. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  TN/RL/14 
22 July 2005 
 (05-3311) 
Negotiating Group on Rules Original:   English 
  
 
PROPOSALS ON SPECIAL AND DIFFERENTIAL TREATMENT REFERRED 
TO THE GROUP BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL 
 
Report to the General Council by the Chairman
 
of the Negotiating Group on Rules  
 
  The present report is being submitted by the Chairman of the Negotiating Group on Rules, 
Ambassador Guillermo Valles, in response to the in struction contained in the Doha Work Programme 
adopted on 1 August 2004 (WT/L/579), to the effect that WTO bodies to which proposals in 
Category II have been referred to expeditiously comp lete their consideration and report to the General 
Council no later than July 2005.  
___________________ 
  
1. Special and Differential Treatment proposals in the areas of Regional Trade Agreements 
(RTAs), Anti-Dumping, and Subsidies and Counterv ailing Measures were referred to the Negotiating 
Group on Rules by the Chairman of the General Counc il by a letter dated 20 May 2003.  Rules-related 
proposals (Anti-dumping and Subsidies and Counterva iling Measures) were contained in documents 
TN/CTD/W/1, TN/CTD/W/3/Rev.2 and TN/CTD/W /4/Add.1 and related to Article 15 of the 
Agreement on Implementation of Article VI of  the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994  
(Agreement on Anti-dumping ) and to Articles 3.1, 27.3, 27.1, 27.4, 27.8, 27.9, 27.13 and 27.15 of the 
Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures .   
2. Three RTA-related proposals were referred to th e Group;  they were contained in documents 
TN/CTD/W/3/Rev.2 (African Group) and TN/CTD/W /4/Add.1 (LDCs).  Two of the three proposals 
were identical, and all of them related to the Understanding on the Interpretation of Article XXIV of 
the GATT 1994 .   
3. Since their referral to the Group in May 2003 , these proposals have at the initiative of the 
Chairman been included on the agenda of formal me etings on 11 June 2003 (RTAs), 18-19 June 2003 
(Anti-dumping and Subsidies and C ountervailing Measures), on 21-22 July 2003 (all subjects), and on 
16 December 2004 (Anti-dumping and Subsidies and Countervailing Measures), with the former 
meeting being convened primarily in order to consider the proposals.  Discussions are reflected in the 
summary records of the Group found in TN/RL/M/9, 10, 11 and 22. 
4. Unfortunately, and as reflected in the above summa ry records, except in respect of a proposal 
on Article 27.1 of the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures
1, the sponsors either 
were unable to attend the meetings in question or were  not in a position to intr oduce their proposals at 
those meetings.  While I fully understand the r esource constraints faced by small delegations, it 
remains that although numerous opportunities have b een provided we have not in fact had any 
                                                      
1 Proposal by Cuba, Dominican Republic, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, 
Tanzania and Zimbabwe (TN/CTD/W/1).  See discussion in TN/RL/M/10.    TN/RL/14 
Page 2  
 
 substantive discussion on these proposals.  Thus, I am not  able at this point to report to the General 
Council any precise recommendations for decisions with respect to these proposals.      
5. At the 16 December 2004 meeting, it was suggested  that I enter into direct contact with the 
sponsors, and I have therefore had a number of dir ect personal contacts, including most notably with 
the coordinators of the African Group and of the Gr oup of Least-Developed Countries.  Most recently, 
and in response to invitations sent by myself to th ese coordinators, I attended a meeting of the African 
Group at Ambassadors/Heads of Delegation level on  22 June 2005 at which I briefed the Group on 
issues of interest to the Group regarding the Rules ne gotiations.  I consider that this meeting was very 
helpful, and there was I believe a shared sense that it should represen t a first step in a continuing 
dialogue between myself and the African Group.  
6. I should emphasize that special and differential tr eatment issues with resp ect to all aspects of 
the Group's mandate are under active consideration in the Group.   
 
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