WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  RESTRICTED 
WT/COMTD/M/84 
10 July 2012  
 
(12-3749) 
Committee on Trade and Development 
Eighty-Fourth Session  
 
 
 
NOTE ON THE MEETING OF 11 APRIL 2012 
 
Chairperson: H.E. Ms. Elin Østebø Johansen (Norway)1 
  
A. 
ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA  ......................................................................................................... 2  
B.  OBSERVERS  .............................................................................................................................. .... 2 
(i)  Request for attendance of ad hoc observers ............................................................................... 2  
(ii)  Further consideration of requests for observer status by the League of Arab States, 
the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the Gulf 
Organization for Industrial Consulting, the Organisation Internationale de la 
Francophonie, the Common Fund for Commodities, the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) and th e Groupe de la Banque Africaine de 
Developpement ................................................................................................................. ........... 2 
C. 
REPORT OF THE 45TH SESSION OF THE JOINT ADVISORY GROUP ON THE 
INTERNATIONAL TRADE CENTRE UNCTAD /WTO (ITC/AG(XLV)/242) ........................................... 4  
D.  TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT - WORK IN THE COMMITTEE ON THE BASIS OF THE 
CHAIRMAN 'S CONCLUDING STATEMENT FROM THE EIGHTH MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
(WT/MIN(11)/11) ...................................................................................................................... ... 7 
E.  ELECTRONIC COMMERCE  ........................................................................................................... 18  
-   WORK PROGRAMME ON ELECTRONIC COMMERCE - DECISION OF  
17 DECEMBER  2011( WT/L/843) ................................................................................................. 18  
F.  NOTIFICATIONS UNDER THE ENABLING CLAUSE  ....................................................................... 20  
-  GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL (GCC) NOTIFICATION OF CUSTOMS UNION – 
COMMUNICATION FROM CHINA , EGYPT AND INDIA (WT/COMTD /W/175) .................................. 21  
-  NOTIFICATION OF THE AGREEMENT ON TRADE IN GOODS BETWEEN THE ASSOCIATION 
OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS (ASEAN ) AND KOREA  .............................................................. 27  
-  NOTIFICATION OF THE COMPREHENSIV E ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT  
BETWEEN INDIA AND KOREA (GOODS ) ...................................................................................... 27  
G.  NOTIFICATIONS UNDER THE TRANSPARENCY MECHANISM FOR PREFERENTIAL TRADE 
ARRANGEMENTS  ........................................................................................................................ 28  
-  PREFERENTIAL TARIFF TREATMENT FOR LEAST -DEVELOPED COUNTRIES - 
NOTIFICATION BY KOREA (WT/COMTD /N/12/ REV.1/ADD.1) ...................................................... 28  
H.  REVIEW OF STEPS T AKEN TO PROVIDE DUTY -FREE AND QUOTA -FREE MARKET ACCESS 
TO LEAST -DEVELOPED COUNTRIES  ........................................................................................... 28  
                                                      
1 The meeting was exceptionally chaired by H.E. Ms. Elin Østebø Johansen (Norway), the Chair of the 
General Council, who stood in for the Chairman of the Committee on Trade and Development, 
H.E. Dr. Anthony Mothae Maruping (Lesotho). WT/COMTD/M/84 
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  I. 
DATABASE ON PREFERENTIAL TRADE ARRANGEMENTS - PRESENTATION BY THE 
SECRETARIAT  ............................................................................................................................ 2 9 
J.  ELECTION OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE SUB -COMMITTEE ON LEAST -DEVELOPED 
COUNTRIES  .............................................................................................................................. .. 30 
K.  ELECTION OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF TH E COMMITTEE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT ............. 30  
L.  OTHER BUSINESS  ....................................................................................................................... 30  
 
A. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA  
1. The Chairperson said that the draft agenda for the 84th Session of the Committee on Trade and 
Development (CTD) was contained in document WTO/AIR/3918 circulated on 30 March 2012.  She 
said that she wanted to add a matter under "Other Business" concerning the reduction of 
documentation costs in the CTD.  
2. The agenda was adopted as amended. 
B. OBSERVERS  
(i) Request for attendance of ad hoc observers 
3. The Chairperson recalled that, at previous sessions  of the CTD, Members had agreed to invite 
a number of intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) on an ad hoc, meeting-by-meeting basis.  These 
included the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU), the Economic Community of West African States 
(ECOWAS), the Economic Cooperati on Organization (ECO), the Inter-Arab Investment Guarantee 
Corporation, the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), the African Union (AU), the Organization of the 
Islamic Conference (OIC), the South Centre, th e Pacific Islands Forum, the United Nations 
Environment Programme (UNEP), the West Afri can Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) and 
the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) .  She said that, following the decision taken at 
the previous meeting of the Committee, the organiza tions had been invited to the present meeting.  
She proposed that these organizations be invite d to the next formal meeting of the CTD. 
4. It was so agreed.  
(ii) Further consideration of requests for observer st atus by the League of Arab States, the 
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting, the Organisation Int ernationale de la Francophonie, the Common 
Fund for Commodities, the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) and the Groupe de la Banque Africaine de Developpement 
5. The Chairperson said that the positions of delega tions were on the record.  She asked whether 
there was any change in positions to extend observer status to any of the applicants. 
6. The representative of Qatar, on behalf of the Arab Group, said that the established WTO 
principles of full participation, inclusiveness and tran sparency needed to apply across all areas of the 
organization's work.  In this light, the Arab Gr oup continued to engage with other Members to 
improve the guidelines for granting IGOs permanent observer status in the WTO.  She informed 
Members that the Arab Group would shortly be  submitting a communication to facilitate the 
consultations of the General C ouncil Chair on this matter.   
7. The representative of Egypt expressed his delega tion's support for the intervention by Qatar. 
He said that his delegation had been highlighting since the 82nd Session the need to ensure the 
participation of IGOs in the activities of the CTD.  In particular, Members' attention had been drawn  WT/COMTD/M/84 
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  to the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the WT O, which emphasized that all IGOs should be 
allowed to cooperate with the WT O and its subsidiary bodies. It had also been emphasized that, 
pursuant to the WTO's trade and development prin ciples and objectives, the CTD should be permitted 
to collaborate with IGOs whose activities related to  trade and economic development.  The guidelines 
for granting observer status to IGOs, as set out in An nex 3 of the CTD's rules of procedures, had been 
devised to facilitate the representation of IGOs in the Committee's activities. In a trading environment 
that was both more integrated and more complex, it was important for specia lized and regional IGOs 
with an evident trade and development mandate to be  fully aware of the work undertaken by the CTD. 
This would ensure coherence when establishing strategies and developing synergies that were 
conducive to economic development and that would promote the integration of both developing and 
least-developed Members into the multilateral trading system.  
8. He recalled that the Chair of the Genera l Council had indicated at the Council's 
February 2012 meeting that consultations had been undertaken on this matter and that an agreement 
had been reached to launch a process to uphold and fine-tune the rules of procedure applicable to 
IGOs.  The General Council Chair had urged conti nued engagement to address this issue, no matter 
how challenging it might be.  While Egypt acknowle dged that the issues surrounding IGOs may have 
a horizontal and cross-cutting element to them, th e rules of procedure and guidelines nevertheless 
stipulated that all requests for observer status  would be considered on a case-by-case basis by each 
WTO body.  Therefore, the CTD had an outstanding responsibility to address all such requests, including the request that had been submitted by the League of Arab States (LAS) in 1999.  He 
recalled that the LAS had maintained observer status under GATT 1947, and that only two Members 
continued to deem it appropriate to bar the LAS from being granted similar status in the WTO.  Such 
positions ran contrary to the procedures establis hed by the WTO, which stated that favourable 
consideration was to be given to requests submitted by IGOs that had been associated with the work 
of the GATT Contracting Parties. 
9. He said that Israel had indicated at the 83
rd Session that it had been consulting on the matter, 
while the US had announced that it was not in a pos ition to accept any new observers to the CTD.  His 
delegation had urged Israel to provide feedback on its position as soon as possible and had also 
requested the US to provide further detail on the nature  of the reservations that it had with respect to 
the LAS' request. He hoped that the two delegations  would be able to provide some detail on their 
positions at the present meeting.  Also at the 83rd Session, the CTD Chairman had indicated that 
further consultations would be held on the matter .  Egypt would have wished the CTD Chairman to 
brief Members at the present meeting on any consulta tions that had been held.  He noted that his 
delegation had not participated in any cons ultations convened by the CTD Chairman.  
10. He went on to say that the Arab Group, supporte d by several other Members, had indicated its 
readiness for work to be undertaken in the CTD in order to allow an  early resolution to the issues 
surrounding the granting of observer status to IGOs by the Committee.  It had been proposed that a 
working group be tasked to look into ways to fu lfil the CTD's rules of procedures with respect to 
granting IGOs permanent observer status. Unfortunat ely, any signs of constructive engagement had 
yet to be witnessed.  It was in this context that  Egypt wished to renew its proposal for launching a 
process in the CTD to fine-tune the rules of procedur e. The intention was for this to be done in a 
manner that would pave the way to resolve all pendi ng IGO requests, particularly that of the LAS.  
Egypt would continue to question the basis upon which two Members had for more than a decade 
continued to obstruct work.  Consensus in this ca se seemed to have its limitations.  His delegation 
hoped that a favourable decision would be taken in this  regard at the present meeting.  In conclusion, 
he said that Egypt maintained that any request by an IGO to gain permanent observer status in the 
CTD should only be gauged on the basis of the technical  merits of the request and on the premise of 
the agreed guidelines.  The objective and technical consideration of all IGO requests needed to be 
safeguarded so as to avoid jeopardizing the integrity of the CTD, and to avoid eroding the WT/COMTD/M/84 
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  Committee's development mandate as called for and emphasized by Ministers at the Eighth 
Ministerial Conference (MC8). 
11. The representative of India said that this issue had been pending in the CTD for many years.  
It was high time that the specific and systemic i ssues relating to the granting of observer status to 
IGOs were resolved.  Constructive engagement from all Members was needed. 
12. The representative of the United States said that  the negotiation of guidelines for observership 
was a cross-cutting issue that could not be reso lved in any individual Committee.  The General 
Council was the appropriate forum for the discussion.  He recalled that the General Council Chair was holding consultations on the matter, and that de tailed discussions had already taken place in that 
forum.  With respect to Egypt's question to the US, he said that the US was not in a position to join in 
a consensus at the present time. 
13. The representative of China thanked Qatar and Egypt for bringing up an important issue.  He 
said that observer status was an issue of systemic im portance to the WTO.  It not only helped to foster 
a sound relationship between the WTO and other IGOs, but also played a significant role in enhancing 
the visibility and relevance of the WTO in globa l governance.  Clear and appropriate procedures 
would facilitate achieving these objectives. Annex 3 of the rules of procedure for sessions of the 
Ministerial Conference and meetings of the Genera l Council adopted in July 1996 provided the basic 
guidelines for the granting of observer status.  Howeve r, the failure to grant observer status to any 
applicants during the past years had demonstrated that the Annex, despite its merits, still needed 
further improvement.  In particular, procedures a nd criteria to grant observer status needed to be 
established. According to paragraph 4 of the Annex,  requests for observer status would be considered 
on a case-by-case basis in a particular WTO body.  Therefore, in China's view, the CTD had the 
prerogative to develop the procedures and criteri a to grant observer status based on the existing 
guidelines. This could also constitute a valuable  contribution of the CTD to the whole system. 
14. The Chairperson thanked the delegation of Qa tar for having informed Members of the 
communication that was to be circulated by the Ar ab Group in the context of the consultations being 
held by the General Council Chair.  She also invited the CTD Chairman to continue his own 
consultations.  She noted that there were no cha nges in Members' positions and proposed that the 
Committee revert to this matter at its next meeting.  
15. It was so agreed.  
C. REPORT OF THE 45TH SESSION OF THE JOINT ADVISORY GROUP ON THE INTERNATIONAL TRADE 
CENTRE UNCTAD /WTO (ITC/AG(XLV)/242) 
16. The Chairperson said that the report of the 45th Session of the Joint Advisory Group (JAG) on 
the International Trade Centre UNCTAD/WT O (ITC) was contained in ITC document 
ITC/AG(XLV)/242.  She welcomed Ambassador Hi sham Badr of Egypt, the Chairman of the 45th 
Session of the JAG.  She also welcomed Ms. Eva Murray, the Director of the ITC's Division for 
Programme Support, and Mr. Anders Aeroe, the Director of the ITC's Division of Market 
Development.  She invited Ambassa dor Badr to introduce the report. 
17. The Chairman of the JAG said that the Group had held its 45th Session on 30 June and 
1 July 2011.  The meeting was convened to discu ss the ITC’s Annual Report for 2010.  Government 
representatives had also announced their trust fund c ontributions to the ITC. In addition, two panel 
discussions were held.  The first was on project formul ation in the context of the Enhanced Integrated 
Framework while the second concerned follow-up to th e UN's LDC IV meeting held in Istanbul.  He 
added that it was a pleasure for him to have chaire d the JAG meeting at a historical moment for the  WT/COMTD/M/84 
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  Arab world, which offered both opportunities and ch allenges for the people in the region. He believed 
that the ITC had an important role to play in this regard.   
18. He went on to say that the Director-General of the WTO and the Secretary-General of 
UNCTAD had in their opening statements reiterated the importance of the ITC's work in supporting 
the private sector in LDCs.  The Deputy Executive Di rector of the ITC, Mr. Jean-Marie Paugam, had 
noted that the ITC was striving to make four significant and innovative contributions to building more 
inclusiveness into the world trading system.  Th e four contributions concerned access to trade and 
market information, to decision-making tools, to markets and to income.  The Deputy Executive 
Director had also provided an update on the ITC's activities.  The JAG had been informed that the 
growth in the ITC’s delivery in 2010 had been satisfactory and sustained, with a 13 per cent 
expansion compared to 2009.  The target of US$40 million had been exceeded and 55 per cent of 
delivery had focused on the least-developed coun tries (LDCs), landlocked developing countries 
(LLDCs), small island developing states (SIDS) and sub-Saharan Africa.   
19. The Group had broadly welcomed progress made in the development of a results-based 
management (RBM) approach to project developm ent and delivery, as well as the introduction of 
quality assurance mechanisms.  The ITC was comme nded on its technical-assistance programmes and 
on its progress in implementing RBM.  Appreciation was expressed for the ITC's increased focus on delivery to the most vulnerable countries, namely  the LDCs, LLDCs, SIDS and sub-Saharan African 
countries.  Some delegates from other regions not falling into these categories had expressed the hope 
that the donors would not forget their needs.  The ITC had noted that the organization was currently in the implementation phase of RBM, with an emphasis not only on establishing procedures but also on 
ensuring that RBM was embedded in the organization.  
20. He added that the ITC was currently worki ng on a new programme called the Sustainable 
Employment through Export Development (SEED) programme.  The programme aimed to support 
Arab countries after the Arab Spring.  The focus of the programme was on supporting export facilitation and related job creation and entrepreneurial opportunities. Fi nally, on behalf of the Group, 
he thanked the Governments of Canada, China, De nmark, Finland, Germany, Norway, Sweden and 
Switzerland for their expressions of fi nancial support to the organization. 
21. The representative of Canada said that his dele gation recognized the importance of the ITC's 
work in making a real difference in the capacity of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in 
developing countries to gain access to, and take a dvantage of, the global economy.  This had been 
borne out in the ITC's project-based work, including with regard to promoting regional integration in 
Africa and enhancing the capacity to trade for five Arab countries.  Canada was a major contributor to 
this work.  He noted the efforts of the ITC in integrating RBM and qualit y assurance in its project 
planning and implementation, while  mainstreaming gender, envir onment and poverty reduction as 
cross-cutting themes.  Under the leadership of Ms . Patricia Francis, the institution had positioned 
itself to become a model for good practice in RBM in trade-related assistance.  His delegation urged 
the ITC to continue these efforts. He assured th e ITC of Canada's full support in this regard.  
Maintaining a focus on impact helped to ensure  strong and sustainable development results.   
22. He moved on to observe that, from a procedural perspective, there was a significant time-lag 
between the JAG meetings and the presentation of the JAG reports to the CTD.  In particular, he noted that the last JAG meeting had been held in June 2011, while the 2012 JAG meeting would take place in May.  In Canada's view, this time delay wa s too long.  As such, Canada encouraged that all 
efforts be made to ensure that the JAG was re ported back to the CTD at the earliest opportunity 
following the finalization of the JAG report. WT/COMTD/M/84 
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  23. The representative of the European Union indicated the EU's support for the work of the ITC.  
He noted in particular the ITC's technical-assis tance programme and the progress in implementing 
RBM, as well as the organization's focus on the most vulnerable countries. 
24. The representative of Mexico expressed appr eciation for the ITC's work on technical 
assistance and capacity building.  He indicated that  it would be important for more countries in the 
Latin American and Caribbean region to be included in the ITC's programmes.  
25. The representative of Peru expressed appreciation to the ITC for the various projects that the 
organization had undertaken in Peru, especially in favour of SMEs in a number of regions in the 
country.  He said that Peru was strongly committe d to market opening and to an efficient and 
inclusive multilateral trading system that boosted fo reign trade and contributed to poverty alleviation, 
growth and sustainable development.  In this contex t, he highlighted the usef ulness and efficiency of 
ITC projects in identifying concrete measures that c ould be implemented in ke y economic sectors.  He 
also highlighted the outstanding results of these projects with regard to capacity building and 
enhancing the participation of SMEs in international trade. 
26. The representative of El Salvador said that the JAG reports allowed Members to keep abreast 
of the activities of the ITC.  He emphasized the im portance of trade cooperation projects and cited as 
an example the cooperation between the ITC and El  Salvador's export and investment promotion 
agency.  His delegation believed that this type of programme would produc e concrete results of 
benefit to El Salvador's strategy of integration into global trade.  He also highlighted the importance 
of increases in the services provided by agencies such  as the ITC.  This would help to increase trade 
opportunities and create a more balanced distribu tion at the level of the Latin American and 
Caribbean region, so as to benefit countries with small economies such as El Salvador.  
27. The representative of Tunisia commended the IT C for its activities to assist developing 
countries face trade challenges and increase the comp etitiveness of their enterprises.  Tunisia had been 
enjoying the ITC's support for many years and was a beneficiary of an export support programme financed by Switzerland.  The project, which began in 2009, had enabled Tunisia to set up a 
commercial and trade policy monitoring system wh ich allowed the authorities to analyze trade and 
design export strategies. Tunisia was also one of th e five beneficiary countries of the trade capacity 
building project for Arab countries, financed by Canada.  His delegation believed that the project 
offered significant possibilities to enhance trade re lationships between the beneficiary countries, 
particularly in the wake of the Arab Spring.  He  expressed his hope that Canada would be able to 
continue funding the project so as to allow its long- term goals to be realized.  He called on donors to 
continue in their efforts to assist Arab countries in tr ansition.  He also called on the ITC to continue to 
realign its approach in order to assist Arab c ountries facing challenges as a result of democratic 
processes which had arisen. 
28. The representative of Cuba expressed appreciation for the work of the ITC, from which Cuba 
had seen very positive results.  She noted in particular the benefits of the ITC's work in training and 
capacity building. 
29. The representative of Tanzania expressed a ppreciation for the work that the ITC was 
undertaking, particularly with regard to LDCs.  She called for more capacity-building projects to 
enable the LDCs to increase their partic ipation in the multilateral trading system. 
30. The representative of Kenya said that his delegati on had taken note of the useful work that the 
ITC was undertaking, especially with regard to  support for exporting enterprises.  He expressed 
appreciation for the two on-going enterprise support programmes that the ITC was running in Kenya. 
He cited in particular the Ethical Fashions Initia tive, which had become very popular and successful  WT/COMTD/M/84 
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  in the low-income areas.  He also expressed a ppreciation for the support that the ITC was receiving 
from the donor community. 
31.   The representative of Pakistan said that the ITC's support was very important in 
strengthening the linkage between trade and development.  The organization's RBM and 
benchmarking approaches were particularly appreci ated.  It was hoped that this would make the 
organization's work more result-oriented.  She pa rticularly emphasized the importance of the work 
that the ITC had initiated to ensure gender empower ment.  Her delegation belie ved that this initiative 
would play an important role in mainstreaming the marginalized.  Pakistan hoped to benefit from this 
initiative, and had already shared data on women-owned enterprises with the ITC.  
32. The representative of Nigeria thanked the ITC and donors for the continued support, 
particularly to the most vulnerable countries.  Ni geria had been a beneficiary of technical assistance 
from the ITC, which had undertaken a large number of projects in the country.  He noted that it was stated in the JAG report that delegates had broadl y welcomed progress made in the development of an 
RBM approach to project development and deliver y, and also the introd uction of quality assurance 
mechanisms.  His delegation believed that an evalua tion of the results of the ITC's interventions was 
key, especially with regard to the organization's wo rk in ensuring the inte gration of economies into 
the international trading system through an export-b ased development strategy.  He indicated that it 
was important to evaluate the ITC's performance, pa rticularly in relation to outcomes versus impacts 
in ITC reporting. 
33. The JAG Chairman expressed appreciation for delegations' support for the ITC's mandate, 
programme and strategy.  He said that the particul ar needs of small countries, especially LDCs, had 
been taken note of. He congratulated the ITC's Executive Director for her leadership of the 
organization.  On behalf of Egypt, he thanked the ITC and the donors for their support. 
34. The Directors of the ITC's Division for Programme Support and the Division of Market 
Development thanked delegations for their expressions of support. 
35. The Committee took note of the report of the 45th session of the JAG and forwarded it to the 
General Council for adoption. 
D. TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT - WORK IN THE COMMITTEE ON THE BASIS OF THE CHAIRMAN 'S 
CONCLUDING STATEMENT FROM THE EIGHTH MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE (WT/MIN(11)/11) 
36. The Chairperson referred Members to the concluding statement from MC8 by the Chairman 
of the Conference - circulated in document WT/M IN(11)/11 - and in particular the Elements for 
Political Guidance, which were the subject of co nsensus.  Here, under the heading "Trade and 
Development", the CTD had been directed to unde rtake some work.  She read out the relevant 
paragraph as follows: "Ministers reaffirm that development is a core element of the WTO's work.  They also reaffirm the positive link between trade and development and call for focused work in the 
Committee on Trade and Development (CTD) which is to conduct this work in accordance with its 
mandate and report the results achieved to Ministers at the Ninth Session.  Ministers call on WTO 
Members to fully operationalize the mandate of the CTD as a focal point for development work." 
37. She went on to say that, on 29 March 2012, the CTD Chairman had convened an informal, 
open-ended CTD meeting. One of the items for cons ideration at this meeting was how the CTD could 
proceed on its mandated work on trade and developmen t.  A wide range of issues had come up, and a 
good discussion had taken place on this subject. She th anked delegations for their active engagement, 
and indicated that the CTD Chairman looked forwar d to working with Members so as to translate 
some of the suggestions and ideas into concrete a nd focused work that could be undertaken in the 
CTD.  The Chairman believed that it would be u seful to identify some broad elements that the WT/COMTD/M/84 
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  Committee could work on, which would not necessarily be exhaustive.  She added that the Chairman 
intended to hold informal consulta tions soon to see how work coul d proceed on this matter.  In 
conclusion, she said that the present agenda item would henceforth provide a useful forum for 
Members to take stock of where things stood with regard to the CTD's mandated work stemming from 
MC8.  
38. The representative of El Salvador expressed a ppreciation to the CTD Chairman for having 
convened the 29 March informal CTD meeting.  He welcomed the many positive contributions that 
had been made by Members during the meeting.  He  also welcomed and agreed with the guidelines 
provided by the Chairman for continued progress in the discussions so as to achieve results under the 
MC8 mandate.  He cited in particular the objective to  identify a list of concrete elements, as well as 
the indication that the list would not necessarily be exhaustive.  He added that Members needed to 
avoid rhetoric and focus on finding concrete and ope rational solutions geared towards practical results 
for developing countries.  
39. The representative of the United States said that his delegation recognized the important 
contributions of the CTD to the WTO. The US valued the engagement that it had had with its trade 
and development partners in the CTD.  He welcom ed Ministers' reaffirmation at MC8 of the positive 
link between trade and development and the call fo r focused work in the CTD.  The CTD embodied 
WTO Members' shared commitment to maximizing th e potential of that positive link.  He also 
welcomed the accomplishments of the Committee, including in relation to the Transparency 
Mechanism (TM) for Preferential Trading Arrangeme nts (PTAs), and the decisions taken at MC8 to 
address the specific concerns of LDCs.  The US believed that it was important for the CTD to 
continue to be productive in the coming years.   
40. Reflecting on priorities going forward, the US was prepared to engage constructively with its 
trade and development partners in the CTD in orde r to work towards concrete results and to devote 
the time, resources, and attention needed to do so .  However, the Committee's success – and the US' 
appetite for robust participation in the Comm ittee – depended on all Members sharing the US' 
commitment to constructive engagement and concre te results.  Members therefore needed to work 
together to consider ways to enhance the enabli ng conditions for trade to boost economic growth and 
development.  The US would welcome an exchan ge of views on Members' priorities for the CTD 
going forward and a confirmation of a sh ared commitment to concrete results. 
41. At the 29 March informal CTD meeting, Memb ers had expressed some views about possible 
areas of focused work for the Committee.  For exam ple, the US welcomed the suggestion by several 
Members that the Committee could hear from developing country Members regarding their 
experiences with trade-led development. In this regard , he said that it would be particularly useful to 
hear developing country Members' experiences wi th the benefits of, and challenges to, trade 
liberalization.  This would help to identify and an alyze trends in trade-led development in order to 
assist other developing countries, and in particul ar LDCs, in harnessing the benefits of trade for 
development.  He indicated that his delegation w as open to additional suggestions on areas of focused 
work for the CTD.  The US had noted with interest  the proposal that the CTD examine the impact of 
certain global economic trends on developing coun tries' experiences in the multilateral trading 
system.  While this proposal struck his delegation as being very broad, the US was open to hearing further specifics on the concrete issues to be explor ed so that Members could have a clear basis on 
which to consider the proposal.   
42. On the other hand, a number of suggestions made at the 29 March informal CTD meeting 
were troubling. Some of these suggestions had been h eard in the lead-up to MC8.  For example, some 
Members had proposed that the CTD should review all development-related issues and development 
work undertaken by other WTO bodies.  While Memb ers agreed that the CTD was the focal point on 
development matters at the WTO, the US considered  this proposal to be unnecessarily disruptive to  WT/COMTD/M/84 
 Page 9 
 
