RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/GC/M/126 
22 June 2010 
 (10-3402) 
General Council 
4 May 2010  
 
 
 
MINUTES OF MEETING 
 
Held in the Centre William Rappard  
on 4 May 2010  
 
Chairman:  Mr. John Gero (Canada) 
 
 In the course of the meeting, the Chairm an and many delegations bade farewell to 
Ambassador Valles Galmés (Uruguay), expressing a ppreciation for his hard work and dedication 
during his time as Permanent Representative.  
 Subjects discussed
: Page 
 
1. Report by the Chairman of th e Trade Negotiati ons Committee ..........................................2  
2. Work Programme on Small Economies – Report by the Chairman of the 
Dedicated Session of the Committee on Trade and Development ......................................10  
3. Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration – Report on meeting of 
March 2010..................................................................................................................... .........11  
4. The financial and economic crisis and the role of the WTO – Communication 
from Argentina, Ecuador and Indi a – Statement by the Chairman ..................................13  
5. Implementation of the Transparency Mechanism for Regional Trade 
Agreements on a permanent basis – Co mmunication from China, India and 
Pakistan....................................................................................................................... .............18  
6. Harmonization Work Programme under the Agreement on Rules of Origin – the 
Way Forward – Communication from China, India and Pakistan....................................22  
7. Request by the Syrian Arab Republic to accede to the WTO – Communication 
from Egypt on behalf of the Arab Group .............................................................................31  
8. Accession of LDCs – Statemen t by Zambia for the LDCs ..................................................36  
9. Statement by the Chairman on his consultations on Members' priorities for 2010 .........36  
10. Chairmanship of the Negotiating Group on Rules – Statement by the Chairman ...........37  
11. Administrative Measures for Members in arrears – Statement by the Chairman...........37  
ANNEX - Statement by South Africa at the Meeting of the Trade Negotiations Committee 
 on 22 and 26 March 2010 ....................................................................................................... ........... 39 
 
 WT/GC/M/126 
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 1. Report by the Chairman of the Trade Negotiations Committee 
1. The Chairman
 invited the Director-General, as Chairman of the TNC, to report on the TNC's 
activities since his last report to the Council. 
2. The Director-General, Chairman of the TNC , said1 that since his last report to the General 
Council in February, Members had met for a week at the end of March to take stock of where they 
were in the context of the Doha negotiations.  He  would not say again what he had said during the 
TNC meeting, other than to repeat that he ha d found the exercise both useful and constructive, 
particularly as it had clearly demonstrated that nobody was contemplating dropping the ball.  Everyone remained very much committed to th e mandate of the Round and to its successful 
conclusion.  That was the spirit he had seen during the stocktaking exercise, and the message that had 
gone out to the world reflected this.  The multilate ral stocktaking exercise had also provided a very 
useful input to the contacts that were continuing among Members, incl uding at Ministerial level.  He 
had taken part in a number of su ch meetings and had also been ab le to follow up on a bilateral and 
plurilateral basis.  As all knew, he had recently attended the 35th Cairns Group Ministerial Meeting in 
Punta del Este, Uruguay.  He had also had the oppo rtunity to meet with a number of colleagues in 
Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay.  At the end of April, he had participated in the spring meetings 
of the World Bank and the International Moneta ry Fund in Washington, where he had taken 
advantage of the presence of a number of Ministers to argue in favour of sustaining Members' efforts on Aid for Trade.  The agreement that had been reached to recapitalise the World Bank, as well as 
progress that had been made in recapitalising Regi onal Development Banks, was certainly a positive 
step in that direction, and good news for Aid for Trade.  His principal impression from all of these 
contacts and meetings had reinforced the commitm ent and determination expressed by Members at 
the end of March.  He had also found that Minister s were well-informed and up  to date on the latest 
state of play from Geneva – something he believed was of crucial importance for the further process.  
Everyone he had met had reinforced the need to ma intain the centrality of the multilateral dimension 
of the negotiations, to build on what was already on th e table in the form of Chairs' texts, and to keep 
development central to the outcome of the Round. 
3. In terms of process, since the stocktaking everyone had begun implementing the so-called 
"cocktail approach".  Ingredient number one was th at the Chairs of the different negotiating groups 
had either already begun their consultations or ha d scheduled meetings over the coming weeks.  They 
were ready to foster a discussion among Members respecting the rhythm of work and maturity of individual issues.  However, they would not be able to work out of thin air and would need Members' 
input and contributions.  Ingredient number tw o was that Members had started meeting among 
themselves in a variety of formats and configura tions on specific areas, as well as on a  horizontal 
level.  These were still preliminary contacts, a nd it was important that these discussions now moved 
into specifics, so that some give and take coul d take place.  This woul d not happen overnight and 
would need to be given adequate time and space.  Of course, in due time and in the interest of 
transparency and inclusiveness, all expected to hear more about these initiatives.  The third ingredient 
was that  he was also starting his own consultations with delegations in various formats to explore the 
horizontal stage of the negotiations.  With the aim of maintaining an overview of the entire 
negotiating landscape, he intended to hold more fre quent meetings with vari ous groups, in order to 
ensure that all voices were heard and the principl es of transparency and inclusiveness were fully 
respected. 
4. He then gave a brief overview of the indivi dual negotiating areas.  In Agriculture, the 
negotiations continued on two track s:  on templates and on the bracketed or otherwise annotated 
issues in the draft modalities.  On templates and on the associated work on b ase data, Step 2 had been 
engaged to draw up drafts of the actual proposed formats for the scheduling process.  An informal 
                                                     
 
1 Subsequently circulated in document JOB/GC/2.  WT/GC/M/126 
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  open-ended meeting had been held th e previous day on this exercise, and would continue in the week 
of 17 May.  Members were actively involved.  On  modalities, the Agriculture Chair would continue 
his consultations in the week of 17 May including, of course, on the SSM.  On NAMA, the next NAMA week was scheduled for the week of 17 May.  The focus during that week would be on NTBs.  
The Chairman had also requested that any input for that week's discussion be submitted before 7 May, 
in order to provide adequate time for all delega tions to come prepared.  On Services, since the 
stocktaking exercise, an informal open-ended Speci al Session had been held on 20 April to begin a 
detailed examination of the draft text for the LDC Waiver.  A productive excha nge of views had taken 
place on the draft, with moderate momentum to the di scussion.  During the week of 26 April, the main 
Services negotiating groups – the Special Session, th e Working Party on Domestic Regulation and the 
Working Party on GATS Rules – had met formally to  continue their technical discussions.  The next 
negotiating meetings in Services were set to take place during the week of 28 June. 
5. On Trade Facilitation, Members were prep aring for the upcoming negotiating cluster 
scheduled to begin at the end of May.  Severa l exchanges were taking place among delegations in a 
variety of formats and configurations.  The Draft Consolidated Negotiating Text had been revised to 
reflect the outcome of the most recent session of the Group.  It would be the basis for further 
discussions at the May meeting.  On S&D Treatme nt, work in the Special Session had focused on 
fine-tuning elements of the Monitoring Mechanism.  Largely undertaken in a small-group format, this 
work had been carried out on the basis of the Ch air's non-paper of 3 November 2009.  Some progress 
had been made, albeit slow, on elements of the M onitoring Mechanism.  However, there were still a 
number of areas where Members continued to have divergent views, including on their perception of 
the mandate under which this Mechanism was being established, as well as the whole "sequencing" 
issue.  Clearly, Members would need to further fo cus and intensify their efforts in order to reach 
convergence on the different elements of the Mon itoring Mechanism.  In the coming weeks the 
Chairman of the CTD Special Session intended to  revise his non-paper on the Monitoring Mechanism 
so as to capture the progress made so far.  This non- paper would then form the basis of future work.  
The Chair also intended to take up the Agreemen t-specific proposals in these meetings, as well as to 
continue his contact with the Chairs of othe r WTO bodies to expedite progress on Category II 
proposals. 
6. On  Environment, the CTE Special Session was sch eduled to meet at the end of June.  Further 
to his report in TN/TE/19, the Chair would hold discussions under Paragraph 31(i), focusing on the 
five clusters of issues identified in the report,  with the objective of achieving more clarity and 
specificity in terms of language.  With respect to Paragraph 31(iii), Members would need to review 
the proposals on the table.  It was hoped that by the time of the next CTESS meeting, there would be new outcome-specific proposals for Members to cons ider, in particular as regards the universe of 
environmental goods of interest.  On Dispute Settle ment, as announced at the stocktaking in March, 
the Chair of the DSB Special Session intended to star t a more intensive process, in which it would be 
necessary for delegations to engage.  Over the co ming months,  he would conduct the work around 
group meetings in variable geometry, depending on th e subject to be discussed.  The first week of 
negotiations in this more intensive phase of the DSU negotiations was scheduled for the week of 
17 May.  On TRIPS, the Chair of the TRIPS Special Session had circulated a report to the TNC for the purposes of the stocktaking exercise.  As indi cated in this report, the Chairman would hold a 
formal meeting of the Special Session on 10 June.  He would consult delega tions in the week of 
31 May to prepare for the formal meeting.  Regard ing the two TRIPS issues, as Members were aware, 
he had been mandated in paragraph 39 of the H ong Kong Declaration to pu rsue consultations as 
Director-General, and not as TNC Chair, on the re lationship between TRIPS and the Convention on 
Biological Diversity and on the extension of Article 23 GI protection.  Pursuant to his report at the February meeting of the Genera l Council, he was consulting with Members as to the best way 
forward.  In sum, Members had the blender, they  knew what the ingredients were, and it was just 
about time to start shaking them, in order to be able to serve the cocktail before the ice melted. WT/GC/M/126 
Page 4  
 
