforced.  The Administrative Measures had been reinforced  through the 
recommendation which had been approved.  The Ge neral Council had also authorized the Budget 
Committee to waive the applicatio n of the measures for Members in Category IV who agreed to, 
and abided by, a schedule of instalment payments ai med at liquidating all arrears.  In this context, 
he invited the Members concerned to contact the Secretariat to discuss modalities for establishing 
such an instalment plan.  Finally, in pursuance of the revised Administrative Measures, he wished 
to inform the Council that the Members under Categories II thro ugh IV of the Administrative 
Measures, as at 13 December, were as follows:  Argentina and Cameroon in Category II;  Paraguay in Category III;  and the following Members in Category IV:  Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic  of the Congo, Djibouti, Dominica, Gabon, The 
Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Malawi, Maur itania, Niger, Sierra Leone and Togo. 
189. The Chairman
 then recalled that under the revised Administrative Measures he was also 
required at each Council meeting to request Memb ers in Categories III and IV of the 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 next meeting of the General Counci l.  Since the October General Council meeting, he 
had not received any replies from the Members concerned. 
190. The General Council took note  of the statements. 
 
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