 
  the functioning of the WTO system - in addition to  exceeding the already-extensive CTD mandate.  It 
was unclear how much of the work of other WTO bodies would get swept up in this proposal.  Other WTO bodies addressed a wide range of issues that might  relate to development, but did so in areas 
where they had the requisite technical expertise.  Adding another layer of Committee review simply 
because a particular issue could have a develo pment nexus not only went well beyond the CTD's 
mandate, but also was not the best use of the CTD' s - or the WTO's - time and resources.  Where the 
CTD could add value was in addressing general and cross-cutting trade-related development issues.  
The US recognized that an examination of th ese general or cross-cutting issues should include 
consultation with other WTO bodies, as appropriate , to understand issues addressed in those 
Committees that may relate to development.  His delegation was open to proposals for the CTD to 
work within this mandate. 
43. The US had previously stated its views clearly on other systemic issues, such as the CTD's 
role in discussing WTO observership or the pr oper notification procedure for regional trade 
agreements (RTAs).  He indicated that he would not rehash those points.  He also expressed his 
sincere hope that the CTD did not spend the co ming months rehashing discussions on issues that 
should be closed.  Simply put, Members had a decisi on to make.  In particular, Members needed to 
consider whether to continue on a path that had le d to a dead end, or whether to pursue a new and 
more constructive pathway forward. Members also needed to consider whether discussions in the 
CTD were about scoring debating points, or whether they were about seeking solutions to important 
problems.  Members would assess the answers to these questions through the interventions under the 
present agenda item and, more importantly, in observed actions in the coming weeks and months.  
The US hoped to be an active part of problem-solving  focused on real issues.  Such work could help 
fulfil the potential of the CTD. 
44. The representative of the European Union said that his delegation supported the idea of using 
the CTD to further explore the positive link between trade and development.  The CTD could notably 
look at emerging economies and see whether it would be possible to identify best practices that other, 
less successful, developing countries - with emphasi s on LDCs - could learn from their experience.  
This needed to be related to progress toward s the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), in 
particular in the context of how trade had cont ributed to the MDGs and under which conditions, and 
especially with regard to the role of domestic refo rms.  Other issues could also be linked to this, for 
example whether there was a relationship between the success of emerging countries and the relative position of the poorest countries, or the question of  the appropriate role fo r emerging economies' RTA 
policies.  Another question concerned the impact of emerging economies' policies towards LDCs, for 
instance regarding the provision of duty-free and quota-free (DFQF) market access. 
45. He went on to suggest areas for additional, sp ecific research in the CTD.  The first area 
concerned the participation of developing countries  in the multilateral trading system.  Here, the 
emphasis needed to be on the more marginalized c ountries - notably the LDCs - and on ways to better 
integrate them into global trade.  The second ar ea concerned domestic reforms. While openness to 
trade was a necessary condition to development, it w as clear that openness needed to be accompanied 
by adequate domestic reforms that were fully owned by developing countries themselves.  The 
question, therefore, was what an enabling envir onment for trade and economic growth was, and how 
it translated into progress towards the MDGs.  He suggested that the CTD could also start paying 
more attention to sustainable development in  its three components – economic, social and 
environmental – and their relation to trade. Other areas of EU interest included regional integration 
and the role of the private sector.  These orientations were in line with some of the key issues raised in 
the new EU Communication on Trade, Growth and Development.  The EU had recently informally 
presented the main characteristics of the Communica tion, and was in a dialogue with LDCs.  He 
believed that in building on these orientations a nd by observing a cross-cutting focus on LDCs, the 
CTD could do useful work of real interest to development.  WT/COMTD/M/84 
Page 10  
 
  46. The representative of Ecuador said that the Ge neral Council had established the CTD in 1995 
to serve as a focal point for the consideration an d coordination of work on development.  More 
specifically, the CTD was to take responsibility for the review of the application of special and 
differential treatment (S&D) provisions and the consider ation of any issue raised in that regard.  In 
addition, the CTD was to review the participation of developing countries in the multilateral trading 
system and consider measures and initiatives to prom ote the expansion of their trade and investment 
opportunities.  The Committee was also to provide guidelines for, and to review periodically, technical cooperation activities.  
47. The minutes of CTD meetings held between April 1995 and early 2002 showed that these 
subjects were considered regularly.  Particular at tention was paid to reviewing the application of 
special provisions in the Multilateral Trade Agreements  and related Ministerial Decisions in favour of 
developing country Members.  However, since 2002, the Committee had tended to concentrate on 
matters relating to notifications and the transparen cy of trade agreements.  Even though discussions 
had taken place on technical cooperation, on paragra ph 51 of the Doha Declaration, and on the 
implementation of the Hong Kong Decision on DFQF market access for LDCs, the substantive 
agenda of the Committee had been significantly re duced. In this light, he believed that it was 
appropriate for the CTD to resume the respons ibilities that had been assigned to it under the 1995 
terms of reference.  Specifically, he proposed that  the CTD include an item on its agenda to review 
the application of S&D provisions and to consider any issue raised in that regard.  Furthermore, with 
regard to the CTD's consideration and coordination of work on devel opment, he believed that it would 
be appropriate to consider holding specialized me etings for each covered WTO Agreement.  These 
meetings would be held with the participation of other IGOs, and would have the objective of 
exchanging views on possible alternatives to give effect to the development dimension in the 
multilateral trading system.  
48. In conclusion, he said that the main issue had to  be the considerations explicitly recognized in 
the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the WTO, na mely that progress needed to be achieved in a 
manner consistent with the respective needs and con cerns of Members at different levels of economic 
development.  Furthermore, positive efforts needed to continue to be made to ensure that developing 
countries secured a share in the growth in interna tional trade commensurate with the needs of their 
economic development.  The basic premise was to respect the prevailing diversity between Members 
and to avoid "one size fits all" approximations. It was necessary to give real, effective meaning to the 
development dimension. 
49. The representative of India said that the Preamb le to the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing 
the WTO was very clear.  It stated that trade and economic endeavours needed to be conducted with a 
view to raising standards of living, ensuring full employment and a large and steadily growing volume 
of real income and effective demand, and expa nding the production of and trade in goods and 
services, while allowing for the optimal use of the world's resources in accord ance with the objective 
of sustainable development.  It also recognized th e need for positive efforts to ensure that developing 
countries secured a share in the growth of inte rnational trade commensur ate with the needs of 
economic development.  The Preamble further stat ed that in order to contribute to the stated 
objectives, Members could enter into reciprocal and mutually advantageous arrangements directed to 
the substantial reduction of tariffs and other barriers to trade and to the elimination of discriminatory 
treatment in international trade relations.  Thus , the principal objective of the WTO was not to 
promote trade.  Rather, the objective was to raise living standards, work towards full employment and 
the growth of real income while ensuring that deve loping countries secured a fair share in global trade 
growth.  This was to be achieved through the re duction of tariffs and non-tariff barriers and the 
elimination of discriminatory treatment.  
50. Unfortunately, the reality was in complete cont rast. Discussions had been hijacked by a few 
developed countries, and the focus of all WTO Comm ittees - including those related to development -  WT/COMTD/M/84 
 Page 11 
 
 
  had shifted towards the obligations of developi ng countries to reduce their tariffs, achieve trade 
liberalization and counter discriminatory treatment .  Thus, the means for achieving the objectives set 
forth before the WTO had become secondary, while  the instruments had become the ends in 
themselves. Ministers were well aware that the direc tion of the WTO's work had shifted.  They had, 
therefore, wanted to refocus on development. It  was the responsibility of the CTD to reassert and 
operationalize its mandate to ensure that the WTO took the path set forth in the Preamble to the 
Marrakesh Agreement. In order to realize its manda te, the CTD needed to wo rk in a focused manner. 
India wished to highlight some of the importa nt issues that needed to be prioritized.  
51. It was firstly critical for the Committee to pr otect the policy space required for promoting the 
socio-economic development of de veloping countries. Policy space had shrunk since the days of the 
GATT, and had been further eroded through the in clusion of the GATS and the TRIPS Agreement. 
The CTD needed to ensure that developing countrie s participated in the wo rld trade system on their 
own terms, and not on the terms dictated by gl obal markets and international institutions.  The 
Committee could achieve this by coordinating with other WTO bodies and other international 
organizations as per its terms of reference.  Sec ond, the CTD, in consultation with other WTO bodies, 
needed to ensure that developing countries were not  forced to liberalize against their wishes.  Any 
forced liberalization could have disastrous consequen ces.  Efforts needed to be made to strengthen the 
supply side of these economies so that important pillars such as agriculture, industry or health 
remained unaffected.  
52. Third, since the establishment of the WTO, developing countries had highlighted several 
difficulties in pursuing development strategies and objectives.  These included technology upgrading, 
the development of local industries, the survival a nd growth of local farms and the agricultural sector, 
the attainment of food security goals, and the fulfil ment of health and medicinal needs.  Developing 
countries had also pointed to the problems arising from the structural imbalances and weaknesses in a 
number of WTO Agreements by identifying several implementation-related issues. However, for the 
last decade, despite sustained efforts by devel oping countries - and despite putting these issues into 
the Doha Round - some Members had not shown the constructive engagement needed to address the 
issues. It was high time that the CTD took stock of th e issues and set a target for itself to resolve them. 
Furthermore, the matters before the Special Sessi on of the CTD needed to be addressed expeditiously 
so that developing countries did not lose faith in the WTO.  
53. As his fourth point, he said that developing c ountries were moving forward with one leg in 
the multilateral system, while the other was getting en tangled in bilateral and plurilateral agreements. 
In this regard, the Committee needed to make effo rts to ensure that the Enabling Clause did not get 
eroded on account of the attempts being made by so me Members to undermine this important pillar of 
strength to the developing countries.  It was high time that the systemic issues surrounding the "dually notified" RTAs - which were listed separately on the agenda of the present meeting and had been 
pending consideration for a number of years - were addressed expeditiously so that the policy space of 
developing countries did not get impinged on by  the interests of few developed Members. 
Furthermore, the CTD needed to focus its work on other issues relating to the Enabling Clause, as 
well as issues relating to the TM for RTAs and th e Committee's terms of reference, which were of 
interest to developing countries.  Fifth, in the interests of developing countries, the Committee needed 
to ward off attempts to include new issues in  the WTO architecture or to bypass the multilateral 
process.  New issues would not only burden the al ready heavy agenda before the WTO Committees, 
but would also shift the focus away from development.   
54.
 With respect to the interest of some deve loped country Members to discuss the market 
liberalization experiences of emerging economies, he said that all developing countries would be 
forthcoming in sharing their positive and negative expe riences.  However, it would also be of interest 
to developing countries to hear from the alr eady emerged economies like Japan and South Korea 
about their experiences with market liberalization.  He  said that it would be of particular interest to WT/COMTD/M/84 
Page 12  
 
  know the kinds of flexibilities these countries had utilized to achieve their present levels of 
development, and whether it would be possible to re plicate their experiences in the post-WTO world.  
He noted that WTO rules severely constrained the use of subsidies for local industries, prohibited 
investment measures favouring the use of local co mponents, and hindered local industries from using 
patented technology.  
55. He concluded by quoting from the Delhi Decl aration, issued on 29 March 2012 at the 
occasion of the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) Summit, which he indicated could serve as a goal post for future work in the CT D.  He said that the five heads of state, while 
reiterating the need for a successful conclusion of  the Doha Round by ensuring the centrality of 
development, had also stated the following: "We do not support plurilateral initiatives that go against 
the fundamental principles of transparency, incl usiveness and multilateralism. We believe that such 
initiatives not only distract members from striving for a collective outcome but also fail to address the 
development deficit inherited fro m previous negotiating rounds."  The Delhi Declaration further 
stated that: "Accelerating growth and sustainable development, along with food, and energy security, 
are amongst the most important challenges facing the world today, and central to addressing economic 
development, eradicating poverty, combating hunge r and malnutrition in many developing countries. 
Creating jobs needed to improve people's living standards worldwide is critical.  Sustainable 
development is also a key element of our agenda  for global recovery and investment for future 
growth." 
56. The representative of China expressed support for th e intervention by India.  He said that the 
importance of development had been long recognized in the multilateral trading system, and had been 
further highlighted through the establishment of th e CTD at the time that the WTO was established. 
Several provisions and decisions were specifically dr afted to consider the needs of developing and 
least-developed countries. He noted, however, that these we re drafted more than a decade ago.  In this 
light, Members needed to examine whether the provisions and decisions were effective in solving the 
problems that developing countries were facing at the present time.  In particular, in the current 
challenging economic circumstances, countries tended  to discuss the relationship between trade and 
growth, as well as trade and job creation.  
57. He went on to say that the relationship be tween trade and development was of utmost 
significance for the WTO. His delegation believed that this was why Ministers at MC8 had called for focused work in the CTD, and for a report to be submitted to the Ninth Session.  To achieve what was 
required by Ministers' instructions, his delegation belie ved that the first thing that needed to be done 
was to trace where the CTD had come from, and wher e it needed to go.  Members could then explore 
the gaps between the language and th e reality with a view to narrowing them down.  For that purpose, 
his delegation felt that it would be useful if the Secretariat prepared a factual background document, 
summarizing what the CTD had done in the past.  In  preparing the document, the Secretariat could 
match each area of work to the specific elemen ts of the CTD's mandate.  This would provide 
Members with a clear and full picture of the CTD's work based on its mandate, and allow them to 
analyze whether each element of the mandate had been fulfilled. 
58. The terms of reference of the CTD adopted by  the General Council in January 1995 provided 
a very comprehensive and clear-cut mandate. Member s had made great efforts to fulfil the mandate 
and had made a lot of progress, especially in the fi eld of technical assistance and Aid for Trade. 
However, further improvement was needed.  He we nt on to list some of China's preliminary ideas on 
what could be done.  First, there could be an  improvement in intra-consulting and reporting 
procedures.  He explained that the key element of  the CTD's mandate was that it would serve as the 
focal point for the consideration and coordination of all work on development in the WTO. This meant that all issues and decisions taken by other WTO bodies which were of particular interest to 
developing Members and LDCs needed to be regula rly reported to the CTD.  However, the reality 
was not satisfactory.  In this light, China belie ved that it was necessary to establish a coordinating  WT/COMTD/M/84 
 Page 13 
 