 7. All representatives who spoke thanked the Director-General for his report on the state of play 
in the DDA negotiations. 
8. The representative of Australia
 assured the Director-General of Australia’s continued strong 
support to move the negotiations forward and for the step s he had set out.  In this regard, he wished to 
brief Members on the 35th Cairns Group Ministerial Meeting held recently in Punta del Este.  This 
had been the first opportunity for a group of Ministers to meet, following the March stocktaking, to 
discuss the Round, with a particular focus on the Agriculture negotiations.  Cairns Group Members 
were a hardy lot, and despite the serious disruptio ns to air travel caused by the Icelandic volcano 
eruption, there had been strong representation at the meeting, although a few de legations had not been 
able to travel.  In addition to the Director-Gen eral’s attendance, which Cairns Group Members very 
much appreciated, discussions had been enhanced by  the contributions from other special guests from 
Japan, the United States, Egypt, the European Un ion and Mexico.  Members had also welcomed 
Viet Nam's participation as an observer.  Cairns Group farm leaders had also addressed the meeting, and it had been very instructive to hear directly from agricultural producers on their priorities.  On 
Agriculture, the discussion had ranged across a number of important issues and had stressed the need 
to preserve and build on the real progress that had been made in the Agriculture negotiations over the 
past nine years.  The difficulty of some of th e outstanding issues had been acknowledged.  These 
included, but were certainly not limited to, the SSM.  On this issue a view had been stated – and it 
was certainly a view shared by his Minister – that  the diversity of views within the Cairns Group was 
not a weakness but a strength, making them well placed to contribute to possible solutions. 
9. In terms of next steps, Ministers had emphasi zed the need for a proactive approach to the 
negotiating process, underlining the critical role of the multilateral process and that negotiations in 
other formats and configurations coul d also have an important role in supporting this work.  Ministers 
had also urged Members to make full use of opport unities for Ministerial enga gement – for example, 
the upcoming OECD and APEC meetings.  These an d other key messages from the meeting had been 
consolidated into a Ministerial communiqué which the Cairns Group would circulate as a WTO 
document.
2  He wished to thank the Government of Uruguay for the excellent  arrangements for the 
meeting, as well as Canada’s kind offer to host the 36th Ministerial meeting. 
10. The representative of Zambia , on behalf of the LDCs , said that during the stocktaking 
exercise, Members had been able to identify where th e main gaps in the negotiations laid.  In some 
areas, the size of those gaps was clear.  In others, a lot more technical work was required, while still 
others remained politically sensitive, requiring engage ment at that level.  Any attempt to delay the 
closing of gaps identified during the stocktaking ex ercise posed a real danger of Members reverting to 
pre-stocktaking positions, thus renderi ng the stocktaking exercise results irrelevant.  In order to avoid 
this possibility, the negotiating groups should focu s in the coming weeks on closing the main gaps 
identified.  This was the only way progress woul d be made.  The LDC Group continued to be 
concerned about the pace of the negotiations.  In the field of law, there was a maxim that "justice 
delayed was justice denied".  The LDC Group was certa in that the same was true of the delivery of 
development through the DDA.  For LDCs, a delay in the conclusion of the DDA was a denial of 
development.  The LDC Group recalled that Members had made significant development-friendly decisions, such as the decision on duty-free quota -free market access in favour of LDCs, the 
modalities for the special treatment of LDCs in Serv ices, and the treatment of Cotton in an ambitious, 
expeditious and specific manner, among others.  Th ese decisions, if implemented, could facilitate 
economic growth in LDCs and lift the 12 per cent of  the world's population residing in LDCs out of 
poverty.  The only stumbling block was the so called "gateway issues" of which the LDCs were not the architects.  It was time for Members to re affirm their commitment to the objectives of 
development as stated in the prea mble to the Marrakesh Agreement.  In so doing, Members should 
consider invoking the provisions of paragraph 47  of the Doha Declaration which stated that 
                                                     
 
2 WT/L/793.  WT/GC/M/126 
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  "agreements  reached at an early stage may be impl emented on a provisional or definitive basis.  Early 
agreements shall be taken into account in assessing the overall balance of the negotiations".  Invoking 
this mandate would not only ensure that developm ent concerns of the LDCs were dealt with, but 
would restore the credibility of the organization.  In terms of the overall balance of the negotiations, 
the LDC issues had no potential of distorting that balance.  Indeed, he asked how a group of Members 
with a share of less than 1 per cent in global mercha ndise trade could distort the overall balance of the 
negotiations. 
11. There was a need for the organization to put a human face to the concerns of LDCs and to 
visualize how villagers employed on a cotton farm in Africa and living on less than one dollar a day 
were losing their lifeline because of the huge e xport subsidies maintained by some developed 
countries for their highly mechanized corporate farms.  He asked where, in this case, the  commitment 
to development was.  The LDC Group was ther efore on firm ground in requesting the early 
implementation of those decisions where there was ag reement, on the basis of the following:  (a) there 
had been undue delay in concluding the Round;  (b ) any further delay was a denial of development;  
(c) there was a real need to s how some results from the Round in order to restore credibility;  and 
(d) issues of interest to the LDCs could not distor t the overall balance of the negotiations.  In this 
regard, the LDC Group was resolved to begin co nsultations based on a firm proposal for early 
implementation of decisions of interest to the Group.   This would be a meaningful contribution of the 
WTO to the forthcoming Conference on MDGs  in 2010 and the UN LDC IV Conference the 
following year. 
12. The representative of Gabon , on behalf of the African Group , said the Group commended the 
Director-General and all of the Chairs of the ne gotiating groups for their tireless efforts to lead the 
DDA negotiations to a successful conclusion.  The re cent stock-taking exercise had enabled Members 
to clearly identify the contentious  issues in the different areas of negotiation.  The African Group 
supported efforts to tackle these issues in a spirit of compromise which accommodated the Group's main points of interest.  It hoped that in the months to come, Members would be able to find solutions 
to these issues at the technical level. 
13. The representative of Chad
, on behalf of the C-4 , said these countries supported the 
statements by Gabon for the African Group, Zambia for the LDCs, and Mauritius for the ACP.  The 
present situation was a challenging one, as the outlook was darkening to such an extent that the 
imminent conclusion of the Doha Round now appeared a gamble Members were unlikely to win.  He 
asked if Members really had the right to gamble w ith the future of millions of African farmers whose 
sole gainful activity was cotton.  The answer was ab solutely not.  As the Zambia for the LDCs had put 
it, Members had to produce concrete results to restore the credibility of the Doha Development 
Round.  Putting off the date for the conclu sion of the Round was tantamount to postponing 
development to some uncertain date.  The C-4 rema ined determined to seek an early outcome on the 
cotton issue.  Like other Members, the C-4 had followed the latest developments in the 
implementation of the arbitrators' decision in th e dispute between Brazil and the United States, and 
therefore ventured to hope that the bilateral agreement reached between those two countries on 
5 April had opened the way to finding a solution to  the elimination of trade-distorting subsidies 
affecting cotton.  In any case, the C-4 and all 36 African cotton-producing countries reaffirmed their 
determination to ensure that the solution to the subsidy issue was a multilateral one that took their 
interests into account.  Yet again, there were those who could afford to sta ll the negotiations because 
the time was not right for them, and those who c ould not wait any longer, because doing so spelled 
doom for them.  Most developing countries, including the C-4, fell into this second category. 
14. The representative of Korea  said his delegation agreed with the Director-General's assessment 
of the state of play and his suggestions for the next steps.  Although finalizing the Round in 2010 did not seem within Members' grasp, they should keep working in various configurations on bridging the 
gaps, as suggested by the Director-General in his "c ocktail approach."  In this vein, Korea recognized WT/GC/M/126 
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 the role of bilateral consultati ons and small-group meetings to clarify Members' interests and 
concerns.  However, one should bear in mind that  these consultations should be carried out under the 
principles of the primacy of the multilateral proces s and transparency, and their results should be 
shared with all Members.  Such transparency co uld be a guard against a surprise debacle in the 
negotiations at the last minute.  Korea also recogni zed that horizontal consultations to discuss possible 
trade-offs were necessary to make  a breakthrough.  For this kind of configuration to be productive 
through reflecting the real interests of stake-holders , one should ensure that those Members with real 
commercial interests in world trade participated in  these consultations.  Along with the horizontal 
process in Geneva, Korea hoped that future Minist erial meetings, including the OECD in May and 
APEC in June, would provide fresh momentum to these negotiations.  He reaffirmed Korea's 
commitment to the negotiations and its active engage ment in the process.  Despite various difficulties 
and challenges, Members seemed to be fully committed to moving the DDA negotiations forward 
with a renewed sense of urgency.  In this regard, he wished to highlight that the G20 Summit meeting 
to be held in Seoul in November 2010 would ma ke meaningful contributions to the successful 
conclusion of the DDA negotiations.  Korea would play its due and constructive role in this 
endeavour. 
15. The representative of Japan
 recalled that at the March stocktaking meeting, not a few 
Members had stated that one s hould take advantage of the OECD , APEC and other Ministerial 
gatherings that had already been scheduled, in orde r to facilitate Minister-level dialogue.  This had 
just been repeated by Korea.  Japan, as the presen t year's APEC Chair, would host the APEC meeting 
of Ministers responsible for trade in June in Sappor o, in which the Director-General had been invited 
to participate.  APEC had been a driving force for the DDA negotiations, and Japan wished to make 
productive use of this meeting, so that greater  political momentum could be given to the DDA 
negotiations. 
16. The representative of Chinese Taipei , on behalf of the Recently-Acceded Members (RAMs) 
Group , said it had always been the Group's view that a swift, meaningful and balanced conclusion to 
the Doha Round would make a significant contribution to the recovery and subsequent growth of the 
global economy, and establish a more sustainable, de velopment-oriented multilateral trading regime.  
As his delegation, speaking for the RAMs Group, had said at the TNC meeting in March, Members 
had to continue to engage in the DDA negotia ting process.  If not, the scale of the costs and 
uncertainty was unimaginable.  However, at th e same time, while the Group appreciated all the 
strenuous efforts by the Director-General and the Ch airs of the negotiating groups over the past few 
months in preparing and holding the stocktakin g exercise, it was concerned about the lack of 
substantive progress in this exercise.  The RAMs Group also sensed that there was a lot of anxiety 
among Members.  Some Members had suggested that if the current approach did not produce results, 
one had to change the approach.  Some had even  suggested that Members should change the Round's 
ambition and substance to reflect the reality being f aced.  In the Group's view, in terms of format, the 
idea of jump-starting the stalled negotiations w ith small-group meetings and making the best of 
coming occasions such as the OECD, APEC, G20 and other meetings, was useful.  However, past experience of some small-group meetings had s hown that not only did these not move the Round 
forward, but also kept the majority of Members in the dark.  Thus, the RAMs Group supported the 
view that Members should continue their future wo rk and engagement at b ilateral, plurilateral and 
multilateral levels, bearing in mind that the prin ciples of full participation, inclusiveness and 
transparency had to be respected throughout the pr ocess, and that the multilateral process had to be 
the driving force of the DDA negotiations. 
17. Second, in terms of ambition, the December 2008 texts were the product of eight years of 
hard work.  They reflected an overall balance amo ng Members, and the majority of the membership 
supported them.  Therefore, Members should preserve these texts and use them as the basis for 
moving forward.  Members should avoid backtracking or lowering their ambitions.  The core issue of 
lack of progress was not due to process, but to the la ck of political will to engage in real bargaining  WT/GC/M/126 
 Page 7 
 
