RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/GC/M/107 
19 March 2007 
 (07-1149) 
General Council 
7 February 2007  
 
 
 
MINUTES OF MEETING 
 
Held in the Centre William Rappard  
on 7 February 2007  
 
Chairman:  Mr Eirik Glenne (Norway) 
 
 Subjects discussed
: Page  
1. Report by the Chairman of th e Trade Negotiati ons Committee ..........................................1  
2. Work Programme on Small Economies – Report by the Chairman of the 
Dedicated Session of the Committee on Trade and Development ......................................13  
3. Non-recognition of rights under Article XXIV:6 and Article XXVIII of GATT 1994 – Communications from Honduras  and Guatemala  – Statement by 
the Chairman................................................................................................................... ........14
 
4. Review of the exemption provided under Paragraph 3 of the GATT 1994.......................18  
5. Committee on Budget, Finance and Admini stration – Report of the Committee 
on its meetings of September and October 2006 ..................................................................21  
6. Appointment of Officer s to WTO Bodies .............................................................................21  
7. Administrative Measures fo r Members in Arrears .............................................................23  
8. Election of Chairperson........................................................................................................ ..24 
ANNEX : Statements by delegations at the informal meeting of the Trade  
  Negotiations Committee on 31 January 2007  29 
 
 
1. Report by the Chairman of the Trade Negotiations Committee 
1. The Chairman  invited the Director-General, as Ch airman of the TNC, to report on the 
TNC's activities since his last report to the Council. 
2. The Director-General, Chairman of the TNC , said he was pleased to be able to report 
some positive news, namely that Members had resumed their negotiations fully across the board.  As he had set out at an informal TNC meeti ng on 31 January, political conditions were now more 
favourable for the conclusion of the Round than they  had been for a long ti me.  Political leaders 
around the world clearly wanted negotiators to get fully back to business, although negotiators in 
turn needed political leaders' continuing commitme nt.  Since the beginning of the year, there had 
been a number of developments, starting with an increasing level of political engagement and clear signals of renewed comm itment to a successful conclu sion of the Round.  Messages 
stressing both the importance and the urgency of concluding the negotiations had been coming in 
from all sides, including the highest political levels.  There had also been very welcome WT/GC/M/107 
Page 2  
 
  expressions of support from business communities  and civil society organizations across a broad 
range of the membership.  In addition to this renewed political impetus, and perhaps as a consequence of it, several participants had been stepping up their discussions at various levels to 
work on possible areas of convergence.  Of course , this was not a substitute for the multilateral 
process, but at the present stage of the negotia tions, it was a vital input and he believed all 
understood it was necessary.  His remarks at th e previous week's in formal TNC had been 
circulated in document JOB(07)/12, and he would not repeat them.  However,  he wished to 
highlight one aspect.  In his cont acts with participants, which he had intensified since the start of 
the year, he had noted a wide expectation that Members should get back to full negotiating mode 
in Geneva.  At a recent informal gathering of a number of Ministers in Davos, there had clearly 
been a renewed commitment on all sides to put the Doha Round back on track.  All the Ministers 
present at that meeting had supported a quick resu mption of full-scale activity in the different 
negotiating groups and had declared that flexibiliti es were available within their mandates.  This 
confirmed his feeling that that Members needed to  restart the multilateral process fully, to try to 
reap the benefits of this new m ood.  His message to participants at the previous week's informal 
TNC had therefore been that Members were now back to full negotiating mode.  Since then, he 
had been working with the Negotiating Group Chairs  to make this happen.  The process would 
continue to be bottom-up, inclusive and transp arent, and would be led by the Chairs.  The 
multilateral process woul d continue to be the main process in the negotiations, and was the only 
one where decisions could be taken.  With rega rd to timing, in his view Members should not 
attempt to set themselves any false deadlines.  All were very much aware of the urgency of the 
task ahead, but it was also important to reach a substantive outcome that was acceptable to 
everyone.  He had told delegations that they had to  be prepared to engage constructively in this 
last phase of work, and wished to stress that they  do so in the full, and shared, conviction that this 
deal was doable.  On several occasions, includi ng at the recent Davos gathering, the proponents 
of the Cotton Initiative had requested that the WTO convene a high-level meeting on cotton. At 
the current stage of Members' work on cotton, and following consultations, he wished to 
announce that a High-Level Sess ion of the Consultative Fram ework on Cotton would take place 
in Geneva on 15-16 March. The Secretariat was currently finalizing the elements of the programme, which he would circulate to all de legations shortly and early enough before the 
meeting to allow all a smooth preparation.  Memb ers were now writing the last chapter of this 
long, and sometimes tortuous, story.   The previous week he had compared the title of the book on 
the negotiations to a well-known American novel  but, on reflection, perhaps Members' chef 
d'oeuvre would resemble more a Norse saga. 
3. Representatives who spoke thanked the Director-General for his report and for his 
untiring efforts for the resumption of the DDA negotiations.  Representatives, as well the 
Chairman, also welcomed the delegation of Viet  Nam to its first Council meeting as a full 
Member of the WTO. 
4. The representative of Benin
, on behalf of the African Group , said Members had reached a 
critical phase, a crossroads, in their process.  Assessing the situation and its consequences for the world economy and for Members, Ministers m eeting in Davos on 27 January had instructed 
Members to get back to work.  Th ese efforts should be organized in  line with the requirements of 
urgency and the obligation on all Members, without  exception, to produce results.  This meant 
that Members should resume consider ation of all the negotiating topics at the point they had been 
left when work had been suspended in July 2006.   The African Group also stressed the need to 
observe the principles of inclusiv eness and transparency in the ongoing process, and to give the 
work a genuinely multilateral st amp, although this did not rule out the possibility of restricted 
consultations.  The upcoming phase of work was on e in which bilateral or restricted consultations 
should be the exception, and multi lateral consultations s hould therefore continue to be the rule.  
This would have the advantage of facilitating the work, by involving all parties in the process and 
in the results that would be achieved.  On subs tance, the African Group re called the need for the  WT/GC/M/107 
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  Round to achieve the cardinal objective establishe d at Doha, i.e. development.  Without wishing 
to elaborate on the view s and concerns it had continuously e xpressed, the Afri can Group asked all 
Members to keep in mind its needs and concerns, a nd to work to ensure that these were taken into 
account.  These included the foll owing:  elimination of subsidie s and substantial reduction in 
trade-distorting domestic support;  flexibilities for market access , especially regarding special 
products and the special safeguard mechanism;  e ffective treatment for long-standing preference 
erosion;  duty-free and quota-free market access for LDCs;  the cotton issue, and the situation of 
basic commodities;  bananas;  flexibilities in respect of ma rket access for non-agricultural 
products;  granting of technical assistance to de veloping and least-developed countries with a 
view to building their trade capacity;  Aid for Tr ade;  granting of S&D treatment to developing 
and least-developed countries, this being the cross-cutting dimension to be included in all 
commitments to be undertaken and in the results of the work;  and the accession of new Members.  The African Group also welcomed th e important initiative taken by the Director-
General in organizing a high-level meeting on cotton in Geneva on 15-16 March.  The Group 
sincerely hoped that this meeting would provide a basis for fruitful discussions on the issue of 
cotton, with regard to both its trade and its deve lopment aspects.  The African Group hoped to see 
effective participation in this meeting by th e most senior official s of governments and 
institutions, so as to facilitate the search for appropriate solutions to the cotton issue.  The Group was encouraged by the assurances that had already been given concerning the high-level representation at that meeting.  It considered that positive prog ress on this important item on the 
negotiating agenda would undoubtedly contribute to  advancing the agricultural negotiations as a 
whole and, by extension, to achieving the same results for the other issues on the agenda.  
Finally, the African Group reiterated its tota l commitment to the negotiating process. 
5. The representative of Australia,  on behalf of the CAIRNS Group
, said that while he 
would not go through the full text of the CAIRNS  Group's statement, which was available to 
delegations in the meeting room, the key messag es the CAIRNS Group wished to deliver were, 
first, that it was glad that Me mbers had now turned the lights on again in the WTO halls, and that 
they now needed to put behind them the debate on  the status of the negotiations and get back to 
work.  The Cairns Group had done considerable t echnical work to prepar e for the resumption of 
negotiations over recent months, and was prepar ed to engage with other groups and other 
Members immediat ely to get on with the work.  The Group wished to support the Director-
General and the Chair of the Negotiating Group on Ag riculture in their efforts to take this work 
forward.  It was important that the bilateral consultations that were  being undertaken were 
brought to the WTO as soon as possible.  This was essential for Members to make real progress.  
The CAIRNS Group needed, from these bilatera l conversations, to see reflected in the 
multilateral fora real improvements on domestic support from all the major subsidizers and real 
improvements on market access in all the key mark ets of priority interest.  The CAIRNS Group 
was also studying closely the proposals for the US Farm Bill put forward by the US 
Administration.  Of course, the CAIRNS Group 's long-standing objective was to remove all 
trade-distorting forms of support, but it also recogn ized that the best means to encourage further 
reform in the major subsidized markets was to secure a strong outcome from the Doha negotiations, in market access as well as in the subsidies programmes of other Members. 
6. On behalf of Australia
, he said that with respect to agriculture and NAMA, Australia  was 
looking for real changes in policy and in legisl ation that would go beyond removing water from 
schedules and would deliver new market access in key areas of priority.  Its expectation for services was nothing less, but ambition in this area seemed to be substantially lacking.  Australia 
stood ready to engage in high-leve l bilateral meetings over the comi ng months to help elevate the 
services ambition and ensure that it contributed in a meaningful way to achieving the necessary 
breakthrough in this Round. WT/GC/M/107 
Page 4  
 
  7. The representative of Brazil
, on behalf of the G-20 , said there had been many expressions 
of political support for the Round, including from the recent informal Mi nisterial meeting in 
Davos.  The G-20 welcomed these developments , which should provide a new impetus for the 
negotiations.  The G-20 also welcomed the announcement by the Director-General of the full resumption of multilateral  negotiations in Geneva.  Bilatera l and plurilateral  contacts were 
important, but any outcome had to be the product of  a multilateral process that was inclusive and 
transparent.  Small-group discussions were useful to explore alternatives and search for solutions, 
but the results had to be general, comprehensive and non-discriminatory.  They had to be embodied in full modalities to be  adopted in a bottom-up approach, and to be consistent with the 
MFN principle.  There was still a need to see movement by the ma jor players in domestic support 
and market access.  These countries had to s how in deeds their readiness to strive for 
compromises, translating into new negotiating positions the political will in support of the 
successful conclusion of the Round.  Also, these compromises had to fully deliver on the Doha 
commitments as comp lemented by the July 2004 Framew ork and the Hong Kong Ministerial 
Declaration.  The G-20 had intensified its internal consultations to prepare for the resumption of 
negotiations in Geneva.  There was growing supp ort for the view that the G-20 positions on all 
three pillars constitut ed the centre of gravity in the agricult ural negotiations, a nd that there should 
be a convergence towards them.  The G-20 proposals combined ambition and development 
concerns and were based on the premise that agri cultural policy reform would pave the way for 
improved market access now and in the future.  An essential element for the success of this Round was agreement on agricultural policy refo rm through the reduction in  applied levels of 
domestic support, coupled with disciplines by pr oduct to avoid concentration and circumvention.  
In this context, the recent guidelines for agricultural reform presented by the United States in its recent Farm Bill proposal did not seem to go as fa r as was needed to accomplish both objectives.  
The G-20 was still assessing the impact of the proposed changes.  Its preliminary view, however, was that although there were posit ive aspects in the proposal – in cluding the fact that it threw 
more light on the US position – the volume of re sources still available for trade-distorting 
programs was not consistent with the need for effective cuts.  The changes to be introduced in the current programs did not seem to carry the reform far enough.   However, the G-20 understood 
that the outcome of the debate in the US C ongress on the Farm Bill would not prevent an 
ambitious outcome in the domestic support pillar, for the results of the negotiations would lead to 
changes in the next Farm Bill.  The G-20 main tained its proposals on the table and remained 
committed to pursuing a result in domestic support that would lead to real cuts and effective 
disciplines.  This, together with the expeditious elimination of export subsidies, would create the 
necessary conditions for an ambitious result in mark et access, bearing in mind the need to address 
the differences between developed and developi ng countries through S&D provisions.  The G-20 
encouraged the EC and the G-10 to do their part by showing the appropriate flexibility on issues 
such as the formula cuts, sensitive products, SSM and all the other elements in the market-access 
pillar.  The G-20 was committed to achieving a br eakthrough in the shortest possible time.  This 
breakthrough would need to have a sufficient level of ambition and detail to pave the way for an 
agreement on full modalities.  While the G-20 agreed that it was not useful to set artificial deadlines, Members had to be aware that concluding modalities before the summer break was indispensable in order to conclude the Round by the end of 2007. 
8. The representative of Barbados
, on behalf of the small, vulnerable economies (SVEs) , 
welcomed the formal resumption of negotiations  and wished to express appreciation for the 
marathon journeys of the Director-General in search of the appropri ate conditions for this 
resumption.  They also wished to  thank the Chairs of the negotia ting groups, especially the Chairs 
of the Agriculture Special Session and the Nego tiating Group on Market Access, for their efforts 
in trying to find that elusive "landing zone".  In  this connection, he wi shed to say that small 
economies had only small landing st rips and Members should therefore try not to approach them 
at too great a speed.  In recognizing the small wi ndow of opportunity, it seemed that negotiating 
around averages, bands and headline numbers sh ould be completed quickly, especially since  WT/GC/M/107 
 Page 5 
 
