WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  RESTRICTED 
WT/GC/M/135 
27 March 2012 
 (12-1635) 
General Council 
14 and 24 February 2012  
 
 
 
MINUTES OF MEETING 
 
Held in the Centre William Rappard 
on 14 and 24 February 2012 
 
Chairmen:  Mr Yonov Frederick Agah (Nigeria) 
and Mrs Elin Johansen (Norway) 
 
 
At the outset of the meeting, the Chairman bade farewell to the Director of the Council & 
TNC Division, Mr Evan Rogerson, thanking him for his conscientious and dedicated service to the 
General Council and its Chairs since 2002, and for the crucial role he had played in WTO Ministerial 
Conferences during that time.  He wished him the best in his future role as Director of the Agriculture 
Division.  In the course of the meeting, the incoming Chair and many delegations shared the Chairman's sentiments. 
 
 Subjects discussed:
1 Page 
1.  Report by the Chairman of the Trade Negotiations Committee .......................................... 2  
2.  Work Programme on Small Economies – Report by the Chairman of the 
Dedicated Session of the Committ ee on Trade and Development ...................................... 17  
3.  Improving the guidelines for granting  observer status to Intergovernmental 
Organizations in the WTO – Communication from the Arab Group  – Statement by the Chairman ............................................................................................................... ...... 19 
4.  Waivers under Article IX of  the WTO Agreement .............................................................. 20  
(a)  Cuba – Article XV:6 – Extension of waiver – Draft decision .................................................. 20  
(b)  European Union – Additional autonomous tr ade preferences granted by the European 
Union to Pakistan – Draft decision ........................................................................................... 20 
5.  Appointment of Officer s to WTO bodies .............................................................................. 20  
6.  Improvements in the documentation, scheduling and management of meetings – 
Statement by the Director-General ....................................................................................... 21  
7.  Administrative Measures for Members in arrears – Statement by the Chairman ........... 22  
8.  Election of Chairperson ....................................................................................................... ... 23 
5.
2  Appointment of officers to WTO bodies (continued) .......................................................... 27  
ANNEX I – Press Release by the Cairns Group at the World Economic Forum in Davos, 
Switzerland on 25-29 January 2012 ............................................................................................. ...... 30 
 
 
                                                      
1 The Proposed Agenda was circulated in document WT/GC/W/653. 
2 The General Council re-convened on 24 February 2012 to continue its consideration of item 5. WT/GC/M/135 
Page 2  
 
  1. Report by the Chairman of the Trade Negotiations Committee 
1. The Chairman invited the Director-General, 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, said3 the starting point of his report would be 
the to-do list which had resulted from the Eighth Ministerial Conference. The follow-up task now 
before Members was to implement decisions and to operationalize elements for political guidance in a 
pragmatic and realistic manner as they sought to find  convergence to move the negotiations forward.  
Before turning to the specifics of how he e nvisioned Members following up on MC8 outcomes and 
taking their work forward, he wished to provide them with a sense of the messages he had heard 
during his activities as TNC Chair since the beginni ng of 2012.  As all knew, the Swiss Federal 
Counsellor responsible for trade had hosted the trad itional informal Minister ial meeting in Davos at 
the end of January.  From the discussions among Ministers present and from his meetings with 
individual Ministers and business representatives, a number of important messages had emerged that 
were in line with what had been heard at MC8.  Fi rst, there was a collective sense to use 2012 to move 
in small steps on issues where consensus existed and to keep expectations manageable – i.e., a strong 
sense of pragmatism, avoiding dogmatism.  Second, a shared sense against prescriptiveness.  The 
collective view was that Members should be realistic and not set unattainable targets or packages that 
would lead to hostage-taking.  Third, there seemed  to be emerging consensus that certain issues such 
as those pertaining to LDCs and Trade Facilitation c ould be part of deliverables relatively soon.  
Fourth, during his meeting with business representa tives, he had heard clear concerns that the 
proliferation of bilateral and regional trade a rrangements risked scattering the global multilateral 
playing field. Attention should be paid to fost ering convergence among both, instead of potential for 
divergence, in particular on their regulatory conten t.  He had also attended the recent African Union 
summit in Addis Ababa and had held a number of bilateral meetings with Ministers and business 
groups. These meetings had confirmed the sense that both governments and business remained 
committed to advancing the DDA negotiations in a pragmatic manner. 
3. In Geneva, he had continued his coordination m eetings with Chairs of negotiating bodies, and 
the previous week, together with the General Council Chairman, had met with the Chairs of 
subsidiary bodies.  The purpose of these meetings ha d been to provide a first opportunity for Chairs to 
begin reviewing the work that would be necessary fo llowing MC8.  He had also used the occasion to 
highlight progress on savings and more efficient r esource use in servicing and scheduling of meetings, 
following a decision by the General Council in N ovember 2011.  He would update Members on this 
under "Other Business" at the present meeting.4  Turning to work in Geneva, he was aware that some 
delegations had already started informal contacts among themselves aimed at trying to advance areas 
of importance to them.  This was encouraging, a nd he hoped it would provide useful input to the 
negotiating groups.  Three negotiating groups had met so far.  The Negotiating Group on Trade 
Facilitation had had a good start.  Members had agreed  on a detailed programme for the first half of 
the year, with a series of facilitator sessions as a comp lement to regular work in the Group.  The work 
in the DSU negotiations had also resumed as pla nned, with consultations held in the week of 
30 January on flexibility and Member control, stri ctly confidential information, panel composition 
and third-party rights.  The discussions had been cons tructive, with, in partic ular, substantial progress 
on draft language on participation of  third parties in consultations.  The next set of meetings was 
expected to take place in early March at dates to be confirmed soon.  The Negotiating Group on 
Market Access had met on 24 January to discuss the organization of future work, which the respective 
Chairman intended to pursue in bilateral consu ltations.  The Negotiating Group on Rules was also 
scheduled to meet at the end of the month, w ith the purpose of formally appointing Mr McCook 
                                                      
3 The Director-General's statement was su bsequently circulated as JOB/GC/17. 
4 See Item 6 of the present records.  WT/GC/M/135 
 Page 3 
 
 
  (Jamaica) as Chair.  The Chair-elect had also deci ded to re-activate the Technical Group, which would 
be meeting immediately following the latter's c onfirmation as Chair at the end of February. 
4. He wished to offer his own views about how he saw Members moving the negotiations 
forward.  The current political environment dictated that the most realistic and practical way forward 
was to move in small steps, gradually moving forw ard the parts of the Doha Round that were mature, 
and re-thinking those where greater differences rema ined.  He believed th at non-prescriptiveness was 
the right thing to do in the present cool temperature.   Of course, Members could raise the temperature 
degree by degree as they progressed, but for now, one should begin at a low temperature, which was where they were.  In practical terms, he had encour aged all Chairs to informally consult at the present 
stage to determine what each of their groups could do , step by step, in an informal manner.  This of 
course, would be with the exception of Trade F acilitation and Dispute Settlement, where Members 
had agreed on detailed work plans that they were already implementing.  He had also encouraged all 
Chairs to have a programme of consultations and th emes, in order to ensure that their consultations 
did not end up flat.  He would also strongly caution against any dogmatic debates over concepts or principles, which would only risk poisoning the cau tiously optimistic atmosphere currently prevailing, 
and as a consequence, Members' di scussions, and would not lead anywhere.  In summary, calm, cool 
and pragmatic were the ways to move the pieces forward at the present moment.  These were the ways he saw to deliver on the to-do list adopted at MC 8.  The year 2012 could not and should not be a 
wasted year.  As all knew, the world economic ou tlook remained rather gr im, and domestic crisis-
related issues were absorbing leaders' political energy, with not much left for international 
cooperation.  In these circumstances, one should not  expect any major breakthrough any time soon, 
whether on trade, climate change or macroeconom ic coordination.  However, it was Members' 
responsibility to avoid further rocking the boat and to ensure that existing multilateral systems were 
not damaged, and the best way to do that was to keep improving them, albeit marginally, during this 
difficult period.  All had a collective responsibility to maintain and sustain the multilateral trading 
system for the future. 
5. Speaking as the Director-General, he recalled that at MC8 he had indicated his intention to 
convene a "Panel of Multi-Stakeholders of the WTO" to look at the real drivers of present and future 
world trade, obstacles to trade and trade patterns,  and at how to keep transforming trade into 
development, growth, jobs and pove rty-alleviation.  He saw these as the terms of reference for the 
panel, convened under his respons ibility and comprising business leaders, trade politicians, civil 
society and academics with deep knowledge of the multilateral trading system.  He saw the output of 
the panel as a pragmatic contribution to offer Member s on what the driving forces of trade were in the 
years to come.  He would keep Members info rmed about developments on this front.   
6. Delegations thanked the Director-General for his report. 
7. The representative of Pakistan said this was th e first General Council meeting after MC8 and 
the mini-Ministerial at Davos.  Against this b ackdrop, the Director-General's report defined the 
contours of Members' engagements in 2012.  His delegation agreed that some movement in the 
multilateral setting would be important to keep a fo cus on development issues, including those of the 
LDCs.  This was also the last meeting to be chai red by the current Chairm an.  The consensus on the 
statement by the MC8 Chair had been reaffirmed by  Ministers in Davos, and provided the basis of 
Members' work in the WTO until the next Minist erial.  Pakistan acknowledged that these were 
difficult times for the world economy.  The questio n was when was the right time to push forward, 
and whether Members should wait for the economic probl ems to be resolved and for better times.  He 
asked if Members believed that  the problems in the global econom y could be addressed without 
multilateral engagement.  Members needed to refl ect on these questions.  Inaction would damage 
everyone.  There was a need for collective efforts to  refrain from protectionism and, at least, to think 
and talk about the way forward and to deliver, al beit in small steps.  Bottom-up, inclusiveness and 
transparency were the cardinal principles of this endeavour.  Members might also go to the grass roots WT/GC/M/135 
Page 4  
 
  and consult the business community from all areas in orde r to get clarity as to what they wanted.  This 
might be a new approach to identify priority i ssues, including market-access areas.  If Members 
agreed, details of this proposal could be worked out under the Chair's and Director-General's guidance 
in a transparent manner.  While there was still sl ow movement in the multilateral negotiations to 
update rules and resolve differences in perceptions among Members, especially on market-access 
issues, vigorous engagement was required in the regular committees of the WTO.  This was an 
important year, since from the beginning of 2013 Members would start preparing for MC9.  The work done during 2012 would surely be the basis for the ne xt Ministerial.  His associated his delegation 
with the statements by Brazil for the G-20 and Indonesia for the G-33. 
8. The representative of Mexico thanked the Dir ector-General for his ideas on how to move the 
negotiations forward in the light of the results of MC8.  He agreed that at the present stage – when 
Ministers had recognized that it was unlikely that all the elements of the Doha Round would be 
concluded simultaneously in the near future, and that  it was necessary to more fully examine different 
negotiating approaches in order to advance in tho se areas where it was possible to reach provisional or 
definitive agreements – the work needed a dose of pragmatism, not dogmatism.  Members should not 
have doctrinarian or esoteric discussions that would only  be a waste of time.  They also needed to be 
objective and not unrealistic, to act sensibly, build up  confidence, and avoid confrontation.  Mexico 
reiterated its willingness to initiate, together with other Members, a dialogue that could allow them, 
albeit step-by-step and with modest initiatives, to gradually move the multilateral trade agenda 
forward.  The discussions had to yield successful out comes in 2012.  One option might be to focus on 
issues that were more likely to be viable, explor ing various approaches and combinations.  While the 
prioritization of issues should be the final outcome ra ther than the starting point of the dialogue, some 
topics might, theoretically, be more viable than others, and it would be best to focus efforts on these, so as to achieve swift progress and results.  From what Mexico had heard from other Members and the Director-General, such topics would include Trad e Facilitation, export competition in agriculture, 
dispute settlement and issues of particular interest to LDCs. 
9.  The representative of Indonesia, on behalf of the G-33, said these countries commended the 
Director-General's leadership and tireless hard work  in advancing the negotia ting agenda, and shared 
his concerns about the impasse in the negotia tions.  Despite intensified work and renewed 
commitment, Members still disagreed on the way forwar d to conclude the Round.  Nevertheless, they 
should not let the current impasse continue for very long.  A long delay to conclude this development 
Round would jeopardize the interests of all Members.   At MC8, Members had committed to continue 
their work to advance the negotiations, and also to look into ways to overcome critical stalemates.  In 
this regard, the G-33 welcomed the broad consensu s on LDC-related issues.  This was a good step to 
build trust and confidence and to move the negotiati ons forward.  The G-33 encouraged the Director-
General to undertake consultations with Members in a transparent and inclusive manner, in order to 
formulate a realistic and pragmatic work plan on the DDA.  This work plan should cover initially 
areas of negotiation of particular interest to  developing and least-developed countries, including 
agriculture issues of priority, build ing on the achievements of the past ten years.  The G-33 was ready 
to engage constructively in the negotiations with  the aim of reaching a balanced and development-
orientated result that respected the pr inciple of the Single Undertaking.   
10. The representative of Australia, on behalf of the Cairns Group, said his delegation agreed 
with the situation as set out by th e Director-General.  Clearly the ne gotiations remained in a difficult 
situation, but he assured the Director-General of Australia’s strong commitment to the Doha 
negotiations and to finding a way forward, based  on the outcomes from MC8.  The Cairns Group had 
met at MC8 and had been meeting since then to unde rscore the importance it atta ched to agriculture as 
the linchpin of the Round.  This message had been re inforced in a press release issued by the Group at 
the time of the informal Ministerial meeting in Da vos – a copy of which his delegation requested be  WT/GC/M/135 
 Page 5 
 