 
  and to conclude the Round.  It was absolutely necess ary to broaden the current participation level to 
include more of the Members who were playing a key ro le in global trade.  In this regard, the RAMs 
Group was willing to participate and make a contri bution to the process.  He assured all that the 
RAMs remained committed to work ing closely with the TNC Chair,  the Chairs of the negotiating 
groups and their fellow Members to get the job done. 
18. The representative of the European Union  said his delegation had listened carefully to the 
Director-General's report and agreed with his assessmen t.  As the EU had said at the most recent TNC 
meeting, unfortunately the March stocktaking had not delivered what had been hoped for.  The EU 
continued to regret deeply the lack of progress ma de in recent weeks and months, and shared the 
frustration expressed by others, including Zambia for the LDCs, about the lack of progress which, 
among other things, was preventing the Round from deliv ering on its development mandate.  As time 
went on, it became clear that the deal currently on the table would not be an agreeable Doha package 
for all Members.  Members had no choice but to constructively examine adjustments – not an overhaul – of this draft package.  However, it was encouraging that, as the Di rector-General had said, 
nobody intended to drop the ball and there was no desire to undo years of hard negotiations.  
However, to move the process forward, one need ed more clarity from those who had expressed 
unhappiness with the current draft package, and to see which adjustments would be satisfactory for all 
Members.  The EU urged Members to follow the va riable geometry and "cocktail approach" outlined 
by the Director-General, although this particular cocktail should be stirred, not shaken.  Members 
needed to express clarity and engage in real, subs tantive negotiations to identify and, consequently, 
bridge the serious gaps they faced.  The EU also welcomed the Director-General's intention to carry 
out consultations on various fronts, and would work in earnest to ensure the multilateral character of 
the negotiations.  Finally, one also needed political leadership to guide the negotiations forward.  A 
successful conclusion of the Round would probably  require delegations' political masters to get 
together sooner rather than later. 
19. The representative of South Africa
 said his delegation supported the passionate and eloquent 
plea for an early harvest by Zambia for the LDCs, a nd also the statement by Chad for the C-4.  He 
recalled that at the March stocktaking meeting, his delegation had argued in support of an early 
harvest.  He requested that South Africa's statement at that meeting be included in the record of the 
present meeting.3 
20. The representative of the United States  said his country looked forward to participating in all 
of the activities outlined by the Di rector-General, which it saw as a part of the broader picture of 
multilateral, plurilateral and bilate ral meetings, all of which would be so important to moving the 
Doha negotiations forward.  There could be no substitute for direct and continuous engagement 
among Members.  While he would have liked to have arrived in Geneva sooner,  he had been able to 
make good use of his time in Washington, consul ting with USTR Kirk, the White House, other 
Executive Branch agencies, the bipa rtisan leadership of the Congr essional Committees responsible for 
trade, and the private sector.  In those consultations  he had received a clear and consistent message of 
support for bringing the Doha negotiations to a successful conclusion, based on balanced and 
ambitious results.  While he recognized that no one Member held the key to success, he was 
committed to doing everything possible to work with  his colleagues to achie ve the much-needed and 
long-awaited Doha success. 
21. The representative of Bangladesh  said his delegation fully supported the statement by Zambia 
for the LDC Group, and thanked South Africa for its support and solidarity for an early harvest of 
LDC issues.  Forward movement in the DDA ne gotiations was visibly slow.  During the March 
stocktaking, one had been able to ascertain the gaps , but their size and the point of convergence were 
not clear in some sectors.  Bangladesh appreciated th e Director-General's leadership.  Nevertheless, it 
                                                      