 
  Members had already been in that zone for some ti me.  It was not unrealistic to expect that any 
wide-ranging product-specific analys is and negotiations would likely take a lot of time – time that 
Members did not have.  This reverse engineer ing, as he understood it, was not a creation of 
developing countries, nor had it been proposed to  help them achieve the mandated development 
outcome.  The SVEs were concerned that they might be adding complexity at a time when one 
should be looking for conclusion and, bearing in mi nd their anxiety that adequate time had to be 
available for their concerns to be  properly addressed, they remained concerned.  In July 2006, the 
SVEs had expressed the hope that the suspension would be temporary, and so it had been.  They thanked the membership, and especially their polit ical masters, for having engineered some light 
in the tunnel.  They could only hope that this light would not now be re-engineered beyond the 
summer, nor indeed into extinction.  The SVEs lo oked forward to participating at all levels with 
the aim of ensuring that their concerns were adequately understood and that the contribution 
required of them would be sympathetically engineered. 
9. The representative of Chad
, on behalf of the co-sponsors of the Cotton Initiative , thanked 
the Director-General for his commitment to the search for appropriate solutions to the cotton 
issue.  The decision to convene a high-level m eeting on cotton in Geneva in mid-March was a 
perfect illustration of th at commitment.  This was a timely initiative, as these countries could not 
wait any longer to get back to work on an issue as urgent and vital as that of cotton.  The resumption of the negotiations should be marked by an accelerated effort to find solutions to the 
cotton issue in terms of both its trade and de velopment aspects.  The high-level meeting should 
move in the direction agreed in July 2004 when  it was decided to address the cotton issue 
urgently, ambitiously, expeditio usly and specifically, as was confirmed in Hong Kong in 
December 2005.  The rural populat ions of the Africa n cotton-producing countries were waiting 
impatiently to have their suffering relieved and their efforts in the day-to-day work of growing cotton rewarded.  In addressing the cotton issue, it was also important to seek ways and means of meeting the request made by the African cotton-pr oducing countries for a "s afety net" to manage 
the hardship caused by substantia l revenue losses due to the con sequences of subsidies granted by 
other Members to their cotton producers.  The av enues envisaged for this other aspect of the 
cotton issue should be explored seriously, incl uding with institutions such as the Common Fund 
for Commodities and the FAO.  The African cott on-producing countries urged those institutions 
to cooperate with them to that end. 
10. The representative of the Philippines
, on behalf of the ASEAN Members , requested that 
the statement made by his delegation on behalf of the ASEAN Members at the informal meeting 
of the TNC on 31 January be included in the records of the present meeting.1  He wished merely 
to recall that the ASEAN Members had welcomed the full resumption of the negotiations as called for by their leaders' recent Summit in Cebu, Philippines.   
11. The representative of South Africa
, on behalf of the NAMA-11 , said that as these 
countries had stated at the General Counci l meeting in December 2006, they remained 
disappointed that the negotiations had had to be  suspended at the end of July 2006 due to the 
inability of some Members to make significant movement in agriculture.  Indeed, a continued 
delay in the progress of the Doha Round was a de lay in the promise of the development outcomes 
of the Doha Development Agenda.  Developed c ountries, too, had major gains to make from a 
successful Doha Round.  What was on the table in NAMA – notwithstandi ng the specific Swiss 
Formula to be agreed – would yield the most si gnificant cuts in developing-country tariffs from 
bound rates, compared to effort s undertaken by developed and developing countries in all 
previous eight GATT Rounds on in dustrial tariffs.  Developed c ountries were still the major 
exporters of industrial goods and would be the major benefi ciaries.  In a ddition, new and 
increased trade flows continued to take place in  all NAMA-11 countries as a result of unilateral 
                                                      
1 The statement is reproduced in the Annex to the present records. WT/GC/M/107 
Page 6  
 
  liberalization and increased gr owth in most of the NAMA-11 Members and in other developing 
countries.  However, one should not forget th at the Doha mandate on NAMA promised that, 
unlike previous rounds, the Doha Round would elimin ate "tariff peaks, highs  tariffs and tariff 
escalation, as well as non -tariff barriers, in particular on produc ts of export interest to developing 
countries".  While the NAMA-11 we re committed to advancing the substance of the negotiations, 
they continued to be concerned that the sequencing of the negotiations that the DDA had been 
careful to incorporate in its work programme – i.e. development issues first, agricultural modalities second, and then NAMA modalities – s hould not be abandoned or turned on its head.  
As the NAMA-11 Ministers had st ated in a Ministerial Communi qué on 29 June 2006, they were 
willing to contribute to the NAMA negotiation s.  This contribution would be based on the 
objective of achieving a fair, balanced and de velopment-oriented set of NAMA modalities 
predicated on the following mandated principles:  placing development concerns at the heart of 
the negotiations;  ensuring less-than-full reci procity in reduction comm itments for developing 
countries;  a level of ambition comparable to that  in agricultural market access;  and appropriate 
flexibilities to manage adjustment costs and address development needs.  With regard to 
flexibilities, the NAMA-11 reiterated that uncond itional recourse by developing countries to the 
numbers in the brackets in paragraph 8 of the NAMA Framework was th e bare minimum they 
could accept and should be adjusted  upwards to enable some of their economies to manage the 
adjustment of their sensitive sectors.  As the negotiations resumed, Members should ensure that 
sequencing of the negotiations also within NAMA wa s mindful of the progress in the negotiations 
in agriculture.  Sectorals were not part of the core modalities, nor were they mandatory, and 
therefore would need to be appropriately sequenced in the negotiations.  In addition, the issues of 
export taxes and export restricti ons were not part of the NAMA mandate and could not be 
brought into the negotiations at this late stag e.  The NAMA-11 also believed that non-tariff 
barriers had to be meaningfully and comprehensiv ely addressed in this Round.  It was in this 
spirit that the NAMA-11 had welcomed the call by the Director-General at the previous week's 
informal TNC, and in the report he had just ma de, to fully resume the negotiations across all 
areas of the DDA.  The NAMA-11 countries wished to stress that they were all fully committed 
to contributing to the current process in the ne gotiations led by the Chairman of the NAMA 
negotiations. 
12. The representative of Argentina
 expressed his delegation's s upport for the statements by 
Brazil for the G-20 and South Africa for the NAMA-11.  Argentina wished to reaffirm that the 
importance of this Round depe nded on the achievement of an ef fective outcome in terms of 
contributing substantively to development, and this had two fundamental aspects.  First, in 
agriculture, where Argentina had waited nearly 40 years for the sector to be integrated, even imperfectly, into the multilateral trade rules and disciplines, str onger disciplines, elimination of 
distortions and greater and improved access to  the markets of developed countries were the 
minimum results expe cted by Argentina.  Second, in NAMA,  Argentina had held a number of 
bilateral meetings with requesti ng developed countries on the subjec t, and in the light of those 
exchanges, it believed that the coefficients and other numbers requested by  those countries were 
inconsistent with a Round geared to the develo pment of developing countries, with paragraph 24 
of the Hong Kong Declaration, with the actual Doha  mandate and, in the case of Argentina, its 
industrial and employment policy.  To sum up, whil e there were limits to what certain countries 
could achieve in the area of agricultural reform, it was no less certain that there were also limits 
to what Argentina was prepared to concede in th e area of industrial tariffs.  Members should not 
therefore seek to endorse the possible lack of re sults for certain developing countries.  Unjustified 
requirements unrelated to the general approach  of this Round would not be validated by 
Governments that were aware of their commitments to society as a whole. 
13. The representative of Indonesia
 welcomed the full resumption of multilateral negotiations 
across the board in Geneva.  This was a timely decision, as any later might jeopardize the fate of the Round.  Indonesia supported the statement by Braz il for the G-20, and as sociated itself with  WT/GC/M/107 
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  the statement by Australia for the CAIRNS Gr oup and by South Africa for the NAMA-11.  
Speaking on behalf of the G-33 , he asked that the G-33's statemen t at the informal meeting of the 
TNC on 31 January be included in th e records of the present meeting.2 
14. The representative of Jamaica , on behalf of the ACP Group , said that as it had indicated at 
the informal TNC meeting the previous week, the ACP Group welcomed the full resumption of 
the negotiations – a resumption which had been call ed for at the highest political level in the ACP 
Group.  It was also encouraged by the Director-Gen eral's observation that the landing zone was in 
sight.  These negotiations had been prolonged and demanding.  The AC P Group, over the past 
five years, had devoted significant resources to en suring that its interests were represented in the 
negotiating process, and that it s technical inputs were adequately  prepared.  It stood ready to 
continue finding the resources to support its full pa rticipation, but would not be able to do so 
indefinitely.  It acknowledged the cautious approach being taken with regard to setting deadlines, 
but would not be able to sustain an intensive nego tiating schedule indefinite ly, particularly if the 
landing zone, from its perspective,  was still shrouded in cloud.  The ACP Group therefore wished 
to reiterate that the principles of transparen cy, inclusiveness and respect for the multilateral 
process were of vital importance to it.  While it appreciated that a bilateral/plurilateral approach 
would always accompany negotiations as complex as the present ones, at the end of the day all had to be included and involved.  The ACP countrie s' domestic constituencies demanded this.  At 
the December 2006 meeting of the General Coun cil, when Members ha d reviewed the soft 
resumption of the negotiations, the then-coordinato r of the ACP Group had set out in some detail 
the issues of particular intere st and concern to the Group.  The ACP Group expected all of these 
to be fully addressed in the search for a satisfacto ry outcome of the DDA.  It also expected that 
the negotiations would resume fully on the basi s of the Doha Declaration, the July 2004 
Framework Agreement and the Hong K ong Declaration.  Further, it viewed the texts prepared by 
the various Chairs in July 2006 as providing a good ba sis for continuing work in specific areas.  
In particular, it expected that full modalities across the negotiating spectrum would be finalized at 
the multilateral level that would allow all Me mbers, especially thos e in the ACP Group, an 
opportunity for input and agreement.  In 2001, the WTO had broken new ground, in that for the 
first time the needs of developing countries had be en placed at the center of the multilateral trade 
negotiating agenda.  The ACP Group hoped that in the search for a final landing zone, Members 
would not forget the parachutes , i.e. the development dimensi on, which countries in the ACP 
Group required in order to  make a safe landing. 
15. The representative of Hong Kong, China
 implored Members in the agricultural 
negotiations to crunch the numbers, test the tolerances and then be transparent.  He urged all to trust the Chairs of the negotiating groups and to use them.  They had a role to play, and Members 
should let them play it.  If not, then the Chairs sh ould not be blamed if Members later bumped up 
against consumer resistance in the wider body.  A second point w as that this was not a single-
subject Round – it was not just a negotiation a bout agriculture or NAMA.  It was also a 
negotiation about services, rules, trade facili tation and development.  He had not argued 
previously, and was not arguing now, that all elem ents of the DDA had to move in lock-step.  
However, now that the negotiations had resumed, it was past time that all issues began to move at 
roughly the same speed.  There did not seem to be much clarity about exactly what a 
"breakthrough" might comprise.  Nevertheless, whatever it might comprise in agriculture and 
NAMA, part of any breakthrough had to be the tabli ng of substantially revise d offers on services 
– very soon and sufficient to s uggest that Members were serious about securing existing levels of 
openness multilaterally.  In this  context, his delegation looked fo rward to the meetings of the 
Special Session of the Services Council scheduled for end-February.  Services were at the top of 
Hong Kong, China's list of priori ties, and it would be looking for improvements to rules and 
disciplines that strengthened rather than weaken ed the GATS.  Part of any breakthrough also had 
                                                     