 
  mechanism between the CTD and other WTO bodies.  This would enhance the latter's awareness of 
the existence and function of the CTD, and w ould also facilitate more timely and effective 
communication.  
59. Second, the role of the CTD in reviewing the application of S&D provisions needed to be 
strengthened.  Elaborating on this point, he said that the CTD had an important role to play in 
reviewing the application of special provisions in the WTO in favour of developing countries, 
considering any questions which may arise ther ein, and reporting to the General Council for 
appropriate action.  He noted that the Special Session of the CTD was conducting negotiations on the 
S&D Monitoring Mechanism and on the Agreement-sp ecific proposals within the framework of the 
Doha Round. China supported the early conclusion of these negotiations with meaningful results, 
which would allow the CTD to realize this partic ular element of its mandate.  Meanwhile, his 
delegation called on the Secretariat to continue  preparing its report on the utilization of S&D 
provisions, which had been suspended since 2002.  He also encouraged more Members to actively 
engage in the review of the implementation of DF QF schemes.  The topic was of vital importance to 
LDCs and the CTD's work could enhance tran sparency and promote domestic actions.  He 
additionally recognized the establishment of the TM  for PTAs and looked forward to making the best 
use of it. 
60. His third point concerned the preservation of the CTD's role in the implementation of the TM 
for RTAs.  Under this Mechanism, the CTD had be en entrusted to consider RTAs notified under the 
Enabling Clause.  However, some efforts had been witnessed in the past thre e years to dilute this 
important function. A number of legal, procedural and systemic issues raised by developing Members 
had not been substantially touched upon. On the contrary, Members had regrettably spent most of 
their energy and time discussing the agenda for CT D meetings.  He urged all Members concerned to 
work seriously and constructively to break this d eadlock as soon as possible.  China would continue 
its active engagement in the CTD Chairman's inform al consultations.  Finally, he said that he had 
heard certain Members highlight the role of emerging economies.  In this regard, he indicated that 
China was willing to share its development experi ences with the Committee.  However, he also 
emphasized that developed Members were the active players in the implementation of S&D provisions, and the major providers of technical assist ance and Aid for Trade. In this light, the role of 
developed Members could not be ignored by si mply shifting the burden to emerging economies. 
China encouraged the more active and constructive participation of developed Members in the CTD. 
61. The representative of Canada said that his delegation recognized th e positive link between 
trade and development.  Canada saw trade ope nness as an important means to achieve economic 
growth and expand opportunities for all by acces sing global markets.  The CTD remained an 
important forum to address the linkage between tr ade and development at the WTO.  The Committee 
and its subsidiary bodies had undert aken extensive reviews of areas such as Aid for Trade, market 
access for LDCs, and S&D.  This was in keeping with  paragraphs 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6 of its terms of 
reference, as contained in document WT/L/46.  
62. In response to the conclusions from MC8, the vi ew of his delegation was that the CTD could 
explore how to deliver more fully on the second paragr aph of its terms of refe rence.  This paragraph 
enjoined Members to keep under continuous review  the participation of developing countries and 
LDCs in the multilateral trading system, and to cons ider measures to assist in the expansion of their 
trade and investment opportunities, including support for their trade liberalization measures.  Some 
progress had been made on this front, for instance by occasionally reviewing trends in global trade 
and the involvement of developing countries.  Howe ver, more could be done to highlight how trade 
could be used as a tool for growth and developmen t by, for instance, reviewing practical experiences 
and lessons learned.  If the discussion on trade a nd development at the WTO was restricted only to 
derogations from core WTO rules and to technical assistance, an opportunity would be missed to 
highlight the positive role trade was playing in the development strategies of its Members.  Canada WT/COMTD/M/84 
Page 14  
 
  supported the idea of using the CTD to look at the experiences of those developing countries that had 
successfully employed trade to promote their ow n development, and identifying best practices from 
which other developing countries could learn. Country  presentations could be a good approach in this 
respect. 
63. The representative of Australia welcomed the discussion on how to implement Ministers' call 
at MC8 for focused work in the CTD on the pos itive link between trade and development. This 
indicated that development was a core element of  the WTO's work.  Australia's view was that 
Members had the opportunity to undertake substan tial work in the CTD to strengthen the Committee 
and make full use of its mandate.  To follow up on  Ministers' directions at MC8, the CTD could 
undertake work on identifying and enhancing the benefits of open markets, and discussing their 
contribution to economic growth, de velopment, and poverty reduction.  The work could be centred on 
Members' own experiences, ensuring that developi ng Members' economic circumstances informed the 
discussions.  This could be complemented by a more  detailed discussion of reports and analysis by the 
Secretariat, or work introduced by Members in to the Committee from relevant IGOs or other 
institutions. Work of this nature would comple ment the discussions in the CTD's Aid for Trade 
sessions.  It would be one of a number of useful  inputs into the on-going process of ensuring that 
current Aid for Trade programmes continued to meet  developing country needs.  Any work in the 
CTD would need to complement the existing work of other regular Committees , to ensure there was 
no overlap or duplication of Members' efforts. 
64. He said that Australia fully recognized the importance of S&D, which was the traditional 
focus of the CTD's work.  His delegation remained open to a discussion of S&D in the CTD.  In terms 
of the present discussion on the MC8 mandate, Australia 's view was that reaching agreement in the 
CTD's Special Session on a practical, simple and efficient Monitoring Mechanism would be the best and most pragmatic step Members could take for a more focused discussion of S&D.  Australia was committed to these negotiations and hoped that all Me mbers shared the view that the early creation of 
the Monitoring Mechanism would be a va luable contribution to the CTD's work.
2 
65. He added that Australia would always be ope n to proposals to maximize the effectiveness of 
discussions on S&D in the CTD.  He cautioned, however, that proposals should not create any new 
bodies or coordinating mechanisms before the cr ucial negotiations on the Monitoring Mechanism 
were concluded.  He also indicated that his delegation was encouraged by the strong interest 
demonstrated by many Members in having an on-going discussion in the CTD on Members' own experiences of the link between trade and developm ent, focusing on the opportunities and challenges 
that integration into the global economy presented fo r developing Members.  This work would allow 
the Committee to take up a new, useful debate that fo cused on practical issues.  It could be taken up as 
an early stream of discussion in the CTD followi ng MC8.  His delegation hoped that other Members 
recognized this and that the initiative would not be held hostage to any other issues.  Finally, he 
emphasized the importance of the present discussion for the work of the CTD, and indicated that his 
delegation was ready to take part in further info rmal consultations called by the CTD Chairman.  
66. The representative of Thailand said that the WTO Agreements recognized the positive link 
between trade and development.  The Preamble to the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the WTO 
was very clear in this regard.  The Agreement also  recognized the need for positive efforts designed to 
ensure that developing countries and LDCs secured a share in the growth in international trade 
commensurate with the needs of their economic de velopment.  He highlighted the importance of 
capacity building to assist the furthe r integration of developing countri es, and in particular LDCs, into 
the multilateral trading system.  The most pressing issue for his delegation at the present time 
                                                      
2 Australia's intervention up to this point was made at the open-ended informal CTD meeting held on 
29 March 2012, and is reproduced here at the request of Australia. The remainder of Australia's intervention 
under this agenda item was made at the 84th Session.   WT/COMTD/M/84 
 Page 15 
 
 
  concerned the accession of LDCs to the WTO.  He explained that Thailand was the fifth largest 
importer of LDC products, and Lao PDR - a fellow me mber of the Association of Southeast Asian 
Nations (ASEAN) - was negotiating its accession. He hoped that Members would make progress in this regard by July 2012.  He also indicated that Thailand was willing to discuss other trade and 
development issues. 
67. The representative of Cuba said that her delegati on had made an intervention on this matter at 
the 29 March informal CTD meeting.  At the presen t time, she wished to reiterate that Cuba fully 
agreed on the need to begin to work on a specifi c programme as quickly as possible to meet the 
interests and needs of developing countries, and in particular LDCs.  Her delegation agreed with the 
points made by India, China and Ecuador.  She indicated that the positive link between trade and 
development was not as automatic as theory might suggest.  Most developing countries had not been 
able to achieve effective integration into the multila teral trading system, or in the most dynamic areas 
of international trade.  She was surprised to be h earing suggestions for new work to be undertaken in 
the CTD when the Committee had a very clear ma ndate, and Members had been unable to resolve 
even the most critical issues of the LDCs.  There app eared thus far to be no willingness on the part of 
developed countries to help to resolve the problems of developing countries, in spite of the WTO's 
longstanding obligations on devel opment. Cuba was willing to work  constructively with Members on 
the matter.  
68. The representative of Kenya said that the CTD had a pivotal role to play on trade and 
development matters.  It was with  this understanding that Ministers at MC8 had agreed to fully 
operationalize the mandate of the Committee.  He went on to specify some areas which he believed 
required particular attention.  He firstly highli ghted the importance of S&D for developing countries 
and the need for Members to move forward in addr essing the relevant issues, including with regard to 
the Monitoring Mechanism and the Agreement-specif ic Proposals.  Another question related to how 
the CTD could address the outstanding implementation issues in line with the Doha mandate.  On Aid 
for Trade, there was a need to continue to explore how to build productive capacities in developing 
countries.  He also called on the WTO and the ITC to build the synergies necessary to support 
enterprises and to ensure that market  access opportunities were fully utilized. 
69. The representative of Nigeria said that his dele gation was open to considering ways forward. 
At the present time, he wished to underline that  the WTO Agreements recognized the link between 
trade and development.  At the Doha Minister ial Conference, Ministers had placed development 
issues and the interests of developing countries at th e heart of the WTO's work.  Furthermore, at the 
Hong Kong Ministerial Conference, the central import ance of the development dimension of the Doha 
Work Programme was emphasized, as was the commitment to making it a meaningful reality. Most 
recently, at MC8, Ministers had reaffirmed that de velopment was a core element of the WTO's work 
and had also reaffirmed the positive link between tr ade and development.  Focused work in the CTD 
had been called for, including on the need to full y operationalize the mandate of the CTD as the focal 
point for development work.  Ministers had also r eaffirmed the integrality of S&D provisions to the 
WTO Agreements and their determination to fulfil the Doha mandate and make S&D provisions more 
precise effective and operational.  They had agreed  to expedite work on the Monitoring Mechanism 
and to take stock of the 28 Agreement-specific Pr oposals in Annex C of the draft Cancún Ministerial 
Declaration with a view to their formal adoption.   He noted that Members were faced with the 
challenge of assessing how the development dimensi on had been interpreted in the negotiations, and 
how far the proposals on the table had met the as pirations of developing countries.  Finally, he 
expressed his delegation's support for the proposal for the Secretariat to compile a report on the 
activities of the CTD to date, particularly in relation to  its terms of reference.  He also indicated that 
further consultations were necessary on how to carry forward the mandate given by Ministers at MC8.  
70. The representative of Pakistan said that the dir ection that had been given by Ministers at MC8 
was very clear and lucid.  It emphasized the devel opment dimension of the trade liberalization process WT/COMTD/M/84 
Page 16  
 
  and expected Members to re-energize the work of  the CTD as the focal point. After recalling the 
wording of the MC8 mandate, she highlighted that the utilization of S&D provisions was one of the key components of the CTD's work.  The Special Session of the CTD was currently undertaking work 
on S&D within the context of the Doha negotiations.  She also noted that technical assistance and Aid 
for Trade were important vehicles to address suppl y-side gaps. Meanwhile, Members also needed 
think of a process within the CTD to fulfil the MC 8 mandate.  For this, he r delegation was open to 
suggestions and looked forward to working with Memb ers in a constructive manner.  She noted that it 
was important to avoid a duplication of work, partic ularly with respect to what was already being 
done through the Trade Policy Review Body pro cess.  Pakistan was looking for constructive 
engagement to work in the direction given by Mi nisters at MC8.  She hoped that Members would be 
able to achieve meaningful results before the Ninth Session. 
71. The representative of Egypt, on behalf of the African and Arab Groups, pointed to the 
complexity of the link between trade and developmen t, and said that his intervention would not tackle 
this issue.  His intervention would also not cover the work of the CTD in Special Session or the CTD's 
work in specific areas such as Aid for Trade.  The focus would be on revitalizing the work of the 
Regular Session of the CTD, for which the Afri can and Arab Groups were putting forward seven 
baskets of proposals. He recalled that the concludi ng statement of the Chairman of MC8 had called 
for the need to make the WTO more relevant and mo re responsive to the needs of its Members.  This 
was particularly emphasized in light of the econo mic crisis and the globa l economic environment. 
Ministers had underlined the importance of the work of the regular WTO bodies, including their role in the oversight of implementing existing Agre ements, in transparency through monitoring and 
reporting, and as forums for the consideration of tr ade-related issues raised by Members.  Ministers 
had therefore called for the strengthening and improvement of the functioning of these bodies. 
Furthermore, in recognition of the important in terlinkages between trade and development, the 
Elements for Political Guidance included language to capture the contours of what needed to be done 
in the CTD. He recalled the wording of the MC8 mandate in this regard. 
72. Turning to the first basket of proposals, he said that the African and Arab Groups believed 
that the global financial, economic, food and debt  crises, as well as commodity and exchange rate 
volatilities, posed unyielding challenges to the mu ltilateral trading system, and foremost to its 
developing and least-developed c onstituencies.  Protectionist pr essures and global structural and 
macroeconomic imbalances were on the rise.  Wo rld trade patterns were altering commodity and 
services terms of trade, both in magnitude and prod uct composition.  The CTD had yet to discuss how 
these economic and trade challenges affected the de velopment dimension of the multilateral trading 
system, and what were the implications for S&D provi sions.  Further work was required in this area to 
satisfy the mandate given by Ministers.  Discussions needed to be launched on the basis of analytical 
papers prepared by the Secretariat, in collabor ation with UNCTAD and othe r development-oriented 
IGOs. 
73. The second basket of proposals was related to th e operationalization and the reinvigoration of 
the work of the CTD, in line with its mandate to  serve as the focal point for the consideration and 
coordination of work on all development issues in th e multilateral trading system. It appeared that not 
all issues and decisions taken by the various WTO bodies of particular interest to developing and 
least-developed countries had been regularly reported to the CTD.  Furthermore, the CTD had not been consulted on a range of devel opment-related issues that had been  taken up in other bodies. There 
was a need to improve intra-reporting procedures a nd to operationalize the CTD's terms of reference 
to periodically review the development-related wo rk being undertaken in other WTO bodies.  This 
was the mandate given by Ministers. The Secretar iat had an obligation to provide Members with 
consolidated reports on all devel opment-related issues and develo pment work undertaken by other 
WTO bodies.   WT/COMTD/M/84 
 Page 17 
 