3 The statement is included in th e Annex to the present records. WT/GC/M/126 
Page 8  
 
 would be a positive development if Members were aware of these gaps and committed to seriously 
engaging to minimize them.  Members had to conti nue their efforts and keep working in the areas 
where they could make substantial achievements th rough further technical work.  His delegation fully 
trusted that Geneva delegations were capable of doing this promptly.  A few remaining areas might 
need engagement at the political level, and this sh ould be done at the earliest.  The LDCs were the 
worst sufferers of the delay in the negotiations, and after the recent food, fuel and financial crises, 
they could not afford any further delay.  Bangla desh earnestly hoped that an early harvest of the 
decisions of the Dar es Salaam Declaration and the decisions adopted by the LDC Ministers during the recently concluded Seventh Ministerial Conference  would help to mitigate the distress to a large 
extent.  In this respect, he also asked that no LD C receive less preferential treatment than any other 
developing country.  The rules-based multilateral syst em had so far helped to broaden the ambit of 
international trade and had kept protectionist measur es at bay.  Bangladesh put its utmost confidence 
in this multilateral system, and likewise engaged itself
 in the process.  However, the system risked its 
reputation if the easiest and most simple issues such as LDC DFQF, the Services waiver and the 
treatment of Cotton could not be resolved.  Thus, his delegation urged that without any further delay 
Members set about successfully concluding the D DA negotiations, starting with LDC matters, as 
these posed the fewest complications and had the most  urgency.  This would restore confidence in the 
multilateral system to which all Members had comm itted themselves.  Bangladesh urged Members to 
expedite the accession of LDCs according to the General Council Decision of 2002. 
22. The representative of Mexico  said that a month and a half earlier, Members had completed 
the stocktaking exercise.  This exercise had enable d them to have a clearer idea of the positions of 
each Member and to pinpoint, to a greater extent, the problems that existed in each of the areas of 
negotiation.  However, as the Director-General  had rightly pointed out, the dimension of the 
discrepancies between Members was in several case s broad-ranging.  In other words, Members did 
not know how big the gaps were between their pos itions.  A few years earlier, Members had been 
laying the blame on the then-existing economic abunda nce, and had been claiming that this was the 
reason they were not able to complete the Round.  Now they were pointing at the economic crisis, 
saying this had hindered the negotiations.  Memb ers were moving beyond the crisis now, and the 
successful conclusion of these negotiations would better enable them to improve the situation, and to 
increase net GDP and global production, and global flows of trade. 
23. Now was the time to act.  For this reason, Mexico  reiterated that on the basis of the cocktail 
approach set out by the Director-General – in other words, an approach that would enable Members to 
undertake negotiations at all levels and in different geometries – Me mbers would be able to overcome 
these gaps and differences.  The fact that they fo und themselves within a few months of celebrating 
the ninth anniversary of the launchi ng of this Round made it yet more  important to take the necessary 
decisions to enable them to conclude this R ound.  Undoubtedly, this was a problem of a political 
nature.  There was a need for all go vernments to take political decisions  to ensure that, in each area of 
the negotiations, an agreement could be reached that  was acceptable to the membership as a whole, in 
order to enable a fair and balanced conclusion of  the negotiations.  In any negotiation – and he was 
saying this on the basis of his own experience in  a number of negotiations – it inevitably happened 
that some parties paid more and others received less  than they had expected.  This was something all 
had to bear in mind and which, if borne in mind, would enable Members to conclude these 
negotiations swiftly. 
24. The representative of Norway  said the March stocktaking had confirmed what her delegation 
had known for some time.  The bad news was that not much had happened over the past year.  The 
good news was that for the first time, there was a common acknowledgement of the need for a 
horizontal process as the final stage of the negotiatio ns.  Not much, multilaterally, had happened since 
the stocktaking.  There had been several initiativ es, and work had been done on different bits and 
pieces and in various configurations as part of the cocktail approach.  Furthermore, there had been 
broad agreement at the stocktaking that Members ne eded to build on what they had, while hopefully  WT/GC/M/126 
 Page 9 
 
 
  moving into a more active stage of the negotiations.   What this actually meant was the following:  
(i) take the 2008 text, fill the relatively few holes with in the established balance, and call it victory;  or 
(ii) appreciate that the balance had not been there in July 2008, dare to look into what the balance 
would be in 2010, and negotiate whatever remained – this would not be an easy task, nor without 
substantial danger of losses and breakdown;  or (iii ) stick to current positions and wait it out – not 
very constructive and not what dele gations were paid for;  or (iv) call it a day and look for mini-
packages – perhaps the most realistic solution, but  Members were not there yet.  She asked what 
Members could take from this.  Whichever way they went, as the Director-General had said, there was 
a lot of work ahead that would not be done overn ight, particularly given the political sensitivities 
involved.  Therefore, Norway welcomed that the Director-General would start his own consultations 
and that he intended to carry out reviews more fre quently in order to take stock of where Members 
were.  There would also be a need for some stru cture in Geneva.  Many had mentioned Ministerial 
and political involvement.  Of course, that would also be needed, even if Member s agreed that most of 
the work at this stage would have to be done in Geneva.  Hopefully, the G20 leaders would refrain 
from setting new deadlines.  Rather, they should  start to remind themselves and others of the 
importance of the multilateral trading system and its role in ensuring economic growth, prosperity and 
development over the past 60 years.  As well as the stabilizing role of the rules-based multilateral 
trading system during financial crisis, they shoul d emphasize that the main reason and urgency in 
finding a way out of the difficult situation the DDA fo und itself in at present was to ensure a stronger, 
not weaker, WTO. 
25. The representative of China  said he wished to briefly reite rate China's positions on the DDA.  
First, Members should stick to the Doha mandate, always bear in mind the development objectives of 
this Round, and put the needs of developing countries , particularly LDCs, and their export interests at 
the heart of the Round.  Members should not tu rn these negotiations into a purely market-access 
Round for some developed countries.   Second, they should seek a fair and balanced outcome of the 
Round.  Any attempt to unravel, even partially, what was on the table would make it much more 
difficult for an early conclusion.  Third, the issu es of transparency and inclusiveness were very 
important, and while China did not rule out differe nt configurations of informal negotiations, the 
centrality of the multilateral process under Chairs of  the negotiating bodies should be emphasized.  At 
the same time, China looked forw ard to the Ministerial meetings of the OECD and APEC.  The 
political engagement of Ministers was highly necessary.  Fourth, the interests of the poorest countries should be put at the top of the agenda.  China enc ouraged efforts aimed at an early harvest of LDC 
DFQF treatment, the waiver in Services, Cotton a nd other issues in order to address LDCs' concerns 
expeditiously.  Finally, China reiterated its commit ment to the DDA and stood ready to work with all 
Members for an early conclusion of the Round. 
26. The representative of Turkey
 said his delegation shared the Director-General's assessments in 
his comprehensive and realistic report on the state of play of the DDA negotiations.  All were aware 
of the reason Members had not been able to conclu de the Round.  As some delegations had pointed 
out, it was not the process.  It was obvious that the political will of the stakeholders had not converged 
enough.  However, there was no substitute for a successfully concluded Round.  Members were 
currently in a silent and passive waiting mode.  Instea d of standing still, they should continue with the 
technical work in the negotiating groups in order to narrow the gaps.  The plea of Zambia for the 
LDCs should not go unheeded.  Turkey unders tood that small-group meetings in different 
configurations might be necessary for practical reasons .  However, it anticipated some concrete results 
from the ongoing cocktail approach.  Small-group m eetings could act as a starting point, but not a 
substitute, for the multilateral forum which was the only appropriate forum in which to take decisions.  
Transparency and inclusiveness should be th e cardinal principles on the way forward. 
27. The representative of India  thanked the Director-General for his continuing efforts to put 
together a process to bridge the gaps that remain ed among Members.  An important point had been 
made at the present meeting by a number of delega tions, perhaps most eloquently by Zambia for the WT/GC/M/126 
Page 10  
 