 
2 The statement is reproduced in the Annex to the present records. WT/GC/M/107 
Page 8  
 
  to be that, as agreed at the Hong Kong Mini sterial Conference, Me mbers would know with 
certainty what would form the basis of the final negotiation of rules and ot her systemic issues.  
Clarity about the potential  gains in market access had to be ma tched by certainty that they would 
not be negated by arbitrary resort  to remedies.  He was leaving the WTO at the end of his tenure 
as Permanent Representative with his faith in the multilateral syst em undiminished.  It had been a 
genuine delight to return to the WTO two and a half years earlier to find the dispute settlement 
system devised during the last Round functioni ng so robustly, and to see Trade Policy Reviews 
fostering the mutual understanding so necessary for Members to help one another solve their 
respective problems.  Rules mitiga ted by tolerance were what gave  this institution its strength. 
16. The Chairman
 said he wished to take this opportunity to thank the Permanent 
Representative of Hong Kong, China for the contri bution he had made to the DDA, particularly 
over the past year on trade facilitation.  He wi shed to thank the latter for his belief in the 
multilateral system and in this institution, and hoped that that would be contagious.   
17. The representative of the Bo livarian Republic of Venezuela  supported the statements by 
Brazil for the G-20, South Africa for the NAMA- 11 and Indonesia for the G-33, and asked that 
his delegation's statement at the informal meet ing of the TNC on 31 January be included in the 
records of the present meeting.3 
18. The representative of Paraguay  said he welcomed the fact that the race had started again, 
since this was the only way Members could reach the finishing line.  The question that now arose was whether all Members wished to reach the fini shing line, because in this particular marathon 
no one could drop out or could cancel the comp etition.  Paraguay was among those anxious to 
reach the end of the race and to be able to cry victory.  This would be the first time for his 
country since it had acceded to the GATT in the closing stages of the Uruguay Round, and although it had been able to celebrate with the winners in Marrakesh, it had not been able to 
consider itself victorious.  Paraguay still hoped that the Doha Round would have the outcome 
spelled out by Ministers in Doha, i.e. further market opening to improve trade flows and the 
gradual elimination of unfair distortions in agriculture.  Paraguay also trusted that the flexibilities 
that would need to be established to achieve th ese objectives – for example, those concerned with 
sensitive products, special products and the spec ial safeguard mechanism, among others – could 
be set up in such a way that they did not jeopardize the overall result, that they met the specific situations for which they were required, and that they were made available only to those economies that really needed them and were also prepared to make effective efforts to facilitate 
access to their own markets.  Paraguay knew th at in order to discuss these and other thorny 
issues, there was a need for some basic definitions by the main trading partners.  It had heard encouraging rumours and hoped that these delega tions would demonstrate their leadership and 
commitment by providing the figures expected from them.  This would also make it possible to 
move forward on other instruments of considerable importance to the development of the poorest 
countries, such as the land-locked countries, as in  the case of trade facili tation, an issue that 
defined one of Paraguay's strategic objectives in this Round.  With renewed faith, his country was 
preparing to face the last hills and bends in the race.  It hoped that the finishing line was not a mirage or, worse still, that it would not beco me a nightmare leading Members back to pre-
Uruguay Round situations. 
19. The representative of Nicaragua
 expressed her country's satisfaction at the resumption of 
the Doha Round negotiations and endorsed the stat ement by Barbados for the SVEs.  Nicaragua 
reiterated its commitment to combating poverty a nd greatly valued the role that international 
trade, foreign and domestic investment, market access, and the elimination of trade-distorting 
subsidies could play in achieving this objective.  The signals given in the past few weeks 
                                                      
3 The statement is reproduced in the Annex to the present records.  WT/GC/M/107 
 Page 9 
 
 
  concerning the resumption of the Doha Round ne gotiations were therefor e very positive.  Her 
country nevertheless considered it essential that the process initiated bila terally should rapidly be 
extended to the rest of the membership.  Transparency was not only one of this organization's fundamental principles, it was also crucial for ensuring the acti ve participation of each and every 
Member in achieving consensus results that reflected all countries' socio-economic realities and 
development objectives. 
20. The representative of Nigeria
 said that like many previous speakers, his delegation 
wished to express its commitment to ensure the early conclusion of the DDA negotiations based on the mandate agreed in the Doha Declarati on, the July 2004 Framework and the Hong Kong 
Declaration.  Nigeri a welcomed the full resumption of negotiations under the Doha work 
programme, as announced by the Direct or-General at the previous week's informal meeting of the 
TNC.  Indeed, this should go a long way in se nding a positive signal to the outside world of 
Members' desire to successfully conclude the Do ha Round.  Nigeria was op timistic that the major 
players would remain engaged and would work  harder towards achieving an ambitious, 
comprehensive and balanced agreement at the end of the negotiations.  However, his delegation 
was still concerned that this glorious moment had not been marked by any major or significant 
movement in positions.  Rather, even though Members appeared to have moved from suspension to soft 
resumption and then full resumption,  it was still an acknowledged fact that the problems faced in 
July 2006 were still present.  Consequently, his delega tion had no choice but to reiterate its concerns, as 
nothing appeared to have actually changed.  In the firs t instance, there was a need to ensure that the full 
resumption of the DDA negotiations conformed to the principles of an inclusive Member-driven process 
that was consistent with the bottom-up approach.  Th e Chairs of the negotiating groups therefore had to 
ensure that negotiations were not  carried out elsewhere by a few Members to the exclusion of the 
majority.  He reiterated the need for coordinated efforts to take care of the interests of small delegations, so that their right to fully partic ipate in the negotiations was not systematically 
eroded, but enhanced, in order to achieve a high level of comfort and effective participation.  
His delegation shared the belief th at the texts prepared by the Chairs of the negotiating groups 
would be the basis for any future work.  This wa s necessary to ensure that the gains made thus 
far were not lost.  However, there was a need to  ensure that all issues remained important.  
Although Nigeria considered reforms in agriculture  as the central issue in the negotiations, it 
urged that commensurate attention be given to th e development dimension of the DDA.  To that 
end, it called on all Members not only to adhere to the principle of less-than-full reciprocity, 
but also to intensify work and ensure meaningf ul progress on core development issues such as 
Special Products, SSM, the work programme on S& D, and implementation -related concerns.  
There was also a need to  ensure that the full resumption of negotiations was without distraction 
from the domestic policy challenges of Members.  His delegation fully supported the statements 
by Benin for the African Group, Brazil for the G-20, Jamaica for the ACP and Indonesia for the 
G-33. 
21. The representative of Cuba
 supported the statements by I ndonesia for the G-33, Brazil for 
the G-20, Jamaica for the ACP, Barbados for th e SVEs, Benin for the African Group, and South 
Africa for the NAMA-11.  It was no novelty th at Cuba supported the resumption of negotiations, 
but it wished to say that it was absolutely essentia l to make this process mu ltilateral and to ensure 
that it took place within the WTO in full transp arency and with full inclusiveness, which meant 
the effective participation of all Members.  Bilateral consultations were to be welcomed, but 
Cuba was concerned that agreements  might be presented to it that did not take into account the 
mandates decided by Ministers, particularly the mandate relating to development, which was to 
be at the very heart of this Round, and the fl exibilities and S&D for developing countries that 
were part of that mandate.  Cuba continued to be committed to a successful Round, but not at any 
price.  Results had to be achieved in those areas where the main distortions lay, in particular 
subsidies and domestic support in  agriculture in indus trialized count ries, and bans prohibiting 
market access by some developing countries which had been in place for many decades.  Cuba WT/GC/M/107 
Page 10  
 
  hoped that the main trading power s would reconsider their positi ons and would make them more 
flexible, as their limited offers in domestic s upport and market access and the very ambitious 
requests they made to developing countries in these and other areas of negotiations were not 
balanced.  Cuba hoped that the new political commitments which had been expressed and the 
resumption of the negotiations woul d be translated into concrete acts.  Times had changed, and it 
was no longer possible that an agreement among a sm all number of Members, however large they 
might be, or a draft agreement produced at the last  minute, could be accepted by the majority of 
Members if it had not been negotiated by them a nd if it did not take on board the sensitivities and 
the interests of all.  From the statements made at the present and previous meetings, it seemed quite clear that what was being offered as a cut in domestic subsid ies and tariffs was not 
acceptable to many Members, particularly as making cuts in domestic support without greater 
disciplines and trying to balance these cuts with real cuts in market access were not options in 
line with Members' mandate.   
22. The resumption of the negotiating process could only be based on the mandates – the 
Doha Declaration, the July 2004 Framework Agr eement and the Hong Kong Declaration.  Cuba 
supported the calls made at the present meeting to respect the sequencing agreed in the Hong 
Kong Declaration, both for NAMA and services, which meant, among other things, that it was not 
possible to establish dates or to make revised offe rs in services until modalities had been reached 
in NAMA and agriculture.  Trade did not necessarily mean development and prosperity, even though under certain conditions, market access could help to reach that end.  It was naïve to 
believe that mere market  opening – without operational and e ffective S&D, offi cial aid without 
conditionalities, investment and technology transfer, and removal of obstacles – would contribute 
to development in most developing countries.   Although developing countries would lose the 
most from a failure, it did not mean that they would necessarily accept the conclusion of the 
Round at any price, merely to respect dates or to  accept the limitations imposed by the national 
politics of some Members.  In the area of tariffs on non-agricultural goods, developing countries 
could not give up their existing industrial policy space.  The demands by developed countries that 
agricultural markets in developi ng countries had to be opened to their exports did not make sense 
– the agricultural exports of th e United States to developing c ountries exceeded its agricultural 
exports to all developed countries,  and these exports were increasi ng rapidly, such that this 
country had become the main exporter of agricu ltural products to deve loping countries as a 
group.  Trade flows were not determined exclusivel y by tariffs, but fundamentally by the level of 
income that an importing country had, and by  other factors such as  geographical proximity, 
advertising, political interdepende ncy, and so on.  Agricultural imports were related to income 
levels, and there was no direct li nk between imports and the tariffs applied.  High applied tariffs 
had existed with high levels of imports when co untries had the necessary resources.  Developing 
countries did not need to make great reductions in tariffs in order to create true market access. 
23. The representative of the European Communities
 strongly welcomed the resumption of 
negotiations across the board.  Members needed to build on the clear political signals given by 
the Ministers who had met informally in Davos.  The informal TNC meeting the previous week 
showed that the desire to get back to work, re-energize the process and conclude the Round 
quickly was widely shared among the membership.  Members did not have the luxury of time – all 
knew that this was a crucial moment for the succes s of this enterprise, and indeed for the whole 
multilateral trading system founded on the WTO.  Members needed to shift gears rapidly so as to 
resume substantive work on all issues of import ance to them.  Focusing on one, or even two or 
three, negotiating areas to the detriment of othe rs would not generate the positive synergies and 
linkages needed to bring the final package togeth er.  The EC had full confidence in the TNC Chair 
and the Chairs of the various negotiating groups to steer this process in an effective and sufficiently 
transparent manner, so that Members would inde ed reach a successful conclusion in the coming 
weeks and months.  The EC was fully committed to this objective and would play its part.  It was  WT/GC/M/107 
 Page 11 
 
 
  sure that others would take their responsibilities to heart and make their own appropriate 
contribution as well. 
24. The representative of Japan  said Japan was happy about the resumption of the 
negotiations, recognized the situation as now or ne ver, and committed itself  to doing its utmost in 
agriculture, NAMA, services, rules and all other areas. 
25. The representative of Zambia  said his delegation was delighted that the negotiations had 
resumed in earnest.  A continued delay would not ha ve been in the interest of the poorest of the 
poor countries.  However, the suspension of the Round had been good in that it had given Members an opportunity to reflect seriously and also to reposition themselves in readiness for the 
negotiations which had been resumed.  Zambia en dorsed the statements by Benin for the African 
Group, Jamaica for the ACP and Indonesia for the G- 33.  It was also encouraging to hear from the 
statements by regional coordinators and other speakers a serious commitment to the desire for the success of the Doha Round.  The statements th at had come out of Washington and Brussels had 
also been very encouraging.  The G-6 Members had also issued, on an individual basis, very encouraging statements.  Zambia's message to other Members, therefore, was that delegations had 
no right, when they left the present meeting and moved into negotiating group meetings, to forget 
the commitments that had been publicly emphasized by their leaders both in capitals and elsewhere, including Geneva.  All needed a breakthrough, and it had to be in 2007.  His 
delegation was aware that Members were discour aged from talking about deadlines because of 
past history.  However, his delegation had to sa y that developing countri es, and espec ially LDCs, 
had waited too long.  Zambia therefore felt that  2007 had to be the year in which delegations 
would report to their governments and peoples tangib le steps that would be taken to get them out 
of the poverty trap, and to enable them to actively and positively participate in the world trading system.  As Barbados, speaking for the SVEs, had said with regard to small landing strips, the LDCs had very rough and bumpy landing zones,  and therefore extrem e caution was necessary 
when approaching them.  The faster one moved in ensuring that LDC landing zones were smooth 
and large enough, the earlier one would find the LDCs not wanting in embracing and undertaking 
the commitments required of them in the WTO.  This meant, therefore, that for the negotiations to be successful, one always had to take into account the needs of the developing countries, 
especially the LDCs, who were the weakest. 
26. The representative of the United States
 said his delegation was pleased at the return to 
full negotiating mode and the appreciably higher-le vel of energy evident in the negotiations in 
recent weeks.  It would strive to build on that foundation in the coming weeks and months.  A 
number of delegations had expressed concern a bout the inter-relationshi p of the multilateral 
negotiations and the informal, bilateral and sm all-group discussions.  The United States 
recognized absolutely that Memb ers could arrive at a successful conclusion only through a fully 
multilateral, transparent and inclusive process, and that decisions could be made only by the full 
membership.  That said, his delegation stood rea dy to meet informally with any other Members, 
or groups of Members – whether organized on a regional basis, around a specific issue of 
concern, or simply interested in moving the R ound forward.  The United  States appreciated the 
attention given to its Government's recent proposa ls for reform of its farm programs.   It was 
understandable that there was much interest in di vining what the implications of those proposals 
were for the negotiations in Geneva.  There w ould be many curves, dips, rises – maybe even 
detours – in the legislative road to US farm reform in the coming months.  The most relevant 
comment he could make about US efforts in fa rm policy reform had already been made by 
Australia for the CAIRNS Group, i. e. that the best m eans to encourage further reform in support 
levels in the markets of th e major users was to secure a strong outcome from the Doha 
negotiations – in market access as well as in the subsidies programs of other Members.  As 
important as the agriculture issues were to the success of the DDA, however, Members had to 
simultaneously put equal effort into negotiation of the other pillars of the negotiation – NAMA WT/GC/M/107 
Page 12  
 
