WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
WT/MIN(11)/INF/10 
12 December 2011 
 (11-6444) 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
Eighth Session Geneva, 15 - 17 December 2011  
 
  
CONSOLIDATED INFORMATION NOTE 
 
 
 This consolidated note aims to provide delega tions with an overview of the arrangements for 
the Eighth Session of the Ministerial Conference in or der to facilitate their preparations.  It brings 
together information previously circulated t ogether with points covered at the November 
General Council and other re levant information.   
 I. VENUE 
 The Conference will take place at: 
 
Centre International de Conferences Genève (CICG) 17 rue de Varembé 1211 Geneva 
Switzerland 
Internet:  http://www.cicg.ch  
 
 The Conference will be subject to significant lim itations in terms of space, both within the 
meeting rooms and the open areas in the CICG.  Delegations are therefore kindly requested to 
exercise restraint in the number of delegates they register. 
 (a) Opening Hours 
 The CICG opening hours during the Ministerial Conference are as follows: 
   Thursday 15 December - 6 a.m. - midnight 
 Friday 16 December - 6 a.m. - midnight 
 Saturday 17 December -  6 a.m. - 10 p.m.   (b) Access and Parking 
 Delegations are encouraged to allow adequate time for traffic-related delays and security 
screening at the CICG in advance of the scheduled meetings.  As there is no parking at the CICG, a 
drop-off zone for delegates is envisaged in clo se proximity to the security screening operation.  A 
WTO shuttle service will be operating between th e CWR and the CICG/CCV.  Passengers will be 
dropped off at the rue de Varembé.  More info rmation can be found in WT/MIN(11)/INF/8.  
 
 Queries concerning access, parking and security issues should be addressed to: 
  BCI  Tel:  +41 22 739 5958  Fax:  +41 22 739 6111  E-mail:  BCI@wto.org  WT/MIN(11)/INF/10 
Page 2  
 
(c) Bar and Restaurant Facilities 
 The CICG has two catering points, i.e. the Bar Léman on the ground floor and the Espace 
Restauration on the first floor, both of which will be open during the Conference from 07h30 to 24h00 
and from 12h00 to 15h00, respectively.  There will also  be a snack bar in the Centre de Conférence de 
Varembé (CCV) which will be  open from 11h00 to 17h00. 
 
(d) Banking Facilities 
There is a UBS Bank close to the CICG at: 
 UBS SA 
Chemin Louis-Dunant 17bis  
Vermont-Nations  1202 Genève  It offers full banking facilities and cash machines. 
 
(e) Prayer Room   A meditation room is available to delegations  on level -1, next to the first aid room.   
 
II. OFFICERS 
Chairman:   H.E. Mr. Olusegun Olutoyin Aganga (Nigeria) 
Vice-Chairs:  H.E. Mr. Johann Schneider-Ammann (Switzerland)    H.E. Mr. Mustapa Mohamed (Malaysia)    H.E. Mr. Stephen Cadiz (Trinidad and Tobago) 
 III. ORGANIZATION OF SESSIONS 
 The Conference will be opened at 3 p.m. on Thursday 15 December.  Following addresses by 
the Ministerial Conference Chairman, the Director-G eneral and the Chairman of the General Council, 
the Chairman will propose the adoption of the Agenda.
1  He will then open the floor for the first 
speakers in the Plenary Session, starting with the hosts/Chairs of previous WTO Ministerial 
Conferences in chronological order, in keeping w ith established practice.  Seating in the Opening 
Session in Rooms 2, 3 and 4 on the ground floor will be indicated by chair bands and in Room 1 by 
nameplates.  (a) Plenary Session (Room 2) 
 As at past Ministerial Conferences, the Plenary will provide an opportunity for Ministers to 
make prepared statements in accordance with th e List of Speakers which was opened for inscription 
on 24 November.  The Plenary Session will be open to the media and a limited representation from NGOs.   Interventions in the Plenary Session are limite d to 3 minutes per speaker.  A so-called traffic 
light system will be in operation to facilitate adhere nce to the allotted time period.  Longer statements 
can be submitted to the WTO Secretariat
2.  In this respect, delegations are requested to transmit 
statements to the Secretariat, in advance of deliver y of the statement by the Minister, via e-mail to the 
following address:  MC8Statements@wto.org . 
                                                      