 
  included in the record of the present meeting.5  Key points from this statement were that Members had 
a transformation to undertake in agriculture.  The fa ct that agricultural trade confronted significantly 
higher tariffs and increasingly more non-tariff barri ers compared to industrial goods was unacceptable 
in a world wishing to improve food security.  This was why agricultural trade reform had to be at the 
heart of the DDA discussions.  As such, there wa s a need for fresh thinking on common problems.  
Members needed to develop a realistic pathway for capitalising on the substantial progress already 
made in the negotiations, but more import antly, they needed to get the job done. 
11. On behalf of Australia, he said that as diffi cult as the preparatory process for MC8 had been, 
Members had nevertheless ended up with a set of credible outcomes that recognised the difficulties 
the negotiations were in and, cognizant of this, provided guidance on how Members might go about 
trying to build progress.  It was a good idea to examine where progress might be possible, and with 
this in mind, Australia had already begun thinking about how to do this in a number of areas.  Progress on LDC issues remained an absolute priori ty, and the issue of LDC accessions, with its mid-
year deadline, would be a test of everyone’s commitment to deliver something for LDCs.  Other areas where Australia wished to see ear ly progress included Trade Facilitation and matters in the CTD 
Special Session.  However, Members also needed to  deal with the difficult market-access and rules 
issues that, for Australia, were at the heart of the Round.  In this regard his country welcomed the 
guidance provided by Ministers at MC8 on the need to more fully explore new negotiating approaches.  In addition to agriculture, services wa s an important area for focus.  More broadly, 
Australia remained strongly committed to taking any steps that would support and strengthen the 
institution.  Apart from the negotiations, the wo rk in regular WTO committees was of vital 
importance, and Australia was keen to see that work  reinvigorated and strengthened.  In the current 
challenging global economic times, the need to rema in vigilant against protectionism went without 
saying, as well as looking at how Members' work coul d reinforce the important nexus between trade, 
development, economic gr owth and employment. 
12. The representative of Brazil thanked the Directo r-General for sharing his vision of the way 
forward, expressed in his informative report. Brazil concurred with most of what he had said.  It 
agreed that the "early outcomes" scenario was a viable option.  It also agreed on the need to start with 
small steps. In other words, gradualism should be  Members' guiding rule. Further, no deadlines or 
artificial schedules should be set, as that would be counterproductive.  Additionally, Brazil shared the 
understanding that realism was one of the key wo rds in the negotiations.  Being realistic meant 
Members adjusting their expectations and the way they had worked so far, making an effort to 
envisage what could actually be done, in order to achieve tangible results.  Another principle 
mentioned by the Director-General with which Braz il fully agreed was pragmatism.  In this regard, 
Brazil did not have any red lights across the negotia ting spectrum and was not dogmatic in any area of 
discussion.  That did not mean it would abandon valu es that had guided it throughout the negotiations. 
For example, Brazil would remain firm on multilateralis m.  It strongly believed that by doing so, it 
would be safeguarding the multilateral system from cen trifugal and divisive forces.  Nonetheless, it 
was convinced that in order to move forward, Me mbers needed to be constructive across the board. 
They could not pick and choose the cherries they liked and leave on the tree other cherries, which 
were also ripe but which interested other Members.  All Members had areas of interest, and Brazil was convinced that in most of these areas, it was almost always possible to have some type of 
outcome if Members were realistic about the goals to be achieved, if  they were flexible in their 
ambitions and, finally, if they had engagement from their partners.  Brazil was ready to work on 
issues which seemed to have reached maturity.  So me had referred to Trade Facilitation, which might 
be one of these issues.  However, Brazil wished to emphasize that for it, Trade Facilitation was not a 
self-balancing pillar.  Should it advance on its ow n, Members' contributions would be asymmetric.  
However, Members might make some progress if they  were also constructive in other areas of the 
negotiations.  In this context, he stressed that for Brazil, agriculture was the engine of the Doha 
                                                      
5 See Annex I of the present records. WT/GC/M/135 
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  Round.  He recalled that agriculture had been the r eason the Round had started.  It would not be wise 
or acceptable to leave it by the wayside now, in or der to privilege other areas of the negotiations.  
Brazil saw a clear distinction between hostage-taki ng – to which the Director-General had referred – 
and negotiating.  Hostage-taking was a means to ensu re an impasse.  Negotiating, on the other hand, 
was the search for outcomes and results that were mutually beneficial.  Brazil would not engage in 
hostage-taking, but Brazil would negotiate. 
13. On behalf of the G-20, he said these countries wi shed to reiterate some views on the process 
ahead in the Doha Round negotiations.  The G-20 not ed with concern that the continuation of the 
WTO trade-reform process in agriculture was at an  impasse.  The need fo r reform in agricultural 
trade, in accordance with the Doha mandate, wa s more pressing than ever.  The G-20 remained 
committed to the Single Undertaking and to a trul y transparent and inclusive multilateral negotiating 
process, as stated repeatedly in th e past, including at MC8.  As a core element of its development 
dimension, the G-20 underlined that agriculture wa s the engine of the Doha Round. Therefore, it 
underscored once more that if Members were to re ach provisional or definitive agreements earlier 
than the full conclusion of the Single Undertaking,  agricultural issues had to  be the priority.  In 
addition, the guiding principle for any set of deliverables should be the observance of the 
development dimension of the DDA, with priority to areas of interest to the LDCs. 
14. The representative of Argentina associated his dele gation with the statements by Brazil for the 
G-20 and Australia for the Cairns Group.  The probl ems confronting the multilateral trading system at 
present were essentially the same as those that ha d led to the launching of the Doha Development 
Round in 2001.  He was referring particularly to the need to redress the imbalances that prevented 
developing countries from fully integrating into the multilateral trading system.  At MC8, Ministers 
had recognized that the Round was at an impas se.  Moving forward would depend on Members' 
ability to find a path that fully preserved the object ives and principles agreed in launching the Doha 
Round.  Partial solutions, shortcuts and artificially  defined priorities would only lead Members away 
from their objectives.  The centrality of agriculture and the development dimension had to remain the 
compass for the exploration of any new approach and for the achievement of any early outcome. 
15. The representative of Lesotho, on behalf of th e African Group, said that regarding the work 
ahead, the African Group expected that in 2012 Memb ers would be preoccupied with consulting and 
finding multilaterally-agreed solutions to opera tionalize the outcomes of MC8 and the political 
guidance provided by Ministers.  The overriding outcome of MC8 had been articulated by all Ministers, who had explicitly reaffirmed and r ecommitted themselves to the delivery of the Doha 
mandate, which was development.  Members' primary and collectiv e responsibility in 2012 should be 
to ensure that Ministers' reaffirmation to deliver  on the Doha mandate was realised.  They could 
therefore take the initial step of delivering on LDC issues, such as LDC accession and the LDC 
services waiver, which should be given a meaningful  development effect.  On political guidance, the 
interpretation of this guidance should be rooted in  multilateral consensus.  The African Group wished 
to reiterate the following principles which, as it had st ated in the past, were the core principles that 
should underpin Members' work in 2012:  (i) Th e negotiations should be premised on the existing 
mandates and on the basis of progress achieved so far,  with the Single Undertaking being central, as 
per the MC8 political guidance.  (ii) The negotiations ha d to result in a fair and balanced outcome that 
prioritized development as the main deliverable of the DDA.  (iii) Any new approach canvassed by 
Members to unlock the current impasse had to be mu ltilaterally agreed and respect the basic principle 
of most-favoured nation.  The organization had to avoid at all costs any exclusive approaches that 
would further segregate African countries and prevent them from participating and being integrated in 
the multilateral trading system.  Instead, Members had to make deliberate efforts to, first and 
foremost, deliver on the development issues of inte rest to developing countries, especially those in 
Africa.  (iv) Any provisional agreement that might  be harvested by Members had to prioritize the 
development component of the Doha Round.  (v) In  order to achieve a balanced early harvest, the 
negotiations had to incorporate adequate secto r-specific financial and technical assistance and  WT/GC/M/135 
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  sustainable capacity building as an integral part  of S&D treatment.  Such assistance and capacity 
building should also be integral to future Aid-for-T rade plans.  (vi) The negotiations should be based 
on the principle of a bottom-up approach and should be Member-driven, transparent and inclusive.  
There should not be any surprises.  The African  Group strongly believed that taking the above 
principles on board in all Members' deliberations w ould ensure that the outcome of the negotiations 
was development-centred. 
16. The representative of Bangladesh, on behalf of the LDCs, said the Director-General's clear 
analysis of the situation provided useful food for thought.  The LDCs saw his point about the need for 
further reflection on how to proceed, before return ing to the negotiating table.  However, Members 
had to remain mindful of the dark clouds gathering in the global economic landscape.  The overriding 
message heard at MC8 was that no one wanted Doha to fail.  This had been stated in unequivocal 
terms in the consensual part of the MC8 Chair’s stat ement.  It therefore came as a surprise to hear 
from some quarters the call for going back to the drawing board and thinking afresh.  If anything, MC8 had urged Members to remain true to the Doha  mandate and to build on the achievements made 
in the DDA negotiations so far.  In so doing, it ha d recognized the need to take a pragmatic approach, 
moving step by step.  On the whole, MC8 had upheld the primacy of the multilateral process.  For 
obvious reasons, there was a sense of urgency am ong LDCs for Doha to be concluded.  These 
countries had staked more than their fair share on the Doha Round for a meaningful outcome from its 
conclusion.  Their priorities were widely known and well-documented.  There was no point in foot-
dragging on an early harvest on implementing Deci sion 36 of Annex F of the Hong Kong Declaration, 
or an ambitious, expeditious and specific outcome on cotton.  The LDCs thanked Members for their 
broad-based support for an early outcome on LDC priorities. 
17. What the LDCs expected as follow-up to MC8 we re the following.  First, to keep LDCs 
involved in the ongoing reflections on how to proceed .  If Members subscribed to the notion of an 
inclusive and bottom-up approach, there had to be space for LDCs to voice their priorities and 
concerns.  Second, the LDCs recognized the pitfalls  of rushing into negotiations too soon, but they 
could not wait for an indefinite period to resume work.  Prior to MC8, LDCs and others had been 
asking for a post-MC8 work programme.  Since th at had not materialized, Members now had to 
concentrate on how to make incremental yet defin itive progress in the negotiations.  If paragraph 47 
was the answer, so be it.  LDC priorities remained the best recipe for an early harvest.  This would 
contribute to a huge increase in faith in the Doha  Round and would pave the way for reaching early 
agreements on other mature areas of the negotia tions.  Third, while Members waited for the 
negotiating groups to resume their work, they could start working on implementing the MC8 
Decisions and other consensual understandings.  It was a positive sign that work had already started 
on finding ways to further strengthen and op erationalize the 2002 LDC Accession Guidelines, 
coordinated by the Chair of the Sub-Committee on LDCs.  The LDCs looked forward to seeing this 
Decision fully implemented by the deadline stipulated, if not earlier.  Members had to collectively 
explore ways to add substance to the Decision on the LDC services waiver, review and implement 
S&D treatment under WTO Agreements, and fu rther strengthen the Committee on Trade and 
Development.  Fourth, Members had to maintain a nd preserve the integrity of the multilateral process.  
Without delving into polemics, the LDCs urged cau tion in pursuing a selective, plurilateral approach, 
by scuttling the multilateral process merely for the sake of expediency.  Last, Members had to 
continue to support the WTO in its role as a vanguard  against protectionist tendencies in the current 
global economic environment.  The LDCs remained r eady to work with all Members in a constructive 
spirit.  Members had to tread carefully, but hopefull y not so slowly that further damage was done to 
an already fragile global economy. 
18. The representative of Canada said his country shar ed much of what the Director-General had 
said.  The latter had picked three very important word s:  calm, cool and pragmatic.  This needed to be 
Members' approach.  Canada fully agreed that 2012 should not be a wasted year, but to avoid this, 
Members needed to focus on what they could achieve  in a convergent fashion, rather than on what WT/GC/M/135 
Page 8  
 
