WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  TN/CTD/16 
12 May 2006 
 
 (06-2336) 
Committee on Trade and Development 
Special Session  
 
 
 
SPECIAL SESSION OF THE COMMITTEE ON 
TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT 
 
Report by the Chairman, Ambassador Burhan Gafoor (Singapore),  
to the General Council  
  
I. INTRODUCTION  
1. At the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference, Ministers reaffirmed that provisions for special 
and differential treatment (S&D) are an integral part of the WTO Agreem ents and renewed their 
determination to fulfil the mandate contained in paragraph 44 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration and 
in the Decision adopted by the General Council on 1 August 2004;  namely, that all S&D provisions 
be reviewed with a view to strengthening them  and making them more precise, effective and 
operational. 
2. Specifically, Ministers instructed: 
• the Special Session to expeditiously comp lete the review of all the outstanding 
Agreement-specific proposals and report to the General Council, with clear recommendations 
for a decision at the latest by December 2006; 
 
• the bodies in which the Category II proposals ar e being addressed to complete consideration 
of those proposals and report to the General C ouncil, with the objective of ensuring that clear 
recommendations for a decision are made by December 2006.  In this regard, the Special 
Session has been directed to continue to coor dinate its efforts with these bodies, so as to 
ensure that this work is completed on time;   
 
• the Special Session to resume work on all other outstanding issues, including on the 
cross-cutting issues, the Monito ring Mechanism and the incorporation of S&D into the 
architecture of WTO rules and report on a regular basis to the General Council.   
 
