RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/COMTD/SE/M/15 
21 August 2006 
 (06-3964) 
Committee on Trade and Development 
Fifteenth Dedicated Session  
 
 
NOTE ON THE MEETING OF 20 JULY 2006 
 
Chairman:  Mr. Faizel Ismail (South Africa) 
 
 
A. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA ........................................................................................................1  
B. CHAIRMAN 'S REPORT ON THE CONSULTATIONS HELD IN THE SPS  AND TBT  
COMMITTEES AND THE TRIPS  COUNCIL ON THE PROPOSALS IN DOCUMENTS 
WT/COMTD/SE/W/15/R EV.1, WT/COMTD/SE/W/16/R EV.1 AND 
WT/COMTD/SE/W/18/R EV.1....................................................................................................1  
C. PROPOSALS FROM ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA , BARBADOS , CUBA, DOMINICA , FIJI, 
GRENADA , JAMAICA , MAURITIUS , PAPUA NEW GUINEA , SOLOMON ISLANDS , 
ST. KITTS AND NEVIS, ST. VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES .....................................................3  
• AGREEMENT ON TECHNICAL BARRIERS TO TRADE :  DESIGNATION OF A REGIONAL 
BODY (WT/COMTD/SE/W/15/R EV.2).......................................................................................3  
• AGREEMENT ON THE APPLICATION OF SANITARY AND PHYTOSANITARY MEASURES :  
DESIGNATION OF A REGIONAL BODY (WT/COMTD/SE/W/16/R EV.2) .....................................3  
• AGREEMENT ON TRADE -RELATED ASPECTS OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS :  
DESIGNATION OF A REGIONAL BODY (WT/COMTD/SE/W/18/R EV.2) .....................................3  
D. PARAGRAPH 41 OF THE HONG KONG MINISTERIAL DECLARATION :  MONITORING 
PROGRESS OF THE SMALL ECONOMIES ' PROPOSALS IN THE NEGOTIATING AND OTHER 
BODIES ............................................................................................................................... .........3  
 
 
A. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA  
1. The Chairman  recalled that the draft agenda for the meeting was contained in 
Airgram WTO/AIR/2865/Rev.1 issued on 18 July 2006. 
2. The agenda was adopted . 
B. CHAIRMAN 'S REPORT ON THE CONSULTATIONS HELD IN THE SPS  AND TBT  COMMITTEES 
AND THE TRIPS  COUNCIL ON THE PROPOSALS IN DOCUMENTS WT/COMTD/SE/W/15/R EV.1, 
WT/COMTD/SE/W/16/R EV.1 AND WT/COMTD/SE/W/18/R EV.1 
3. The Chairman  reported on the consultations held  in the Committee on Sanitary and 
Phytosanitary Measures (SPS), the Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) and the Council for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Ri ghts (TRIPS).  He said that he had received three 
reports from the respective Chairpersons concerni ng their discussions with Members on the proposals 
contained in documents WT/COMTD/SE/W/ 15/Rev.1, WT/COMTD/SE/W/16/Rev.1 and 
WT/COMTD/SE/W/18/Rev.1.   WT/COMTD/SE/M/15 
Page 2  
 