  they already clearly knew divided them.  Trade issues were not going to disappear in 2012.  In fact, 
trade Ministers continued to have to come to grips with significant trade problems.  In that light, it 
was important for Members to ensure that the WTO remained the primary place where they could 
come to discuss and solve trade problems, in order to achieve a common understanding of the trade dynamics that each Member faced, particularly in the light of increasing protectionist pressures 
around the world. 
19. The representative of Turkey associated his delega tion with the statement by Indonesia for the 
G-33.  Turkey supported the new approach put fo rward by the Director-General, and wished to 
underscore once again that the WTO was not only the Doha Round, and that the WTO's regular work and the negotiations should be clear ly differentiated from each other.  Members should keep trying to 
find ways to make this clear to the internationa l community and wider public.  All now agreed that 
they were not expecting any major breakthroughs in the Round.  Under these circumstances, it was 
important to make progress with incremental and mo dest, but continuous steps.  There was a need to 
focus on the WTO's regular work, which was an essen tial element of the multilateral trading system.  
He again expressed Turkey’s commitment to develo pment issues in the negotiations, which were at 
the core of the Round.  Negotiations focused on th e development dimension were an obligation for 
this organization. Only by honouring this obliga tion could the credibility of the DDA negotiations be 
re-instituted.  The outcome of MC8 constituted th e basis that would guide and help Members in 
setting a road map for future work.  Among other thi ngs, Ministers' instruction regarding LDC issues, 
in particular the facilitation of LDC accession, was a significant issue in terms of development.  
However, he cautioned that in carrying forward wo rk in the DDA in incremental steps, Members 
needed to be well aware of the fact that these areas could not be the “saviours” of the Doha Round. 
20. The representative of Japan said that regardi ng the discussions at Davos, although there had 
been no concrete outcome, the sense of pragmatism a nd realism commonly shared by the participating 
Ministers formed a good basis on which to more fully explore different negotiating approaches.  On that basis, Members should concentrate their effort s in areas where progress could be achieved.  This 
would include LDC accession, Trade Facilitation, no n-tariff barriers in NAMA and the DSU review.  
Second, as stated in the elements for political guidan ce, Members should not forget to look into ways 
to overcome the most critical stalemates in the especially-challenging areas, while trying to avoid a dogmatic debate and basing the discussion on the curren t reality of the world economy.  Third, but the 
most important point – in the current world econom ic environment and given its outlook – was that 
the fight against all forms of protectionism was a mu st for all.  Japan had serious concerns about the 
protectionist measures taken or announced, includi ng and especially the ones by some of the G20 
Members, despite the strong commit ment agreed by these Leaders.  The WTO should further examine 
ways to fulfil its role, such as by strengthening its monitoring mechanism. 
21. The representative of the European Union thanke d the TNC Chair for his pertinent and well-
balanced remarks.  As the latter had said, 2012 coul d not and should not, in the overall context, be a 
wasted year.  The EU had come out of MC8 wi th mixed feelings.  On the one hand, all had 
acknowledged in a sober and realistic manner that they were at a seri ous impasse.  On the other hand, 
they had also reiterated their commitment to th e DDA mandate.  In any event, Members could not 
pretend to have gotten, collectively, clear politi cal guidance on how to move  the DDA forward in the 
next two years.  In this situation, the EU agreed  with those who had noted that there was no political 
will to reach a compromise on a full DDA undertaking.  However, this had to remain Members' final 
aim, as the issues Doha was meant to address would not go away.  In the meantime, Members could 
not afford the continued stalemate of the negotiatin g function of the WTO, as this would eventually 
affect the credibility of the WTO as a bulwark agai nst protectionism.  The most sensible way forward 
was to be pragmatic and, for the near future, to  focus on those areas where progress was feasible.  On 
this, several Ministers at MC8 had given some signa ls, and these signals had been echoed in an even 
more positive tone in Davos.  There was a need to build on these orientations and to set out the steps 
to put them in motion.  As a priority, the WTO s hould deliver on the issues of interest to the most  WT/GC/M/135 
 Page 9 
 
 
  vulnerable – the LDCs.  At MC8 Ministers agreed on streamlining LDC accession and to further 
consider extending the LDC transition period for im plementing the TRIPs Agreement.  The EU had 
already given proof of its determination to activ ely engage and have early deliverables on these and 
possibly other LDC-specific issues.  Moreover, Tr ade Facilitation was definitely the topic Members 
should be looking at.  It was a win-win agreement.  LDCs, many of which we re landlocked, and other 
developing countries stood to gain from agreement in this area, and Members should give it a good 
try. 
22. Of course, the EU was ready to look into other areas of the DDA agenda – S&D treatment-
specific provisions, non-tariff barriers, monitoring m echanism, DSU improvement were the first that 
came to mind, but others could also be considered  – without taboos and with out "religious wars".  
What Members did not need was a tactical, process -focused negotiation on what could be achieved in 
2012.  It was only through pragmatism and determin ation that they could achieve early results.  
Members should negotiate and see what  could be done with an open mi nd and in a constructive spirit, 
taking matters bottom-up.  The EU was also open to exploring ideas to follow up on the MC8 call to explore fresh and credible approaches, including initiatives by Members who would be particularly 
interested in moving forward in specific areas of interest.  However, such initiatives should include 
the widest possible participation and remain open to all.  Members should not lose sight of the benefits all would reap from the multilateral tr ading system and concluding the current Round of 
negotiations.  This was in everyone's interest, a nd it could not be supplanted by any other forms of 
cooperation. 
23. The representative of Cuba said her delegation supported the statements by Indonesia for the 
G-33 and Brazil for the G-20, particularly regarding the urgent need to halt the proliferation of non-
tariff measures imposed by developed countries in the fo rm of technical barriers to trade, sanitary and 
phytosanitary measures, private standards and unila teral measures that were inconsistent with the 
principles and rules of the WTO.  In order to rec oncile this situation with the commitment to closer 
integration of Members in international trade,  it was extremely important that, under the Doha 
Agenda, priority be given in the organization's fu ture work to the consequences of imposing non-tariff 
barriers, which were at present one of the main obstacles to achieving inclusive and sustainable 
development.  Cuba had taken due note of the Dire ctor-General's report on the current status of the 
Doha Round, and viewed with considerable concer n the uncertain future regarding full compliance 
with the objectives which had led to its initiation in 2 001.  Cuba had been quite clear about this.  The 
selfishness and inequality intrinsic to capitalism – esp ecially when neo-liberal concepts prevailed in 
an asymmetrical world – were the true causes of th e impasse that was undermining the negotiations.  
There was no magic formula or innovative approach that could overcome the lack of political will to 
address the just demands of the developing count ries.  The Doha Round would not come to a 
successful conclusion as long as Members continue d to rely on formulas that undermined the 
principles and modes of negotiation that had been pillars  of this organization.  The fact was that it had 
been impossible to conclude this  Round, because various industrialized countries had refused to make 
the minimal commitments required of them by the ne gotiations.  No other factor had played a bigger 
role in producing the deadlo ck in the current process. 
24. Together with Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Ve nezuela, her country had drawn attention in 
document WT/MIN(11)/W/4 to the deplorable scen ario and irregularities that had marked the 
preparatory process for MC8.  Cuba could not be flex ible if such a way of proceeding was repeated in 
the organization's future work.  In this connection,  it wished to emphasize the following:  (i) Cuba 
stressed the importance of keeping development as  the focus of the Doha Round, whose components 
remained fully relevant.  (ii) It was not in fa vour of giving up the only pro-development mandate 
adopted in the history of the multilateral trading system in order to venture into new areas that were not in the interest of the developing countries; all of the WTO's collective efforts, attention and 
intelligence had to be brought to b ear on resolving the pending issues and imbalances.  (iii) The only 
way to bolster the credibility of the organization would be by bringing the Doha Round negotiations WT/GC/M/135 
Page 10  
 
  to a successful conclusion and fulfilling the mandate.  (iv) Cuba did not subscribe to the attempts to 
establish plurilateral alternatives, which would only serve to show the shor tcomings and breakdowns 
of the multilateral system, undermining transparen cy and inclusiveness, and would result in the 
marginalization of the vast majority of developing countries when the WTO's rules were drawn up.  It 
strongly defended multilateralism.  (v) Cuba rejected  the pretentions of those Members who sought to 
encourage the plurilateral approach, essentially in th e services sector, or any other form of negotiation 
that could compromise or weaken the multilateral na ture of the negotiations, and did not see the need 
to address new issues without having completed the Doha Agenda – therefore it continued to support 
the Single Undertaking principle.  Cuba demanded that the industrialized countries show the political 
will necessary to respond to the rightful claims of  the developing countries.  For ten years these 
countries had listened to the same rhetorical comm itment to implementing the Doha Agenda, but now 
the situation was much more serious and threaten ing for developing countries.  Her delegation asked 
how many more years the developing countries woul d have to wait.  If all strove in the same 
direction, it was possible to have a mutually su pportive and democratic WTO.  Cuba had always 
advocated a role for the WTO as a body that contribut ed to achieving the development of all peoples.  
The objective it would continue to work to achieve  was that one day, over and above individual 
economic interests, solidarity and in ternational cooperation in favour of a fairer and more equitable 
multilateral system would prevail. 
25. The representative of China said the Directo r-General’s report objectively summarized the 
state of play in the negotiations and encouraged a frank discussion on future work.  The year 2011 had 
been a tough one for the WTO and its Members.  To everyone’s disappointment, it had not been 
possible to conclude the Doha Round as expected.  However, everyone should keep his morale up, as 
all Ministers at MC8 had demonstrated full commit ment to the successful conclusion of the Round.  
More important, they had further agreed to advan ce negotiations in the areas where progress could be 
achieved.  Once again, the question was how to tran slate that commitment into concrete actions.  
China's observations were as follows.  First, the pr agmatic approach provided by paragraph 47 of the 
Doha Declaration could help maintain momentum and pave the way for the full conclusion of the 
Round when the political energy tank was refilled.  Therefore, Members should start without delay to faithfully implement the seven Decisions from MC8 and collectively think about which topics could 
be candidates for an early harvest.  China commende d the Chairs who had initiated discussions within 
their negotiating groups during the past weeks, and en couraged all other Chairs to do the same.  At a 
certain point, there needed to be a horizontal discussion led by the TNC.  China was open to 
discussing any topic, including those on which it had difficulties, but the proper candidates would be 
those with less political divergence and greater tec hnical maturity.  At the same time, LDC issues 
should enjoy the top priority, because development was at the heart of this Round, as Ministers had reasserted at MC8.  Second, generally speaking, China was supportive of all efforts to push the 
negotiations forward.  Nevertheless, there should be a key qualifier that such efforts had to address the 
development deficit inherited fro m previous Rounds and not undermine Members’ collective resolve 
to bridge their gaps. Therefore, a multilateral a pproach in a transparent and inclusive manner 
remained China's preference.  It noted that various  ideas had been floated recently to move the trade 
agenda forward, including the c oncept of a services plurilateral agreement.  Although the details of 
this concept remained unclear, China, together w ith many other developing countries, had serious 
concerns on its systemic implications for the D oha Round and the multilateral trading system as a 
whole.  Many Ministers at MC8, while discussing the future of Doha, had drawn the analogy of 
climbing mountains.  It was undeniable that Member s were facing some blockages on the way to the 
mountain top.  Fortunately, none had decided to give up. One might reach the peak via many paths, but some paths led to the top of different mountai ns.  Members had to always be mindful to choose 
the right path which would bring them to the mountain top targeted at the outset. 
26. The representative of Hong Kong, China said that although Ministers had accepted with 
regret the fact that the DDA negotiations were at an impasse, they had specifically recognised the 
need to fully explore different negotiating appro aches to advance the negotiations.  His delegation  WT/GC/M/135 
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  agreed with the Director-General’s political assessmen t of the current situation.  To move forward, 
Members should be calm and pragmatic , and take small steps to give themselves the best chance of a 
more successful year.  To this end, they should not forget that they had a sizable package on the table 
after a decade of painstaking negotiations.  While there were some areas where multilateral 
convergence had proven to be especially challenging, at least for the time being, there were others 
where potential progress might be made and early deliverables achieved.  Realism and pragmatism 
should drive the work in 2012.  Therefore, Member s might wish to allow a gradual process to build 
progress in a bottom-up, inclusive and transparent manner.   It would be in their collective interest not 
to jump to hasty conclusions about the viability of  any creative idea or solution, nor should they add 
too many preconditions to restrain the depth or wi dth of discussions.  Of course, Members had their 
own offensive or defensive interests in respec tive negotiating areas.  Some Members might favour 
concentrating now on relatively less difficult issu es such as Trade Facilitation.  Some might be 
interested in exploring new ways to approach impo rtant pillars of the negotiations, or investigating 
areas such as the ITA.  Whatever was decided, Ministers had affirmed that Members had to respect 
fully the development component of the DDA mandate , and within this Hong Kong, China hoped they 
could make substantive progress on LDC issues.   Hi s delegation was open to an y kind of exploration, 
based on mutual trust and goodwill, in order to genera te the momentum needed to make real progress.  
If Members got stuck or procrastinated, the downside was more than the challenges in relation to the 
credibility of the organization.  At MC8 many Ministers had recognised the risks of increasing protectionism.  The WTO had to work, and had to  be seen as working, hard to address any such 
concerns, through Members' con tinuous engagement in the DDA negotiations and in the other 
important areas of work of the organization.  His delegation would actively play its part in these 
endeavours throughout the year. 
27. The representative of Korea said it was disappoint ing and regrettable to realize once again 
that the DDA negotiations had come to a deadlock d espite ten years of hard work.  As the Director-
General had aptly pointed out in Davos and had indicated again at the present meeting, this was 
mainly because political energy was in short supply, just as it was in the area of climate change and 
other challenging global issues.  This was why Me mbers should ensure that realism and pragmatism 
prevailed as they moved forward.  Unfortunately, th ere was still little clarity on how to proceed with 
the DDA negotiations.  Nevertheless, one thing was clear  – Members could simply not afford to sit on 
their hands in Geneva and do nothing about the Do ha Round.  Without a doubt, the WTO needed a 
negotiation function to advance the common objective of trade liberalization, because otherwise, its 
rules would ultimately become obsolete.  As all agreed, that would make the organization less 
relevant, which was the last thing Members wished to do.  They should make their best efforts to keep 
the ball rolling, particularly when the temptation to  resort to protectionist measures was increasing, 
with unacceptably high levels of unemployment gr ipping many countries, and as the global economy 
was still struggling with a recession.  The Director-G eneral had made this point absolutely clear.  
Bearing this in mind, Korea endorsed the way forwar d that the Director-Gener al had laid out, as it was 
basically in line with the guidance and direction provided by the G20 and APEC Leaders, as well as 
Ministers at MC8 and again in Davos .  It was important to explore fr esh, credible and pragmatic ways 
of operationalizing paragraph 47 of the Doha Declaration with a renewed sense of realism.  Since 
under the current circumstances, even baby step s could make a difference toward unlocking the 
stalled negotiations, it would be crucial for ea ch negotiating group to continue to have frank 
discussions on what it could possibly do in 2012 in a bottom-up, inclusive and transparent manner.  
Such discussions might shed light both on the areas where progress could be achieved and the ways in 
which Members could make this happen.  Thus, Ko rea was encouraged to learn that the Negotiating 
Group on Trade Facilitation had already come up with  a concrete work plan, while other negotiating 
groups would follow suit.  In a nutshell, Members should not give up on the Doha Round.  The year 
2012 could not and should not be wasted.  Provided Members could regain the same type of collective 
momentum they had had when they had successfully  finalized the accession package of the Russian 
Federation and the revision of the GPA, they might  perhaps be able to achieve much more than 
expected now.  Korea would continue to work clo sely and constructively with other Members with a WT/GC/M/135 
Page 12  
 