 LDCs.  This was that while the months turned into  years and while Members tried to bring closure to 
the Round, there were casualties in the real worl d.  These casualties had to do with some of the 
poorest people in the poorest countries in the world.  It was important that Members took cognizance of this point and tried to fashion a consensu s on addressing the needs of the poorest countries, 
especially the LDCs, perhaps in the way mandate d in paragraph 47 of the Doha Ministerial 
Declaration. 
28. The representative of Brazil
 said the Director-General's report was very comprehensive and 
would help Members to get ready for the tasks ahea d.  Brazil had engaged with other Members in all 
the multilateral meetings that had taken place in the r ecent past, but also in other configurations.  At 
present, Brazil was still not optimistic as a result of those conversations.  What seemed to be 
necessary to close the deal for some was out of reach for others, both because of increases in the level 
of ambition and also in light of  shortcomings in areas where ambitious results were expected.  
Nonetheless, Brazil was still ready to continue enga gement in all the possible formats, and hoped that 
these engagements would be more productive than prev iously.  Regarding the statement by Chad for 
the C-4, recent conversations between Brazil and the United States on Cotton had offered an 
opportunity for a result that  could be satisfactory to  Brazil, the US and the other Members interested 
in this issue.  Brazil saw the C-4 countries and ot her African partners as a part of that process. 
29. The representative of Barbados  added her delegation's voice to that of Zambia for the LDCs 
in urging that Members expedite the consensus reached in respect of relief for LDCs, so as to 
ameliorate these countries' difficult situation. 
30. The General Council took note  of the Director-General's report and of the statements. 
2. Work Programme on Small Economies – Report by the Chairman of the Dedicated 
Session of the Committee on Trade and Development 
31. The Chairman  said that in line with the framework and procedures agreed by the General 
Council in 2002, the Work Programme on Small Economies was a standing item on the General 
Council's agenda and the Committee on Trade and De velopment reported regularly to the Council on 
the progress of work in its Dedicated Sessions on this subject.  He invited Mr. Erwidodo (Indonesia), 
Chairman of the Dedicated Session of the CTD, to  report on the progress of work in this area. 
32. Mr Erwidodo (Indonesia), Chairman of the Dedicated Session of the CTD , said that as all 
were aware, the proponents of SVEs had invested much work already in the course of the DDA and 
were continuing their internal group discussions and engagement with other Me mbers.  He, in turn, 
had recently met with Barbados as the SVE coordi nator and looked forward to meeting and working 
with all the proponents in the near future.  One of the proponents' main concerns was that areas of 
agreement ran the risk of being sidelined or ove rlooked during the period of time between reaching 
consensus and conclusion of the DDA, and given the natural priority given to other major issues.  
These concerns had been noted.  He understood th e proponents were continuing to follow the 
negotiations and the regular work of the WTO, and were planning to make new proposals in some of 
the negotiating groups.  These woul d be added to the document (W T/COMTD/SE/W/22/Rev.4) which 
compiled all the proposals made to date by the pr oponents and provided a de tailed record of their 
work.  He would keep Members informed of any deve lopments as they arose in the course of future 
work related to SVEs. 
33. The representative of Barbados , on behalf of the SVEs , said that as the report of the Chair of 
the Dedicated Session of the CTD reflected, the SVEs  had pursued and were continuing their efforts 
to advance key trade-related interests within the Doha negotiating context, as well as in other bodies, 
including the CTD in Dedicated Session.  The SVEs  remained keen to see the fruits of their labour 
appropriately addressed and responded to at the ea rliest opportunity, including through the conclusion  WT/GC/M/126 
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  of the DDA.  In the short term, they looked forwar d to meeting with the Dedicated Session Chair, and 
in the longer term, anticipated working closely with him and continuing their collaboration with 
Members towards fulfilling the original Paragraph 35 mandate for the fuller integration of small, 
vulnerable economies into the multilateral trading system. 
34. The General Council took note  of the report of the Chairman of the Dedicated Session of the 
Committee on Trade and Development and of the statement. 
3. Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration – Report on meeting of March 2010 
(WT/BFA/115) 
35. The Chairman  drew attention to the report of the Budget Committee in document 
WT/BFA/115 and invited Mr Vaaranmaa (Finland), Chairman of the Committee, to introduce the 
report. 
36. Mr Vaaranmaa (Finland), Chairman of  the Committee on Budget, Finance and 
Administration , said that at its meeting in March, th e Committee had reviewed the budgetary and 
financial situation of the Secretariat and the ex tra-budgetary funds at the end of February.  The 
Committee had also taken note of the report of the Human Resources Division, presented by its new 
Director.  The Committee had then taken note of the progress made on the building project.  The 
Secretariat had strengthened the internal management structure of this project by hiring the services of professionals in building management.  Work on the so-called intra-muros project, affecting the north 
and south courtyards of the main building, was sc heduled to start that summer.  The corresponding 
loan of CHF 20 million had been approved by the Sw iss Government at the end of 2009.  The design 
of the new building, referred to as the extra-muro s project, was well advanced, and the corresponding 
loan of CHF 40 million should be approved by the Sw iss Government at the end of 2010.  The work 
on this new building would start in 2011 and was due  to be completed by the end of 2012.  The 
Committee had also examined the first annual report on diversity presented by the Secretariat.  This 
report provided an overview of the evolution of st aff diversity since 1995.  Data had been presented 
according to Member, gender and number of applications received by Member, and on WTO 
internship programmes.  It pointed out that th e WTO Staff Regulations stipulated the need for 
diversity and equal opportunity, with the main criterion being a merit-based recruitment process.  Notable progress had been achieved by the Secret ariat on diversity since 1995 and especially since 
2005.  Several Members had presented a joint statement including a proposal for further 
improvements of diversity in the Secretariat.  The Committee would continue the discussion on this 
topic at its next meeting.  Finally, the Committee had reviewed the payment plan for Côte d'Ivoire 
aimed at liquidating the arrears in contributions over a period of 10 years, starting in 2010.  Côte 
d'Ivoire was the second Member which had accepte d a payment scheme.  In accordance with the 
decision of the General Council of 15 May 20 06, the Committee recommended that the General 
Council suspend the application of the Administrativ e Measures for Côte d'Ivoire, which agreed to, 
and undertook to abide by, a schedule of instalment  payments aimed at liquidating all arrears over a 
period of 10 years, starting on 1 January 2010.  The payments had to be received no later than 
31 December of each year, failing which the Ad ministrative Measures would be reinstated. 
37. The representative of China
 thanked the new Chair of the Budget Committee for his report 
and the former Chair for her excellent work.  His delegation wished to highlight one issue in the 
report.  At the last Committee meeting, Members ha d had a dynamic discussion on the diversity issue.  
Several, including China, had issued a joint statemen t, which had been circulated as an attachment to 
the Committee's report and as a separate worki ng document.  While expressing the co-sponsors 
appreciation to the Secretariat, particularly the Director-General and DDG Yerxa for the informative 
report on diversity in the Secretariat, the statem ent had put forward some thoughts on the direction 
and corresponding measures that could be taken in future  to improve diversity in the Secretariat.  With 
the previous joint proposal (WT/BFA/W/191), the Secretariat's report (WT/BFA/W/195) and this WT/GC/M/126 
Page 12  
 
 recent joint statement (WT/BFA/W/198), Members had en tered into a dynamic process to discuss this 
important issue.  China, together with other in terested Members, looked forward to participating 
actively and constructively in this process and hoped to see some concrete results on measures to be 
taken in the future to improve the diversity of the Secretariat. 
38. The representative of Côte d'Ivoire
 expressed his delegation's gratitude to the 
Director-General, the Secretaria t and members of the Budget Committee for their understanding with 
respect to Members such as Côte d'Ivoire which, owing to a number of circumstances, had encountered problems in meeting, within the agr eed deadlines, their contractual commitments under 
Article VII:4 of the Marrakesh Ag reement, which stipulated that Members should promptly contribute 
to the WTO their share in the organization's expenses.   In spite of the irreversible nature of the 
Administrative Measures relating to Members in a rrears as set forth in L/6384, PC/7 and L/7578, his 
country, like many others, had not been definitiv ely sidelined by their fellow Members.  This 
conciliatory attitude on the part of the WTO senio r management, which reflected the Secretariat's 
determination to find negotiated solu tions that were in the best interests of all Members – solutions 
that respected the debtor country and benefite d the WTO – had enabled countries like his own to 
benefit from the assistance and training services provide d by the organization.  Côte d'Ivoire, which 
intended to consolidate its status as a fully-fledged Me mber of the WTO so that it could play a part in 
reforming the multilateral trading system, while at the same time benefiting from the services provided by the WTO, welcomed the opportunity offered by the Secretariat to work out a negotiated timetable for the settlement of its arrears in add ition to its outstanding debt.  This commitment was 
currently being implemented by his country, maki ng it an Active Member.  His delegation reaffirmed 
its commitment to the timetable established in agreem ent with the Secretariat, and was honoured by 
the confidence the Secretariat had shown.  At th e same time, it commended the Director-General for 
the skill and spirit of conciliation with which he had helped to bolster Côte d'Ivoire's position in the 
WTO.  Without prejudging future decisions of Members, who were aware of the constraints Côte d'Ivoire had faced in the recent past, the pro cess in which his country was engaged with the 
Secretariat should be used as a reference for the future. 
39. The representative of Mali
 said his delegation welcomed the statement by Côte d'Ivoire and 
supported his analysis and the re levance of various countries' ac knowledged commitment to the WTO 
system.  The present item was no doubt the least-welco me one on the Council's agenda.  However, as 
Côte d'Ivoire had rightly said, it was probably one of the most fundamental ones for the organization.  
His delegation was taking the floor not because his c ountry had been taken to task, but simply to 
express its relief that it had been possible to settle it s arrears.  He wished to assure Members that this 
situation, which had lasted for four years, had no t been caused by lack of commitment, because his 
Government appreciated the WTO and was a foun ding Member.  Mali also wished to thank the 
Director-General who had shown patience and great  understanding right up until the happy outcome, 
and had personally approached his Mi nister and others at the Seventh Ministerial Conference.  This 
clearly underlined the Director-General's commi tment and his empathy towards governments in 
developing countries.  For Mali, it had never been a question of any lack of interest in the WTO, 
which was a unique organization.  It was because Ma li was a Member that, since 2003, together with 
others concerned by the cotton question, it had been  able to speak out loudly and strongly, and its 
demands, which remained legitimate, had been heeded.  He also wished  to refer to all the programmes 
within the organization that contributed so much to his country and others in terms of capacity 
building. 
40. The General Council took note  of the statements, approved  the Budget Committee's specific 
recommendation in paragraph 25 of its re port in document WT/BFA/115, and adopted  the report. 
41. The Director-General  thanked the General Council for the d ecision to suspend  the application 
of Administrative Measures to Côte d'Ivoire, and also the Government of Côte d'Ivoire and its 
Ambassador for having actively sought a solution with the Secretariat to the situation of contributions  WT/GC/M/126 
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  in arrears.  He wished to update the General Counc il on the Secretariat's efforts to find solutions with 
Members that had long-standing arrears.  At present, 15 Members had more than three years of assessed contributions in arrears.  According to  WTO rules, these Members were considered as 
inactive.  These 15 Members had total arrears amou nting to just over CHF 12 million.  The number 
of, and the amount due by, Inactive Members had rema ined fairly stable since the inception of the 
WTO.  These 15 Members each had a unique situation,  but there were some common patterns.  First, 
the situation was not new.  All of them, except two, had more than 15 years of outstanding 
contributions.  Five of them had more than 30 years of outstanding contributions.  Second, all of them, 
except two, were at the minimum contribution level, which in 2010 amounted to CHF 28,410.  Finally, all of them, except three, were LDCs.  At  the same time, almost two-thirds of LDC Members 
had no outstanding arrears.  This situation would not be resolved overnight.  Nevertheless, it was 
important to find solutions with these Members.  It was especially crucial to re-establish a more 
regular payment cycle of at least the amount of the annual contribution. 
42. In the past 12 months, he and his team had approached individually all Inactive Members on 
this topic.  They had held several bilateral discu ssions during the Seventh Ministerial Conference.  He 
had discussed with Ministers and delegations, and al so brought this issue to the attention of their 
authorities in capitals.  Payment plans had been propo sed to each of these Members.  The Secretariat's 
focus had been on finding solutions , rather than strictly enforcing administrative sanctions.  Two 
Members had already accepted such plans – Gabon and Côte d'Ivoire.  The previous day the Republic 
of Congo had announced its acceptance of a five-y ear repayment plan presented to it in April.  
Adherence to these plans would need to be carefully m onitored.  In addition, Mali had settled all of its 
four years of arrears in February.  He had recently received some positive signals from the Central 
African Republic and Nicaragua.  His objective w as to continue engaging Members in finding 
solutions that would reduce the number of Inactive Me mbers to its lowest level by the end of the year. 
He would continue to be available to work with delegations in Geneva a nd with their governments on 
this issue.  The Committee on Budget, Finance a nd Administration had also established a Working 
Group to review the situation regarding Members subj ect to Administrative Measures.  This had been 
a positive development, and he wished to thank th e Chair of the Working Group for his dialogue with 
Members.  Hopefully, there would be more to come, as all realized they had to address this situation.  
He understood that the Committee would report its c onclusion on this topic to the General Council 
later in the year. 
43. The General Council took note
 of the Director-General's statement. 
4. The financial and economic crisis and the role of the WTO – Communication from 
Argentina, Ecuador and India (WT/GC/W /617 and Add.1) – Statement by the 
Chairman 
44. The Chairman  recalled that at its February meeti ng, the General Council had discussed the 
proposal from Argentina, Ecuador and India in document WT/GC/W/617 and Add.1, and had agreed 
that he, as Chairman, would undertake consulta tions on the best way forward concerning this 
proposal, without prejudice to the position of any Member, and that he would report back to the 
Council at the present meeting.  He had held wide-r anging consultations as manda ted.  In particular, 
on 12 April the Chairs of the TPRB, the Services C ouncil and he had held an informal meeting on this 
matter.  He had intended for the Chair of the G oods Council to be present as well, but the latter had 
not been available.  Over 30 delegations had been i nvited to this meeting, at the start of which he had 
asked delegations to consider five  basic questions with respect to the proposal – whether, what, how, 
when and where – and to focus in particular on what needed to be done and how. 
45. He was pleased to report that a very good, a nd lengthy, discussion had taken place.  In his 
view, there had been some convergence at this meet ing on the "what" question.  Everyone seemed to 
agree that transparency should be enhanced – and that this could be done by better utilizing the WT/GC/M/126 
Page 14  
 
