./. RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  TN/DS/M/27 
29 July 2005 
 (05-3436) 
Special Session of the Dispute Settlement Body 
15 July 2005  
 
 
MINUTES OF MEETING 
 
Held in the Centre William Rappard  
on 15 July 2005  
 
Chairman:  Mr. David Spencer (Australia) 
 
  The Chairman
 welcomed delegations to the thirtieth  meeting of the Special Session and said 
that the airgram for the meeting had been circul ated in WTO/AIR/2617 and that the draft agenda 
(TN/DS/W/78) contained two items, namely: (i) discu ssion of contributions by participants and (ii) 
"Other Business".  With respect to the first agenda  item, he said that two new contributions had been 
received from Members since the last meeting of the Special Session.  These were an informal 
contribution by the European Communities on panel composition, circulated as Job(05)/144 and a contribution by the United States on "some prac tical considerations in improving the dispute 
settlement understanding of the WTO related to tr ansparency and open meetings, circulated as 
TN/DS/W/79.  He suggested that the Special Se ssion focus on these two contribution under the first 
agenda item.  With regard to "Other Business", he said that he would be making an announcement 
about the dates of future meetings of the Special  Session.  He asked whether any delegation would 
like to raise anything under this agenda item.  Th ere was no response from the floor and the agenda of 
the meeting was adopted.  
 
1. Discussion of proposals from participants 
1. The Chairman
 recalled that the European Communities had previously submitted proposals 
on panel composition and invited its  representative to present the new proposal.  Before giving him 
the floor, he asked whether they would like to make th e presentation in a formal or an informal mode.   
2. The representative of the European Communities  indicated that they would like the 
presentation and subsequent discussion to take place in an informal mode. 
3. The Chairman  invited the representative of the Unite d States to present the new proposal and 
asked whether they would like to do so in a formal  or an informal mode.  The representative of the 
United States  said that they would like to make the presen tation of the proposal in a formal mode, but 
the discussion could take place in an informal mode , whereupon the Chairman asked him to proceed.   
4. The representative of the United States  welcomed the opportunity to introduce the 
contribution of the United States on transparency and open meetings, circulated to Members as 
TN/DS/W/79.  He said that the United States had maintained from the beginning of these negotiations that one important improvement in the disput e settlement system was to provide for more 
transparency in proceedings. As Members might re call, in these negotiations the United States was 
proposing: (i) open meetings; (ii) timely access to s ubmissions; and (iii) timely access to final reports.  
The United States had also suggested that Members might wish to consider whether it would be helpful to have guidelines for handling amicus curiae  submissions.  He said that the United States was 
ready to discuss further any of these proposals.  At  the present meeting, however, the United States TN/DS/M/27 
Page 2  
 
 wished to briefly highlight some of the benefits and practical considerations  of having meetings of 
panels, the Appellate Body, and ar bitrators open to all WTO Members and the public.  In terms of 
benefits, first, the United States would note that the fact that the public and WTO Members in general 
had been unable to observe proceedings meant that  the WTO had missed the opportunity to show the 
high quality of dispute settlement proceedings.  Second, open meetings could help facilitate 
implementation of DSB recommendations and rulings  since those asked to implement would have 
greater confidence in the process that resulted in those recommendations and rulings.  In terms of 
practical considerations, the Unite d States had suggested observations in four areas: (i) physical 
presence in the room where the meeting was taking pl ace; (ii) alternatives to physical presence in the 
room; (iii) safeguarding of confidential informati on; and (iv) modalities fo r holding open meetings.  
The United States recognized that Members had only just received the further contribution so it would 
not expect more than preliminary reactions at th e present meeting.  The United States would hope to 
have an ongoing series of informal and form al discussions over the next period of time 
2. "Other Business"  
 5. The Chairman recalled that he had stated at th e previous meeting that delegations would have 
to intensify work after the summer break with a vi ew to presenting positive results to Ministers at the 
Hong Kong Ministerial Conference.  He further recalle d that he had stated that the Special Session 
should focus on draft legal texts submitted as contri butions from delegations after the summer break.  
Regarding dates for future meetings, he said that it  was still possible for the Special Session to meet 
on 28-29 July, but given the intense level of activity th at could be expected in that week, it would be 
advisable to postpone the meeting, unless delegations fe lt that there was still some technical work that 
could usefully be carried out before the summer break .  For the rest of the year, he said that he had 
already foreshadowed several days of meetings pe r month, including informal meetings in various 
formats and configurations, while preserving suffi cient time for delegations to meet among 
themselves as necessary.  He proposed that the Special Sessi on meet on the following dates:               
23 September;  24-25 October;  14 November and 5 D ecember.  He said that the informal meetings 
would be held around those dates and asked whet her the suggested dates were acceptable to 
delegations.  As there was no comment from the floor, the Chairman thanked delegations for 
accepting his proposal.  He reminded delegations that as agreed at the previous meeting, he would be 
reporting to the TNC on the recent work conducted by the Special Session and the objectives for the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference and also to report to the General Council on the special and 
differential treatment proposals referred to the Special Session.   
 
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