1 Contained in WT/MIN(11)W/1. 
2 See WT/MIN(11)/INF/5.  WT/MIN(11)/INF/10 
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 Information concerning arrangements for speak ers in the Plenary Sessions can be found in 
WT/MIN(11)/INF/5.  (b) Accessions (Room 2) 
The Ministerial Conference will take up the A ccessions of the Russian Federation, of Samoa 
and of Montenegro under Item 2 of the Agenda (Action by Ministers).  These three Accessions will be 
taken up in separate sessions according to the order indicated below in the Overall Programme.  The 
normal Plenary and Working Sessions w ill be suspended during the Accessions. 
  A fax was sent out on 8 December 2011 to dele gations concerning these Accessions.  Because 
of time constraints, only a very limited number of statements will be possible under each Accession, 
and the understanding of delegations in  this respect will be appreciated. 
  As in the Plenary Session, interventions ar e limited to 3 minutes per speaker.  The same 
traffic light system will be in operation to facilitate  adherence to the allotted time period.  Delegations 
are also requested to transmit stat ements to the Secretariat in advance of delivery of the statement by 
the Minister to the same e-mail address indicated above.  (c) Working Sessions (Room 1) 
 In parallel to the Plenary Session, Working S essions will take place on 16 and 17 December.  
Taking into account the timing of the Accessions , the programme provides for three Working 
Sessions.  The Working Sessions will be aimed at providing an interactive forum for Ministers, giving 
them a platform for discussion under three broad themes, as follows:  
o Importance of the Multilateral Trading System and the WTO 
o Trade and Development 
o Doha Development Agenda 
  Given the unequal lengths of the Working Sessi ons, every effort will be made to ensure 
equitable treatment of the three themes.  The th ree themes will be taken up sequentially in the 
Working Sessions.  
 In the Working Sessions, interventions will al so be limited to 3 minutes per speaker.  A 
timing system will be in operation to facilitate adhe rence to the allotted time period.  It should be 
noted that there will be no pre-inscription of speaker s.  Participation in the Working Sessions will be 
limited to Members and Observer Governments only,  on the basis of Head of Delegation plus 3. 
 
(d) Closing Session 
 The Closing Session will take place on Saturday  17 December, from approximately 7.30 p.m. 
to 8.30 p.m.  
IV. OUTCOME OF THE CONFERENCE  
 There will be a statement by the Chairman of the Ministerial Conference, comprising the 
agreed Elements for Political Guidance forwarde d by the General Council and the Chair's factual 
summary, on his own responsibility, of Ministers' di scussions at the Conference.  In addition, action 
taken by Ministers will be reflected in the records of the meeting.  WT/MIN(11)/INF/10 
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V. OVERALL PROGRAMME 
 Below is a preliminary overview of the programme for the Ministerial Conference.  
 
Programme for the Ministerial Conference 
 
 Formal Sessions Informal Sessions 
Thursday 
15 December Opening Session 
followed by  Plenary Session 
3 - 6 p.m.  
  
Friday 
16 December  Plenary Session 
9 a.m. - 1 p.m. 
 
Plenary Session 
2 - 3 p.m.  
Accession of the Russian Federation 
3.30 - 6 p.m. 
 Working Session I 
9 a.m. - 1 p.m. 
   
Saturday 17 December Plenary Session 
9 - 11.30 a.m. 
 
Accession of Samoa 
12 - 1.30 p.m. 
 
Accession of Montenegro 
2.30 - 4 p.m. 
 Plenary Session 
4.30 - 6.30 p.m. 
 
Closing Session 
7.30 - 8.30 p.m. 
 Working Session II 
9 - 11.30 a.m. 
  
 
    Working Session III 
4.30 - 6.30 p.m. 
  
 Delegations are advised that meetings will begi n on time.  In this regard, delegations are 
strongly encouraged to allow adequate time for tr affic-related delays and security screening at the 
CICG in advance of the scheduled meetings.  
VI. MEETING ROOMS 
 Delegations are advised that only a very lim ited number of rooms for group and bilateral 
meetings will be available in the CICG and Cent re de Conférence de Varembé (CCV).  While the 
Conference Office staff will do their utmost to provi de a fair distribution of  meeting rooms among all 
delegations, delegates are requested to exer cise restraint and comprehension when making 
reservations.  Delegations may reserve these rooms by contacting the WTO Conference Office by 
e-mail at conference.office@wto.org  or telephone: +41 22 739 5241.  WT/MIN(11)/INF/10 
 Page 5 
 