 already existing mechanisms of notification, monito ring and surveillance.  In addition, no one had 
objected to further analysis on the positive, as we ll as negative, impacts on trade of the stimulus 
packages being undertaken.  However, significant di fferences had remained on how to undertake such 
analysis.  There had been different perspectives on whether such analysis should be done on a macro 
basis, or focus on particular sectors of goods or servi ces.  It had also been noted that work was already 
proceeding in the financial services sector.  View s had differed also on the possible methodology for 
such analysis and whether the analysis should be  Member-driven, conducted by the Secretariat in 
cooperation with other organizati ons, or conducted by outsiders, such as academics.  While the 
discussion had not focussed on where such work should continue, some delegations had stressed that 
the TPRB was the appropriate venue for such an exerci se, while others felt that the Goods or Services 
Council was best placed to provide inputs to the discussion.  Some views had also been expressed on 
other aspects of the proposal, but he would not try to summarize them all at the present meeting.  In concluding the meeting, he had suggested that furthe r consultations needed to  be conducted in various 
settings.  He had invited delegati ons to continue to discuss among themselves in pursuit of greater 
clarity concerning possible areas of convergence.  Si nce then, he had remained in contact with the 
leading Members and others in order to get a sense of the best timing and format in which to renew 
his consultations. 
46. All delegations who spoke thanked the Chai rman for having held these consultations. 
47. The representative of Argentina
 said his delegation wished to thank the delegations who had 
taken part in these consultations.  Argentina enc ouraged the Chairman to pursue these consultations 
with the other Members who supported this initiative,  particularly Ecuador and India.  His delegation 
would also fulfil its task, with a view to clarif ying the initiative and moving what it had suggested 
forward. 
48. The representative of Chile  said that his delegation was sympathetic to this proposal from the 
point of view of transparency.  All proposals in  this vein had received Chile's support and would 
continue to do so.  However, his delegation wished  to reiterate that further discussion was required 
with regard to the methodology to be used.  It was not a question of looking for guilty parties, but 
merely of analyzing as objectively as possible the imp act, both current and future, of the crisis and its 
remedies on trade in goods and services.  Chile re gretted the lack of convergence on this proposal.  
There was a need to continue building confidence, and his delegation looked fo rward to participating 
in future consultations. 
49. The representative of the European Union  said his delegation agreed that the informal 
consultations had been useful in finding some  common ground among Members' positions.  Members 
should now capitalise on this progres s and continue discussing the details of this proposal in the 
TPRB.  The TPRB was the best forum for discussing the transparency of Members' trade policies, 
including the measures taken pursuant to the crisis .  Indeed, the proposal drew on the work already 
undertaken in the TPRB.  In addition, the TPRB w as a non-litigious forum where issues related to the 
crisis could be discussed.  Regarding the way forwar d, the EU fully subscrib ed to the transparency 
objectives of this initiative and was happy that many Me mbers felt the same way.  It would continue 
to support any initiative conducive to greater transp arency.  Following the informal consultations, 
there seemed to be some common agreement to bring more transparency into some industrial sectors, 
so that Members could better understand the trade im pact of the measures adopted since the eruption 
of the economic and financial crisis.  However, as th e saying went, transparency, like charity, began at 
home.  The EU noted that many Members, including some of the proponents, had a very poor record 
of complying with industrial subsidies notificati ons.  Among them were some large trading economies 
which had not submitted a single notification over the p ast decade.  This was clearly at odds with calls 
for further transparency.  Members should build  on existing mechanisms  for surveillance and 
notification.  A good starting point for the next phase would be for Members to duly comply with 
their notification obligations, to provide a good level of transparency for Members to work on and a  WT/GC/M/126 
 Page 15 
 