  4. The Chairman
 said that in his report, the Chairman of the TBT Committee had stated that he 
had held an informal meeting on 7 June 2006 to discuss the proposal contained in WT/COMTD/SE/W/15/Rev.1.  The meeting had taken place just before a formal meeting of the TBT Committee and had benefited from the presence of capita l-based experts.  The Chairman of the TBT 
Committee had emphasized that the small econom y proponents had no intention of modifying, 
amending or altering the balance of rights and ob ligations contained in the TBT Agreement, but 
sought to find more cost-effective ways of maki ng notifications through regional bodies and ensuring 
the provision of technical assistance, on mutually agre ed terms, to a group of Members with particular 
needs.  The Chairman of the TBT Committee had al so said that the proponents intended to use the 
recently adopted TBT voluntary notification format contained in document G/TBT/16 to make their 
technical assistance requests and fo r the identification and notification of TBT needs.  The proponents 
had stressed that, as WTO Members, they were ultimately respons ible for adhering to the obligations 
of the TBT Agreement.  The Chairman of the TBT Committee had also reported that delegations had, 
in general, been positive towards the proponents' ini tiative and believed that it was in line with the 
mandate contained in the Hong Kong Ministerial D eclaration which urged Members to adopt specific 
measures to facilitate the fuller in tegration of small, vulnerable economies into the multilateral trading 
system.  Members generally felt that the explanations  provided had clarified several questions that had 
been raised by Members. 
5. The Chairman
 said that the TRIPS Council Chairman ha d reported on the informal meeting of 
the Council held on 14 June 2006.  He reported that  the proponents felt that the substance of their 
proposal, i.e. an explicit recognition of the right to  designate a regional body to provide technical 
support and the discretionary provision of techni cal assistance to developing country Members 
through the medium of regional bodies, did not in any way impair the rights of Members.  
Furthermore, the proponents could agree to the suggestion made by Canada in the SPS Committee stating that "Members and the WTO, within its competence, when providing technical and financial 
assistance to support developing countries in fulf illing their rights and obligations under this 
agreement, shall consider the advantages of providi ng that assistance to the regional body where such 
exists".  The Chairman had also reported that hi s consultations had demons trated that delegations 
were broadly supportive of the proposal made by th e small and vulnerable economies and that he had 
suggested that any other concerns should be ta ken up bilaterally with the proponents.  Members 
supported the proposal on the understanding that it would not have any impact on their rights and 
obligations as set out in the TRIPS Agreement and th at any technical and financial assistance would 
continue to be provided upon request and on mutually agreed terms.   
6. The Chairman said that the SPS Committee had also discussed the proposal to use regional 
bodies to assist Members in the implementation of thei r obligations at two meetings.  He said that the 
Chairman of the SPS Committee had reported that at  the informal consultation held on 24 May 2006 
to discuss the proposal contained in WT/COMTD/SE/W/16/Rev.1, some Members had expressed 
concern about the proposal's implications for techni cal assistance.  As a result, revised language had 
been suggested that made reference to the need for Members to consider the advantages of providing 
SPS-related technical assistance to a designated region al body.  Several Members had also questioned 
the need for the explicit recognition of the right to  establish regional bodies and had asked whether the 
proponents currently faced any obstacles in using regi onal bodies.  The proponents had clarified that 
their proposal did not intend to create new regional bodies but to make use of existing ones and that 
the intention had not been to change the legal text of the SPS Agreement.  The proponents also 
explained that each WTO Member would conti nue to be responsible for submitting its SPS 
notifications, even though a regional body could de velop SPS measures, assist with the preparations 
of notifications and provide help with responding to queries.  The proposal had also been discussed at 
the formal meeting of the SPS Committee on 27 June at which Members supported the use of regional 
bodies to assist Members with the implementation of  the SPS Agreement and agreed with the basic 
objectives of the proposal.  The proponents had also been asked to identify which regional bodies they were considering.  WT/COMTD/SE/M/15 
 Page 3 
 