 
VII. REGISTRATION PROCEDURES/BADGES 
 Delegations are reminded that Delegation Coor dinators are the focal points for all matters 
pertaining to accreditation and registration.   Only persons wearing an event badge will be allowed access to the CICG and CCV during the 
Ministerial Conference. 
  All badges will be issued at the Centre Willia m Rappard, and may be collected by Delegation 
Coordinators only, at Office 054 (follow directions  posted at the main entrance), from 8 December 
onwards.  Separate badges for entry into the Open ing and Working Sessions are being distributed by 
the Accreditation Centre at CWR.  These badges are provided in colours which will guide participants 
to the most convenient entry into Rooms 2, 3, 4 a nd Room 1.  The number of  badges per delegation is 
limited.  
 No badges will be issued at the CICG or CCV. 
 
 Should any delegate mislay his/her badge dur ing the Conference, the Delegation Coordinator 
must contact:  
WTO Coordination Officer  Languages, Documentation and Info rmation Management Division 
World Trade Organization 
Centre William Rappard Rue de Lausanne 154 CH-1211 Geneva 21 Switzerland 
 
E-mail:  dc.registration@wto.org  
Tel.:  +41 22 739 5001 / 6428 
  In the general interest and in accordan ce with the security procedures in force, badges must 
be worn visibly at all times.  Instructions to that effect will be given to staff in the Security and Safety 
Section and to police officers.  Please note that, for certain meetings, two separate badges will be 
required.  
VIII.  HOTEL BOOKINGS 
 As mentioned in WT/MIN(11)/INF/3, delegati ons should make their bookings directly with 
the hotels concerned.  In doing so , they can benefit from the reduced "UN" rate.  For further advice or 
in case of any problems, the Geneva Tourism and Convention Bureau have designated the following 
contact person:   Ms. Karine Perrin 
 
 Tel:  +41 22 909 70 57 
 E-mail:  perrin@geneve-tourisme.ch 
 
 Delegations are also reminded that a free public transport card is available to all guests in 
Geneva hotels. 
 
IX. VISAS  
 All relevant information related to visas is contained in document WT/MIN(11)/INF/2. WT/MIN(11)/INF/10 
Page 6  
 
X. PARTICIPATION OF LDC OFFICIALS 
 Mr. Felipe Vargas-Maza, Logistics Unit Head , Institute for Training and Technical 
Cooperation (ITTC), will be coordinating the necessary  arrangements for the participation of the LDC 
Officials, to be sponsored by the WTO, to attend the Eighth Session of the Ministerial Conference.  
 
 Mr. Felipe Vargas 
 World Trade Organization  Centre William Rappard  154, rue de Lausanne  CH-1211 Geneva 21 
 
 Tel.:  +41 22 739 50 18  Fax:  +41 22 730 57 24  E-mail:  felipe.vargas@wto.org  
 
XI. NON-RESIDENT DELEGATIONS 
 To accommodate the needs of non-resident de legations, a separate and dedicated work area 
will be available in CCV.  The contact person for non -resident delegations at the WTO Secretariat is:  
 
Mr. Hans-Peter Werner Development Division 
Room 1060 
World Trade Organization 
 Centre William Rappard  154, rue de Lausanne  CH-1211 Geneva 21 
 
Tel:  +41 22 739 5286 Mobile: +41 79 792 2722 Fax: +41 22 739 6635  E-mail:  peter.werner@wto.org  
 
XII. MEDIA 
 The media working area will be located in the CICG on level -1.  All participants at the 
Ministerial Conference are welcome to visit this ar ea.  There will be three rooms available at the 
Centre for briefing the press.  These rooms have capacity of 80 seats, 120 seats and 290 seats.  The two larger rooms are equipped for interpretation.  All delegations are welcome to hold press briefings 
during the Ministerial Conference. 
 Any delegation wishing to brief the press should contact:   Mrs. Maire Nimhaidin Kiiamov  World Trade Organization  
Centre William Rappard 
154, rue de Lausanne CH-1211 Geneva 21 Switzerland  
Tel.: +41 22 739 5019 
Fax: +41 22 739 5458 E-mail: press.events@wto.org   WT/MIN(11)/INF/10 
 Page 7 
 