  view to further strengthening the multilateral tradi ng system.  His delegation aligned itself with the 
statement by Indonesia for the G-33.  
28. The representative of Thailand said it was a welcoming sign that Members remained 
committed to achieving the Doha mandate and were  willing to be pragmatic in advancing the 
negotiations by exploring alternative approaches.   With the global economic outlook remaining 
uncertain, all should be deliberating seriously on wh at lessons could be drawn that would have a 
direct bearing on work in the WTO in 2012.  One thing was clear – the governments of Members had 
to be more responsive and vigilant in tackling r eal-world problems for their trading communities and 
improving the quality of lives for their people.  Th e latter expected solutions, and it was governments' 
responsibility to do their utmost to deliver on tho se expectations.  Members had to intensify their 
efforts to make progress in areas where agreement w as possible.  Thailand reiterated its support for 
those outcomes that would truly help the LDCs better integrate into the global trading system, 
particularly the one on LDC accessions.  Thailand woul d continue to play a constructive role and was 
open-minded on the approaches and issues that would prove, once again, that this organization did 
deliver.  
29. The representative of Ecuador said his delegation wi shed to reiterate the main elements it had 
put forward over the past months, given the situa tion in which the organization found itself, and given 
the context of the DDA negotiations.  These elements  were of vital importance to Ecuador.  Ecuador 
had on several occasions said that the multilateral trad ing system was strictly instrumental in nature, 
and that tariff cuts, the elimination of other barriers to trade, and the elimination of discriminatory treatment in international trade relations were not ends in themselves, but were intended to contribute 
to meeting general objectives, such as the developm ent needs of the majority of Members.  The 
development dimension was at th e heart of the Doha Round and ha d a continuing relevance which 
should at least be used as a tool to yield concrete results for all developing countries.  Ecuador also 
considered that the development dimension had to en sure that the results of the Round did not stifle 
the possibilities of implementation of the development strategies put in place by developing countries.  
Rather, these results should help preserve th eir policy space in order to promote more active 
participation by developing countries in internationa l trade.  Furthermore, paragraph 47 of the Doha 
Declaration foresaw the possibility of applying agre ements at an earlier stage of the negotiations, 
which had come to be known as "early harvest".  This  was an alternative that could be applied only if 
the general balance of the negotiations was taken in to account.  Therefore, an early harvest should be 
used exceptionally to address cases of major concern,  such as, for instance, implementation concerns 
or those regarding operational and effective S&D treat ment.  Furthermore, an early harvest could not 
in any case replace the principle of the Single Unde rtaking which governed the results of the Doha 
Round and which ensured the general balance in the final results of the negotiations. 
30. The considerations Ecuador had expressed were  a priority for it, because it was a small 
economy with broad and significant commitments in ma rket-access areas, with marginal participation 
in international trade flows, was dependent on a very  limited basket of exports, and had no capacity to 
apply a monetary policy.  Another consideration Ecuador, like other countries, had referred to on 
several occasions was the need to take into account th e deep and persistent uncertainty that for several 
years had marked the international economy.  In past years, economic factors with a strong destabilizing effect and with serious consequences in the economic, commercial and financial areas 
had necessitated state intervention and internatio nal cooperation.  In developing countries, the 
possibility of responding to external economic shoc ks had been very limited, especially for those 
which up until now had had to face up to the crisis mo re directly.  This was why Ecuador had raised 
the need to consider risk elements when defining the framework on commitments that, particularly in 
the area of market access, had to be taken on by developing countries, especially the smaller ones.  Finally, Ecuador had insisted that the multilateral negotiations be open to the participation of all 
Members and considered that closed meetings of  negotiating groups to which only certain Members 
were invited were inappropriate.  His country had continually said that multilateralism was not  WT/GC/M/135 
 Page 13 
 
 
  compatible with the intangibility of the proposals and the prevailing criterion of taking decisions by 
less than the full membership.  It had repeated th at solutions to multilatera l problems could only be 
found multilaterally through the full pa rticipation of all Members.  Hi s delegation fully supported the 
statement by Cuba on the Elements for Political Guidance that had been circulated in document 
WT/MIN(11)/W/2 and reiterated its position, stated  at MC8, that this document was not legally 
binding.  Ecuador also supported th e statement by Brazil for the G-20. 
31. The representative of Chile said that as this w as the first meeting of the Council since the 
Ministerial Conference, he wished to emphasi ze that MC8 had been conducted without any 
unnecessary disruptions, dissensions or friction.  On th is occasion, in recognition of the increase in the 
number of protectionist measures and together w ith a group of other countries, Chile had had the 
honour to submit a statement undertaking to resist th is trend.  In this connection, his delegation 
recalled that the major tool of development in  this house was the promotion of free trade – a 
necessary, albeit insufficient, precondition for the econom ic prosperity of all.  At present, Members 
had to be realistic, put aside the idea of packages and focus on certain issues on which they could 
move ahead as much as possible.  He was referring to Trade Facilitation, the accession of LDCs, non-
tariff barriers and, perhaps, dispute settlement.  Me mbers should not, however, disregard other topics 
which met with consensus.  The present agenda and the Director-General's report incited Members to 
reflect on two issues.  The first was the technical natu re of the WTO.  The goal of this house was to 
generate rules to govern the multilateral trading syst em and monitor compliance with them.  This was 
why Chile called for observance of this principle,  ensuring that technical expertise and competence 
prevailed in all action taken by th is organization, over and above other considerations and issues 
which could be expressed in other fora.  The sec ond was the proliferation of RTAs because of the 
impasse in the multilateral negotiations.  The liberali zation deadlock was at the multilateral level, not 
at the bilateral or plurilateral levels.  His delega tion did not wish to be misunderstood – Chile was in 
favour of RTAs.  It depended on foreign trade a nd had free-trade agreements with 58 WTO partners, 
with several more being negotiated.  Nevertheless,  such agreements did not replace the work being 
done in this house to build a non-discriminatory, ru les-based, predictable and transparent, multilateral 
trading system, which was ultimately more benefi cial for developing countries.  Members should 
reflect together on both of these issues.   
32. The representative of Barbados said her delega tion concurred that the way forward in the 
months ahead would require some serious analysis  if Members were to make progress in 2012 toward 
achieving a more balanced and equitable global tr ading environment.  Where Members went on the 
non-DDA issues was less problematic, although some hard  negotiations were likely to take place in 
these areas as well.  Trade Facilitation, Aid for Trade and LDC accessions were areas where positive 
outcomes were achievable.  On the LDC services wa iver, there were also reasonable prospects for 
progress.  However, the most difficult area would be the DDA itself.  While the talks had broken 
down because the distance that separated the parties was wide, and common ground was not in sight, 
there were still possibilities of trade-offs.  Multila teralism therefore offered greater prospects of 
achieving a package or packages, as a range of optio ns was still possible.  Therefore, while Members 
had to be pragmatic, they also ha d to continue to recognize the importance of multilateralism.  It also 
helped to ensure balance, transp arency and inclusiveness.  It was important that Members examine 
carefully any process that would compartmentalize the negotiations, such that the scope for trade-offs 
was limited to a specific sector.  This would lowe r the scope for trade-offs, but would not take 
pressure off countries in relation to other sectors outsi de the specific category involved.  That pressure 
would remain.  This made a powerful argum ent for retaining a multilateral approach. 
33. Second, the WTO might need to do more to help prepare the thinking of the developed-
country Members to accept that placing emphasis on development in trade negotiations was not only 
in the interests of developing countries but of deve loped countries as well.  Trade required markets.  
The potential for market expansion was in the developing countries, but that demand could not 
become sufficiently effective until these countries' purchasing power in creased – i.e. until they were WT/GC/M/135 
Page 14  
 
  assisted in developing and growing their economies.  Thus, it was in the interest of the richer 
countries to help the poorer countries to grow, as these were their future markets.  Unfortunately, in an environment where unemployment was growing in  many large developed countries, this argument 
fell on deaf ears.  However, international organi zations like the WTO could help negotiators by 
making this point to Members' constituencies.  This  would allow them to see that making concessions, 
for example to LDCs, was really in their own inter est.  Unfortunately, the public needed to understand 
this before politicians felt empowered to take actions that were in their countries’ long-term interests.  
This meant that maintaining the development focu s of the Round was in the interest of all, both 
developed and developing countries.  However, this needed to be accepted at the grass-roots level and 
understood by the public, in order to allow gove rnments in developed countries to act with 
confidence.  It was important in negotiations to be able to estimate the potential impact of decisions.  
One could estimate roughly, but that was often assuming that various factors were constant.  
However, in the real world this was not the case.  One of the reasons for the reluctance to commit to 
concluding the negotiations in some areas might be  uncertainty as to the impact.  Countries conducted 
their own analyses, but outcomes varied widely.  Her delegation was aware that the WTO was 
experiencing financial constraints, but if at all possible, it would be helpful if the WTO could place 
increased emphasis on impact studies, with a view to br inging greater clarity to the likely impact of 
certain negotiated outcomes.  This might add some  momentum to the negotiations.  While current 
times were not conducive to success, they might ne ver be, and Members had to take the necessary 
steps.  Barbados reiterated its commitment to the multilateral process and to the WTO, and would 
assist in any way it could. 
34. The representative of India said that as the trad e negotiations currently stood, his delegation 
largely agreed with the summing up by various de legations at the present meeting and by the 
Director-General.  It agreed that Members could not  have any deadlines or be too prescriptive in their 
approach.  They had to approach matters cautiously , but at the same time, they could not be inactive 
or let things drift.  They had to explore all ar eas of the negotiations, and here the Chairs of the 
negotiating groups would have a very important role to play, because they would have to explore what 
areas in their respective groups were susceptible to progress and where there might be some 
possibility of moving forward.  Members also had an equally important role to play in supplementing 
the Chairs' efforts by discussing in different formats.  It was hoped that this would lead Members to 
more concrete outcomes in the months to come.  While all were saying that Members should not be 
prescriptive, at the same time some had already expr essed their interest in particular areas and their 
intent to push those areas to the full and have outcom es at the earliest.  On this point, India wished to 
strike a note of caution.  The WTO membership repr esented different interests and priorities, and all 
Members had both offensive and defensive interest s.  While India agreed that one should not 
categorically eliminate or be dogmatic about anything , there had to be a sense of balance in whatever 
the membership tried, individually or collectively.   The offensive interests of no one group of 
countries were going to be satisfied in full at present or any future juncture.  It was equally unlikely 
that the defensive interests of any one group would be satisfied in full.  There would be a balance, and 
when Members identified the issues on which they felt collectively they could make progress, they 
had to have the same pragmatism.  Unfortunately, there was no area that was self-balancing.  There 
had to be both an external balance with other ar eas and an internal balance within the specific area 
under negotiation.  This had to be borne in mind  in Members' efforts to make progress.  His 
delegation was striking a word of caution, because Members sometimes got carried away by the 
pressures from their national governments and business communities and tended to lose sight of this 
larger reality, which had to be viewed from di fferent perspectives in the context of the WTO 
membership. 
35. India was willing, as always, to explore all areas of negotiations and would participate in all 
formats to explore ways to seek solutions.  Its commitment to multilateralism was well known, and as 
for the rest of the membership, all were committe d to the multilateral system.  However, the ways 
chosen to move forward should not in any way enda nger the multilateral system  or the WTO's future.   WT/GC/M/135 
 Page 15 
 