 
  74. Moving on to the third basket of proposals, he said that Ministers had highlighted the 
monitoring function of the WTO and the CTD. According to the CTD's terms of reference, the Committee was mandated to review periodically, in consultation as appropriate with the relevant 
bodies of the WTO, the application of special pr ovisions in the Multilateral Trade Agreements and 
related Ministerial Decisions in favour of deve loping country Members, and in particular LDC 
Members.  However, it appeared that the CTD had not fully exploited and capitalized on its mandate.  
As an example, he said that there had been no re port on the utilization of S&D provisions since 2002.  
There had also been a lack of continuity in follo wing up on the implementation of Decisions in favour 
of LDCs and other Decisions relating to measur es concerning the negative effects of the reform 
programme on LDCs and net food- importing developing countries.  
75. In introducing the fourth basket of proposals, he said that Ministers had reaffirmed the 
integrality of S&D provisions in the WTO Agreemen ts.  He pointed to the ongoing negotiations to 
establish a Monitoring Mechanism for S&D and to fulfil the Doha mandate to make S&D provisions 
more precise, effective and operational.  The African and Arab Groups, as well as the ACP Group, 
had previously proposed that a development review  of S&D provisions take place. He elaborated on 
the usefulness of this proposal, in particular b ecause it appeared that the existing S&D provisions 
were of limited value. 
76.  The fifth basket of proposals related to RTAs .  He said that the CTD had a central role in 
reviewing and considering RTAs notified under th e Enabling Clause. Since 2007, developing and 
least-developed Members had raised several legal and procedural issues with respect to how RTAs among developing countries were be ing considered in the WTO. These issues continued to have 
implications for the multilateral trading system.  They  needed to be swiftly addressed so as to avoid 
any further infringement on the manda te and terms of reference of the CTD, as well as to prevent the 
disruption of its future work and to avoid any pros pects of eroding the scope and legal stature of the 
Enabling Clause.  
77. He said that the sixth basket of proposals concerned the CTD’s role in implementing the 2006 
General Council Decision which established the TM fo r RTAs.  This Decision clearly specified that 
the CTD was the body entrusted with the implemen tation of the Mechanism as it applied to RTAs 
notified under the Enabling Clause.  However, it a ppeared that the CTD was unable to maintain the 
proper application and implementa tion of the Mechanism's transparency procedures.  The CTD 
needed to discuss how it could contribute to the work of the Negotiating Group on Rules (NGR) in 
order to improve the disciplines and procedures of the RTAs TM.  It was proposed that the Committee 
deliberate on the findings in the letter sent by the CTD Chairman to the Chairman of the NGR, which 
relayed the CTD's experience in implementing the RTAs TM.  
78. The seventh basket of proposals, which put fo rward an Arab Group position, related to the 
granting of permanent observer status to IGOs .  The Arab Group was aware that this was a 
cross-cutting issue which was being deliberated in other forums.  However, the Group also believed 
that the CTD, given its special stature and deve lopment mandate, could contribute to resolving the 
matter.  He said that the participation of IGOs w ith a clear development manda te would not only be of 
added value to Members, but would also mainta in coherence in tackling development issues 
internationally and regionally.  The Arab Group had previously submitted some proposals on this 
matter, and the intention was to make further pr oposals on how the matter could be tackled by the 
CTD.  He recalled that Annex 3 of the rules of proc edure stipulated that it was the prerogative of each 
WTO body to decide how to grant permanent observer status to IGOs.
3 
                                                      
3 Egypt's intervention up to this point was made  at the informal open-ended CTD meeting held on 
29 March 2012, and is reproduced here at the request of Egypt.  The remainder of Egypt's intervention under 
this agenda item was made at the 84th Session. WT/COMTD/M/84 
Page 18  
 
  79. In concluding, he emphasized that it was necessary to make a distinction between the work of 
the Regular Session of the CTD, and the work of the CTD in Special Session and the various 
Dedicated Sessions.  Under the present agenda item,  the purpose of the discussion was to explore the 
work of the Regular Session.  He also did not believe that it would be useful to dwell on the 
experiences of Members on whether trade had led to  development, and under what circumstances. 
The relationship between trade and development was,  in any case, not a simple one.  Rather, it was a 
complex relationship with several variables that ne eded to be taken into account.  He cited a number 
of examples, including the impact of economic and financial crises, protectionism and non-tariff 
barriers.  There was, therefore, a whole list of i ssues that needed to be addressed before Members 
could be in a position to determine how trade could lead to development.  Finally, given that the 
present discussion was concerned with the MC8 manda te on trade and development, he said that 
developing countries and LDCs should play the leadi ng role in determining what the priorities should 
be.  He also expressed his delegation's support for th e interventions by India, China, Ecuador, Cuba, 
Kenya, Nigeria, El Salvador and Pakistan. 
80. The representative of Hong Kong, China said that  her delegation had made  an intervention on 
this matter at the 29 March informal CTD.  She i ndicated that her delegation supported pursuing more 
focused work in the CTD by building upon the Co mmittee's terms of reference and monitoring the 
fulfilment of its mandate in a systematic way.  Hong  Kong, China also shared the view that an early 
conclusion of the Monitoring Mechanism should be a pr iority, and would strengthen the CTD's role as 
the focal point on development issues. 
81. The Chairperson said that the CTD Chairman w ould be holding informal  consultations on the 
MC8 mandate. The Committee could also continue the discussion under the present agenda item at 
the next formal meeting. 
82. The Committee took note of all interventions.  
E. ELECTRONIC COMMERCE  
 -   WORK PROGRAMME ON ELECTRONIC COMMERCE - DECISION OF 
 17 DECEMBER  2011( WT/L/843) 
83. The Chairperson referred to the 17 December 2011 Decision of the Ministerial Conference, 
contained in document WT/L/843.  She said that she wished to draw Members'  attention to the fact 
that, through this Decision, the instruction had been given to "emphasize and reinvigorate the 
development dimension in the Work Programme particularly through the CTD and examine and 
monitor development-related issues such as technical  assistance, capacity building, and the facilitation 
of access to electronic commerce by micro, smal l and medium-sized enterprises, including small 
producers and suppliers, of developing countries and particularly least developed Members".  While 
there was more contained in the Decision, she believe d that, from the point of view of the CTD, what 
she had read out broadly captured wh at the Committee needed to look at. 
84. She went on to say that, at the 29 March open-ended informal CTD meeting that she had 
referred to under the previous agenda item, Memb ers had been provided the opportunity to discuss 
how the CTD could proceed on electronic commerce (e-commerce) on the basis of the 17 December 2011 Decision.  The discussion had s hown that some Members felt that it would be 
useful to understand more about what were the problems and needs of developing countries in the 
e-commerce area.  Additionally, it was suggested that  experiences and best practices could be shared. 
There was also the indication that work on e-co mmerce needed be undertak en in a complementary 
manner across the WTO bodies that were mandated to work in this area.  Among the proposals, the 
idea of holding workshops on issues related to e-co mmerce, and the suggestion of coordinating with 
other IGOs, were noted.  She observed that these coul d be some of the feasible ways to proceed, if  WT/COMTD/M/84 
 Page 19 
 
 
  Members were willing.  She invited those delegations  that had suggested holding a workshop to come 
forward with a possible programme and structure.  She also invited any further contributions from 
Members at the present meeting. 
85. The representative of Cuba indicated that sh e wished to repeat some points from her 
delegation's intervention at the 29 March informal CTD meeting.  She observed that, in the area of 
e-commerce, the asymmetries and the problems facing many developing countri es were considerable.  
During the preparatory phase of MC8, a group of countries including Cuba had outlined a few ideas aimed at resolving these issues and reinvigorati ng the Work Programme on e-commerce within the 
framework of the CTD in a transparent, inclusiv e and participatory manner.  She suggested that 
workshops and specialized meetings could be orga nized with the participation of UNCTAD, the ITU 
and other appropriate institutions. 
86. The representative of Ecuador said that the discussions and negotiations on e-commerce held 
at the end of 2011 had allowed a better understandi ng of trends in e-commerce, as well as the 
relationship between e-commerce, development a nd poverty reduction.  With regard to these 
negotiations, he said that recognition needed to be given to the substantial flexibility shown by the 
proponents in an effort to move towards the fina lization of a Ministerial Decision on e-commerce.  
What the proponents had in mind was the continued reinvigoration of the mandates under the Work Programme on e-commerce.  He emphasized in this  regard the basic principles of the WTO, the 
development dimension of e-commerce and the role  of small producers and suppliers in developing 
countries. He mentioned the importance of creati ng and developing the capacities of small producers 
and suppliers - including micro, small and medi um-sized-enterprises (MSMEs) - in developing 
countries to use e-commerce, and informati on and communications technologies (ICTs) more 
generally.  
87. In this light, he suggested that the CTD coul d organize workshops to promote the sharing of 
experiences, to analyze best practices in public suppor t, to consider regulatory and institutional issues, 
and to discuss technical-assistance needs.  The CTD could also coordinate w ith other organizations 
such as UNCTAD, the ITU and WIPO in preparing pe riodic reports on the participation of developing 
countries in global e-commerce. It was also suggest ed that e-commerce be incorporated into the 
Aid-for-Trade Initiative in order to facilitate improv ements in the technical capacity of developing 
countries in the formulation of releva nt policies, laws and regulations.
4 
88. The representative of the United States said that his delegation welcomed the 
17 December 2011 Decision and was open to hearing suggestions on ways to re-invigorate the Work 
Programme on e-commerce.  As the US and some other Members had noted at the 29 March informal 
CTD meeting, a number of other WTO bodies were also exploring issues related to the Work 
Programme.  It was, therefore, important to coordi nate and consult with those bodies regarding their 
efforts and discussions.  His delegation had noted with  interest the ideas that had been put forward on 
areas of work for the CTD in rela tion to e-commerce.  With respect to the idea of holding workshops, 
he said that it would be helpful to get a sense of the concrete areas that the proponents wanted to see 
addressed.  This could also help to focus discussi ons on technical assistance and Aid for Trade.  The 
US welcomed input from the proponents regarding th eir priorities and specific needs in the area of 
technical assistance for e-commerce, so as to al low Members to address e-commerce development 
needs effectively.  In relation to the proposal that the CTD promote the use of e-commerce, he 
indicated that it was still unclear to his delega tion how the Committee could do this within its 
mandate. He welcomed further clarification from the pr oponents.  Similarly, further clarification as to 
the basis for coordinating with other organizations  such as UNCTAD or the IT U would be helpful for 
Members. 
                                                      
4 This intervention by Ecuador was made at the informal open-ended CTD meeting held on 
29 March 2012 and is reproduced here at the request of Ecuador. WT/COMTD/M/84 
Page 20  
 