  and services – if they were to achieve the br eakthrough all sought.  He assured the membership 
that the United States would intensify its efforts at home and in the negotiations to make this new 
stage of negotiations the one that led Members to a successful conclusion of the DDA. 
27. The representative of China
 associated his delegation with the statements by Brazil for 
the G-20 and Indonesia for the G-33.  China took note of the recent interaction among Members, 
especially among major players, at both political and technical level on key aspects of the Doha 
Round, which had brought new hope to put the stal led negotiations back on track and conclude 
them successfully, preferably by the end of 2007.  China encouraged the major players to multilateralize such interaction with perceptibly new and substantive commitments on key subjects, particularly on the reduction of trade-distorting dome stic support and barriers to market 
access in agriculture.  All Members were fully aware of the time constraint and the need to 
expedite the work.  However, it  should be underlined that the ti me constraint should not become 
an excuse to sacrifice transparency and inclusiveness in the negotiating process.  Therefore, the "bottom-up" approach should rema in the central process in future negotiations up to their 
conclusion.  The Chairs of various negotiating bodi es should continue to play an important role as 
the major facilitators.  Finally, it was more than  necessary to emphasize that this Round was a 
Development Round.  Its outcome had to delive r developmental benefits to all developing-
country Members and help address their specific c oncerns and needs.  Such important issues as 
S&D treatment, SPs, SSM, cotton, specific concerns of LDCs, SVEs and recently-acceded Members had to be dealt with earnestly, comprehensively and effectively.  Despite the difficulties and the persisting uncertainties confronted in the negotiations, it was still China's firm 
commitment to help br ing the Round to a successful conc lusion as early as possible.  China 
firmly encouraged all Members, big or small, developed or developing, to work for the same 
objective.  As China's Vice Minister had pointed out  in Davos, even if there were only a one per 
cent chance of success, Members should devote 100 per cent of their efforts.  China would, as 
always, play a constructive role, together with other G-20 and G-33 Members, to ensure that the 
Doha Round delivered meaningful benefits to al l Members, in particular to developing ones. 
28. The representative of Colombia
 said that while many de legations had welcomed the 
resumption of the negotiating process, most stat ements had been repetitions of earlier and, 
especially, defensive positions.  Colombia hope d that this was a genuine, and not merely a 
formal, resumption of negotiations and that it would lead each Member to work to ensure that the anticipated developments in the US Congress did not occur before Members had advanced 
towards the successful conclusion of the negotiations .  While it was true that all were seriously 
committed to the process and eager to make progre ss as rapidly as possible, each Member had to 
contribute, and not simply wait fo r others to make a move.  Indeed, the statements made at the 
present meeting did not reflect moves being made , despite the good intentions expressed.  Her 
delegation suggested that Members follow H ong Kong, China's advice, and perhaps each one 
could help achieve the conclusion of the Round. 
29. The representative of India
 supported the statements by Br azil for the G-20, Indonesia for 
the G-33, South Africa for the NAMA-11, Benin for the African Group, Jamaica for the ACP, and 
Chad for the co-sponsors of the Cotton Initiative.  In their distinct ways, these statements had highlighted the central issues and principles in the negotiations.  He wished to recall that these 
issues were central to India's considerations.  First, all had welcomed the full resumption of the 
negotiations.  It was important that this resumption was meaningfully multilateral.  Small-group 
meetings had an important role to play in  resolving differences among Members, but a 
sustainable breakthrough could be  achieved only in multilateral  negotiations that were fully 
inclusive and transparent.  Second, it had to be clear that this resumption had to be across the board and that all areas of the negotiations had to  be addressed with equal emphasis, so that all 
constituencies could derive equal comfort from the outcomes.  No issue could be pushed under 
the carpet for later consideration.   Third, all had to recognize that  despite its small share in global  WT/GC/M/107 
 Page 13 
 
 
  trade, agriculture was the centerpiece of the negotiations.  There were two reasons for this – first, 
due to the distortions that existed because of the huge subsidies and non-transparent market access regimes in developed countries, and second, because in developing countries the 
livelihoods and survival of hundreds of millions of  farmers depended on agriculture.  Lastly, 
development had to remain the leitmotif of the nego tiations and had to inform all aspects of them.  
There could not be any shortcuts in this.  It woul d be useful to recall thes e central principles in 
the intensive phase of negotiations in the coming weeks and months. 
30. The General Council took note
 of the Director-General's report and of the statements. 
2. Work Programme on Small Economies – Report by the Chairman of the Dedicated 
Session of the Committee on Trade and Development 
31. The Chairman   recalled that at its meeting in February and March 2002, the General 
Council had taken note of a framework and proced ures for the conduct of the Work Programme 
on Small Economies, under which this Work Prog ramme shall be a sta nding item on the General 
Council's agenda.  The framewor k and procedures also provided that the Committee on Trade and 
Development shall report regularly to the Ge neral Council on the progress of work in its 
Dedicated Sessions on th is subject.  Furthermore, Minist ers at Hong Kong had instructed the 
CTD, under the overall responsib ility of the General Council, to continue the work in the 
Dedicated Session a nd to monitor progress of the small ec onomies' proposals in the negotiating 
and other bodies, with the aim of providing res ponses to the trade-related issues of small 
economies as soon as possible  but no later than 31 December 2006.  In December 2006, on the 
basis of a report by the Chair of the CTD in De dicated Session, the General Council had taken 
note that Members in that body would be pur suing the substantive work under the Small 
Economies Work Programme in 2007. 
32. Mr Ismail (South Africa), Chairman of the Dedicated Session of the Committee on Trade 
and Development , said that even though the CTD in De dicated Session had not met formally 
since his report to the Council in December 2006 , he was pleased to inform Members that the 
proponents of small economies had met a number of times recently to discuss their proposals in 
the various negotiating groups and other WTO bodies .  The proponents had also been engaging in 
a number of bilateral and plurilateral meetings on issues concerning agriculture, NAMA, services, fisheries subsidies, trade facilitation and subsidies.  Given the recent developments concerning the Doha negotiations, it was his understanding th at the proponents were keen to resume their 
work.  Since he would soon be relinquishing the chairmanship of the CTD in Dedicated Session, 
this would be his last report to the General Coun cil.  He wished to thank the proponents of small 
economies for the trust they had placed in him during the course of the past year and to wish them 
much future success with the Work Programme. 
33. The representative of Barbados
 on behalf of the small, vulnerable economies , said the 
report by the Chair of the Dedicat ed Session of the CTD was necessa rily short, given that this 
body had not met for some time.  The report did recognize the extent to which the SVEs had been 
engaged with negotiating proposals, and the extensive internal work they had also been conducting to fine-tune their positions.  The SVEs wished to express appr eciation to all delegations who 
continued to dialogue and work with them in an attempt to achieve a mutually beneficial outcome to their proposals, which sought to honour the mandate in Paragraph 35 of the Doha Declaration and subsequent instructions from Ministers.  The SVEs also wished  to pay tribute to the excellent 
stewardship of the Chair of the CTD in Dedicated Session, who ha d worked in a comprehensive, 
fair and engaging manner within the group's deliberations.  Under his chairmanship, the SVEs had achieved success with three key administrative prop osals and had seen the Dedicated Session take 
on a new and important role – that of monitoring the progress of the proposals tabled by the SVEs in the negotiating groups and other committees of  the WTO.  The importance of the Dedicated WT/GC/M/107 
Page 14  
 
  Session as the central forum for is sues related to SVEs in the WTO ha d only been strengthened with 
these developments.  The SVEs looked forward to some challenging and productive times ahead in 
their quest to enhance their integr ation into the multilateral tradin g system, and continued to see the 
Dedicated Session as the laboratory where many of the initiatives to do so could be examined. 
34. The representative of Nicaragua
 said that as a proponent  of the Work Programme, 
Nicaragua attached great importance to the work being done to implement the mandate contained 
in paragraph 35 of the Doha De claration and paragraph 41 of th e Hong Kong Declaration.  Her 
delegation was pleased to note that in 2006, the General Council had adopted the 
recommendation in paragraph 6 of the report of the CTD in Dedicated Se ssion, on measures to 
assist small economi es in meeting their obligations unde r the Agreements on SPS Measures, TBT 
and TRIPS (WT/COMTD/SE/5), thus contributing to the smooth functioning of the multilateral 
system.  The achievement of this first concrete result on the subject of small economies since the Doha Ministerial had laid the groundwork for better utilizat ion of the installed capacity of the 
regional organizations.  Nicaragua  was grateful to the Chair of the CTD in Dedicated Session for 
his important contribution to th e dialogue conducted in the context of that body in 2006.  The 
WTO was called upon to play an important role in  promoting trade and to support its Members in 
the achievement of full integration into world trade, hence the mandate given by Ministers in 
Doha and Hong Kong to provide answers to the difficulties faced by small economies in 
integrating into the multilateral trading syst em.  Her delegation wished to reiterate its 
commitment to the work being carried out for that purpose. 
35. The General Council took note
 of the report by the Chairman  of the Dedicated Session of 
the Committee on Trade and Development and of the statements. 
3. 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 
36. The Chairman  recalled that this matter had firs t been raised by the delegations of 
Honduras and Guatemala at the Council meeting in December 2004.   It had subsequently been 
considered by the General Council at each of its regular meetings since th en, without resolution.  
In the light of the views expressed at these meet ings, and the requests for consultations made by 
Honduras and Guatemala, both his pr edecessors and he had been hol ding consultations in order to 
assist in finding a way forward.  At the Decem ber General Council meeting, he had reported to 
delegations on his most recent consultations.  In vi ew of the statements made at that Council, he 
had proposed that the General Council revert 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 wished to 
inform delegations that on 5 February, he had held further consultations to provide another 
opportunity for the Members concerned to seek clarif ications, to the extent possible, and to see if 
he, as Chair, could facilitate a satisfactory resolution to the c oncerns that had been expressed 
regarding this matter.  He had invited to the co nsultations all the delega tions 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 th e WTO.  In his view, these consultations had 
been positive and constructive.  They had r esulted in a clear understa nding that the parties 
directly concerned would be engaging, in the next  few weeks, in direct and substantive dialogue 
and in good faith on the issues and concerns raised by Honduras and Guatemala.  While it 
remained to be seen what result would emerge from these contacts, he believed they were 
nevertheless a necessary step  and a sign of progress. 
37. The representative of Honduras  said that for more than two years his delegation had been 
requesting the EC to recognize its interest as a substantial supplier in the banana sector.  This issue had been, and continued at present to be, a ma tter of priority for his country.  Unfortunately,  WT/GC/M/107 
 Page 15 
 