 
  In this regard he said frankly that some of  the approaches suggested, while there was as yet 
incomplete information, appeared prima face  to be plurilateral or exclusiv e in nature, and the benefits 
of such initiatives were unlikely to be shared e qually by all Members.  These initiatives, while no 
doubt seen as well-founded by the delegations making them, had their own place in the international 
trading framework in the form of free-trade agreem ents and other bilateral,  plurilateral and regional 
agreements.  India viewed such free-trade agreemen ts as building blocks for the strengthening of the 
multilateral system, which was the ultimate goal of the entire global community.  At the same time, 
such agreements should not in an y way irretrievably damage the mu ltilateral framework.  This was 
India's concern, and his delegation wished to st rike this note of caution and urge all Members, 
whatever approaches they tried in any area, to bear in mind that they had to stand up for 
multilateralism and inclusiveness. 
36. The representative of Peru thanked the Director-G eneral for his untiring efforts in the Doha 
Round negotiations.  Peru agreed that in the current  situation, paralysis and inaction were not the 
solution, and Members had to take up the globa l challenges and seek global solutions, putting the 
emphasis on the multilateral trading system and the WTO.  His delegation associated itself with the 
statements by Indonesia for the G-33, Australia for the Cairns Group and Brazil for the G-20.  Peru 
was also concerned at the risk of an increase in  protectionist measures and their negative impact on 
trade.  It was ready to continue exploring the b est ways in which the organization could respond to 
this problem appropriately.  It agreed that Me mbers should move forward step by step, with 
pragmatism and realism, inclusively and transparen tly.  They could make progress on the basis of a 
balanced programme of work that included not only those issues that were already technically mature, 
but also those that were relevant to the Round's development mandate.  As all delegations had to 
present results to their capitals, he stressed the n eed for a balanced and substantive package in the 
work programme agreed.  Peru hoped that at the present stage of the negotiations, certain issues 
would be taken up – for example, the amendment to  the TRIPS Agreement to bring it into line with 
the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the re quirement on disclosure of origin, prior informed 
consent and benefit-sharing in the patent system.  In April 2011, a large group of countries had put 
forward a proposal on the relationship between  the TRIPS Agreement and the Convention on 
Biological Diversity.  With regard to rules, it was important to consider the creation of new 
disciplines to regulate fisheries subsidies, because of the great risk of exhausting fish stocks.  This 
was not only an environmental issue, but also affected food security.  Unless the international 
community addressed this issue urgently, some saw a s cenario in which the race to catch the last fish 
would not be so far in the future.  He reaffirm ed Peru's commitment to continue supporting the 
multilateral trading system and the Ch airman's efforts in this respect. 
37. The representative of the United States said his delegation was largely in agreement with the 
Director-General's remarks and an alysis.  Members had done something important at MC8 in frankly 
acknowledging the reality of the impasse in the D oha negotiations.  As painful as it was, this 
collective acknowledgement could be liberating – if Members followed through on the unanimous 
direction of their Ministers to “explore different negotiating approaches”.  The test now would not be 
in what Members said, but what they did.  Th e easiest, and emptiest, course was to spout empty 
professions of commitment to Doha and the WTO,  which meant very little.  What was needed was 
concrete demonstrations of creativ ity and a true willingness to engage.  That was what Ministers had 
called for.  One immediate challenge, identified by many, was ongoing work on LDC accessions.  The 
US strongly supported this work and was committed to  achieving a good outcome by the deadline.  In 
this and other areas, Members should start with sm all steps and see what progress they could make.  
There would be less fanfare, but hopefully more  results.  The US joined other Members in 
underscoring the importance of the multilateral system – a system that generations of Americans had 
laboured to build.  Like virtually all other Memb ers, the US would pursu e the interests of its 
stakeholders in all fora where progress could be ma de.  These multiple fora had coexisted for decades, 
and one should not suddenly prete nd to have discovered their existence.  Many of those professing 
their fears for multilateralism were among the busiest when it came to negotiations outside the WTO.  WT/GC/M/135 
Page 16  
 
  It was difficult to square their words with their actio ns.  The US would participate actively in the work 
ahead and hoped to bring fresh thinking to that work. 
38. The representative of Switzerland said the meeting in Davos had made it possible for 
Members to verify that the summing up by the Chair of MC8 had been in line with what Ministers had 
expected.  At present, Members needed to see how they could move the negotiations forward in a 
situation that was complex and difficult.  His de legation saw two methods.  Members could discuss in 
abstract ways and see whether progress might be possible on certain subjects, or they could just start trying to make the progress.  Of course, whenever one tried anything new in the system, all the wise 
men woke up and warned of the possible risk.  Howe ver, he asked where in life there was no risk.  
China had referred to climbing a mountain.  If Member s were at a crossroads, this was not the time to 
call a symposium, but rather to choose which path  to take, and keep on climbing.  His delegation 
hoped that this was what Members understood by a "calm and pragmatic" approach.  Switzerland was 
keenly interested in the possibility of progress in favour of the LDCs.  Chile's statement was very 
appropriate in terms of the WTO's technical expertise.  Members needed to focus on this technical 
expertise in 2012, and delegations n eeded to better understand it.  In  the Negotiating Group on Market 
Access, of which he was the Chairman, it would be  seen whether Members could agree to take a calm 
and pragmatic approach on certain subjects, and he would soon be intensifying consultations in this 
area. 
39. The representative of Singapore said one had heard at the present meeting sufficient caution 
being expressed by delegations about their concerns .  At the same time, there had been many 
expressions of the need for open-mindedness, which after MC8, the Davos Ministerial and from 
remarks at the present meeting, he sensed still prev ailed.  In this regard, Singapore supported the 
Director-General's advice on the way forward, and hi s proposal to convene a panel of eminent persons 
to look at the driving forces of world trade in th e year to come.  It was clear from MC8 that the 
development element was imperative.  All were ai ming for the same destination, but had different 
ideas of how to get there.  The key was to deliver on the decisions taken at MC8, first and foremost on 
LDC accessions, for which there was overwhelming support.  Members owed it to themselves to meet 
the relevant deadline.  Much had been said about new ways to do things, but there should be no new 
ways to do the same things.  Members should not hide  behind old rhetoric in order to block progress.  
Singapore kept an open mind and was prepared to ex plore every initiative.  However, it also operated 
on the principle of upholding multilateralism and protec ting the system.  Many meetings had already 
been convened by a range of Members on various i ssues, and Singapore had been privileged to have 
participated in some of these.  His delegation ag reed fully with India that now was the time for 
Members to supplement the negotiations with open,  candid conversations.  These conversations were 
not negotiations, but rather intended to help  Members understand each other's objectives and 
concerns, and how to reach these objectives.  Whil e larger meetings served a purpose, the difficult 
issues could be solved only in smaller informal conversations.  However, when these conversations 
took place, he appealed to colleagues not to view them with suspicion or to oppose them.  Instead, 
they should be allowed to take place in orde r to see what the outcomes were, without any pre-
conceived notions.  In any case, all these discussions  would need to feed back into the General 
Council, which was the safety net to ensure that Members' collective interests would be met.  The 
diversity of interests within the membership naturally increased the complexity of reaching 
meaningful outcomes.  Nevertheless, there were also  the strong bonds of friendship, which could help 
overcome these challenges.  Members had a harder , not easier, year ahead.  Singapore stood ready to 
work with the Chairman and his su ccessor to meet these challenges. 
40. The representative of Chinese Taipei said his delega tion agreed with the Director-General that 
pragmatism was the key to moving ahead and that Members should not waste 2012.  Multilateralism 
should remain central to future work, and Member s should do everything to guard the multilateral 
system all relied on.  On the other hand, they should keep every avenue and option open to move 
negotiations forward.  Future nego tiations should not give up the work achieved so far.  The guidance  WT/GC/M/135 
 Page 17 
 
 
  given and decisions taken at MC 8 should be operationalized.  His delegation would contribute and 
engage with Members in the future negotiations. 
41. The representative of Colombia said that regardi ng the Director-General's precise and detailed 
report, his delegation wished to make three point s.  First, while Members were asking themselves 
what to do, it should be recalled that Ministers ha d indicated a series of ac tivities as a result of MC8, 
and thus the first step was to implement the decisions from MC8.  Some, such as that concerning LDC 
accessions, set a deadline that had to be met.  In relation to the negotiations , it would not be very 
difficult to identify areas that were technically ma ture and where convergence would be possible.  
Members had to start to work on these without being dogmatic.  In this connection, he noted that 
while Members advocated pragmatism, at the same time  they were starting to mark out clear redlines.  
Last, it should not be forgotten that the WTO was the forum for discussing and resolving global trade 
problems in order to preserve a stable rules-based multilateral system.  This was an ongoing task to which all Members should commit, with or without the Doha Round.  
42. The representative of Tunisia thanked the Directo r-General for his persistent efforts to re-
launch Members' work and to get them to focus their discussions and negotiations on their common 
objectives rather than their differences.  The Di rector-General had invited Members to show 
pragmatism and flexibility.  The first matters to take up and make progress on were to get the Doha 
Round past the current impasse and make developmen t issues the cornerstone of Members' vision and 
action in conformity with the Director-General's to-do list.  Members needed to show the willingness 
and commitment to find a common denominator that would bring them closer in their pursuit of a 
common objective.  The world economy was in a worryi ng state, and there were uncertainties in many 
countries where the younger generation looked to the WTO to develop trade and thus to improve their 
living conditions through the elements stated in the Preamble to the WTO Agreement.  This situation 
should encourage Members to redouble their efforts to work together to determine an inclusive 
approach that would take on board each Member's interests.  The idea of having a group of experts 
examine the present situation could only aid in Members'  efforts to get the Doha Round back on track.   
43. The representative of the Dominican Repub lic, on behalf of the Informal Group of 
Developing Countries, said that the current meeting ha d been very interesting.  Much had been said 
but, most importantly, doors had been opened.  N obody had closed the door on continuing efforts to 
strengthen this multilateral organiza tion, which had brought great bene fits to developing countries.  
The WTO upheld the multilateral trading system, and was an organization in which developing 
countries had been able to make their voices h eard and assert their positions through multilateralism. 
44. On behalf of the Dominican Republic, he said that although the developing countries would 
not, on their own, be capable of driving the organi zation forward, they remained open to contributing 
to any effort to strengthen both the WTO's regular bodies and the ongoing Doha negotiations. 
45. The General Council took note of the Directo r-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 
46. The Chairman said that in line with the frame work and procedures agreed by the General 
Council in 2002, the Work Programme on Small Economies was a standing item on the General 
Council's agenda, and the Committee on Trade and De velopment reported regularly to the Council on 
the progress of work in its Dedicated Sessions on this subject.  He invited Mr Maruping (Lesotho), Chairman of the Dedicated Session of the CTD, to  report on the progress of work in this area. 
47. Mr Maruping (Lesotho), Chairman of the Dedicated Session of the CTD, recalled that his last 
report to the General Council had been just prior to MC8.  At that time he had reported that Members WT/GC/M/135 
Page 18  
 