 
  strong factual basis on which to take the initiative forward.  One could, for instance, invite all 
Members to notify all the industrial subsidies they  had disbursed until 2008.   His delegation hoped 
that Members could discuss the details further and m ove the discussion to the TPRB, so that they did 
not need again to discuss this matter in the General Council. 
50. The representative of Hong Kong, China  said there was no doubt that the various financial 
and fiscal stimulus programmes introduced by many Members to tackle the crisis could have a 
significant impact on trade.  Like others, Hong Kong, China considered that fuller analyses and 
studies of their impact should be carried out, having  due regard to the unique circumstances that had 
demanded their implementation.  His delegation ha d therefore been supportive of the initiatives 
undertaken by the TPRB and the Committee on Trade in  Financial Services for a focused study on the 
trade impact of various stimulus  programmes, principally those concerning the financial services 
sector.  It was encouraged to note that a consensus had emerged on the way forward and that there had 
been positive engagement by Members.  It also expe cted continuous work on this front, as outlined in 
the proposal by Argentina, Ecuador and India.  As  the Chairman had reported, the consultation he had 
convened to this end had gathered a certain mome ntum, and this was encouraging.  While there 
remained divergent views on the scope and format of the analysis, Hong Kong, China looked forward 
to participating in any further consultations that might be conducted with the aim of bridging these 
gaps. 
51. The representative of the Chinese Taipei  said that at the outset, the proposal suggested as a 
first stage that Members evaluate the extent and re liability of the information they had on the stimulus 
packages, and that they use the Director-General's monitoring re ports under the TPRB as the basis for 
this.  In this light, the proposal would seem to conf irm the value of the monitoring reports.  Likewise, 
his delegation was in favour of the Secretariat conti nuing its valuable work in producing reports on 
Members' trade and trade-related measures during th e global economic crisis.  At the same time, his 
delegation wished to point out that given the impor tance Members attached to the monitoring reports, 
particular care and attention needed to be exercise d by the Secretariat when collecting the data and 
related information.  His delegation wished to men tion this, because the last report contained incorrect 
information that had not been duly verified with  Chinese Taipei before publication.  A corrigendum 
had subsequently been issued, for which his de legation thanked the Secretariat.  No doubt his 
delegation could be more confident of  the accuracy of future reports as a result of this experience.  As 
had been mentioned in the Chair's consultation, hi s delegation was open to discussion of this proposal 
and thought the TPRB might be the most suitable body in which to do this. 
52. The representative of the United States  said his delegation had found the Chair's consultation 
to be useful.  It continued to hold the views it had expressed on earlier occasions.  The United States 
also continued to be ready to engage in discussions in any relevant WTO body, if Members had specific concerns relevant to the mandate of the WT O with measures taken to deal with the financial 
crisis.  However, the United States continued to be lieve that such work had to be Member-led.  It 
shared the EU's view on the critical importance of Members meeting their notification obligations if 
they were to ensure transparency in the areas at issue.  It was a matter of concern that several key 
Members had not submitted their regular notificati ons of subsidy programmes for quite some time. 
53. The representative of Japan
 said that on transparency, the improvement of notifications was 
the key.  Members could, and should, take maxi mum advantage of the existing system.  In the 
Committee on Subsidies and Countervailing Measur es, for example, Members could express their 
concerns on a particular measure of a particular Memb er and request information on it.  In this regard, 
the record of subsidy notifications had to be improve d.  While the EU had noted that charity began at 
home, in Japan mothers told their children return ing from school to do their homework before going 
out to play.   Members could then have an interactive di scussion based on the information provided.  
In addition, they could have more  concrete and interactive discussi on in the TPRB, which also had the 
appropriate mandate.  On the issue of analysis , the division of work between think-tanks and WT/GC/M/126 
Page 16  
 
 international organizations and among international organizations was the key.  The question was 
what the role of the WTO was, as Japan did not want the WTO to assume the role of a think-tank.  However, this did not mean the Secretariat did not ha ve the appropriate capacity for analysis.  Indeed, 
the Secretariat had offered a valuable analysis on th e stimulus packages in the financial sector in its 
July 2009 report.  Japan supported the WTO contin uing such analytical work within its capacity. 
54. The representative of Switzerland
 said his country was in favour of all measures that could 
enhance transparency.  His delegation agreed with those who said that transparency had to be given 
effect through regular notifications, and the present discussion was an encouragement to those who had lagged behind somewhat in this regard.  Like others, his delegation considered that the TPRB was 
the proper body in which to discuss in depth any measures taken by a Member, and as far as analysis 
was concerned, fully envisaged th e possibility that one day, in the TPRB, in relation to a specific 
issue, the need to undertake in-d epth analyses would be identified.  This was why Switzerland 
encouraged the Chairman to pursue the consultations he had initiated, in which it was interested in 
participating. 
55. The representative of India
 said his delegation had found the consultations very useful and 
was happy to note that there was much wider unders tanding of the underlying issues raised in the 
submission.  A number of issues had been raised in th e statements just made, and he wished to make a 
few comments.  One was the issue of  the forum.  In fact, this was a secondary issue, as India could 
accept any forum Members might agree on.  The sec ond aspect was that these discussions had to be 
Member-driven.  Again, there should be no cause fo r disagreement on this important aspect.  All the 
substantive issues in the WTO were Member-driven, and this issue would not be an exception.  The 
submission basically focussed on two aspects – transparency and analysis.  Behind both these 
considerations was the possible trade impact of vari ous measures, and that was the particular issue the 
submission was trying to nail down.  While a numbe r of delegations had gi ven nice homilies about 
what one should be doing at home, the intent of th is submission was much broader than industrial 
subsidies.  To say that this issue could be covere d by timely notifications di d not begin to address the 
totality of this issue.  Certainly this was good advi ce, and all Members should agree that notifications 
should be timely and provided as required under th e Agreements, but there had been a number of 
measures implemented during the cris is that were not covered by no tification requirements, and this 
was the issue the submission was trying to address when it talked about transparency and the trade 
impact of such measures.  It was important to  keep this in mind when addressing this issue. 
56. The representative of Brazil  encouraged the Chairman to c ontinue these consultations, which 
might assist in finding common ground among Members.  It went without saying that Brazil favoured 
any measure aimed at enhancing transparency regarding stimulus packages, but Members could do better, and this proposal addressed this by trying to go farther, in terms of analysis, taking advantage 
of the Secretariat's existing capacity.  Thus, his delegation continued to favour the continuation of 
such consultations so as to allow Members to  move forward in implementing this proposal. 
57. The representative of Ecuador
 expressed his delegation's willingness to consider the forum in 
which the issues of transparency and the trade imp act of the fiscal stimulus and financial support 
programmes could be discussed.  It also wished to reiterate that the Secretariat had the technical 
capacity to take on this task.  Nevertheless, for Ecuador, this aspect of the discussion should only be 
addressed once the principle had been defined, i.e.  transparency for areas in which there were no 
specific obligations in the multilateral trading syst em.  His delegation welcomed the consultations 
undertaken by the Council Chair and urged him to pursue them so as to reach agreement on this 
important issue.  As to the assertions by some Members regarding the failure by some of the Members sponsoring this initiative to comply with WTO ob ligations, he wished to recall that among the 
developed-country advocates of transparency, th ere were some which stood out because of their 
failure to comply for decades with decisions of th e Dispute Settlement Body, the granting of millions  WT/GC/M/126 
 Page 17 
 
 
  in agricultural subsidies to the detriment of the agricultural exports of de veloping-country Members, 
and continued fisheries subsidies that had le d to the depletion of global fish stocks. 
58. The representative of China  said that as the Chair's report on his consultations showed, 
despite some emerging convergences, Members' positi ons on the core issues remained divergent.  
This was regrettable.  The proposal on transparency  by Argentina, Ecuador and India was valuable 
and worth considering.  The reason Members had the monitoring mechanism in place was to make 
sure that the basic rules of the WTO were not  sacrificed when countries designed their economic 
recovery strategies.  Of course, many measures in the stimulus packages, such as those to spur domestic demand and improve peopl e's livelihood, were trade-facilitating.  At the same time, 
measures to bail out the auto industry and major investment banks might have more complicated 
impacts.  Therefore, a comprehensive study by th e Secretariat was necessary in order to provide 
Members with a complete picture, and the Secretar iat was fully competent to undertake such a study.  
China looked forward to any future consultations the Chairman might hold on this issue. 
59. The representative of Cuba
 said her delegation supported th e proposal by Argentina and the 
other proponents.  This initiative sought to make the Secretariat's reports on the monitoring of the 
global economic crisis more objective.  Cuba wish ed to stress the importance that these reports 
constituted an in-depth study of the impact of th e measures and policies adopted, and that they not 
merely list the measures that had been implemented.   They should also help Members – especially 
developing countries – to understand th e scope and scale of these polici es in various sectors, such as 
the industrial, agricultural, automobile and financial sectors, inter alia , and in different areas, such as 
trade, production, consumption and investment. 
60. The representative of Mexico  said his country continued to be convinced that an analysis as 
proposed in the submission needed to include specifi cally those measures that affected trade and those 
that had had a negative effect.  However, in a ddition to those, measures that might have been 
introduced to increase aggregate demand might have ha d an affect, and Mexico wished to try to assess 
that affect on global trade.  Figures received from the Director-General indicated that trade volume in 
2009 had fallen by 13 per cent.  Had the stimulus or  incentive measures to promote aggregate demand 
not been introduced, this drop would have been grea ter.  Therefore, one was looking at what would 
have happened in terms of trade had these measures  not been introduced, and also what exactly had 
happened in terms of trade as a result of the introduction of certain other measures.  Members were looking at the how, where and who, and the answers to  some of these questions remained to be found.  
Mexico was fully prepared to continue cooperating with the Chairman on this matter as he deemed 
appropriate. 
61. The representative of Norway
 said the Secretariat had done important data collection and 
analytical work on the economic crisis and trad e-related developments, as seen in the Director-
General's reports to the TPRB.  It would be useful to  try to get more out of the material Members had.  
The proposal by Argentina, Ecuador and India w as a constructive contribution in this regard.  
Contributing to better understanding of the trade effe cts of stimulus packages would also enhance the 
relevance of the WTO vis-à-vis  current problems in the world economy.  Two elements should be 
taken into account when devising the work ahead.  As Mexico had said, without the stimulus 
packages, the 2009 fall in trade volume would have b een even deeper.  Furthermore, there might also 
be a limit to the government funds th at could be allocated to stimulus  packages in future.  Thus, it was 
likely that the problem of the impact of stimul us packages would not necessarily be as great as it 
might seem at present.  The Secretariat had consider able analytical capacity and could do some work 
on this.  She noted that this issue had recently b een discussed in the Committee on Trade in Financial 
Services based on a Secretariat report.  It should al so be noted that when the same issue had been on 
the agenda of the Council for Tr ade in Services two days later, no delegation had taken the floor.  
Norway was thus not sure what Members wished to do in the General Council.  Consequently, the WT/GC/M/126 
Page 18  
 