 
  the EC had chosen to ignore the legal and econo mic studies Honduras had submitted in support of 
its request and unjustifiably persisted in its refusa l to the present day.  He wished to set out the 
central aspects of his country's position and of  the legal rules that supported it.  Under 
Article XXVIII of GATT 1994, "substantial interest " was to be calculated on the basis of trade 
levels that would have existed in a market free from discriminatory quantit ative restrictions.  For 
that reason, Honduras had used the years 1989-19 91 as the representative period for calculating 
its share of the EC market.  In two disputes de alt with under the GATT, it had been found that 
Honduras was in fact one of the major banana su ppliers to the EC during the years 1989-1991.  
According to the Notes and Supplementary Provis ions to Article XXVIII:1, Members may invoke 
substantial interest when "in the absence of discriminatory quantitative restrictions affecting their 
exports [they] could reasonably be  expected to have a significant  share in the market of the 
[Member] seeking to modify or withdraw the concession"  The main purpose of the 
Understanding on the Interpretation of Article X XVIII, as determined by dispute settlement 
panels, was to ensure that the rights to market share were applied flexibly to small and medium-sized developing countries which had been injured by the withdrawal of bindings.  Honduras had 
shown that, prior to the entry into force of the EC's discriminatory regime, it had supplied some 
10 per cent of the EC market and, at times, even a greater percentage.  In any event, the 10 per cent parameter should not be applied strictly, particularly when the exporter was a small 
developing country.  The EC had refused to enter into a genuine dialogue, and instead had called 
for the Latin American countries to  participate in a monitoring mechanism, which Honduras did 
not accept, because this contributed nothing to th e settlement of the seri ous problem it faced in 
the broader context as a result of the existing EC banana import regime .  Fortunately, Honduras 
was receiving increasing support from other Member s, because they knew that only a period free 
of discrimination was relevant fo r the purposes of Article XXVIII, not only as a systemic issue, 
but also as a matter of justice.  His delegation wished to believe that the EC was capable of showing flexibility, that as from the present it wo uld listen to Honduras's arguments, that it would 
meet Honduras's legitimate  aspirations and that it  would shortly recognize Honduras's interests as 
a substantial supplier. 
38. The representative of Guatemala
 expressed his delegation's gr atitude to the Chairman for 
the work he had done on this topic.  He had spared neither resources nor efforts in seeking a solution to this issue, and Guatemala was therefore confident that a positive outcome would be achieved in due course.  His delegation welcomed the fact that the Chairman had held informal 
consultations on this matter and also welcomed the report he had submitted to the Council.  There 
was no doubt, as could be seen from that report, that the consultations had been conducted in a 
positive and constructive atmosphe re.  He wished to put forward Guatemala's assessment of the 
consultation process.  The points discussed could be divided into three main issues:  First, the 
trade issue and the specific impa irment suffered by Guatemala as  a result of the non-recognition 
of negotiating rights by the Euro pean Communities.  Second, the mo re general and systemic issue 
of the equitable distribution of negotiating rights for small and medi um-sized exporters.  Third, 
the more particular issue of bananas.  Rega rding the non-recognition of Guatemala's negotiating 
rights, there were two questions that needed to be addressed separately.  The first concerned the effects that the enlargement of the EU to 25 members had had on various Guatemalan exports, 
and the second concerned the effects on Guatemal an sugar exports following the subsequent 
accession to the EU of Bulgaria and Romania.  During the consultations, the EC had offered to 
deal with these topics through bilateral meetings .  Guatemala welcomed this offer and hoped to 
hold such meetings in the near future.  Nevertheless, Guatemala wished to make its position very clear.  By definition, these bila teral meetings could not involve a mere restatement of arguments 
or a repetition of the debates that had been held  in the Council.  Therefor e, each meeting had to 
bring the parties together in a positive and cons tructive spirit.  The parties had to go to the 
meeting seeking real and effective results.  Anything else would be a waste of time and a sign of disrespect for Guatemala's rights and resources. WT/GC/M/107 
Page 16  
 
  39. Regarding the systemic issue of the equitabl e distribution of negotiating rights for small 
and medium-sized exporters, his delegation was also pleased th at the EC had expressed an 
interest in having this question resolved, because this would undoubt edly benefit many Members.  
As Guatemala had announced, it woul d take up this questi on in due course in the competent WTO 
body.  Finally, regarding the more particular i ssue of bananas, Guatemal a appreciated the EC's 
political commitment to resolve and bring clos ure to this issue during the course of 2007.  
Guatemala had always been in favour of dialogue and negotiation on this topic.  Thus, together 
with various other countries in the region, it ha d taken part in the good offices process under the 
auspices of the Government of Norway.  The aim of the good offices process was to reach 
agreement on a mutually beneficial and definitive solution for bananas.  That process had led to a 
narrowing of differences never before achieved with the EC.  The parties had even been able to 
draft general guidelines for a formal agreement.  Guatemala was aware that various points still remained to be defined, but generally speaking a solution was in the air, and the way to salvage 
and ultimately implement all th ese achievements was through c oncrete actions.  The EC knew 
what actions, what signals and what  attitude it should adopt in orde r to bring about closure.  If it 
really had the political will to bring this matter to a close, it would be prepared to move as 
quickly as possible.  This process should be fo rmally concluded where the negotiation had been 
conducted, i.e. in the good offices process.  Need less to say, Guatemala was anxious to see all of 
its Latin American neighbours participate in this process.  No solution on this issue could be 
achieved without their participation.  Although hi s delegation was considered in certain quarters 
to be naïve, no country could be criticized fo r seeking to solve problems through dialogue and 
negotiation.  He wished to repeat that this had always been Guatemala's goal. 
40. The representative of Nicaragua
 said her delegation welcomed the Chairman's report on 
this matter.  Like other Member s who had spoken, her country had a systemic interest in this 
subject, and therefore re iterated its support for ef forts to find a solution satisfactory to all the 
parties concerned. 
41. The representative of Paraguay  said his delegation was optimi stic about the possibility of 
a solution through direct conversations that would have effective results and did not lead to the 
repetition of the same arguments.  As a Latin Am erican Member, Paraguay not only expressed its 
solidarity with Honduras and Guatemala, but as a small economy also had a systemic interest in 
this issue.  The more-developed economies always had to take in to account the injury or damage 
their measures  might cause small and vulnerable economies, and could not just hide behind legal 
texts and their unilateral interpretation of these to  avoid remedying such injuries.  The possibility 
of creating a precedent or causing other injuries  and new claims was merely a pretext to shun 
their responsibilities.  With goodwill and w ith a spirit of compromise and commitment, 
satisfactory solutions could always be found th at did not cause too many distortions to the 
system,  This was why Paraguay supported Honduras and Guatem ala and hoped that very soon 
their case would be solved, not only for the good of these two countries, but for developing 
countries as a whole. 
42. The representative of Mexico  said his delegation supporte d Guatemala's and Honduras' 
claims and understood their frustra tion because of the time that had been spent on this issue 
without any solution being found.  Mexico had ta ken part in the consultations held under the 
Chairman's leadership, appreciated his efforts and hoped that an agreement would be reached 
very soon. 
43. The representative of the Philippines  expressed his delegation's continued interest in this 
matter and appreciation to the Chairman for having handled it in the past year in an excellent and impartial way.  The Philippines maintained its commitment to constructive discussions aimed at a structural and legal solution to all the concerns expressed, in order to improve the process of 
compensation and consultation prior to the EU's enlargement.  WT/GC/M/107 
 Page 17 
 
 
  44. The representative of the European Communities  thanked the Chairman for his brief and 
balanced report on the overall situation in this matter.  The Community believed that it had followed both the spirit and the letter of the WTO in  concluding that it had to reject the claims of 
Honduras and Guatemala.  Its position was ba sed on its good-faith interpretation of the rules 
which, in the Community's view, ensured that the rights of Members were fairly protected.  It was 
not in the interest of the system or of Members to seek individual ad hoc solutions.  This would 
amount to a form of discrimination which the WT O system was designed precisely to prevent.  
Having said this, he wished to add a few additional  points.  First, the Community was ready to sit 
down again with Honduras and Guatemala to re-eva luate their claims and their arguments.  It 
hoped to do this in the coming days to dem onstrate – he hoped beyond all doubt – that the 
Community had taken the right approach and had applied the WTO rules correctly.  Second, the 
Community continued to be open to negotiating a structural solution to the systemic concerns 
raised by small suppliers in the context of an Article XXIV:6 an d Article XXVIII exercise.  This 
would involve some reinterpretati on or modification of the Unders tanding on the Interpretation of 
Article XXVIII, to shift the balance more in fa vour of small suppliers  who, while not being 
principal suppliers or holding a ten per cent ma rket share, or being otherwise eligible under 
current rules governing GATT Article XXVIII, none theless depended heav ily on a particular 
export product .  The EU was open to this approach, but  all Members would have to be involved 
in any such development of general rules to provide increased flexibility in determining a 
substantial-supplier interest.  Th ird, in the context of the EU's enlargement, the Community had 
recently proposed to extend the period of negotia tion for a further six months for those countries 
who felt that their compensation rights had not been addressed.  He wished to mention this 
because it demonstrated that the Community was acting in good faith and trying generally to 
ensure that Members' interests were fairly addressed.  Also, in the context of the EU's more recent enlargement, the EC had already recognize d the claims of some MFN banana exporters.  
This, again, was proof that the EC wished to ensure that Members' rights were respected 
according to WTO rules.  The Community was comm itted to reaching, thr ough the negotiations, a 
comprehensive solution on bananas in 2007.  The EC  hoped that this solution would put behind it 
this issue that had plagued the WTO for such a long time.  His de legation was certain that this 
comprehensive solution, among other things, would effectively deal also with the concerns of 
Honduras and Guatemala. 
45. The representative of Ecuador
 said that his delegation, like others, wished to congratulate 
the Chairman on his efficient management of the Council, and in particular his constant striving 
to resolve matters such as the present one.  Th e intervention by the Government of Norway, and 
more particularly by its Minister for Foreign Affairs, had given a boost to the good offices 
process established at the Hong Kong Ministerial Confer ence in December 2 005, which had been 
further developed in 2006, with a view to crea ting a negotiating environment favourable to the 
long-standing issue of bananas.  This proce ss had had very important results, which would 
provide guidance for the consultations request ed by his delegation with the European 
Communities under the Dispute Settlement Unde rstanding regarding its ba nana import regime.  
The good offices process had reache d the end of its term, and on be half of the Government of 
Ecuador, he wished to thank Norway's Minister of Foreign Affairs, the General Council Chair, 
the team of professionals at the Norwegian missio n in Geneva and the Government of Norway as 
a whole for laying the groundwork for a possible c onvergence leading to a definitive settlement 
of this issue, which Ecuador was prepared to achieve in the shortest time possible.  It now lay with the main Members concerned to find the desi red solution, which would require a significant 
measure of compromise and realism by all. 
46. The representative of Colombia
 thanked the European Communities for its statement and 
trusted that the six-month extension of the period for concluding negotiations relating to the EU's 
enlargement from 15 to 25 members would enable Colombia to negotiate recognition of its rights 
as a substantial supplier.  Colombia had already explained that the EU enlargement process WT/GC/M/107 
Page 18  
 
  launched on 1 May 2004 differed from the good offi ces process in connection with the banana 
issue, and that these were ther efore two separate negotiations. 
47. The representative of Costa Rica
 said his delegation once again wished to thank the Chair 
for all the effort and work he had dedicated to th e consultations he had he ld regarding recognition 
of Guatemala's and Honduras' ri ghts in negotiations under Articles  XXIV:6 and XXVIII resulting 
from the EU's enlargement.  Costa Rica again wished to support Guatemala and Honduras in 
achieving recognition of their rights.  As Colo mbia had said, this process was entirely 
independent from the banana question.  These two countries, just as Colombia and Costa Rica at 
another time, had requested recognition of rights – in Costa Rica's case this concerned a large 
number of products.  However, now that Ecua dor had brought the banana issue into this 
discussion – and his delegation did not quite understand why Ecuador had done so under the 
present Agenda item – Costa Rica also wished to thank Norway's Minister of Foreign Affairs for exercising his good offices, as well as the Chairm an for conducting these proceedings in the 
Minister
's absence.  His delegation was confident that this process as well had helped Members to 
believe that a negotiated solution would be possible with the EC.  It hoped that this process could 
be resumed in the future under Norway's leadersh ip aimed at finding a so lution.  Costa Rica was 
confident that Ecuador, who had referred to a willingness to ne gotiate, would have the necessary 
flexibility to recognize the benefits of this process. 
48. The representative of Panama  thanked the Chairman for his efforts and the transparency 
he had shown in the consultations on this matter, and also for his openness in attempting to bring 
the parties involved closer together.  Like ot hers, Panama too supporte d the requests made by 
Honduras and Guatemala for the r ecognition of their rights.  Panama had been recognized as a 
principal supplier.  However, it had not yet mana ged to reach an agreement with the EC on this 
particular matter.  It hoped that fu ture efforts and contacts would be ar results that were beneficial 
for all suppliers – results that were based on commitments already assumed at the Doha Ministerial Conference – and that these results would also respect the recommendations and 
rulings that had been handed down in this organi zation, as well as respecting rules and procedures 
to which all were committed as Members. 
49. The General Council took note
 of the statements and agreed  to revert to this matter at its 
next meeting. 
4. Review of the exemption provided under Paragraph 3 of the GATT 1994 (WT/L/680) 
50. The Chairman  recalled that paragraph 3(a) of the GATT 1994 provided an exemption 
from Part II of GATT 1994 for measures under sp ecific mandatory legislation – enacted by a 
Member before it became a cont racting party to GATT 1947 – which prohibited the use, sale or 
lease of foreign-built or foreign-reconstructed vessels in commercial applications between points 
in national waters or waters of an exclusive economic zone.  On 20 December 1994, the United 
States had invoked the provisions of  paragraph 3(a) with respect to  specific legislation that met 
the requirements of that paragra ph.  Paragraph 3(b) of the GATT 1994 called for a review of this 
exemption five years after the date of entry into force of the WTO Agreement, and thereafter every two years for as long as the exemption was in force, in order to examine whether the 
conditions which created the need fo r the exemption still prevailed. 
51. The General Council had last considered this  matter at its meeti ng in December 2005, at 
which it had taken note that under the two-yearly  cycle provided for in paragraph 3(b) of the 
GATT 1994, the next review would no rmally be held in 2007.  For the purposes of the conduct of 
the review in 2007, he proposed that Members proc eed in a manner similar to that in 2005, which 
was based on a procedure agreed by the General Council in D ecember 2002.  Accordingly, he 
would invite all interested delegations at the present meeting to speak for the record with regard  WT/GC/M/107 
 Page 19 
 