 
  7. The Dedicated Session took note  of the statement by the Chairman.   
C. PROPOSALS FROM ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA , BARBADOS , CUBA, DOMINICA , FIJI, GRENADA , 
JAMAICA , MAURITIUS , PAPUA NEW GUINEA , SOLOMON ISLANDS , ST. KITTS AND NEVIS, 
ST. VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES  
• AGREEMENT ON TECHNICAL BARRIERS TO TRADE :  DESIGNATION OF A REGIONAL 
BODY (WT/COMTD/SE/W/15/R EV.2) 
• AGREEMENT ON THE APPLICATION OF SANITARY AND PHYTOSANITARY MEASURES :  
DESIGNATION OF A REGIONAL BODY (WT/COMTD/SE/W/16/R EV.2) 
• AGREEMENT ON TRADE -RELATED ASPECTS OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS :  
DESIGNATION OF A REGIONAL BODY (WT/COMTD/SE/W/18/R EV.2) 
8. The Chairman  explained that following the meetings  of the SPS and TBT Committees and the 
TRIPS Council, the proponents had in their revi sed proposals taken on board suggestions made by 
Members.  He said that the revised pr oposals were circulated in documents 
WT/COMTD/SE/W/15/Rev.2, WT/COMTD/SE/W/16/Rev.2 and WT/COMTD/SE/W/18/Rev.2. 
9. The representative of Antigua and Barbuda  said that based on the discussions in the three 
respective technical bodies, the proponents had take n into consideration the concerns expressed by 
Members.  He emphasized that the proposals did not intend to modify in any way the rights and obligations of Members under the three Agreements.  He said that the issue of technical assistance had 
been clarified and the revised proposals now include d a specific reference stating that "Members and 
the WTO, within its competence, when providing te chnical and financial assistance to support small, 
vulnerable economies in fulfilling their rights and oblig ations under this Agreement, shall consider the 
advantages of providing that assistance to the regiona l body, where such exists".  He added that the 
discussions of the three proposals in the technical bodies had been useful and that the consultations 
had provided the proponents with the opportunity to discuss the proposals with the relevant experts.   
10. The Chairman
 said that given the discussions in the SPS and TBT Committees and the TRIPS 
Council, there did not appear to be major difficulti es with what was being suggested in the proposals, 
mainly that small and vulnerable economies should have the right to use regional bodies to assist them 
in meeting their obligations, including maki ng notifications under the SPS, TBT and TRIPS 
Agreements.  He recalled that the Dedicated Sessi on had to report on its work at each General Council 
meeting.  At the next meeting of the General C ouncil, he would report on the very good progress that 
had been made on these three proposals and that the Dedicated Session intended to put forward a report to the General Council in the near future.  He explained that such a report would first have to be 
agreed by Members at a future meeting of the Dedicated Session.  
11. The Dedicated Session took note
 of the statements made. 
D. PARAGRAPH 41 OF THE HONG KONG MINISTERIAL DECLARATION :  MONITORING PROGRESS 
OF THE SMALL ECONOMIES ' PROPOSALS IN THE NEGOTIATING AND OTHER BODIES  
12. The Chairman  recalled that the monitoring role of th e Dedicated Session was part of the two 
track approach on small economies contained in  paragraph 41 of the Hong Kong Ministerial 
Declaration.  He recalled that at the last meeting, the Dedicated Session had decided that the monitoring process would be carried out on the basis of a compilation put together by the proponents 
in document WT/COMTD/SE/W/21.  He informed Me mbers that that document had been updated to 
include other recent proposals submitted by them in negotiating and other bodies. WT/COMTD/SE/M/15 
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  13. The representative of Barbados
 requested that the revised document be circulated as 
WT/COMTD/SE/W/21/Rev.1.  He said that the do cument reflected the factual presentations and 
proposals that the proponents of small economies ha d submitted in WTO negotia ting groups and other 
bodies.  He said that since the previous meeting of the Dedicated Session, the small economy proponents had introduced three a dditional proposals.  The first w as in the Committee on Agriculture 
in Special Session, the second in the Negotiating Group on Market Access (NAMA) and the third in 
the Negotiating Group on Trade Facilitation.  The three proposals were included in the revised 
document.  Barbados, on behalf of  the small economies, had also presented a proposal to the Aid for 
Trade Task Force which was not included in the revi sed compilation.  He asked the Chairman if the 
Secretariat could prepare a similar compilation which incorporated the reports by the various Chairs 
of the negotiating groups and the relevant excerpts from the minutes of the meetings where the small 
economy proposals had been discussed.  He believe d that would help to enhance the monitoring 
functions of the Dedicated Session.   
14. The representative of El Salvador
 said that in the proposals made by the small economies in 
the area of agriculture and NAMA, the proponents had attempted to contribute to the Doha Round in 
accordance with their development strategies.  Sm all economies had proposed a lower tariff reduction 
in relation to other developing countries and wanted a sufficient percentage of their products to be 
treated as "special products" in order to accommodate th eir sensitivities.  They were also interested in 
having an adequate percentage of these products exempted from tariff reductions.  He pointed out that 
significant discussions had taken place in both the NA MA and agriculture negotiations and that the 
small economies were comfortable with the leve l of understanding that many Members had shown 
with regard to their sensitivities and concerns.  The small economies were, however, aware that they 
would need to further develop their proposals.  In  this regard, he made reference to the proposal 
contained in G/SCM/W/535 which was submitted to  the Committee on Subsidies and Countervailing 
Measures for a second extension of the transition peri od for the elimination of export subsidies.  This 
proposal was of great importance to El Salvador. It s main aim was to modify the time-frame for the 
elimination of subsidies.  He explained that a pe riod had been established for the submission of any 
questions that Members might have in regard to the proposal and that Members would have sufficient 
time in the coming months to hold any technical discu ssions that were needed to reach a satisfactory 
conclusion.  
15. The Chairman  stated that the proponents of small, vulnerable economies had been active in 
pursuing their interests in the different negotiating and other bodies.  He asked the Secretariat to 
circulate the revised compilation paper as document WT/COMTD/SE/W/21/Rev.1 and to prepare a 
note along the lines that had been suggested by Barbados.   
16. The Dedicated Session took note  of the statements made. 
17. The meeting was adjourned . 
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