  had agreed on a re-affirmation of the Small Econom ies Work Programme and on areas of future work.  
He had also reported that Members wished to see their recommendations turned into a Ministerial 
decision at MC8.  He was pleased to report that it was precisely this outcome that had been achieved 
with the Decision on the Work Programme on Sm all Economies taken by Ministers on 17 December 
and subsequently circulated in document WT/L/844.   With this Decision, Ministers instructed the 
CTD to continue its work in Dedicated Sessi on under the overall responsibility of the General 
Council.  The Decision instructed the Work Progra mme to consider in further detail the proposals 
contained in the various submissions that had been  received to date, examine any additional proposals 
Members might wish to submit and, where possibl e and within its mandate, make recommendations 
to the General Council on any of these proposals.  Th e Decision also instructed the General Council to 
direct relevant subsidiary bodies to frame responses to the trade-related issues identified by the CTD, 
with a view to making recommendations for action.  Furthermore, it instructed the Secretariat to 
provide relevant information and factual anal yses for discussion in the CTD Dedicated Session, inter 
alia in the areas identified in item "k" of paragra ph 2 of the Work Programme on Small Economies.  
These concerned: (i) the impact of WTO rules on small economies; (ii) the constraints faced by small 
economies in their institutional and administra tive capacities, as well as in the area of human 
resources; and (iii) the effects of trade liberalizati on on small economies.  Ministers also agreed that 
the Work Programme should identify non-tariff measures and the effects these had on small economies.  It was this latter area of non-tariff me asures that would provide the focus for immediate 
work in 2012.  He looked forw ard to discussing this matter in th e Dedicated Session in the near 
future.   
48. The representative of Barbados, on behalf of  the SVEs, thanked the Chair of the CTD 
Dedicated Session for his report, which accurately cap tured the results of the process carried out in 
that body.  They also thanked Members for their support in re-affirming the Small Economies Work Programme through the recent Ministerial Decision .  They welcomed the decision that the CTD 
continue its work in Dedicated Session.  In addition to consideration of the impact of trade measures 
on SVEs and the constraints they faced, the SVEs appreciated the proposed focus on the impact of 
non-tariff measures.  She reiterated that SVEs vi ewed non-tariff measures as an important area for 
further examination by the WTO.  Such an examin ation was critical, particularly in the case of SVEs 
which had limited export bases, suffered from dis-ec onomies of scale, might be unduly affected, and 
whose exports might be permanently impaired by non-tariff measures.  The SVEs looked forward to 
contributing to the work on non-tariff measures and the effects on SVEs to be conducted by the CTD, 
as they sought to identify  measures that could assist in the fulle r integration of their economies into 
the world trading system.  The SVE proponents had already met in 2012, and were developing a work 
plan for the year ahead.  A main fo cus of the plan was to keep abreast  of developments as they related 
to the specific areas of work in Agriculture, NAM A and Services.  Another key focus would be on 
Trade Facilitation.  The SVEs would continue to m onitor developments in ot her sectors as well, and 
expected their plan to include other areas.  They pledged their continued commitment to achieving the 
goals of the Small Economies Work  Programme and looked forward to  working constructively with 
other Members. 
49. The representative of Cuba said her delegation supported the statement by Barbados for the 
SVEs. 
50. The General Council took note of the report of the Chairman of the Dedicated Session of the 
Committee on Trade and Development and of the statements.   WT/GC/M/135 
 Page 19 
 
 
  3. Improving the guidelines for granting observer status to Intergovernmental 
Organizations in the WTO – Communication from the Arab Group (WT/GC/W/643) – Statement by the Chairman 
51. The Chairman recalled that in October 2011, th e Arab Group had circulated a communication 
entitled "Improving the Guidelines for Granting Observe r Status to Intergovernmental Organizations 
in the WTO".  At the General Council meeting on 30 November 2011, he had informed Members that 
the consultations he had undert aken on this matter had shown agreement on launching a process to 
consider this issue.  At that time he had proposed  that he, as Chairman of the General Council, initiate 
a process of consultations to consider this issue afte r the Ministerial Conference, and that he report to 
the present meeting of the General Council about pr ogress in those consultations and ask his successor 
to continue this process as appropriate.  On this basis, he had undertaken initial consultations on this 
matter, and a productive discussion had taken place.  He  had heard some suggestions about criteria for 
granting observer status to IGOs.  He had also heard that it was important to look at what was already in the Guidelines for granting observer status to IGOs  contained in Annex 3 of  the Rules of Procedure 
(WT/L/161), and see if it was possible to add value to these.  Some delegations had expressed 
reservations about revisiting the Guidelines.  He said that when he had agreed to take on this process, 
his intention had been to provide a forum for Memb ers to see how they might come up with criteria 
that everyone in the system would be comfortable wi th.  He had also been expecting the proponents to 
elaborate on their proposal in an operational manner so as to trigger a response from the rest of the 
membership.  At the current stage, he urged cont inued engagement to address this issue, no matter 
how challenging it might be.  Looking ahead, it woul d be good to focus the process of consultations 
on clear, operational criteria, taking into account the existing Guidelines, without prejudging their 
outcome in any way.  He would brief his successor along these lines. 
52. The representative of Qatar, on behalf of the Arab Group, thanked the Chairman for his 
consultations the previous week to discuss the Arab Group's proposal and for his constructive 
engagement. The Arab Group also appreciated the encouraging views expressed during the 
consultations, which would help resolve the sy stemic issue facing the WTO.  The Group looked 
forward to the consultations to be led by th e incoming Chair of the General Council and would 
communicate its views, in the spirit of constructive engagement, on how this sy stemic issue could be 
resolved.  It requested that this item remain on the Council's agenda until the issue of IGOs seeking 
observer status was resolved in a manner that w ould allow all IGOs requesting such status to 
participate in the WTO's proceedings. 
53. The representative of India said his delegation agreed that the necessary technical criteria 
needed to be formulated that would allow for a tr ansparent, uniform and objective consideration of all 
IGO requests for observer status in the WTO.  Thes e criteria had been laid down in Annex 3 to the 
organization's Rules of Procedure.  However, no requests for observer status had been granted for 
several years, which clearly indi cated the need for reviewing and improving the existing guidelines.  
This issue was not specific to any particular organization, but a larger systemic one.  It was important 
that the WTO maintain an impartial and objective appr oach in all areas of its work.  Therefore, India 
supported the proposal to establish clear, precise and transparent guidelines for examining requests for 
observership in the WTO. 
54. The representative of the United States said he  wished to comment on one aspect of what 
Qatar had said.  The US was concerned about making any matter a standing item on the General 
Council's agenda.  For systemic reasons, his delega tion was not sure this was a good way to address 
any particular issue.  Of course, it had no objecti on to any country raising any issue for consideration 
at the next General Council meeting.  
55. The General Council took note of the Chairman 's statement and of the other statements. WT/GC/M/135 
Page 20  
 
  4. Waivers under Article IX of the WTO Agreement 
56. The Chairman said there were two sub-items under this Agenda item, and noted that the draft 
waiver decisions for the matters listed in sub-items  4(a) and (b) had been taken up for consideration 
by the Council for Trade in Goods at its meeting on 1 February.  For these items, the Chairperson of the Goods Council was required to report to the Gene ral Council.  He therefore invited Mr Seilenthal 
(Estonia), Chairman of the Goods Council, to report on that Council's consideration of these matters 
in a single intervention.  The General Council would then take up separately each of the draft decisions for action. 
57. Mr Seilenthal, Chairman of the Council for Trade in Goods, said that at its meeting on 
1 February, the Goods Council had approved the draf t waiver decisions on (i) the request by Cuba 
regarding the extension of the existing waiver concerning Article XV:6 of GATT 1994, in document 
G/C/W/662; and (ii) the request from the EU fo r a waiver for the application of additional 
autonomous trade preferences granted by the EU to Pakistan, in document G/C/W/640/Rev.2.  The latter request had been under consideration in th e Goods Council for the past 15 months, following a 
mandate from the General Council in May 2011 to c ontinue its consideration.  The Goods Council 
had concluded its work on this requ est at its meeting on 1 February 20 12.  At that meeting the Goods 
Council had also recommended that both of the abov e-mentioned draft waiver decisions be forwarded 
to the General Council for adoption. 
(a) Cuba – Article XV:6 – Extension of wa iver – Draft decision (G/C/W/662)  
58. The Chairman drew attention to the draft d ecision in document G/C/W/662 and proposed that, 
in accordance with the Decision-Making Proce dures under Articles IX and XII of the WTO 
Agreement agreed in November 1995 (WT/L/93), the General Council adopt the draft decision. 
59. The General Council so agreed.6 
(b) European Union – Additional autonomous trade preferences granted by the European Union 
to Pakistan – Draft decision (G/C/W/640/Rev.2) 
60. The Chairman drew attention to the draf t decision in document G/C/W/640/Rev.2 and 
proposed that, in accordance with the Decision-Making Procedures under Articles IX and XII of the 
WTO Agreement agreed in November 1995 (WT/L/93) , the General Council adopt the draft decision. 
61. The General Council so agreed.7 
62. The representative of Pakistan said his delega tion wished to thank all Members for their 
support of the EU's proposal to provide autonomous trade preferences to Pakistan.  The adoption of 
this draft decision on the waiver would reinforce the faith of Pakistan's stakeholders and its 
Government in the multilateral rules-based system.  His delegation also thanked the EU for having 
worked hard to forge con sensus in the WTO by addressing the concerns of all. 
63. The General Council took note of the statement. 
5. Appointment of Officers to WTO bodies 
64. The Chairman said that as Members were aw are, in accordance w ith the Guidelines for 
Appointment of Officers to WTO Bodies approv ed by the General Council in December 2002 
                                                      
6 The Decision was subsequently circulated in document WT/L/850. 
7 The Decision was subsequently circulated in document WT/L/851.  WT/GC/M/135 
 Page 21 
 
 
  (WT/L/510), he and his colleagues – Mrs Johansen (Norway), the Chair of the Dispute Settlement 
Body and Messrs Gero (Canada) and Matus (Chile),  former Chairmen of the General Council – had 
conducted consultations with delega tions 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.  In addition, since Mr Darlington 
Mwape (Zambia), Chairman of the TRIPS Council Speci al Session, had been recalled to capital, this 
appointment had also been included in the consul tations.  He wished to thank Ms Johansen and 
Messrs Gero and Matus for their assistance, which had been very valuable to him.  They had 
consulted delegations both individually and in groups, including th rough group coordinators.  As all 
knew, these consultations had included an informal  open-ended Heads-of-Delegation meeting, which 
had been held the previous day.  Unfortunately , he was not able at the present time to report 
consensus on a slate of names following these consulta tions.  This created a very serious situation, 
and he urged Members to work urgently to find a solution.  In the light of  this situation and the 
discussion at the informal meeting of the General Co uncil the previous day, he proposed the following 
course of action:  (i) in the light of the cons ultations, the General Council would elect its new 
Chairperson, Mrs Elin Johansen (Norway), under It em 6 of the present meeting's Agenda;  (ii) the 
new Chair of the General Council would continue th e consultations on the appointment of officers to 
WTO bodies for 2012, and the General Council would rec onvene at an appropriate time to take up the 
slate of names;8 and (iii) in addition, in light of the suggestions from severa l delegations at the 
informal meeting of the General Council the prev ious day, he proposed that the incoming Chair 
initiate a process of consultations to review th e Guidelines for Appointment of Officers to WTO 
Bodies adopted by the General Council in 2002 (WT/L/510). 
65. The General Council took note of the statement and so agreed. 
6. Improvements in the documentation, scheduling and management of meetings – 
Statement by the Director-General 
66. The Director-General, speaking under "Other Bu siness", said that as Members were aware, 
the WTO's 2012-13 budget, approved by the Genera l Council in November 2011, provided for zero 
nominal growth in 2012.  In December 2011,  the General Council approved a number of 
recommendations by the Committee on Budget, Fina nce and Administration for savings and more 
efficient use of resources.  At the present meeting, he wished to report on implementation of the specific recommendations contained in paragra phs 29-31 of the Budget Committee's report in 
document WT/BFA/128.  These mandated savings in documentation as well as in the scheduling and 
management of meetings.  He w ould update Members on the work the Secretariat had been doing to 
implement these decisions, within its competence, and would seek Members' support and cooperation 
in carrying that work further.  In order to achieve zero nominal growth in the 2012 budget, the organization needed to adapt its habits and processe s – not in a dramatic way, but by taking a fresh 
look at established practices so as to make more effi cient use of scarce resources and in a way that 
made full use of the efficiency gains offered by t echnology.  The Secretariat had been carrying out a 
horizontal review of possible improvements in the ar eas covered by these decisions, and this work had 
already begun to show results.  On documentation, as of 1 January 2012, the internal distribution of 
new documents to Secretariat staff had been di scontinued.  Several measures had already been 
adopted to replace, with on-line documentation, the distribution of hard copies to Members.  Savings 
in translation costs were also being actively pur sued.  Within the limits of the necessary quality 
control, the Secretariat would continue to deve lop its already substantial use of outsourcing and 
computer assistance.  A major contribution could also be made by Members.  To put it bluntly, 
Members needed to be less wordy.  In a num ber of WTO bodies, Members had accepted summary 
records in place of extensive minutes, and he belie ved this practice could be applied more widely, 
with Members' cooperation.  He r ealized that there were WTO bodies for which a full record was seen 
                                                      