 
  to the review under the current cycle.  He would also invite interested delegations to submit 
comments and questions to the United States regarding the operation of the legislation under the exemption, to which the United States would be invited to respond.  These statements, questions 
and responses, together with th e annual statistical report provided  by the US under paragraph 3(c) 
of the GATT 1994 (WT/L/680), would form the basis for the present year's review.  In keeping 
with the procedure agreed in December 2002, for th e purposes of the review this matter would be 
on the agenda of subsequent General Council me etings in the course of 2007 as the Chairman 
deemed appropriate, or at the re quest of any Member.  The Genera l Council would, furthermore, 
consider this matter again at its meeting in December 2007.  At that meeting, the Council would 
take note of the discussions held in the course of the review until then, and take any other action 
it might agree on.  It would also take note that the subsequent review w ould normally be held in 
2009.  With regard to this exemption, he invited Members to note that, as provided in paragraph 3(e) of the GATT 1994, the exemption was without prejudice to solutions concerning 
specific aspects of the legislation covered by this exemption negotiated in sectoral agreements or in other fora.  He then drew attention to the annual report circulated by the United States in 
document WT/L/680. 
52. The representative of the United States
 said his delegation stood ready to participate in 
this review of the exemption under paragraph 3 of  the GATT 1994.  The United States continued 
to provide Members with annual statistical reports pursuant to the requireme nts of paragraph 3(c) 
of the GATT 1994.  The most recent had been su bmitted on 29 January in document WT/L/680.  
This report, as other reports in the past, provided  detailed annual reporti ng of vessel orders and 
deliveries from US shipyards as required by  paragraph 3(c).  The 2007 report contained 
improvements over preview years' reports.  First, the United States had corrected for inconsistencies with the source data.  In preparing the present year's submission it had found errors in the source data, whic h was supplied by Lloyds Mariti me Information Services.  The 
United States used that data to generate the statistical tables in its reports, both with respect to 
deliveries and order books.  There had apparently  been some difficulties in the way Lloyds had 
been dealing with late reports, and this had resulted in under-reporting of both deliveries and 
order books.  Second, the United States had adde d additional information that improved the 
transparency of the report.  His delegation wish ed to inform the Council that the United States 
was prepared to hold informal consultations in wh ich interested delegations  would be able to ask 
questions and participate in a di scussion without prejudice to their national positions.  The United 
States was also prepared to explain changes in its statistical reports in more detail than he had just 
done, and would respond to any formal questions. 
53. The representative of Hong Kong, China
 said that Hong Kong, China's systemic and 
historic interest in this matter remained unchanged.  His delegation hoped that the upcoming 
review would consider in a more substantive manner whether the legislation covered by this 
exemption was still serving the objectives origina lly intended, and whether the conditions for the 
retention of the measures still prevailed.  His delegation was grateful to the United States for the 
detailed information it had provided, would st udy the US communication in consultation with 
experts, and looked forward to engaging in cons tructive and meaningful exchanges with the 
United States and with other de legations having similar concerns. 
54. The representative of Norway  said that this was an important issue for Norway, as the 
exemption in essence made it impossible to sell ships to the United States.  Norway had 
participated actively in the review of this ex emption on earlier occasions and intended to do the 
same in 2007.  Norway thanked the United Stat es for the recent notif ication of statistical 
information, which it would study carefully.  It  appreciated the US readiness to hold informal 
consultations on this issue.  Regarding the condu ct the review itself, this should focus on the 
salient point of paragraph 3(b), which was the examination of whether the conditions which had 
created the need for the exemptio n still prevailed.  One needed to move beyond the discussion of WT/GC/M/107 
Page 20  
 
  statistical information submitte d under paragraph 3(c) and also address the conditions for the 
exemption.  As to the practical steps to be followed in this review, Norway was prepared to go along with the procedure suggested by the Chairman. 
55. The representative of Japan
 said his country attached grea t importance to the review of 
the exemption provided under pa ragraph 3 of the GATT 1994.  Japan hoped that, under the 
Chair's leadership, the current review exercise wo uld be conducted effectivel y, and his delegation 
intended to participate in a positive manner.  The exemption in paragraph 3 was a deviation from 
the fundamental principles of the GATT.  Japan had a systemic concern regarding the 
continuation of this exemption in terms of the co nsistency of WTO rules, and therefore believed 
that Members should conduct an ef fective examination of the issue.  Japan appreciated that the 
United States had provided the latest statistical re port.  However, it had not received satisfactory 
explanations from the US on previous questionnaire s, nor had the US replied to its questionnaire 
in the final meeting of the previous review in 2005.  Japan hoped that the US would provide 
further information in a positive manner, such as clarification of a concrete linkage between the US industry's capability to produce ships and its national security.  If necessary, Japan would 
consider submitting an additional questionnaire in  this review in response to the US reply. 
56. The representative of the European Communities
 said it would not come as surprise that 
the Community continued to have objections to the exemption in the GATT 1994 afforded to the 
Jones Act legislation.  The prevailing situation had clearly negative economic consequences for the EU shipbuilding industry by closing the US market for ships in certain segments of which – for example, passenger ferries – European shipbuilders had a strong interest.  The Jones Act 
continued, therefore, to present a barrier to trade in the EC's relationship with the United States.  
On top of this, the Community also had concerns w ith respect to the systemic implications of this 
exemption. 
57. The representative of Australia
 said his country had commerci al interests in the sectors 
that remained affected by the operation of this exemption.  Australia continued to hold that 
paragraph 3(b) of the GATT 1994 required a subs tantive review, and looke d forward to engaging 
in a meaningful exchange on the con tinued operation of this exemption. 
58. The representative of Chile  thanked the United States for its recent notification, which 
was currently being studied in depth in his capital.  Traditionally, Chile had expressed its interest in this matter for commercial and systemic re asons, since this exemption enabled the United 
States to deviate from WTO disciplines.  However, this possibility of deviating from WTO rules 
was subject to limits and conditi ons.  The spirit of paragraph 3 of the GATT 1994 was clear.  A 
Member using this exemption had to produce detail ed evidence of the continued existence of the 
conditions that had given rise to the need for the exemption.  Unfortunately, in the past, Members 
had not been able collectively to carry out that in-depth analysis, without which it was difficult to 
justify this deviation from WTO rules.  Chil e hoped that a more constructive and detailed 
examination in the current year's review would enable Members to satisfy themselves that the 
United States needed to continue sheltering a nd protecting an important sector of its economy. 
59. The representative of Korea
 said his delegation also wished to register its interest in this 
matter and would participate in the current year's  review process, including in the informal 
consultations proposed by the US delegation.  Korea also agreed with the procedure on the conduct of the review as recommended by the Chairman. 
60. The General Council took note
 of the statements and agreed  to revert to this item at a 
future meeting.  WT/GC/M/107 
 Page 21 
 
 
  5. Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration – Report of the Committee on its 
meetings of September and October 2006 (WT/BFA/91) 
61. The Chairman  drew attention to the report of the Budget Committee in document 
WT/BFA/91. 
62. Mr March (Spain), Chairman of the Commi ttee on Budget, Financ e and Administration , 
introducing the report in WT/BFA/91, recalled that  the relevant recommendation from the Budget 
Committee's meetings of Septem ber and October 2006 had already been presented and approved 
at the General Council meeting in October.  The narrative report in WT/BFA/91 was therefore 
presented solely for information.  The Commit tee had examined (i) various administrative up-
dates and progress re ports, including those related to the ca sh situation, statement of outstanding 
contributions, from both Members and Observ ers, as well as progress reports on Human 
Resources and the WTO Pension Plan ;  (ii) the Status of Extra-B udgetary Activities;  (iii) the 
Proposed Plan of Action to meet the Future Bu ilding Needs of the WTO;  (iv) Programmes for 
Interns and Trainees in the WTO;  and (v) th e Report on the Implementation of the Security 
Enhancement Programme.  The recommendations which the General Council had approved in 
October 2006 in the context of the future buildi ng needs of the WTO had authorized the Director-
General to discuss with the Swiss authorities the identification of a suitable site for a new permanent headquarters without prejudice to th e final outcome, and the identification of an 
adequate immediate solution to the housing needs of the WTO and, in this context, to urge that the space the IUHEI library occupied in the Centre  William Rappard be liberated at the earliest 
possible date. 
63. The General Council took note
 of the statement and adopted  the Budget Committee's 
report in WT/BFA/91. 
6. Appointment of Officers to WTO Bodies 
64. The Chairman  recalled that, in accordance with the Guidelines for Appointment of 
Officers to WTO Bodies approved by the Genera l Council in December 2002 (WT/L/510), he and 
his colleague, Mr Noor (Malaysia), the serving Chair of the Dispute Settlement Body, had 
conducted consultations with delegations on a slate of names for the appointment of Chairs to the 
bodies listed in Groups 1, 2, 4 and 5 in the Annex to the Guidelines.  Furthermore, in view of the 
impending departure of the Chair of the Negotiat ing Group on Trade Facilitation – and in keeping 
with the provisions of the structure adopted by  the Trade Negotiations Committee at its first 
meeting, namely that the General Council Ch air should consult on the chairmanships of the 
individual negotiating bodies under the TNC – Mr N oor and he had used this opportunity also to 
consult with delegations regard ing this appointment.  They ha d consulted delegations both 
individually and in groups, including through gr oup coordinators.  These consultations had 
included an informal open-ended Heads- of-Delegation meeting held on 5 February. 
65. With regard to the regular WTO bodies, he was pleased to be able to inform delegations 
that, on the basis of the consultations, there was a consensus on the following slate of names: 
General Council HE Mr Muhamad NOOR (Malaysia) 
Dispute Settlement Body HE Mr Bruce GOSPER (Australia) Trade Policy Review Body HE Mr Vesa HIMANEN (Finland) Council for Trade in Goods HE Mr  Karsten Vagn NIELSEN (Denmark) WT/GC/M/107 
Page 22  
 
  Council for Trade in Services HE Mr C. Trevor CLARKE (Barbados) 
Council for TRIPS HE Mr Yonov Frederick AGAH (Nigeria) Committee on Trade and Development HE Mr Shree Baboo Chekitan SERVANSING 
(Mauritius) 
Committee on Balance-of-Payments 
Restrictions HE Mr Chitsaka CHIPAZIWA (Zimbabwe) 
Committee on Budget, Finance and 
Administration Mr Tony LYNCH (New Zealand) 
Committee on Trade and Environment HE Mr Manuel A.J. TEEHANKEE (Philippines) 
Committee on Regional Trade Agreements Mr Julian METCALFE (United Kingdom) 
Working Group on Trade, Debt and Finance Mr Ravi BANGAR (India) 
Working Group on Trade and Transfer of 
Technology HE Mr Kwabena BAAH-DUODU (Ghana) 
 
66. Appointments for these bodies would be for one year as usual, in keeping with the general 
rule in the Guidelines.  These appointments wo uld, of course, be made formally by the WTO 
bodies concerned at their s ubsequent meetings in 2007. 
67. Regarding the Negotiating Group on Trade Facili tation, he was pleased to be able to 
inform delegations that, on the basis of the consultations, there was a consensus on the appointment of Mr Eduardo Ernest o Sperisen-Yurt (Guatemala).  Wi th regard to the duration of 
this appointment, he proposed that Mr Sperisen-Y urt be invited to serve until the next Session of 
the Ministerial Conference.  This would be in  keeping with the terms of office for the 
appointments to the other negotia ting groups that had been agreed by the General Council in 
February 2005.  This appointment would also be  made formally by the Negotiating Group at its 
subsequent meeting. 
68. The General Council took note
 of the statement and of the consensus on the slate of 
names for the appointment  of officers to the bodies mentioned above.  
69. The Chairman , on behalf of the General Council, e xpressed sincere appreciation to the 
outgoing Chairpersons of all WTO bodies for thei r dedicated work in chairing these bodies during 
the past year.  He then recalled that, in keeping with paragraph 7.3 of the Guidelines for Appointment of Officers to WT O Bodies, the outgoing Chairpersons of the Council for Trade in 
Goods and the Council for Trade in Services normally conducted consul tations to select 
Chairpersons for the bodies established under thei r respective Councils.  Paragraph 7.3 of the 
Guidelines also provided that these Chairs sh ould announce the start of their respective 
consultation processes at the February General Co uncil, and work in close coordination, in order 
to ensure the efficiency of the process and the balance mentioned in paragraph 3.3 of the 
Guidelines. 
70. Mr Agah (Nigeria), Chairman of  the Council for Trade in Goods
, informed Members that, 
in accordance with the Guidelines, he would be  starting consultations for the appointment of 
chairpersons to the subsidiary bodies of the C ouncil for Trade in Goods.  He would be carrying  WT/GC/M/107 
 Page 23 
 