  89. The representative of El Salvador said that the ideas that had been put forward at the 
29 March informal CTD meeting warranted further a ttention and analysis by the CTD.  The mandate 
given by Ministers was broad enough to address the various proposals that had been put forward, 
including with regard to the organization of a range of events at which e-commerce could be 
discussed.  In addition to these proposals, she said that  the possibility could also be explored of the 
Secretariat preparing a paper analyzing the situa tion of MSMEs in developing countries in terms of 
access to e-commerce.  A range of literature was avai lable which could be used as the basis for such a 
document.  While similar initiatives had already be en suggested in other WTO bodies, El Salvador 
felt that a document of this nature in the CTD coul d contribute to discussions in the Committee, and to 
a better understanding of the situati on. Finally, he expressed his delega tions willingness to continue to 
participate actively in the discussi ons on this matter in the CTD. 
90. The representative of the European Union said that the reinvigoration of the Work 
Programme on e-commerce remained very high on the EU's agenda.  The EU looked forward to 
receiving more information on the organization of workshops and the possible role of the CTD and other WTO Committees in this regard. 
91. The representative of Nicaragua expressed her delegation's willingness to participate in the 
reinvigoration of the development dimension of the Work Programme on e-commerce.  Nicaragua 
believed that the Work Programme had to embrac e the principle of non-discrimination. The Work 
Programme also needed to look into the adoptio n of standards enabling e nhanced connectivity and 
access to ICTs and public internet sites, particul arly for SMEs in developing and least-developed 
countries. Technical assistance and capacity building were key factors in achieving these objectives.   
92. The Chairperson encouraged Members to cons ult amongst themselves to see whether some of 
the proposals that had been put forward could be further concretized.  She said that updates from 
Members on the progress that was being made would be welcome. The CTD could also continue its 
discussion on this matter at its next formal meeting. 
93. The Committee took note of all interventions.    
F. NOTIFICATIONS UNDER THE ENABLING CLAUSE  
94. The Chairperson said that she wished to prov ide Members with a brief update on the RTAs 
notified under the Enabling Clause that were to be considered in the CTD's Dedicated Sessions on 
RTAs.  She firstly informed the Committee that fo r a number of RTAs – namely, RTAs between India 
and Malaysia, India and MERCOSUR, India and Nepa l, India and Afghanistan, and India and Bhutan 
– the full set of data needed to complete the factual presentations had not been submitted by the 
parties.  Of these agreements, only data relating to India-MERCOSUR and India-Malaysia had been 
provided to date.  With regard to India-MERCOSU R, the Secretariat had received all the necessary 
data from MERCOSUR, but was still waiting to recei ve some data from India.  In the case of 
India-Malaysia, the delegation of Ma laysia had provided the required da ta. She urged all the parties to 
these Agreements to provide the data as soon as possible. 
95. She also recalled that it had been mentioned in  past meetings that there were a number of 
RTAs notified under the Enabling Clause that had not b een ratified by all the parties.  Following the 
procedures of the Committee on Regional Trade Agreements (CRTA), an RTA falling in this category would only be considered by the CTD after it had b een ratified by all the parties.  There were three 
RTAs notified under the Enabling Clause that fell w ithin this category, namely the Pacific Island 
Countries Trade Agreement (PICTA), the South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) and the 
ASEAN-India Agreement.  The parties to these Agreem ents were urged to inform the Secretariat as 
soon as all ratifications were complete.  WT/COMTD/M/84 
 Page 21 
 
 
  96. She additionally drew Members' attention to the implementation reports which were required 
under paragraph 15 of the TM for RTAs.  Accord ing to this paragraph, at the end of the 
implementation period of an RTA, the parties were  to submit to the WTO a short written report on the 
realization of the liberalization commitments in the RTA as originally notified.  Thus far, no such 
reports had been received from Members. To be gin the operationalization of paragraph 15 of the 
RTAs TM in the context of the CTD, she said that the Secretariat had been requested to compile an 
informal list of RTAs notified under the Enabling Clause, along with the date of the end of the implementation period of each RTA.  This list wo uld be circulated to Members shortly after the 
present meeting.  She requested Members to check th e dates of the end of the implementation periods 
in the list, and to inform the S ecretariat of any discrepancies.   
97. She added that a discussion was to take place at the next CRTA meeting on how to proceed 
with implementation reports for RTAs notified under GATT Article XXIV and GATS Article V.  She 
noted that it would be important for the CTD to monitor the outcome of this discussion, and to hold its own discussion shortly thereafter on implementati on reports for RTAs notified under the Enabling 
Clause.  From a practical point of view, she believed that it was in Members' interests to continue to 
maintain similar procedures between the two Commi ttees when it came to implementing the TM for 
RTAs.   
98. Having concluded her introductory  remarks under the present agenda item, she indicated that 
the Committee could turn to the three listed sub-ite ms.  She said that, at the last meeting, the 
delegations of China, Egypt and India had requested that the three sub-items be retained on the agenda 
for the present meeting. As Members were awar e, divergent views had been expressed on issues 
relating to the three sub-items.  She informed the Committee that the CTD Chairman had held 
informal consultations after the last meeting wi th a number of delegations, in order to hear 
suggestions on how Members could move forward.  While the consultations had provided a useful 
forum for an exchange of ideas, it appeared that there was a need for more informal discussions. 
Therefore, the CTD Chairman intended to c ontinue with his informal consultations. 
- 
GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL (GCC) NOTIFICATION OF CUSTOMS UNION – 
COMMUNICATION FROM CHINA , EGYPT AND INDIA (WT/COMTD /W/175) 
99. The Chairperson said that the first sub-ite m under the present agenda item concerned the 
GCC Customs Union notification.  The sub-item al so referred to the communication from China, 
Egypt and India which was circulated in document WT/COMTD/W/175. 
100. The representative of Egypt said that the present sub-item was introduced at the 73rd Session 
at the US' request.  At that meeting, the US had expressed its concern over the fact that the 
notification of the GCC Customs Union had been  made in 2007 exclusively under the Enabling 
Clause.  The US had requested the GCC countries to re-notify their customs union under GATT Article XXIV and had announced that it would not support moving forward with the process of 
considering the Agreement until the Agreement was re-notified.  Two years later, the RTA was 
notified once again to the CRTA under Article XXIV of GATT.  In reaction, the delegations of China, 
India, and Egypt had raised several legal and pr ocedural concerns over the manner in which RTAs 
continued to be dealt with.  The three delegations had requested that the present sub-item be retained 
on the CTD's agenda until the time that the issues  and their implications were resolved by the 
Committee and a determination could be made on how  to consider RTAs with a dual notification 
status.  He emphasized that this needed to be  done without further undermining the CTD's mandate 
and its terms of reference.  It was also important  to not undermine the CTD's role in considering 
RTAs, or the scope of application of the Enabling Clause.  
101. He went on to say that the GCC Customs Union notification presented a peculiar challenge to 
the CTD.  During informal consultations, some Me mbers had argued that the dual notification of the WT/COMTD/M/84 
Page 22  
 
  GCC Customs Union was different from the other two RTAs with a dual notification status.  It had 
also been argued that the GCC Customs Union should not have been notified under the Enabling 
Clause, and that customs unions in general were not  covered by the provisions of the Enabling Clause.  
China, Egypt and India had illustrated through mo re than a dozen arguments - both specific and 
systemic in nature - the issues that needed to be resolved in the CTD in order to safeguard that a 
decision taken with respect to the GCC Custom s Union was coherent, unbiased, transparent and 
compatible with the disciplines and procedures that these delegations were so keen to maintain and 
uphold.  To this end, the three delegations cont inued to highlight several legal and procedural 
concerns and questions that need ed to be addressed by the CTD. 
102. He went on to list several points in this regard .  As his first point, he inquired whether there 
was any legal understanding to subs tantiate the views that had been  expressed by some Members that 
the Enabling Clause did not provide legal coverage for the GCC Customs Union or any other custom 
union.  If this was the case, he sought clarifica tion as to why Members had approved several other 
customs unions between developing countries that had been notified to the CTD under the Enabling 
Clause.  These included the Andean Community , MERCUSOR, the East African Community, the 
Economic and Monetary Community of Central Afri ca and the West African Economic and Monetary 
Union. Second, according to the Secretariat's Lega l Note of 2003, the provisions of the Enabling 
Clause sufficed to authorize the creation of a customs union among developing and least-developed 
Members, even if the requirements authorizing the establishment of these unions as per GATT Article XXIV were not completely satisfied.  It see med, therefore, that custom unions were in fact 
authorized and covered by the Enabling Clause.  
103. As his third point, he said that the Unifie d Economic Agreement, which established the GCC 
Customs Union, was notified to the WTO in 1984 ex clusively on the basis of  the Enabling Clause.  
According to GATT records, the Contracting Parties had agreed to consider this Agreement in the 
CTD within the realm of preferential arrangements among developing countries.  This raised serious 
questions on the consistency of the positions that so me Members had maintained with respect to the 
consideration of the GCC Customs Union and othe r customs unions.  Fourth, since the Agreement 
establishing the GCC Customs Union had already been  notified under the Enabling Clause in 1984, he 
questioned whether the 1995 General Council Deci sion on the avoidance of procedural and 
institutional duplication had been applied in this case.  In particular, he questioned why the GCC had 
been requested to make a second and third notification as part of accession commitments.  His fifth point followed from this observation. In particular , since the Unified Economic Agreement had been 
notified under the Enabling Clause in 1984, he indi cated that the notifications of the GCC Customs 
Union in 2007 and 2009 needed be treated as subseque nt notifications in the context of the RTAs TM. 
104. To make his sixth point, he referred to the procedures for reporting on RTAs adopted by the 
CTD in 1998 in document WT/COMTD/16.  According to this document, any information subsequent 
to an initial notification under the Enabling Clause had to be notified under paragraph 4(a) of the 
Enabling Clause.  In this light, he questioned th e extent to which Members had adhered to these 
procedures in the case of the GCC Customs Union.  He also questioned whether it was legal to obtain 
accession commitments in violation of existing WTO provisions.  Moving on to his seventh point, he 
said that it appeared that a member of the GCC ha d in 2007 notified the implementation procedures 
for the GCC Customs Union under the Enabling Clause.  Subsequently, in 2009, the same 
implementation procedures had been notified under GATT Article XXIV.  However, in 1984, another 
GCC member had notified the Agreement establis hing the GCC Customs Union under the Enabling 
Clause.  He questioned how such unilateral actions a ffected the rights and obligations of the parties to 
this RTA. He also indicated that it would be importa nt to clarify the legal implications of having an 
Agreement establishing a customs union notified unde r the Enabling Clause while another notification 
regarding an amendment to that Agreem ent was notified under GATT Article XXIV.   WT/COMTD/M/84 
 Page 23 
 
 
  105. His eighth point was related to WTO Members' accession commitments. In particular, he 
inquired to what extent a Me mber's accession comm itment to notify an RTA under GATT 
Article XXIV took precedence over another Member's  right to notify the same RTA to the CTD under 
the Enabling Clause. Ninth, he questioned whether the CTD had fulfilled its mandate in considering 
the GCC Customs Union.  In particular, he pointed ou t that the CTD's terms of reference required it to 
consider any questions in relation to either the app lication or the use of special provisions in favour of 
developing country Members, including with regard to the Enabling Clause.  For his tenth point, he 
referred to rule 33 of the CTD's rules of procedur e. In particular, as required by this rule, he 
questioned whether the Committee had reported to  the General Council on the impasse in the 
interpretation and scope of application of the Enab ling Clause, as well as the impasse with regard to 
other specific and systemic issues arising from dual notifications. He pointed out that no decision was 
ever taken in either the GATT or the WTO to review  the scope of application of the Enabling Clause.  
106. Eleventh, he asked whether Members had agreed  to set a practice whereby notifications of 
RTAs among developing countries were contested at first sight without a factual presentation 
prepared by the Secretariat to substantiate such a challenge.  If this was the case, he questioned how 
by doing so Members were respecting the obligation contained in paragraph 5 of the TM for RTAs.  
He followed up on his question by making his twelfth point.  In particular, he asked whether Members 
would be in a position to accept a similar practice in the case of RTAs that were notified under GATT Article XXIV. He added that such actions were not  prescribed in the TM for RTAs.  Moving to his 
thirteenth point, he asked why the transparency  procedures of the TM for RTAs had not been 
triggered when the notification of the GCC Customs Union was made in 2007 under the Enabling 
Clause.  He elaborated by asking what had dela yed the CTD from carrying out its functions under the 
RTAs TM for more than two years, until a subsequent notificati on was made under GATT 
Article XXIV in 2009. 
107. Turning to his fourteenth point, he said that RTA transparency and notification obligations in 
the CTD were distinct from any action that a Memb er might wish to take in other WTO bodies with 
respect to an RTA.  This led him to his fifteenth point, for which he referred in particular to the 
provisions in Section C of the RTAs TM.  These pr ovisions stated that, upon notification and without 
prejudging the substance under which an RTA had been notified, the RTA would be considered by 
Members on the basis of a factual presentation.  Sixteenth, he indicated that, from the reaction of 
some developed Members and from a number of pa nel and appellate body rulings, it was the 
applicable WTO legal provision - and not the venue of consideration - that was the core issue.  As his 
seventeenth point, he asked whether the positions maintained by some Members regarding the GCC 
Customs Union could be seen as a reversion to the practice of making legal judgments on the compatibility of RTAs notified to the WTO under ei ther the Enabling Clause or GATT Article XXIV.  
He noted that the only RTA notified under GATT Artic le XXIV that was ever deemed to be fully 
compatible was the Czech-Slovak Customs Union. Neither the North America Free Trade Agreement 
nor the Treaty of Rome establishing the European Economic Community had been decreed as 
compatible with GATT Article XXIV. 
108. As his eighteenth point, he questioned whether Members had the right to challenge the 
legality of an RTA or describe a notification of  a customs union as "incorrect" for having invoked the 
Enabling Clause.  In particular, he indicated that this was not in conformity with the ad referendum 
commitment found in Annex C of the draft Ca ncún Ministerial Declaration, where Members 
guaranteed that the Enabling Clause would apply wh enever action was taken by developing Members 
under the provisions of this Clause.  For his nine teenth point, he questioned on what basis some 
Members advocated that the GCC Customs Union, notified on the basis of the Enabling Clause, be 
reviewed by the CRTA.  He elaborated by noting th at, according to the CRTA's terms of reference, it 
could not do so.  This was because there were no pr ovisions that allowed the CRTA to proceed with 
the consideration of an RTA notified on  the basis of the Enabling Clause.  WT/COMTD/M/84 
Page 24  
 