8 The General Council re-convened on 24 February 20 12 to continue its consideration of this item (see 
page 27 of the present record). WT/GC/M/135 
Page 22  
 
  as necessary, but even in these c ases he believed that the advent of technology such as podcasting 
offered interesting possibilities for savings while maintaining full records. 
67. Another area where he saw potential for both sav ings and improvements in the WTO's service 
to Members was notifications.  While he recognised  the political sensitivities that had been expressed 
in some committees, there was surely scope for ra tionalising the current syst em.  Moving to better-
designed notification templates and to electronic ra ther than paper-based submissions should enhance 
analytical capacity, generate potential rationaliza tion and eventually create savings.  As Members 
knew, the Secretariat had been and still was wo rking to rationalize and improve notification 
databases, and it would be logical to make corresponding improvements on the output side – 
discontinuing the printing and distribution of not ifications. He urged Members to work with the 
Secretariat to help develop notification processes that  would be not only more cost-effective, but also 
benefit Members' work.  Apart from issues concerni ng documentation, another important element in 
this exercise was to improve the scheduling and management of meetings.  The WTO spent money every year on additional interpretation costs for m eetings that started late, ran over time or were 
cancelled at short notice.  In addition, it incurred costs when meeting rooms had to be booked outside 
the WTO.  One of the recommendations adopted by the General Council in December called on 
Chairs of WTO bodies to work to improve the way meetings were organized and managed, so as to 
reduce losses.  The possibilities for reducing the ov erall number and length of meetings should be 
explored, as well as optimizing the use of existing resources in supporting meetings.  The Secretariat 
was actively reviewing its own procedures to stream line the scheduling of meetings, avoid overlaps, 
and so forth.  However, this was ultimately an issue in the hands of Members, and especially of 
Chairs.  The General Council Chair and he had rece ntly met with the outgoing Chairs of regular WTO 
bodies to seek their cooperation in this effort an d would continue to work closely with their 
successors.  The Secretariat would continue to provide the high quality of support Members were 
entitled to expect.  Members also had to make th eir contribution to the common cause of using scarce 
resources efficiently.  The budget constraints, which he  was afraid were here to stay, were not only a 
challenge, but also an opportunity.  If Members and th e Secretariat worked together to make the most 
of this opportunity, the result could be a WTO that was not only more efficient, but also better adapted to meet the fast-changing needs of the trad ing system.  He would update Members further as 
work progressed on this important effort. 
68. The General Council took note of th e Director-General's statement. 
7. Administrative Measures for Members in  arrears – Statement by the Chairman 
69. The Chairman, speaking under "Other Business", re called that at its meeting in May 2006, the 
General Council had approved a recommendati on from the Committee on Budget, Finance and 
Administration regarding revised Administrative M easures for Members in arrears.  Among these was 
a requirement that, at each meeting of the Gene ral Council, the Chairman of the Committee on 
Budget, Finance and Administration should provide in formation with regard to which Members were 
under Administrative Measures in Categories II through IV.  He wished to begin by inviting the 
Chairman of the Budget Committee, Mr Vaaranm aa (Finland), to provide the Council with this 
information. 
70. Mr Vaaranmaa (Finland), Chairman of  the Committee on Budget, Finance and 
Administration, said that as required by the Deci sion of the General Council, he would list the 
Members under Categories II through IV of the Ad ministrative Measures as at 13 February 2012.  
Before reading the list, he wished to recall that Members had received their assessment letters for the 
2012 contributions to the WTO budget at the end of 2011.  As was the case at the start of every year, some Members became subject to Administrative Measures and some changed categories.  There 
were currently two Members in Category II:  Grenada and the Solomon Islands.  There were four Members in Category III:  the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Dominica, the Former Yugoslav  WT/GC/M/135 
 Page 23 
 
 
  Republic of Macedonia, and Nicaragua.  There were four Members in Category IV:  Chad, Djibouti, 
Guinea-Bissau and Sierra Leone.  He wished to point  out that Chad had presented a payment plan that 
the Budget Committee would review at its next me eting.  The Committee would also review the 
situation on arrears from Members and Observers at its  next meeting and provide a full report to the 
General Council. 
71. The Chairman said that under the revised Admi nistrative Measures, he was also required at 
each Council meeting to request those Members in Ca tegories III and IV of the Measures to inform 
him, before the next meeting of the General Counc il, as to when their payment of arrears might be 
expected.   
72. The General Council took note of the statements. 
8. Election of Chairperson 
73. The Chairman, as the outgoing presiding officer of the General Council, said that as the 
saying went, "everything that has a beginning must have an end".  The present meeting marked the 
end of his year of service to the WTO as the Chai rman of the General Counc il.  He was aware that 
some delegations had expressed concern with the wa y he had handled some issues during his tenure.  
However, he assured all that whatever he had do ne, the overall interest of the organisation had 
remained a topmost priority and very close to his hear t.  He admitted with humility that the past year 
had been very interesting but equa lly challenging.  In spite of the prevailing stalemate in the DDA 
negotiations and the almost habitual significant di fferences within the memb ership on almost every 
issue, Members had still been able to successfully organise MC8 in a very calm, focused and peaceful 
atmosphere.  At MC8, Members had also been able to collectively reaffirm their commitment to the 
successful conclusion of the DDA negotiations, with development issues as a priority, particularly 
those of special interest to LDCs.  Notwithstandi ng the current challenges facing the global economy, 
Members had further been able to renounce any recourse to protectionism, thereby, recommitting 
themselves to the principles of an open, fair and predictable rules-based multilateral trading system.  
Further testimony to the belief, increasing confiden ce and faith in the multilateral trading system was 
that Members had been able, during the year unde r review, to welcome four new Members to the 
organization – Vanuatu, Samoa, the Russian Federa tion and Montenegro.  These and several other 
modest achievements would not have been possible without Members' understanding, support and cooperation.  Therefore, he wished to thank all delegations for undertaking the necessary "heavy 
lifting" that had made these achievements possible.  He also wished to thank his colleagues and fellow 
Ambassadors for the opportunity and support given hi m to serve the organisation at this particular 
time.  It had been an honour and privilege, and he w as truly grateful to all for their friendship.  He 
urged Members to extend the same spirit of supp ort, cooperation and understanding to his successor. 
74. He wished to pay special tribute to the WT O's indefatigable Director-General for his 
unflinching commitment and zeal to advance the inte rests and objectives of the WTO in general, and 
the DDA in particular.  He thanked him and the entire staff of the Secretariat, especially the Council 
& TNC Division, for making their experience, skills and expertise available to him and the Members, 
particularly during the MC8 preparatory process and at MC8.  He also wished to acknowledge the 
special contribution of the interpreters as well as th e conference and security staff, all of whom had 
facilitated the meetings during the past year.  His personal experience over this past year had 
confirmed his sense that Members had the capacity to achieve any desired objective or outcome, but 
only if they wanted it.  That was why he had always said that whatever outcome Members had 
achieved at MC8 was because they had wanted it.  Members had proved him right by not desiring an 
immediate outcome on a slate of names for Chai rs of WTO bodies in 2012.  He commended the 
Chairs of the various negotiating groups for their ha rd work and perseverance.  As an optimist, he 
encouraged all to find solace in the words of A.A. Milne:  "Rivers know this:  there is no hurry.  We 
shall get there."  He considered it a good omen that the General Council was meeting on Valentine's WT/GC/M/135 
Page 24  
 
  Day.  In the words of William Wharton, "What is l ove? As far as I can tell, it is passion, admiration 
and respect.  If you have the two, you have enough.  If you have the three, you don't have to die to go 
to heaven".  He hoped that the spirit of Valentine' s Day would touch all, so that Members could build 
the respect and trust the membership and the or ganisation needed at these very trying moments. 
75. The General Council then unanimously elected  Mrs Johansen (Norway) to the Chair. 
76. The Director-General said he wished to begin his words of parting to the outgoing Chair by 
quoting Harold Nicolson, the famous British diplomat , who said that a good negotiator needed to have 
the following qualities: truthfulness, precision, good temperament, patience, modesty, loyalty and 
calmness.  The outgoing Chair had all of these qualiti es, both as a negotiator and as a chairperson, and 
they had been put to use and proved during the past  year, and especially during the preparations for 
MC8.  His talents in bringing th e negotiations on the Elements for Political Guidance to a successful 
outcome had been appreciated by all.  He wished  to express, on behalf of himself and the entire 
Secretariat, sincere gratitude for his work as Gene ral Council Chair.  It had been a pleasure working 
with and assisting him in this role.  He thanke d the outgoing Chair again for his hard work, and 
wished him all the best.  He looked forward to wo rking with the newly-elected Chair and wished her 
success in her mandate. 
77. The newly-elected Chairman said she wished to  thank the outgoing Chai r for the remarkable 
job he had done as General Council Chair.  The year  2011 had been a difficult year with far too many 
unanswered questions, as well as hi dden and open conflicts and agendas in the membership.  Despite 
considerable challenges, the latter had been able to guide Members through the preparations for MC8 
and through the Conference itself without major cas ualties.  An uneventful, harmonious Ministerial 
meeting had been a substantial achievement, give n the far-from-perfect circumstances.  She had had 
the honour and pleasure to work closely with the ou tgoing Chair for quite some time.  Members had 
listened to him, followed his guidance and respected  his decisions because of some important personal 
qualities he had – honesty, personal integrity, impa rtiality and respect for Members' positions.  
Members knew he was not playing games.  She tha nked him again for his remarkable chairmanship, 
one that would be very difficult to follow.  Th e year 2012 would not be easy in terms of the 
challenges, new tasks and new problems in the globa l economy and in international trade.  At MC8, 
Ministers had "emphasized the value of the rules-b ased multilateral trading system" and had agreed to 
strengthen it and make it more res ponsive to Members' needs, especi ally in the current challenging 
global economic environment, in order to stimulat e economic growth, employm ent and development.  
The main question was still how.  All seemed to agre e that the big decisive steps towards a successful 
finalization of the DDA would not materialize any time  soon.  Given this situation, the main challenge 
now was to ensure that the WTO continued to re main the forum for multilateral problem-solving in 
the trade area.  New ideas, new approaches, honest conversations and serious commitment would be 
necessary across the field.  At MC8, several Minister s had stressed the need to rebuild trust.  Recent 
developments in the so-called "housekeeping" area i ndicated that this was a spot-on observation, and 
trust would be a crucial precondition for any success, bi g or small, in future.  For her part, she could 
only commit to do her best to provide the fora fo r problem-solving in different areas, but the Members 
would have to agree on the solutions.  She was grat eful for the confidence Members had placed in her 
by selecting her as General Council Chair, and looked forward to working with them, the Director-General and the Secretariat.   
78. The representative of Lesotho, on behalf of the African Group, congratulated the outgoing 
Chair for a job well done during 2011 and up to the present in 2012.  The African Group was still 
beaming with pride for the sterling work the latter had performed during the year.  He had steered Members through a tumultuous period for the WTO.  This had been eloquently articulated by various 
senior colleagues at the present meeting, including by two former General Council Chairs who knew 
what the job entailed.  The outgoing Chair's guidance of Members safely through some very rocky 
areas, including, particularly, the preparatory process for MC8, was worthy of admiration, respect and  WT/GC/M/135 
 Page 25 
 