 
  out this process with a view to proposing and ag reeing on a balanced slate of names at the next 
meeting of the Goods Counc il, scheduled for 19 March.  He intended to make sufficient time 
available to meet with any interested Members and to hear their views and suggestions, and would be sending a fax to all Heads of Delegati on the following day indicating his availability for 
this purpose.  Following this, he would conduct fu rther consultations as necessary.  In order to 
ensure the efficiency of the process and the balance mentioned in the Guidelines, he would work 
in coordination with the Chairm an of the Services Council. 
71. Mr Mayor (Hungary), Chairman of the Council for Trade in Services
, informed Members 
that in accordance with the Guidelines, he would also be starting the consultation process for the 
appointment of the new chairpersons to the four  subsidiary bodies under the Council for Trade in 
Services.  This process would aim at reaching ag reement on a balanced slate of names that would 
be proposed at the next meeting of those subsidia ry bodies.  In this exercise, he would undertake 
consultations in close cooperation with the Chai rman of the Goods Council, and would make 
sufficient time available to meet with any in terested Members.  He encouraged potential 
candidates to contact hi m as soon as possible. 
72. The General Council took note  of the statements. 
7. Administrative Measures for Members in Arrears 
73. The Chairman , speaking under "Other Business", reca lled that at its meeting in May 2006, 
the General Council had approved a recommen dation from the Committee on Budget, Finance 
and Administration regarding revised Administrative Measures for Members in Arrears (WT/BFA/86).  Among these Admini strative Measures was a requirement that at each meeting of 
the General Council, the Chairman of the Budget Comm ittee should provide information with regard to 
which Members were under Administrative Measures in Categories II through IV.  Accordingly, he 
invited the Chair of the Budget Committee to provide the Council with this information.  
74. Mr March (Spain), Chairman of the Comm ittee on Budget, Finance and Administration
, said 
that as the Chairman had just recalled, the B udget Committee had formulated a recommendation 
regarding Members in arrears which had been approved by the General Council in May 2006.  
The background to this recommendation was the Committee's assessment that Members' 
obligation to contribute promptly to the WTO their share in the expenses of the organization, in accordance with the Marrakesh Agreement Esta blishing the WTO, should be reinforced.  The 
administrative measures had been reinforc ed through the recommendation that had been 
approved.  The General Council had also auth orized the Budget Comm ittee to waive the 
application of the measures for Members in Category IV who agreed to, and abided by, a 
schedule of instalment payments aimed at liquidating all arrears.  In this context, he invited the Members concerned to contact the Secretariat to di scuss the modalities for establishing such an 
instalment plan.  As required by the Decision of the General C ouncil, he informed the Council 
that the Members under Categories II through IV of the Administrative Measures as at 
6 February 2007 were as follows:  Category II – Ar gentina, Burkina Faso, Rwanda and Senegal;  
Category III – Cameroon;  and Category IV – Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Côte 
d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djib outi, Dominica, Gabon, the Gambia, Guinea, 
Guinea-Bissau, Malawi, Mauritania, Niger, Pa raguay, Republic of Cong o, Sierra Leone and 
Togo. 
75. The Chairman
 then recalled that under the revised Administrative Measures he was also 
required at each Council meeting to request those Members in Categories III and IV of the 
Administrative Measures to inform him, before th e next meeting of the General Council, as to 
when their payment of arrears might be expected.  In keeping with the Administrative Measures, WT/GC/M/107 
Page 24  
 
  he would report on Members' replies to the next  meeting of the General Council.  Since the 
December Council meeting, he had not received any replies from the Members concerned. 
76. The General Council took note
 of the statements. 
8. Election of Chairperson 
77. The Chairman , as the outgoing presiding officer of th e General Council, sa id he wished at 
the outset to thank the staff of the Secretariat.  In  daily work one tended to take them for granted 
which, in a way, was a credit to them all.   However, while the WTO was a Member-driven 
organization, he wondered what would happen if Members did not have this capable, dedicated 
group of people to serve Members every day – a nd he wished to emphasize both "to serve 
Members" and "every day".  From his experience over the past year, he believed the Secretariat 
deserved Members' respect and a sh ow of gratitude.  Beyond this, he  had little to add, other than 
to say that he very much appreciated the trus t Members had shown in him.  Their constant 
support, in so many different ways, had been r eceived with sincere gratitu de, and he wished to 
thank all Members for that.  In 2006, in ta king up his duties as Chair, he had quoted the 
Malaysian Minister of Trade and Industry who at Davos had said that all needed to move "in 
concert".  Looking back, it seemed as if the mu sicians had packed up their instruments for a 
while, and then had started various smaller orchestras of their own, or at least some of them had done so.  Recently, he had brought back from Davos the image of the DDA as a cockroach upside down on a pin and exercising its eight legs in the ai r:  alive and kicking but, alas, not moving.  He 
did not know if that was progress or not.  So me 2,000 years earlier, a wise Italian had said 
"Dimidium facti qui coepit habet;  sapere au de" which in English read: "He who has begun his 
task has half done it;  have the courage to be wi se".  In this spirit, he wished to repeat the 
following message he had volunteered to Minist ers in Davos:  "Our immediate focus is on 
finishing the Round, as it should be.  However, we  should be careful not to create a situation in 
which, if more time does turn out to be needed for the DDA, the WTO itself and the multilateral 
trading system will be seen as doomed or defunct.   While keeping up the pressure for a successful 
conclusion of the Round in the short term, we also  need to reaffirm the fundamental and enduring 
value of the WTO system as a whole."  He had been pleased to hear that, in her personal conclusion at the Davos meeting, the Swiss Minister  had concurred.  It was time to pass the gavel 
to a somewhat younger but very competent collea gue, who had the confiden ce and support of all 
as he took over the chairmanship.  He was confiden t that he spoke for all in wishing the incoming 
Chair well in his new responsibilit ies, since his success was critic al to the well-being and proper 
functioning of the WTO.  He knew that the inco ming Chair attached as much importance to this 
as he did, and that he deeply understood and valued  the fact that this was a truly Member-driven 
organization and should remain so.  He wished hi m good luck.  Finally, he could not close before 
thanking the Director-General.  All had known on the latter's arrival that he was a dedicated and 
competent person of exceptional intelligence.  The Director-General had been generous in giving 
him the benefit of these qualities through his support over the past year, for which he would 
always be grateful.  He had enjoyed most th e personal relationship and confidence that the 
Director-General and he had developed between them , and would take this w ith him as he left the 
chairmanship.  In closing, he wished to repeat the call he had made to Ministers to work in concert and to get off that pin because, as Benj amin Franklin had remarked to John Hancock, 
"We must hang together, or most assuredly we shall hang separately". 
78. The General Council then  unanimously elected
 Mr Muhamad Noor (Malaysia) to the 
Chair. 
79. The Director-General  said that he wished to offer his best wishes to the incoming Chair as 
the latter took up his post.  The latter would have  a hard task ahead, replacing the outgoing Chair, 
but he would not have much time to think abou t that as all had a busy year ahead.  To the  WT/GC/M/107 
 Page 25 
 
 
  outgoing Chair, he said that he had been a reliable, steady and firm Council Chairman and had 
conducted the work of this body with a strong grip , but also with reason and balance, as a true 
follower of his Nordic traditions.  They had work ed together in a very constructive and friendly 
manner throughout the year.  On the negotiating front, they had faced together the difficult 
moments of July and the tough de cision to suspend the negotia tions, and the outgoing Chair had 
been very active in preparing the current resumption of the negotiations.  The latter had also dealt 
with a few other tricky issues, such as that of a certain popular tropical fruit, and had been able to 
keep his balance and reason.  He wished to th ank the outgoing Chair again for his hard work, his 
remarkable negotiating skills and his trust.  He wa s convinced that all would continue to count on 
the outgoing Chair's support in future. 
80. The newly-elected Chairman  said he wished to thank the outgoing Chair for his 
outstanding chairmanship of the General Council   The latter had set a very high standard of 
fairness, dedication and transparency that he w ould strive to live up to.  The outgoing Chair had 
had some difficult and sensitive issues to handle ov er the past year, and had handled them all with 
the wisdom and tact that marked him as a great diplomat.  He was glad that all would continue to 
have the benefit of the outgoing Chair's presence in the General Council for some time to come.  
He also wished to thank the membership for the confidence it had shown in him.  The chairmanship of the General Council was a gr eat honour and also a great responsibility.  All 
could count on him to devote himself fully to it and to the interests of all Members.  In particular, 
he would work to maintain the good practices estab lished by his predecesso rs – transparency and 
inclusiveness;  efficient conduct of meetings a nd of Council business;  close co-operation with 
the Chairs of other WTO bodies and with the Dire ctor-General and the Secr etariat;  and openness 
to hear the views and concerns of any and ev ery Member.  Members had elected him to this 
position to help advance their shared interest in  a WTO that delivered for its Members, and he 
would not forget this.  Clearly, the DDA remained  Members' top priority for the months ahead, 
and he would work closely with all Members and with the Director-General as TNC Chair to help 
move the negotiations forward.  This necessary  focus on the Round in no way downgraded all the 
other aspects of the WTO's work.  There were a number of important issues, ranging from accessions to administrative questions, and he was committed to making the maximum possible 
progress on all of these, with Me mbers' cooperation and support. 
81. He then proposed, in keeping with the scenar io suggested for this Agenda item at the 
beginning of the meeting – and without wishing to  prevent any delegation wishing to do so from 
taking the floor – to offer the floor first to co ordinators of regional and other WTO groupings – 
and those delegations not represen ted in such groupings – who wished to speak.  He was hopeful 
that members of the regional and other groupings whose coordinators had spoken would consider 
them to have spoken on behalf of all of their cons tituents, and that all delegations would exercise 
restraint in seeking the floor in addition.  He hope d to be able to count on the cooperation of all 
delegations to ensure that they kept to a small list of speakers so that the words of farewell and 
welcome were broadly representative and at the same time manageable in terms of process. 
82. The representative of the Philippines
, on behalf of the ASEAN Members , expressed deep 
appreciation for the work carried out by the outgoing Chair over the past year.  Having worked 
closely with the latter during this period on a wide range of issues, the ASEAN Members wished to commend him for the professional and efficient manner with which he had fulfilled the role of 
General Council Chair.  They thanked him for steering Members th rough some difficult 
differences in many negotiating and other areas.   As the WTO had navigated the trying months 
after the high expectations from the Hong Kong  Ministerial Conference , the General Council 
could not have been in better hands than thos e of an excellent and dedicated negotiator and 
diplomat such as the outgoing Chair.  The ASEAN Members also wished to thank him for his 
efforts in facilitating the accession of Viet Nam, the ninth ASEAN Member of the WTO.  It had 
been only fitting that Viet Nam's formal entry into the organization had taken place during his WT/GC/M/107 
Page 26  
 
  chairmanship of the General Council.  The ASEAN Members also extended their collective 
appreciation to all Chairpersons of the re gular bodies for their hard work and excellent 
contribution during the past year, as well as  the outgoing Chair of the Negotiating Group on 
Trade Facilitation for his work.  They welcomed all the incoming Chairs, both of the regular and negotiating bodies.  Finally, they wished to ex tend a warm welcome to the incoming Chair of the 
General Council.  The ASEAN Members were proud that one of its own would assume the 
chairmanship of the General Council at a very im portant juncture in the Doha Round.  They had 
every confidence that the incoming Chair would provide the necessary leadership and wisdom in the year ahead.  They stood ready to work closel y with him and with all the incoming Chairs of 
both the regular and negotiating bodies, and would give them every possible support as all 
collectively endeavored to conclu de the Doha Round negotiations. 
83. The representative of Benin
, on behalf of the African Group , said the Group wished to 
congratulate and sincerely thank the outgoing Chair for the work he had accomplished over the 
past year.  It had not been an easy year, and the African Group wished to recognize his qualities 
as an experienced diplomat.  He had been able to  steer the ship through some heavy waters.  It 
was not easy to have the responsibility of leading the General Council, but the outgoing Chair had 
always consulted the membership.  While the African Group had at times created some small difficulties for the outgoing Chair, the latter knew that the Group re served its friendship for him.  
The African Group also wished to welcome the in coming Chair to this important position in the 
organization, was ready to work with him and wished him all success.  The coming year would 
not be easy, as Members had decided to resume work in a very difficult period.  However, 
counting on and knowing his qualities as a diplomat , as a hard worker and as a very committed 
person, the African Group was sure that with the incoming Chair, Members would succeed in concluding the negotiations.  The Group wished him luck, and he could count on the African 
Group's support.  The Group also welcomed the incoming Chairs to the other WTO bodies, and 
pledged their cooperati on to them as well.  
84. The representative of the Former  Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
, on behalf of the 
CEFTA Members , wished to thank the outgoing General Council Chair and all other outgoing 
Chairs for their tireless efforts and excellen t work, and welcomed the incoming General Council 
Chair as well as the other newly-appointed Chai rs.  He congratulated the incoming Chair for 
assuming duties in one of the most crucial years for the future of the WTO.  The CEFTA Members wished to reiterate their commitment to  the DDA and urged the membership to work for 
a swift conclusion of the negotiations and a suc cessful outcome of the Doha Round.  This 
opportunity could not be missed.  The CEFTA Memb ers could not hide thei r disappointment that 
in the process of appointment  of officers to WTO bodies, the candidate from the CEFTA 
Members had once again not rece ived proper attention, and hoped that in the future, the 
membership would acknowledge the CEFTA Memb ers' constructive c ontribution and would 
consider the interests of  these countries which – together with  the acceding countries of Serbia, 
Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro – consti tuted a large and compact free-trade area in 
southeastern Europe devoted to international trade and the multilateral trading system.  The 
CEFTA Members also wish ed to bid farewell to the Chai r of the Negotiating Group on Trade 
Facilitation and to all those who would be leav ing Geneva in 2007, and wished them luck and 
success in their new assignments. 
85. The representative of Chile
, on behalf of GRULAC , thanked the outgoing Chair for a year 
dedicated to the multilat eral trading system.  It had been a difficult year, but under the latter's 
leadership, Members had been able to deal with many obstacles.  GRULAC particularly thanked him for his efforts and consultations on issues of special interest to GRULAC.  As the incoming Chair had said, one hoped to see the outgoing Ch air continue to be involved in this work, 
although naturally after a well deserved rest.  At the same time, GRULAC wi shed to congratulate  WT/GC/M/107 
 Page 27 
 