II. STATUS OF WORK 
3. Since the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference, the Special Session held two formal meetings 
(6 March and 7 April 2006) and several informal  consultations, including most recently one on 
8 May 2006.   
4. At the first-open-ended informal meeting held on 24 February, the Chairman sought 
Members' views on how to move forward on the diffe rent elements of the S&D Work Programme as 
mandated in the Hong Kong Ministerial Declarati on.  At that meeting, Members reached an 
understanding to begin with a text-based discussion of the eight remaining Category I Agreement-specific proposals based on the last langua ge considered and to then take up the eight 
remaining Category III proposals.  (A schematic representation of all the Agreement-specific 
proposals is annexed.)  Finally, Members agreed to resume the discussion on all other outstanding 
issues, including on the cross-cutting issues, the Monitoring Mechanism, and the incorporation of 
S&D treatment into the architecture of WTO rules.  TN/CTD/16 
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  5. Consequently, the Special Session has fo cused on the eight remaining Category I 
Agreement-specific proposals. The eight proposals relate in effect to four issues, namely:  
(i) Article 3.5 of the Agreement on Import Licensing;  (ii) Article 10.3 of the SPS Agreement;  (iii) Article XVIII of the GATT;  and (iv) the U nderstanding in Respect of Waivers of Obligations 
under the GATT 1994.   
6. In the discussion on the Agreement-specific propo sals, the Chairman has been encouraged by 
a few developments.  First, a very constructive mood has prev ailed among Members.  Second, 
Members have generally shown flexibility.  Third,  the proponents have also shown flexibility by 
agreeing to use the last language considered, instead  of their original proposals, as the starting point 
for discussions.  Finally, Members have been willing to engage in a text-based negotiation and this 
process has resulted in revised language for some of the proposals.   
7. Members have been able to agree to re vised language on three proposals relating to 
Article 3.5 of the Agreement on Import Licensing a nd on one proposal relating to Article XVIII of 
GATT 1994.  While revised language on these two issues is a step forward, there remains much work 
to be done on them.  At the meeting on 8 May 2006, the discussions focussed on two proposals 
relating to Article 10.3 of the SPS Agreement.  Wh ile differences remain, there were also several 
suggestions on possible ways forward.  Members al so indicated a readiness to have a smaller group 
discussion on these two proposals relating to the SPS Agreement.  
8. Overall, more work is needed on the Category I pr oposals as it is clear that there are still some 
deep differences amongst Members.  While Members generally accept that developing country Members should be provided the necessary flexibiliti es to address their constraints, some Members 
have stressed that blanket exemptions from commitments are unacceptable.   
9. The LDCs have also raised the issue of the implementation of the duty-free quota-free 
(DFQF) market access decision adopted at Hong Kong .  The LDCs have indicated that the modalities 
of the decision should be a matter for negotiations  in the Special Session of the CTD.  They have 
stressed that they would like to see a number of i ssues addressed in the Special  Session, including  the 
identification of the products that are intended to be provided DFQF treatment;  the specific 
97 per cent of the tariff lines that will be covered unde r the decision;  an indication of the developing 
country Members declaring themselves in a position to provide DFQF market access to the LDCs;  
and the tariff lines that are likely to be excluded from the DFQF treatment.  They have also raised the 
issue of preferential Rules of Origin.   
10. However, there continues to be a lack of c onsensus on where further work on this issue is 
carried out, with some Members maintaining that th e negotiations on this issue are complete and that 
therefore all issues relating to the implementation of this decision be taken up in the Regular Session 
of the CTD.  Given the differences in views, th e Chairman has urged delegations to undertake 
informal consultations amongst themselves in orde r to reach an understanding.  The Chairman has 
also indicated that he is ready and prepared to f acilitate the process of dialogue and convergence, if 
and when this becomes necessary. 
11. With regard to the Category II proposals, the Chairman requested an update from the 
Chairpersons of the bodies to which these proposals ha ve been referred.  Most of the Chairpersons 
indicated that progress on the proposals has not been forthcoming including in certain cases due to a 
lack of engagement amongst Members.  A more detailed report on the status of these proposals will 
be made by the different Chairpersons themselves at  the General Council meeting.  It is clear that 
much work remains to be done by all interested Me mbers if any real progress is to be made on these 
proposals.  At the request of Members, and with th e input of the various Chairpersons, the Secretariat 
has prepared a matrix showing when the different  Category II proposals will be discussed in the 
different negotiating groups and bodies.  This wi ll help delegations to plan and prepare their 
participation in the different meetings.    TN/CTD/16 
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  12. Work on the outstanding issues resumed at the formal meeting held on 7 April.  Discussions 
focused on the establishment of a Monitoring Mechanism.  While some Members believe that the 
Monitoring Mechanism should enable  the regular evaluation of the effectiveness and utilization of the 
S&D provisions, many are divided on what the structure and elements of such a mechanism should be.  In response to a suggestion on developing gu idelines for S&D that would address the diversity 
among developing countries, a number of Members cautioned that this would not result in a 
meaningful discussion and could take away focu s from other issues on which Members can build 
convergence.  Overall, the fact that the Committee resumed its discussion on all outstanding issues, as 
directed by the Ministers, in an atmosphere of mu tual respect is a positive development.  At the same 
time, there continues to be deep differences of vi ews on this cluster of issues.  This will require 
Members to crystallise their own views and continue informal discussions amongst themselves.   The 
Committee plans to continue the di scussion on this issue in July. 
III. FUTURE WORK   
13. In the coming months, consultations on the Ag reement-specific proposals will continue in an 
attempt to narrow the existing differences.  While informal meetings will continue to take place, 
formal meetings are scheduled for June and July.  At the June meeting, Members will continue their 
consideration of the Category I proposals and be gin discussions on the remaining eight Category III 
proposals.  Members will continue consideration of these proposals at the July meeting, at which they 
will also take up the other outstanding issues.     
14. On the Category II proposals, the Special Sessi on will continue to mon itor and coordinate its 
efforts with that of the negotiating groups a nd other WTO bodies to try and ensure that the 
December 2006 deadline for completing work on these proposals is met.  The Chairman will also 
continue to periodically meet with the various Chairpersons of these bodies and underscore as 
necessary the need to expedite  work in this area.   
 
 TN/CTD/16 
Page 4  
 
  ANNEX 
 
 
    
 
    
 
     
 
    
 
     
 
    
 
    
 
     
 
    
 
    
__________ 88 
Total no. of  
proposals 
submitted in the 
Special Session 
38 
Proposals referred 
to other bodies 
(Cat II )
50 
Proposals in the 
Special Session
(Cat I + Cat III)
16 
8 are from Cat I  and  8 are from Cat III. 
11 are by the African Group & 5 by other 
develo ping countries (dc's)        23 
Proposals 
remaining in the 
Special Session
8 
Remaining Category III  proposals 
 (6 African Group & 2 other dc's) 8 
Remaining Category I Proposals 
(5 African Group & 3 other dc's) 27 
Agreed to in 
principle as part of 
pkg of 28 proposals
5 
LDC proposals 
agreed to in HK
18 
Proposals 
remaining 
with the Sp. 
Session 2 
Proposals on 
the ATC 
(Terminated )