 
  praise.  Throughout, he had been a knowledgeable, co mpetent and efficient captain of the ship.  The 
African Group was grateful to him, and to his coun try for having enabled him to serve as General 
Council Chair.  The Group warmly welcomed th e incoming Chair, and knew her high level of 
commitment, unqualified devotion and adherence to the virtue of impartiality – one of the key 
elements needed in the task ahead.  Her media tion and facilitation skills were well known.  She had 
proved herself to be proactive in  posture and cognisant of the sens itivities in the various processes in 
the system.  With her at the helm, the General Counc il, and the WTO in general, would continue to be 
in good hands.  The incoming Chair was a beacon of hope as the crew changed, for building on the foundations laid by the outgoing Chair.  The African Group assured her of its co-operation and 
constructive participation, and said she could count on its support in all positive and legitimate 
endeavours.  The Group wished her success and was glad to see Europe following the good example 
of Africa in putting gender balance into practice.  He recalled a previous Chairperson from Kenya, 
and said the WTO should continue to copy best practices from the African continent. 
79. The representative of Nicaragua, on behalf of GRULAC, said these countries wished to thank 
the outgoing Chair for his efforts during MC8 and mo re recently on the appointment of officers to 
WTO bodies.  GRULAC warmly welcomed the incoming Chair and stood ready to participate in the 
work of the Council, which was in good hands. 
80. The representative of the European Union said his delegation wished to assure the outgoing 
Chair of its highest consideration and gratitude for hi s year of service.  He also wished to welcome the 
incoming Chair and to thank her for having accepte d these very demanding responsibilities.  The EU 
looked forward to working with her. 
81. The representative of the United States expressed  his delegation's tha nks to the outgoing 
Chair for his service.  He also wished to welcome the incoming Chair.  This was a very big task to 
take on, and all were collectively mindful of th e amount of work and headache it would undoubtedly 
entail. The US appreciated the incoming Chair's open- eyed willingness to take this on.  His delegation 
looked forward to being part of a large group that  would work with her constructively to make 
progress in this challenging year. 
82. The representative of El Salvador thanked the outgoing Chair for his tireless work during the 
past year, which had been full of challenges.  The year 2012 promised to follow suit, with even more 
challenges for the incoming Chair.  El Salvador wi shed to recommend to th e incoming Chair that she 
always keep in mind the famous "FIT' principle – fu ll participation, inclusiveness, and transparency – 
and knew that she had the characteristics and qualities to  ensure that every voice was heard.  This was 
of the utmost importance.  El Salvador wished he r all the best and thanked her for taking up this 
significant challenge.  His delegation understood fro m the informal Heads of Delegation meeting the 
previous day that the incoming Chair would conti nue to serve as DSB Chair until a decision was taken 
on a slate of names for officers of WTO bodies.  
83. The representative of Cambodia, on behalf of  ASEAN, congratulated the incoming Chair on 
her appointment.  Cambodia had full confidence in  her leadership and that she would help take 
Members to a fruitful outcome in the months ahead .  He assured her of ASEAN's full cooperation and 
support in this endeavour.  To the outgoing Chair,  ASEAN extended its thanks and appreciation for 
his outstanding leadership and for a ll his efforts and perseverance during the past year, particularly in 
the preparatory process for MC8, which had le d to the achievements of that Conference. 
84. The representative of Pakistan expressed his delegation's appreciation to the outgoing Chair 
for his hard work and efforts as General Council Ch airman in difficult times on the preparations for 
MC8, including on the development of consensus on many  issues prior to that meeting.  He had also 
played a vital role in keeping the consensus int act, as was reflected in the statement by the MC8 
Chair. WT/GC/M/135 
Page 26  
 
  85. The representative of Indonesia, on behalf of  the G-33, expressed these countries' sincere 
appreciation to the outgoing Ch air for his able leadership. 
86. The representative of Bangladesh, on behalf of the LDCs, expressed their sincere appreciation 
to the outgoing Chair for his stellar performance at the helm of the General Council through the 
choppy waters in the lead-up to MC8.  The succe ssful conclusion of MC8 spoke volumes about the 
responsibilities the latter had shouldered to steer Members in the right direction. 
87. The representative of Canada thanked the out going Chair for having been a rock during the 
past year of turbulence.  It had been very lucky fo r Members that the latter had been that rock and had 
allowed them to survive the year and, thr ough his leadership, have a very successful MC8. 
88. The representative of Hong Kong, China tha nked the outgoing Chair for his outstanding 
steering of the General Council through a very chal lenging and important year, and in particular for 
the successful run-up to and conclusion of MC8. 
89. The representative of Korea said his delegation wi shed to echo what had been said about the 
outgoing Chair and to express its a ppreciation for all his efforts. 
90. The representative of Thailand expressed his delegation's appreciation for the outgoing 
Chair's successful chairmanship in he lping steer MC8 to a smooth conclusion. 
91. The representative of Chile said his delegation r eaffirmed what others had already said about 
the outgoing Chair.  The latter had had a very hard ye ar – one of changes in paradigms, an impasse in 
the negotiations, economic instability and increased pr otectionism.  However, in spite of all these 
hurdles, there had been a successful Ministerial Conference, due to the outgoing Chair's firm leadership and hard work. 
92. The representative of Barbados, on behalf of the SVEs, expressed their appreciation to the 
outgoing Chair for his hard work, leadership and commitment to the WTO, and congratulated him on 
a successful term in office. 
93. The representative of India said he wished to thank the outgoing Chair both personally and on 
behalf of his delegation for the very adapt and co mpetent way in which he had led Members through 
the past year, and through some very difficult tim es when Members were uncertain about the outcome 
of MC8.  It was in large measure due to the la tter's leadership qualities, vision and firmness that 
Members had been able to come out of this experi ence intact and with something very positive in the 
way of the outcome of MC8. 
94. The representative of Peru thanked the outgoing Chair for his leadership and for the important 
work he had done as General Council Chair at a particularly difficult time. 
95. The representative of Switzerland thanked the out going Chair for all the efforts and skill he 
had deployed in the past year to magnificent results. 
96. The representative of Singapore expressed his de legation’s thanks and appreciation to both 
the outgoing and incoming Chairs for their work in th e organisation, and his pe rsonal thanks for their 
friendship and wisdom. 
97. The representative of Colombia thanked the outgoi ng Chair for his leadership of the General 
Council in a year of major challenges, particularly the holding of MC8.  WT/GC/M/135 
 Page 27 
 
 
  98. The representative of Tunisia commended the outgoing Chair on the work he had done, to the 
satisfaction of all, as General Council Chair.  As a fellow African, he was very proud. 
99. The representative of Iran, speaking as an observer, expressed his delegation's deep 
appreciation to the outgoing Chair for his able and fru itful leadership over the past year, and joined 
other delegations who had congratulated him on hi s chairmanship of the General Council.  Iran 
wished him all the best, and warmly welcomed the incoming Chair. 
100. The General Council took note of the statements. 
101. At its re-convened meeting on 24 February, th e General Council conti nued its consideration 
of Item 5 of its agenda. 
5. Appointment of officers to WTO bodies (continued) 
102. The Chairman recalled that at the start of th is General Council meeti ng on 14 February, it had 
been agreed that she, as the new Chair of the Ge neral Council, would contin ue the consultations on a 
slate of names for the appointment of Chairs of the bodies listed in Groups 1, 2, 4 and 5 in the Annex to the Guidelines for Appointment of Officers to  WTO Bodies approved by the General Council in 
December 2002 (WT/L/510).  It had also been ag reed that the General C ouncil would re-convene at 
an appropriate time to take up the slate of na mes.  Her consultations had also taken up the 
appointment of the new Chairman of the TRIPS Council Special Session.  The General Council had also agreed that she would initiate a process of consultations to review  the 2002 Guidelines in 
document WT/L/510, and she intended to start this pr ocess in the near future.  She was pleased to be 
able to inform delegations that, on the basis of th e consultations, there was consensus on the following 
slate of names: 
Dispute Settlement Body 
 H.E. Mr. Shahid BASHIR (Pakistan) 
Trade Policy Review Body 
 H.E. Mr. Eduardo MUÑOZ GÓMEZ (Colombia) 
Council for Trade in Goods 
 H.E. Dr. Tom MBOYA OKEYO (Kenya) 
Council for Trade in Services 
 H.E. Mr. Joakim REITER (Sweden) 
Council for TRIPS 
 H.E. Mr. Dacio CASTILLO (Honduras) 
Committee on Trade and 
  Development 
 H.E. Dr. Anthony Mothae MARUPING 
(Lesotho) 
Committee on Balance-of- 
  Payments Restrictions  H.E. Mr. Md. Abdul HANNAN (Bangladesh) 
Committee on Budget, Finance  
  and  Administration 
 H.E. Mr. Albinas ZANANAVI ČIUS (Lithuania) 
Committee on Trade and  
  Environment  H.E. Mr. Krisda PIAMPONGSANT (Thailand) WT/GC/M/135 
Page 28  
 
  Committee on Regional Trade  
  Agreements  Mr. François RIEGERT (France) 
Working Group on Trade, Debt 
  and Finance  H.E. Mr. Hisham BADR (Egypt) 
Working Group on Trade and  
  Transfer of Technology 
 Mr. Carlos ROSSI COVARRUBIAS (Peru) 
 
103. Appointments for these bodies would be for one year as usual, in keeping with the general 
rule in the Guidelines.  These appointments would be made formally by the WTO bodies concerned at 
their subsequent meetings in 2012.  Regarding the bodies established by the TNC, the appointment of 
Mr Bashir as Chairman of the DSB would leave a vacancy with regard to the chairmanship of the 
Special Session of the Committee on Trade and Development.  The consultations had shown a consensus among Members on the appointment of Mr Kwok Fook Seng (Singapore), who would be 
elected as Chair of the CTD Special Session at its ne xt formal meeting.  With regard to the TRIPS 
Council in Special Session, the consultations  had shown a consensus among Members on the 
appointment of Mr Agah (Nigeria), who would be elected as Chair of the TRIPS Council in Special 
Session at its next formal meeting.  With these word s, she invited the General Council to take note of 
her statement, the consensus on the slate of na mes for the appointment of officers, and the 
appointment of the Chairs of the CTD Special Session and the TRIPS Council Special Session. 
104. The General Council so agreed. 
105. The Chairman, on behalf of the General C ouncil, expressed appreciation to the outgoing 
Chairpersons of all WTO bodies for their dedicated work in chairing these bo dies.  She recalled that, 
in keeping with paragraph 7.3 of the Guidelines for Appointment of Officers to WTO Bodies, the outgoing Chairpersons of the Council for Trade in Goods and the Council for Trade in Services were 
to conduct consultations to select Chairpersons  for the bodies established under their respective 
Councils.  The Guidelines also provide that these Ch airs should announce the start of their respective 
consultation processes at the Febr uary General Council meeting. 
106. Mr Seilenthal (Estonia), Chairman of the Council for Trade in Goods, in formed Members that 
in accordance with the Guidelines for Appointment  of Officers to WTO Bodies approved by the 
General Council in December 2002 (WT/L/510), he would be star ting consultations for the 
appointment of chairpersons of the subsidiary bodi es of the Council for Trade in Goods.  He would be 
carrying out this process with a view to propos ing, at the next meeting of the Goods Council 
scheduled for 30 March 2012, a balanced slate of na mes for approval by that Council.  He intended to 
set aside sufficient time to meet with any interest ed Members to hear their views and suggestions.  A 
fax to this effect would be sent out to all Heads of Delegation that day, indicating his availability 
during the week of 5 March 2012.  He would conduct further consultations if necessary.  In order to 
ensure the efficiency of the process and the balan ce mentioned in the Guidelines, he would work in 
coordination with the Chairman of the Services Council. 
107. Mr Erwidodo (Indonesia), Chairman of the Council for Trade in Services, said that in 
accordance with the Guide lines for the Appointment of Officers to WTO Bodies, adopted by the 
General Council in December 2002 (WT/L/510), he would be starting his consultations for the 
appointment of chairpersons to the subsidiary bodi es of the Council for Trade in Services.  He would 
be consulting with a view to arriving at a propos ed slate of names of chairpersons for 2012 that 
enjoyed the wide support of the membership.  In order to ensure a balanced slate, he would be  WT/GC/M/135 
 Page 29 
 
 
  consulting with the Chairman of the Goods Council a nd would make sufficient time available to meet 
with any interested Member. 
108. The General Council took note of the statements.  
 
_______________ 
 
 WT/GC/M/135 
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  ANNEX I 
Press Release by the Cairns Group 
at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland 
on 25-29 January 2012 
 
 
Cairns Group calls for serious  engagement on Agriculture 
 
At the 8th WTO Ministerial Conference held in Geneva December 2011, the Cairns Group, 
and the WTO more broadly, recognised that the D oha Round negotiations were at an impasse.  Yet 
there was a clear commitment at the WTO Ministeria l meeting to continue to pursue the mandate of 
the Doha Development Round. In the coming months , WTO Members will be considering options to 
see where progress can be achieved in the negotiations .  From the Cairns Group's perspective, we 
need to ensure that agricultural trade reform is at the heart of  these discussions. We need serious 
engagement from all WTO members on this issue where reforms efforts are required.  The fact that 
agricultural trade confronts significantly higher tariffs and increasingly more non-tariff barriers 
compared with industrial goods is unacceptable in a world wishing to improve global food security. Clearly part of the solution to food insecurity is a well-functioning trading system to get food from producing to consuming re gions.  Why should it be easier to m ove industrial products around the 
world than food?  The global trading system, underp inned by the WTO, has a responsibility to ensure 
that agricultural trade reform is addressed as a matte r of urgency.  As Cairns Group Ministers noted in 
our December communique "We will engage cons tructively in the work of the WTO through 
implementing the existing WTO Agreement on Agricu lture and through continuing Doha negotiations 
on agriculture to ensure that the trade-related asp ects of food security are adequately addressed."  We 
have a transformation to undertake in agriculture. We will need to increase agriculture production by 
70 per cent by 2050 in order to feed the world's 9 billi on people at that time.  We need fresh thinking 
on common problems.  We need to develop a rea listic pathway for capitalis ing on the substantial 
progress already made in the WTO Doha Round agricu lture negotiations -but more importantly we 
need to get the job done.  The Cairns Group stands  ready to work constructively with others to 
continue with the much-needed and long- overdue reform in agricultural trade. 
 
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