  109. He went on to say that the points he had made were just a few of the specific and systemic 
issues that needed to be addressed.  He emphasized th at any review of an RTA, wherever it occurred, 
had to be performed according to the legal provision that had been invoked to justify the WTO consistency of the RTA in question.  In the present context, any review of an RTA notified under the 
Enabling Clause had to be carried out in accordan ce with the terms of reference of the CTD.  
Furthermore, the CTD had the overall responsibility for the operation of the Enabling Clause.  The 
legal obligations arising from the application of the Enabling Clause were very different from those 
found in GATT Article XXIV.  This was why his de legation had called for prudence in addressing the 
specific and systemic issues at hand.  It was clea rly a legal and procedural understatement to merely 
address the issue of the venue of consideration of an  RTA.  It was also arguable that customs unions 
among developing countries could c ontinue to be notified under the Enabling Clause.  The objective 
and purpose of the Enabling Clause clearly distingui shed it from other exceptions such as those found 
in GATT Articles XXIV, XX and XXI.  Finally, he requested that the dual notification of the GCC 
Customs Union and the other two RTAs with a dual  notification be considered by the CTD. His 
delegation further requested that these items be reta ined on the CTD's agenda for further consideration 
on the basis of the Enabling Clause.  
110. The representative of India said that his delega tion associated itself with the intervention by 
Egypt.  He emphasized the clear similarities betw een the three RTAs listed under the present agenda 
item, and indicated that there were common concerns relating to the three.  He said that his delegation had not requested the insertion of an agenda item, but rather to retain the GCC sub-item.  This was in 
keeping with past practice that an agenda item was retained until the time that discussions were 
exhausted and Members decided by consensus to drop the item.  His delegation hoped that there 
would be substantive engagement at the present meeting from those delegations that had so far 
avoided discussions on issues of serious concern to developing countries. 
111. He recalled that the issue had first been discussed at the 69
th Session under "Other Business".  
Since the 73rd Session, it had appeared as a sub-item on the CTD's agenda, initially at the request of 
the US.  He noted with concern that during the last few years, discussions had largely focused on 
procedural matters.  Some Members continued to create hurdles, even in correctly reflecting in the CTD's annual report the discussions that had taken pl ace.  In an effort to promote constructive and 
substantive engagement, China, Egypt and India had made a formal submission in September 2010. 
The submission was a constructive effort to list some systemic and specific concerns that needed to be 
addressed in order to facilitate a resolution of the is sue.  Concerns which were systemic as well as 
specific to the GCC notification had been highlighted .  The systemic concerns related to the Enabling 
Clause, the mandate and terms of reference of the CTD, and the TM for RTAs. Specific concerns emanated not only from the suggestions of some Members regarding the consideration of the GCC 
Customs Union in a certain procedural way.  There were also concerns arising from the notification, 
the re-notification, the withdrawal of notifications  and the efforts to deny developing countries the 
right to notify under the Enabling Clause.   
112. He said that there had also been suggestions that the concerns voiced by some developing 
countries be discussed in the NGR.  In India's vi ew, the NGR had a mandate on transparency. The 
Doha Declaration, in paragr aph 29, mandated negotiations ai med at clarifying and improving 
disciplines and procedures under the existing WTO provisions applying to RTAs.  Paragraph 29 also stated that the negotiations would take into account the developmental aspects of RTAs.  He 
cautioned that not all the concerns raised in th e submission by China, Egypt and India could be 
addressed in the NGR.  Furthermore, at the pr esent time, the work schedule of the NGR was 
uncertain.  It was therefore even more impor tant to discuss the issue in the CTD.   
113. He went on to say that his delegation wanted an  early resolution of the issue so that there 
could be continued progress in the transparency of all RTAs. It was clear that the RTAs TM in its 
present form did not provide procedures for RTAs w ith a dual notification.  Furthermore, the NGR  WT/COMTD/M/84 
 Page 25 
 
 
  could do justice to only a few issues highlighted by developing countries. It was the responsibility of 
the CTD to deal comprehensively with the systemic  and specific issues relating to the three RTAs and 
to justify its mandate as the focal point for the c onsideration and coordinatio n of developmental work 
in the WTO.  Finally, he expressed appreciation for the efforts of the CTD Chairman in holding 
numerous informal consultations.  Unfortunately , because of a lack of engagement by a few 
delegations, the consultations had not brought Members any closer to a resolution.  Constructive 
engagement was needed from all Members so that  this long-pending issue concerning the protection 
of developing countries' rights under the Enabling Clau se was resolved, and so that the pivotal role of 
the CTD was maintained. 
114. The representative of China expressed support for the interventions by Egypt and India.  He 
also expressed his appreciation to the CTD Chai rman for holding informal consultations.  He 
indicated that the present sub-item had appeared on the CTD's agenda for 12 consecutive meetings, 
and that Members were familiar with the history and evolution of the discussion. As China had 
repeatedly stated, the issue was not simply a proce dural one concerning the venue of consideration.  
More seriously and fundamentally, the issue relate d to the legal rights and obligations of Members 
under WTO Agreements.  Members needed to consid er its profound implications in a systemic and 
substantive way.  In China's view, the proper soluti on needed to consist of a number of elements.  
First, the rights of developing Members under the Enabling Clause had to be respected, especially the right to invoke paragraph 2(c) of this Clause. Second, the central role of the CTD in development-related issues, as stipulated in paragra ph 1 of the Committee's terms of reference, needed 
to be maintained and strengthened.  Any issue re lating to the application of the Enabling Clause was 
certainly within the competence of the CTD. 
115. He recalled that China, together with Egypt and India, had tabled a joint communication in 
September 2010 illustrating specific and systemic con cerns arising out of the dual notification of the 
GCC Customs Union.  The aim was to remind Members of the complexity of the implications of dual 
notifications, and to trigger the necessary brainstormi ng to find an appropriate solution.  However, he 
noted with disappointment that little progress, if any,  had been achieved.  The numerous specific and 
systemic issues listed in the communication remained to be addressed.  Some Members had indicated on previous occasions that the issue of dual notifi cations should be addressed in the NGR.  China did 
not have any fundamental objection to this, and ha d seriously engaged in the discussion in the NGR.  
However, some of the concerns illustrated in the communication could not be fully resolved in the 
NGR.  He cited as examples the question of whether the Enabling Clause provided the legal 
justification for the formation of a customs union  that involved the elimination or reduction of 
non-tariff measures, and the question of whether a Me mber's accession commit ment to notify an RTA 
to the CRTA under GATT Article XXIV took precedence over other Members' rights to notify the same Agreement to the CTD under the Enabling Clau se.  Another concern was whether the discussion 
in the NGR would yield any results in the near fu ture.  In conclusion, he said that his delegation 
firmly believed that Members needed to discuss this issue in the CTD without further delay.  He urged 
the relevant Members to actively and c onstructively engage in the discussion.  
116. The representative of Australia said that his delegation recognized the importance of the 
issues raised for the Members whose communication was listed under the present sub-item.  Australia 
had a strong systemic interest in these issues.  Ho wever, it was clear that there was no consensus in 
the CTD on how to move forward.  The protracted  and frustrating negotiations in the Committee at 
the end of 2011 on how to reflect discussions unde r the present sub-item in the annual report 
underlined this.  Members needed to bear in mind that the CTD had met five times in November 2011 
to discuss this issue in the context of the annual repor t, in addition to a number of informal meetings.  
This was the twelfth time that this sub-item app eared on the CTD's agenda. Continued inclusion of 
this sub-item was placing a heavy burden on the work of the Committee.  This was at a time when 
there was a range of pressing issues before Members in the CTD, in particular in terms of follow-up 
from MC8. Nevertheless, Australia  believed that interested Members should continue informal WT/COMTD/M/84 
Page 26  
 
  discussions on this matter.  Australia remained w illing to engage in these informal consultations and 
was ready to discuss any proposals for reaching consensus on a way forward. 
117. The representative of Japan said that he wished  to comment on the status of implementation 
of the TM for RTAs in the context of RTAs notif ied under the Enabling Clause.  In particular, he 
expressed his delegation's concern that the CTD wa s not able to hold any Dedicated Sessions on 
RTAs, as the parties to several RTAs had not provi ded the necessary data to the Secretariat.  He 
encouraged the concerned Members to submit the data  to the Secretariat as soon as possible so that 
the RTAs TM could be implemented in the CTD. With regard to the discussion under the present 
sub-item, he supported the intervention by Australi a.  He said that Japan was willing to actively 
engage on this matter in the NGR, but also welcom ed the informal consultations called by the CTD 
Chairman. 
118. The representative of the United States tha nked the Chairperson for clarifying which 
delegations had requested the present sub-item.  He  also appreciated that the present sub-item was 
being treated individually, as it was separate and distinct from the other sub-items.  His delegation 
continued to have concerns with  the present sub-item being listed on  the agenda.  The sub-item had 
fulfilled its purpose of informing Members of the notification made, and needed to be removed from 
the agenda.  He regretted that this  matter had taken up so much of the Committee's time over the past 
few years.  These were the types of issues that hi s delegation had referred to under agenda item D that 
took time, resources and attention away from other pressing matters.  
119. The US wanted to be very clear that it had no quarrel with any developing country notifying a 
qualifying agreement under the Enabling Clause.  Ho wever, this was not what the GCC Customs 
Union notification issue was about.  The GCC Cu stoms Union notification concerned a customs 
union, which made it different from non-customs union RT A notifications.  It appeared that the paper 
referenced with the present sub-item was seeking a systemic discussion of RTAs, particularly with regard to the issue of dual notifications.  However, given that the GCC Customs Union was 
incorrectly notified under the Enabling Clause and that this was subseque ntly corrected by the 
notifying Members, the GCC Customs Union notification was not a dual notification.  The US had 
stated its position on this issue clearly and there was no need to rehash those points at the present 
meeting.  He expressed his hope that Members coul d move forward constructively, recognizing that 
the GCC Customs Union issue was not an issue of dual notification, but rather something to be 
addressed under the RTAs TM in the CRTA. 
120. The representative of Canada regretted that th is procedural matter remained on the formal 
agenda, as it continued to prevent the CTD from undertaking focused work on more substantive 
issues.  As discussions had demonstrated, the onl y way that these issues would be resolved was 
through more frank discussion in informal mode . He urged the Chairman and those Members 
involved to follow this track.  Canada was ready to participate in any informal discussions and 
contribute in good faith.  He noted the critical role  played by the CRTA in reviewing relevant RTAs, 
and indicated that this delegation would not wish to see such a transparency  role weakened in any 
way. 
121. The representative of the European Union supporte d the interventions by the US, Canada and 
Australia. He called for an early resolution to this matter so that the work of the CTD would not be 
further disrupted.  The EU was willing to continue to participate in informal consultations in this 
regard.  He also indicated that he obj ected to the allusions used by Egypt. 
122. The representative of Egypt said that he wished  to respond to the US' intervention, and in 
particular the comment that an incorrect notifica tion had been submitted to the CTD.  He questioned 
whether Members were in the habit of making in correct notifications.  If the GCC Customs Union 
notification was not a dual notification, he did not see why Members would have been discussing the  WT/COMTD/M/84 
 Page 27 
 
 
  matter for so many years.  He requested clarifi cation from the Secretariat as to whether the GCC 
Customs Union was notified under both the Enabli ng Clause and GATT Article XXIV.  He also 
indicated his surprise with the EU's intervention.  He said that his delegation had raised issues which 
were of interest to a number of other delegations  including China, India and the Arab Group, as well 
as several African and LDC Members.  Interest had been indicated not only in the CTD, but also in 
other WTO bodies.     
123. The Chairperson said that the Secretariat would get back to Egypt on the question concerning 
the GCC Customs Union.  She also  indicated that the Chairman in tended to continue his informal 
consultations. 
124. The representative of Nigeria said that it was regr ettable that this systemic issue remained 
unresolved.  His delegation shared the view that th e continued inclusion of this sub-item on the CTD's 
agenda was burdensome. He called for further consultations and welcomed any input from the 
Secretariat in terms of legal clarification. 
125. The Committee took note of all interventions.   
- NOTIFICATION OF THE AGREEMENT ON TRADE  IN GOODS BETWEEN THE ASSOCIATION 
OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS (ASEAN ) AND KOREA  
126. The Chairperson said that the second sub-item under the present agenda item concerned the 
notification of the ASEAN-Korea Agreement. 
127. The representative of Viet Nam, on behalf of ASEAN, said that ASEAN attached great 
importance to the RTAs TM.  He informed Me mbers that ASEAN would be conducting internal 
consultations on the relevant issues and woul d get back to the CTD at a later stage. 
128. The Committee took note of the intervention by Viet Nam.  
 - NOTIFICATION OF THE COMPREHENSIV E ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT 
 BETWEEN INDIA AND KOREA (GOODS ) 
129. The Chairperson said that the third sub-ite m under the present agenda item concerned the 
notification of the India-Korea Agreement. 
130. The representative of the United States said that  his delegation continued to have concerns 
with the ASEAN-Korea and India-Korea notificatio ns being listed on the CTD's agenda as the second 
and third sub-items under the present agenda item.   These sub-items had fulfilled their purpose of 
informing Members of the notifications made, and needed to be removed from the agenda. The issue 
of dual notifications was directly linked to the f unctioning of the RTAs TM, and the US believed that 
the NGR was the appropriate forum for this discussion.   The US requested that the issue be removed 
from the CTD's agenda for the next meeting. 
131. The Committee took note of the intervention by the United States. 
132. In closing the discussion under this agenda item, the Chairperson reiterated that the CTD 
Chairman intended to continue his informal consulta tions.  She also indicated that she would inform 
the CTD Chairman of the discussion that had taken place at the present meeting.  WT/COMTD/M/84 
Page 28  
 