 
  the incoming Chair, to wish him luck and to assure him of GRUL AC's full cooperation in his new 
functions at this critical  and important juncture. 
86. The representative of Jamaica , on behalf of the ACP Group , joined other Members in 
expressing deep appreciation to the outgoing Ch air for the manner in which he had guided the 
work of the General Council over the past year.  It had not been the easiest of times, but one had 
constantly been impressed by the wise, calm and unruffled manner in which he had guided the 
work.  The ACP Group wished him all the best .  The Group also wished to extend warm 
congratulations to the incoming Chai r, was confident the latter would successful ly pilot the work 
of the General Council during this  important period, a nd pledged its fullest cooperation.  The 
Group also wished to thank all th e outgoing Chairs for their hard work and contributions to the 
work of the WTO.  It also congratulated all th e incoming Chairs and looked forward to working 
closely with them, and expressed its best wishes and thanks to the outgoing Chair of the Negotiating Group on Trade Facilitation. 
87. The representative of Viet Nam
 said his country joined in the statement by the Philippines 
for the ASEAN Members and congratulated the in coming General Council Chair as well as the 
other incoming Chairs.  His Government wished  to thank Members, the outgoing Chair, the 
Director-General and the Secret ariat for their support throughout  the whole process leading to 
Viet Nam's accession as the 150th Member of the organization on 11 January 2007.  His 
delegation thanked all Members fo r their welcome and wished to reconfirm that Viet Nam was 
determined to make every effort to implement the commitments under its terms and conditions of accession with respect to agriculture and non-agricultural and service market-access 
liberalization, as well as reform ing or incorporating ne w economic constituencies in line with the 
multilateral requirements of the WTO agreements.  In this process, Viet Nam would continue to seek the necessary assistance from Members fo r a smooth transitional period and the promotion 
of its economic development.  In addition, as a new participant at this crucial stage of the Doha Round, Viet Nam would try to accel erate its learning proc ess and to cooperate with all Members, 
particularly the developing countries, in numerous  settings in order to contribute a small part to 
the promising future success of this Developm ent Round.  He wished the incoming Chair, the 
Members, and the Director-General and his staff a very successful working year.   
88. The representative of the United States
 expressed his delegation's gratitude and great 
respect to the outgoing Chair for the outstanding job he had done during the past year as General 
Council Chair.  Members had been fortunate in re cent years to have had a number of stars as 
Chairs of the General Council, and the outgoing Ch air had certainly continued that tradition of 
stellar performance and achievement.  Members were all much better off as a result of his leadership the past year.  He had been consistently even-handed, pragmatic, inclusive, creative in problem solving and also hilariously funny.  The US delegation thanked the outgoing Chair very much for his contribution.  In particular, his de legation wished to thank the outgoing Chair for the 
great respect he had shown each and every representative at a personal level, which was so 
important in setting the tone for civility and person al respect all had to have for one another, even 
when disagreeing on the substance.  However, best of all was the fact that the outgoing Chair was 
going to be staying in Geneva, rejoining th e ranks of the WTO Ambassadors, and Members 
would have his wisdom, his humour and, most importantly, his friendship as they continued in 
this very important year.  His delegation also welcomed the incoming Chair, in whom Members' 
confidence was certainly complete, given the experience they had had with him, first as Chair of 
the Negotiating Group on Trade Faci litation and then as Chair of the DSB.  The United States 
was confident that he would provide Members wi th the leadership that was needed in 2007 in 
order to complete the Doha Round successfully befo re he handed the gavel over to the next Chair. 
89. The representative of the European Communities
 said that while he could not speak from 
personal experience, having recently  taken up his duties in Geneva, all that he had heard from his WT/GC/M/107 
Page 28  
 
  colleagues was congratula tions to the outgoing Chair for his excellent performance and his 
fairness and efficiency as Chairman.  He wished, in particular, to mention the excellent work the outgoing Chair had done in the context of the good offices efforts under the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Norway.  On behalf of all the EU member States, he wished the outgoing Chair all the best in his future work.  Personally, he regretted very much that the outgoing Chair was leaving 
this post, because upon arriving in Geneva he had been happy to meet someone he had known 
from earlier days.  However, he hoped they would st ay in contact.  He al so wished to say good 
luck to the incoming Chair.  The Community knew that he would have a very difficult task ahead, and wished him all the best.  He also wished to  take the opportunity to thank all the outgoing 
Chairs for their contributions over the past year, and in particular the Chairman of the 
Negotiating Group on Trade Facilita tion for his excellent chairman ship of that Group during the 
past year, and to wish him all the best in future.  Members were deeply indebted to the latter. 
90. The representative of Colombia
 said there was no doubt that the next few days would 
seem strange to the outgoing Chair, who would be less busy now that many of his concerns and 
activities had been transferred to the incoming Chair.  He had been a very dedicated Chairman, 
who had convened the Chairs of other WTO bodies  to joint consultation meetings, enabling them 
to discuss and gain greater fa miliarity with the procedures of the various Committees and 
Councils.  He had dedicated many hours, lunche ons and dinners to seeking a solution to the 
banana issue, and in fact an agreement had been achieved between the European Communities 
and four of the most important banana suppliers, which was the basis for the final settlement of this issue.  During the past year the outgoing Chair had won an election among various women 
working on WTO matters, and she wished to supplement the title that had been conferred on him 
with another – that of WTO Knight of Multilateralism. 
91. The representative of Korea
 said there had been many compliments and words of 
appreciation expressed for all the hard work th e outgoing Chair had done as the General Council 
Chairman, to which his delegation wished to add a few of its own.  The previous year would be 
remembered as one of the most challenging in th e history of the WTO.  However, Members had 
been fortunate to have had the outgoing Chair's st eady hand at the helm of  the General Council.  
Korea had particularly appreciat ed the outgoing Chair's quiet leadership combined with his 
exceptional dedication, his deep affection for the WTO and his professional expertise.  The 
outgoing Chair had been the friend of all Members.  Throughout the period of suspension of the Doha Round and the recent full resumption of the negotiations, his able leadership had played an 
important role in bringing Member s back to the negotiating table.  The outgoing Ch air deserved full 
credit for helping guide the Members in this acco mplishment.  As all agreed, the DDA negotiations 
faced a critical moment in the weeks and months to come, as did the organization.  Members would 
build on the outgoing Chair's le gacy by dealing squarely with  the challenges the WTO faced.  
Korea wished to welcome the incoming Chair of th e General Council, and believed that with his 
Asian wisdom, vast experience and competence, he  would guide Members as effectively as had the 
outgoing Chair 
92. The General Council took note
 of the statements.  WT/GC/M/107 
 Page 29 
 
 
  ANNEX 
 
Statements by delegations at the informal meeting of  
the Trade Negotiations Committee on 31 January 2007  
 
1. Philippines on behalf of the ASEAN Members  
 We thank the Director General for his announ cement on the much-anticipated full resumption 
of negotiations.  At the ASEAN Summit earlier in Fe bruary in Cebu, the Philippines, the leaders had 
called for the resumption of the Doha Round a nd had expressed ASEAN's readiness to contribute 
constructively and flexibly to the successful conclusi on of negotiations.  In th eir statement, they had 
also encouraged the Director General to further engage all Members in pushing the process forward, 
and would thus be delighted with  the good news at the present meeting.  The ASEAN Members were 
equally pleased to learn that serious efforts were be ing made by all major players to move the process 
forward, including the announced possible renewal of  the United States' Trade Promotion Authority.  
Time was short, and the work ahead was immense.  Therefore, Members had to collectively ensure 
that they spent their time well and remained fo cused on the bigger, overall picture of what was 
achievable in the Round.  At the same time, they wished to emphasize the importance of transparency 
and inclusiveness in the negotiations.  These would be key as well.  
2. Indonesia on behalf of the G-33  
Let me start by saying with a positive note and hope that this new year 2007 would 
eventually bring us all to a meaningful and more balanced negotiations and conclusion of the Doha 
Development Round.  I am taking the floor on behalf of the G33, to thank you Director-General, Chairman of the TNC, for your views, and to sh are with all Members on some of our reflections.  
We welcome your initiative to rest art the multilateral process in fu ll-scale activity, in different 
negotiating groups, in Geneva.  This is in our view a timely decision, as any later may jeopardize 
the fate of this Round.  We would also like to share with you that the G33 Ministers present in 
Davos met on 26 January 2007.  They emphasize d the need to secure ear ly convergence on the 
critical development instruments without subvertin g the development goals and aspirations of the 
vast bulk of small, poor and vulnerable producers of developing countries.  Ministers also reiterated that the Group's comprehensive and constructive contributions on modalities on Special Products and Special Safeguard Mechanism ar e fully consistent with, and respect the integrity of the Doha 
and Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration, and the Gene ral Council Decision of 1 August 2004.  Like 
others, we note that there have been some recen t off-screen activities as part of an effort to 
strengthen political will and to bridge the differences among Members, particularly on key issues in agriculture.  Recognizing the pos sible impact that these activities might have on the process of the 
current negotiations, we urge that  any developments be brought in to the multilateral process as soon 
as possible in a transparent, inclusive and bottom -up approach.  The Grou p has repeatedly shown 
their political commitment and r eadiness to further take the necessar y decision to achieve a fair and 
a more balanced outcome in agriculture negotiati on. In this spirit, the Group emphasizes once again 
that all outstanding issues in agriculture must be dealt with in a more balanced, timely, and 
sequential manner in the resumed negotiations.  We also view that having some indication on big numbers from the Majors, will assist in setting the needed conditions for ne gotiations on the details 
of the other issues.  These aspect s are important to create the right  scene for the negotiations and to 
build confidence among developing countries that the negotiations will indeed address their 
development concerns, including Special Products and the Special Safeguard Mechanism to address 
the livelihood concerns of small and vulnerable farm ers worldwide.  In clos ing, the Group reiterates 
that it is important to ensure that the modalit ies for Special Products and the Special Safeguard 
Mechanism are designed to eff ectively address their food security, livelihood security and rural WT/GC/M/107 
Page 30  
 
  development needs as these flexibili ties are of utmost concern to 90 per cent of the developing 
world's farming community. 
3. Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela  
 Thank you, Mr Chairman, for convening this  meeting and giving us your impressions on 
developments in the Doha Round negotiations, especi ally in the wake of the informal meeting of 
Ministers in Davos.  Leaving aside any decision that may be agreed today with regard to the future 
format of these negotiations, my de legation considers it important to make the following points.  First 
of all, the legal basis for these negotiations has al ways been and should continue to be the Doha 
Mandate, the July 2004 Framework and the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration.  It is therefore 
necessary to respect this background and prevent any attempt at dilution, particularly in order to 
guarantee a development-oriented outcome.  If this obj ective is to be achieved, there has to be an 
inclusive and transparent negotiating environment.  Discreet diplomacy has created a grey area in 
which informal meetings pass unnoticed by most of  the Members.  We acknowledge the effort made 
by certain Chairmen of the negotiating groups to  expand the quorum for consultations, but we are 
concerned about a process of "reverse re-engineer ing" which involves a bilateral and/or reduced 
plurilateral approach in which the sensitivities of in vited Members are addressed.  This runs counter 
to multilateralism and we therefore wonder how this approach can be consiste nt with inclusiveness 
and transparency.  We are concerned at the reve rsal of the relationship between domestic political 
processes and the negotiations.  It is no longer a que stion of the domestic social sectors of Members 
shaping the negotiating process here in Geneva.  We are now being asked to have Members get 
involved and seek to shape the internal decision ma king process in certain key countries.  Finally, we 
have to be careful, since allowing the internal po licy agenda of a Member to steer the negotiations 
may prove dangerous for the outcome of the Round.  
__________