 
All questions related to media accreditation should be addressed to: 
  Media Accreditation Unit  World Trade Organization  Centre William Rappard 
 154, rue de Lausanne 
 CH-1211 Geneva 21  Switzerland   Tel.: +41 22 739 6197 
 Fax.: +41 22 739 5458 
 E-mail:  media.accreditation@wto.org  
 
 For general media-related enqui ries delegations should contact: 
 
 Information and External Relations Division  
 World Trade Organization  Centre William Rappard  154, rue de Lausanne  CH-1211 Geneva 21  
Switzerland 
 
 Tel.: +41 22 739 5007  Fax: +41 22 739 5458  E-mail: enquiries@wto.org  
 
XIII.  NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS 
 The official WTO NGO Centre will be located in the WTO premises Centre William 
Rappard.  Registered NGO representatives who have  collected their NGO Ministerial badge will have 
access to the NGO Centre and its conference rooms.  The NGO Centre is open to all accredited delegations and media.  All delegations are welcome to brief NGOs during the Ministerial 
Conference. 
 
 Any delegation interested in doing so should contact the Information and External Relations 
Division at the number mentioned below or send an e-mail to mc8.ngo@wto.org .  The final NGO 
Centre programme will be posted on the WTO Ministerial website. 
 
All questions related to Non-Government al Organizations should be addressed to: 
  Information and External Relations Division  World Trade Organization  Centre William Rappard  154, rue de Lausanne 
 CH-1211 Geneva 21 
 Switzerland   Tel.: +41 22 739 5254  Fax.: +41 22 739 5777 
 E-mail:  mc8.ngo@wto.org  WT/MIN(11)/INF/10 
Page 8  
 
XIV.  SECURITY ISSUES 
 A separate information note on security issues in  the context of the Ministerial Conference 
has been issued in WT/MIN(11)/INF/8.  
XV. DOCUMENTATION – A GREENER APPROACH 
 With the Conference being held in Geneva , where the majority of Delegations have 
Permanent Missions, there is less need to install a full-scale paper-based system at the CICG, which 
has severe space constraints. A limited service simila r to the documentation counter in front of CRI 
and CRII will operate on the first floor of the Conf erence Centre. However, as in 2009, there will be 
no pigeon-hole system at the CICG. For those de legations that do not have offices in Geneva, 
provision will be made for a small dedicated worki ng area equipped with computers and a printer at 
the CICG.   Documentation issued in advance of the Confer ence will be made available to Delegations in 
the usual manner, including at the CWR.  The offici al records of the Plenary as well as the Working 
Sessions will be made available after the meetings  as official WTO documents in all three official 
languages as per normal practice.   During the Conference, it is expected that the volume of documents to be distributed will be considerably less than at past conferences.  Do cuments will be made available through the on-line 
documentation service.  Documents Online  will be updated several times daily throughout the 
Conference, starting 15 December 2011 at 09.00 (CET) .  In addition, last-minute documents will be 
posted immediately in Hot off the Press  on the Members' website.  For this approach to be successful, 
the active co-operation of all Delegations is indispensable.     To facilitate the use of portable electronic equipment to consult documents in the CICG, 
Wi-Fi connectivity will be provided.  Wi-Fi conn ection requires the use of the following login: 
  USERNAME:  OMC 
 PASSWORD:  WTO 
 
XVI.  NOTIFICATION OF CREDENTIALS OF REPRESENTATIVES 
 Members are reminded that Rule 9 of the Rules of Procedure for Sessions of the Ministerial 
Conference (WT/L/161) provides, inter alia, that:  
"The credentials of representatives shall be s ubmitted to the Secretariat at least one week 
before the opening of the session.  They shall take the form of a communication from or on 
behalf of the Minister for Foreign Affairs or the competent authority of the Member 
authorizing the representative to perform on behalf of the Member the functions indicated in the WTO Agreement."
3 
 
                                                      
3 "It is understood that in the case of a separate  customs territory Member the credentials of its 
representatives shall have no implication as to sovereignty."  WT/MIN(11)/INF/10 
 Page 9 
 
 
 The deadline for the submission of credentials  now having lapsed, any Member who has not 
already done so is requested to submit the credentia ls of their representatives participating in the 
Conference, as soon as possible to: 
  WTO Secretariat 
 Ms. T. Bridgman 
 Legal Affairs Division   Centre William Rappard  154, rue de Lausanne  CH-1211 Geneva 21 
  
 Tel:  +41 22 739 5348  Fax:  +41 22 739 5788  E-mail: tessa.bridgman@wto.org  
 
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