  G. 
NOTIFICATIONS UNDER THE TRANSPARENCY MECHANISM FOR PREFERENTIAL TRADE 
ARRANGEMENTS  
133. The Chairperson said that she wished to begi n the practice of providing a brief update to 
Members under the present agenda item of the PTAs no tified under the TM for PTAs that were to be 
considered in the CTD's Dedicated Sessions on PTAs.   She added that the present agenda item also 
provided the possibility for Members to consider ot her matters relating to PTA notifications.  Thus, 
the notification by Korea of its Preferential Tari ff Treatment for LDCs appeared as a sub-item under 
the present agenda item. 
134. She went on to say that three notifications of PTAs to be considered in Dedicated Sessions 
had been made to the CTD since the establishment of the TM for PTAs.  These concerned PTAs being 
implemented by India, China and Chinese Taipei. India's notification was circulated in document 
WT/COMTD/N/38, while China's notification was ci rculated in document WT/COMTD/N/39.  In the 
case of China's PTA, she also referred Members to document WT/COMTD/N/39/Add.1/Rev.1, which 
contained the tariff lines covered by the scheme.  Finally, the PTA being implemented by Chinese 
Taipei was notified to the CTD in document WT /COMTD/N/40 and WT/COMTD/N/40/Corr.1.  All 
three PTAs had been notified in 2011 under para graph 1(b) of the PTAs TM.  This paragraph 
concerned PTAs taking the form of preferential treatment accorded by  any Member to the products of 
LDCs.  She informed the Committee that the Secret ariat had been in contact with the notifying 
Members regarding the provision of data for the prep aration of the factual presentations of the three 
PTAs.  At the present time, the data had not yet been provided to the Secretariat.  However, if the data 
for one or more of the PTAs were submitted soon, it remained feasible to hold a Dedicated Session on 
PTAs in 2012.  
- PREFERENTIAL TARIFF TREATMENT FOR LEAST -DEVELOPED COUNTRIES - 
NOTIFICATION BY KOREA (WT/COMTD /N/12/ REV.1/ADD.1)  
135. The Chairperson said that the notificati on by Korea was circulated in document 
WT/COMTD/N/12/Rev.1/Add.1.  The notification c oncerned changes to a PT A that was already in 
force when the TM for PTAs was established, and that was previously notified to the WTO.  The 
PTAs TM required changes affecting the im plementation of a PTA to be notified. 
136. She said that she wished to draw Members' atten tion to the fact that the notification by Korea 
also appeared on the agenda of the 65th Session of the Sub-Committee on LDCs that was to be held on 
16 April 2012. In light of the longstanding practice for the substantive consideration of notifications 
concerning market access for LDCs to take place in  the Sub-Committee, she suggested that Members' 
detailed discussion of the notification by Korea ta ke place at the 16 April Sub-Committee meeting. 
137. It was so agreed. 
H. REVIEW OF STEPS T AKEN TO PROVIDE DUTY -FREE AND QUOTA -FREE MARKET ACCESS TO 
LEAST -DEVELOPED COUNTRIES  
138. The Chairperson said that an  item concerning the Hong Kong Decision on DFQF market 
access for LDCs had been on the CTD's agenda sin ce early 2006.  Under this item, delegations had 
provided information on the steps they were taking, or had already taken, to provide DFQF market 
access to LDCs.  Written communications by some Members had also been considered.  The CTD 
had to date undertaken six of its mandated annual reviews of th e implementation of the Hong Kong 
Decision. 
139. The representative of Bangladesh said that hi s delegation, as a member of the LDC Group, 
had a well expressed position on this issue that was known to all.  He wished to highlight a few  WT/COMTD/M/84 
 Page 29 
 
 
  pertinent points. He said that all would agree that  S&D was a cornerstone of the multilateral trading 
system. Since the GATT days, the value of the syst em had been recognized as an important tool for 
integrating the LDCs into global trade.  The same principle had been enshrined in the WTO since its 
inception. In this regard, the Decision found in  Annex F of the Hong Kong Declaration was the 
logical outcome in that direction.  Members were  aware that Bangladesh relied on a limited number of 
export products.  Destination market s were also limited.  Banglades h, as a member of the LDC Group, 
would grow to its potential if it was given enhanced  market access through the fullest implementation 
of the Hong Kong Decision, coupled with targeted supply-side assistance.  At MC8, Ministers had once again urged the full implementation of the Decisi on.  However, more than six years had elapsed 
since the Decision was taken, and the fullest outcome had yet to be achieved.  
140. He went on to say that his delegation was enc ouraged to note the progress made towards the 
implementation of the Decision. Some developed Members were offering DFQF market access autonomously, without waiting for the conclusion of the Doha Round.  It was also encouraging to note that a number of developing countries had co me forward to provide LDCs with a significant 
degree of DFQF market access.  He expressed a ppreciation to Members for their endeavours to 
implement the Decision. Bangladesh was also encouraged to see progress in the CTD on the 
transparency of DFQF schemes. This would certain ly strengthen the relevance and efficacy of the 
multilateral trading system. He ur ged all developed Members to im plement the Decision without any 
further delay.  A full implementation of the Deci sion would enhance confidence in the Doha Round 
and the multilateral trading system.  He obser ved that almost all developed Members had 
implemented the Decision and that the remaining Me mber should also extend the same cooperation at 
the earliest. Finally, he said that in July 2011 the US International Trade Commission (USITC) had 
initiated an investigation on the probable economic effect of providing DFQF treatment for imports 
from LDCs.  He inquired whether the US could share the outcome of that process. 
141. The representative of Korea i ndicated that Members would have an opportunity to have a 
detailed discussion of Korea's notification of Preferential Tariff Treatment for LDCs at the upcoming 
meeting of the Sub-Committee on LDCs, which would be  held on 16 April 2012.  At the present time, 
he said that he would make a few brief points on Korea's non-reciprocal preferential scheme for 
LDCs.  He informed the Committee that, on 25 Nove mber 2011, Korea had decided to further extend 
its DFQF market access to LDCs to 4,802 tariff lines at the six-digit level of HS 2007.  This 
corresponded to 95 per cent of Korea's tariff lines. The preferential treatment was offered to the 
48 countries designated as LDCs by the UN.  In a ddition to the extension of  product coverage, Korea 
had also lowered the numeric threshold of the valu e of LDC origin, from 50 per cent to 40 per cent.  
In accordance with the Hong Kong Decision, and th e Multi-year Action Plan on Development agreed 
to at the G-20 Summit in Seoul in 2010, Korea ha d taken steps to make progress in the provision of 
DFQF market access for LDCs by widening the pro duct coverage to 95 per cent.  Korea hoped and 
expected that this enhanced market access would contribute to LDCs' export diversification, trade 
capacity building and economic growth. 
142. The representative of the United States said that his delegation was fully committed to 
implementing the DFQF decision in a manner that would result in meaningful opportunities for the 
products of LDCs, and that was consistent with th e commitments made at the Hong Kong Ministerial 
Conference. He indicated that the question from Bangladesh would be forwarded to his capital. 
143. The Committee took note of all interventions. 
I. DATABASE ON PREFERENTIAL TRADE ARRANGEMENTS - PRESENTATION BY THE SECRETARIAT  
144. The Chairperson said that the TM for PTAs requi red the Secretariat to maintain an updated 
electronic database on individual PTAs that would be  available to the public.  The Database on PTAs 
was presented to the CTD by the Secretariat at an informal, open-ended meeting held on WT/COMTD/M/84 
Page 30  
 
  14 December 2011.  The database was subseque ntly made available only to Members for a 
three-month period, during which comments from Me mbers were invited.  The database became 
available to the public on 14 March 2012.  For the be nefit of Members - and in particular those that 
were not present at the 14 December meeting - the Secretariat would once again present the database 
at the present meeting. Before giving the floor to the Secretariat, she said that she wished to say a few 
words of introduction on the database.   
145. She recalled that, at the 82
nd Session of the CTD held on 5 July 2011, the Committee had 
agreed to a number of modalities to implement the TM  for PTAs.  In the context of that discussion, it 
had been agreed that the Secretariat would prep are a preliminary, informal list of PTAs being 
implemented by WTO Members.  The CTD Chairman had remarked that such a list would provide 
clarity as to which PTAs would initially form part of the electronic database on PTAs.  The informal 
list of PTAs prepared by the Secretariat was fa xed to Members on 23 August 2011.  A total of 
24 PTAs were included in the list.  The CTD Chairman  had indicated in the fax that this was only a 
first attempt to compile a list of PTAs being impl emented by WTO Members, and that the list may not 
necessarily be exhaustive or fully up to date.  Si nce no specific comments were received on the list, 
the database currently contained en tries for the 24 PTAs.  The Secretariat had remained in contact 
with the Members implementing PTAs for several mont hs, so as to work towards having a complete 
set of information for each PTA.  While a significan t amount of information ha d been made available 
by implementing Members, there were still some gaps  that needed to be filled.  She invited the 
Members implementing PTAs to continue to work w ith the Secretariat so that the database could be 
complete as soon as possible. 
146. The remainder of the discussion under this agenda item took place in informal mode.   
J. ELECTION OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE SUB -COMMITTEE ON LEAST -DEVELOPED COUNTRIES  
147. The Chairperson said that she had been informed that consultations had led to the proposal for 
Ambassador Steffen Smidt of Denmark to serve fo r another year as Chairman of the Sub-Committee 
on LDCs.   
148. It was so agreed. 
149. The Chairperson said that it was a great pleasure  to welcome Ambassador Smidt to serve for 
another year as the Chairman of the Sub-Committee on LDCs.  Members were well aware of the 
Ambassador's commitment to LDC i ssues, and in particular of the work that he had undertaken on the 
issue of LDC accession.  
K. ELECTION OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF TH E COMMITTEE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT  
150. The Chairperson said that at the General Council meeting of 24 February 2012, the names of 
the Chairpersons for 2012 had been announced.  As  a formality, she requested  the Committee to elect 
Ambassador Mothae Anthony Maruping of Lesotho as the CTD Chairman for 2012. 
151. The Committee elected Ambassador Maruping as the CTD Chairman for 2012. 
L. OTHER BUSINESS  
152. The Chairperson said that she wished to raise a matter concerning the reduction of 
documentation costs in the CTD.  She recalled that discussions on cost savings in document 
production had taken place at the meeting of the Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration 
in October and November 2011.  The minutes of  that meeting could be found in document 
WT/BFA/128.  Members had agreed to a number of cost-cutting measures in the production of  WT/COMTD/M/84 
 Page 31 
 
 
  documents.  All WTO bodies were to undertake e fforts to reduce the overall volume of official 
documents.  Efforts were also to be made to s ubstantially reduce the printing and distribution of 
documents.  Thus, for instance, as of January 2012, the distribution of official documents in meeting rooms had been discontinued.  She said that she wa nted the CTD to do its part in reducing the volume 
of documentation. She also believed that it was impor tant to encourage the electronic distribution of 
documents.  
153. She said that one measure she proposed at th e present time concerned the minutes of CTD 
meetings, which could be rather lengthy at times. Specifically, she proposed that, wherever possible, the Secretariat could look into putting the discussions  that took place in CTD meetings into summary 
form.  She additionally proposed that the CTD docum ent series henceforth no longer be distributed in 
paper form.  Documents in the series would be av ailable on the WTO's publicly available "documents 
online" system.  Documents that were initially restricted would be placed on the Members' website 
until they were derestricted.  She said that she would welcome any additional suggestions from 
Members to reduce documentation costs going forwar d.  For the present time, however, she asked 
whether the Committee could agree to the two propo sals to reduce documentation costs that she had 
outlined. 
154. The representative of the United States said  that his delegation supported the proposal 
concerning the electronic dissemination of CTD docum ents.  However, the US had reservations about 
a shift to summarized minutes of CTD meetings.  It was important for Members' discussions to proceed on a shared understanding of what had occu rred at prior meetings.  Detailed minutes would 
help to ensure that Members had a full record of previous discussions so as to help inform future 
discussions. 
155. The Chairperson said that the objective of summa ry records was for the main messages to get 
across. Summaries would be more feasible in so me types of discussions or interventions - for 
example, a presentation using PowerPoint - than in others. She added that some WTO bodies already used the summary form. In this li ght, she inquired whether the US would consider the possibility of 
the CTD's meeting records being presented in summary form where possible.   
156. The representative of the United States said that he  was not in a position at the present time to 
join in a consensus to agree to summarize CTD meeting records.   Members were aware that there 
were many issues discussed in the CTD which were of importance to all delegations. It was critical 
that Members understood and had a comple te record of these discussions.    
157. The Committee agreed to the proposal that the CTD document series would henceforth no 
longer be distributed in paper form. With regard  to the proposal for CTD meeting records to be 
presented in summary form where possible, the Chairperson indicated that the Committee could 
return to the matter at a later date. 
158. The meeting was adjourned.  
 
 
 
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