 questions of methodology in the submission needed  to be assessed further, and consultations would 
have to be continued. 
62. The representative of Bolivia
 said that as her delegation had said at previous Council 
meetings, Bolivia fully supported this proposal an d felt that Members should continue with the 
consultations until they had fully covered the issues raised. 
63. The General Council took note  of the statements. 
5. Implementation of the Transparency Mechan ism for Regional Trade Agreements on a 
permanent basis – Communication from China, India and Pakistan (WT/GC/W/621) 
64. The Chairman  drew the Council's attention to the communication from China, India and 
Pakistan in document WT/GC/W/621 and invited the delegation of India to introduce it. 
65. The representative of India  recalled that Ministers in Doha had agreed, in paragraph 29 of the 
Doha Declaration, to negotiations aimed at "cla rifying and improving disciplines and procedures 
under the existing WTO provisions applying to RTAs".  The systemic issue of transparency, combined with the desire to understand the conten t and working of RTAs, had led Members to work 
on a Transparency Mechanism for RTAs.  The Ge neral Council had adopted the Transparency 
Mechanism in December 2006 (WT/L/671), in accordan ce with paragraph 47 of the Doha Declaration 
which provided that "agreements reached at an early stage may be implemented on a provisional or definitive basis".  The adoption of the Transparen cy Mechanism had been without prejudice to the 
terms of the Single Undertaking.  He further re called that the provisions in paragraph 23 of the 
Decision on the Transparency Mechanism dealing with  "Reappraisal of the Mechanism" specified that 
Members would review, and if necessary modify, this decision in light of the experience gained from 
its provisional operation and replace it by a perm anent mechanism adopted as part of the overall 
results of the Round, in accordance with paragr aph 47 of the Doha Declaration.  At the 
December 2006 General Council meeting, the Chair had noted Members' intention to conduct an 
initial review of the Mechanism within one year of  its adoption.  However, more three years had 
already elapsed.  In addition, considerable experi ence of the operation of the Mechanism had been 
gained through the consideration of 66 RTAs in the Committee on Regional Trade Agreements 
(CRTA) and three RTAs in the Committee on Trade a nd Development.  It was in this context that 
China, India and Pakistan had proposed that the General Council ask the Chairman of the Negotiating 
Group on Rules to begin immediate consultations aime d at reviewing, and if necessary modifying, the 
Transparency Mechanism in the light of the e xperience gained from its provisional operation, and 
replacing it by a permanent mechanism.  The pr oponents trusted that this would receive the 
endorsement of Members. 
66. The representative of China
 associated his delegation with the statement by India and said he 
wished to reiterate three points.  First, the pr oposal was simple – the General Council should advise 
the Chairman of the Negotiating Group on Rules to ki ck off the review process  of the Transparency 
Mechanism for RTAs with the aim of modifying it , if necessary, in light of the experience gained 
from its provisional operation, and to replace it with a permanent mechanism.  China strongly 
believed that such proceedings would improve  the existing mechanism and further enhance 
transparency and certainty, which were of param ount importance given the ever-growing number of 
RTAs.  Second, the proposal was feasible.  Paragr aph 23 of the General Council's Decision on the 
Transparency Mechanism clearly provided the mandat e for the review, and several Members had also 
expressed their intention on various occasions to start the review, including during the Seventh 
Ministerial Conference.  Such a review had not been conducted in 2008 due to limited experience.  
However, the Mechanism had now been in opera tion for more than three years.  Sixty-six 
Agreements, counting goods and services notifications separately, had been notified and considered in 
the CRTA, and three additional Agreements had been  notified on the basis of the Enabling Clause and  WT/GC/M/126 
 Page 19 
 
 
  considered in the CTD.  China was therefore confid ent that the experience was sufficient and the time 
was ripe to start the exercise.  He stressed that China fully respected the no tion of Single Undertaking 
stipulated in paragraph 47 of the Doha Declarati on.  Nevertheless, the sentence that followed in the 
same paragraph stated that agreements reached at an early stage could be implemented on a provisional or a definitive basis.  This therefor e did not exclude the possibility of the permanent 
application of the Mechanism even before the conclusion of the Doha Round. 
67. Many delegations thanked China, India a nd Pakistan for their communication on the 
Transparency Mechanism for RTAs in document WT/GC/W/621.   
68. The representative of Argentina
 commended the initiative of China, India and Pakistan.  He 
stressed that there was a mandate in paragraph 23 of the General Council's 2006 Decision and noted 
that the Mechanism had operated for three years a nd had worked well.  It was therefore time to 
proceed, as the co-sponsors had indicated, to consultati ons with a view to reviewing, and if necessary 
modifying, the Mechanism, with a view  to replac ing it with a permanent mechanism.  The first step 
of drawing the General Council's attention to this issue had been taken.  The second step which should 
be considered, and which Argentina would suppor t, was the initiation of consultations on this 
initiative. 
69. The representative of Australia  welcomed the proposal that the Chair of the Negotiating 
Group on Rules begin a review of the Transparency Mechanism for RTAs.  He recalled that reaching 
an agreement on the provisional application of the Mechanism had been a significant achievement in 
2006, and the Mechanism appeared to have enhanced  the understanding of how RTAs were operating.  
It was therefore important for a review to look sy stematically at the operation of the Mechanism and 
to aim at strengthening efforts to monitor RTAs.  The proliferation of RTAs was an important 
systemic issue for the WTO, and the Transparency  Mechanism had played an important role in 
shedding light on Members' practices in this area.   Australia supported a review of the Mechanism 
and looked forward to its permanent adopti on as part of the Doha Round outcome on RTAs. 
70. The representative of Chile  said his delegation had consistent ly supported this matter.  The 
Transparency Mechanism for RTAs  had been a contribution in an area which was of increasing 
relevance for the WTO and which had systemic impact s.  For this reason, it was very important to 
begin the work of reviewing  the mechanism, sinc e there now seemed to be enough experience with it 
for Members to be able to evaluate its functioning.  In fact, Chile had been a frequent "user" of the 
mechanism, as the majority of RTAs in which it was involved had been examined under it, and 
Canada and Chile had been the first countries to be scrutinized.  Therefore, Chile supported the 
initiative to hold consultations on the review of the mechanism and on the possibility of making it 
permanent.  It hoped that any remaining doubts con cerning this matter could be eliminated, so that 
substantive work on it could get underway. 
71. The representative of New Zealand  said his delegation placed great importance on 
transparency for RTAs, which had been an importa nt tool in helping review whether RTAs were 
likely to be the building blocks in support of the mu ltilateral system that they should be.  He recalled 
that since the Mechanism had been established, th ere had been further significant growth in the 
number and variety of RTAs.  As indicated by Indi a, a number of RTAs already reviewed under the 
Transparency Mechanism suggest ed that Members probably did have enough experience in the 
operation of the Mechanism to inform a reappraisal of its functioning, as manda ted by paragraph 23 of 
the General Council's 2006 Decision.  Therefore, hi s delegation encouraged the proponents to bring 
their proposal to the Negotiating Group on Rules and looked forward to participating actively in 
discussions in that forum. 
72. The representative of Mexico  said his delegation placed a lot of importance on transparency 
for RTAs and supported the proposal by China, India and Pakistan. WT/GC/M/126 
Page 20  
 
 73. The representative of Switzerland
 said the communication rightly reminded Members of the 
need to think about working on this issue.  Switzerla nd was interested in par ticipating in consultations 
to review this provisional mechanism and, like ot hers, suggested that when the Chairman of the 
Negotiating Group on Rules considered it appropriate, such consultations should be held.  However, 
his delegation wished to sound a note of caution.  It had heard the figures, and knew that this 
mechanism had been in operation for three years a nd had essentially concerned three agreements.  As 
a figure, Switzerland did not consider three to be an appropriate basis for drawing definitive 
conclusions.  It favoured holding consultations on the basis indicated, and believed there should 
perhaps also be a review of other transparency  requirements in the context of the CRTA.  His 
delegation supported this mechanis m and the objectives, usefuln ess, stability, transparency and 
effectiveness of such a mechanism, and was interested  in participating in any consultations that might 
be held. 
74. The representative of Mauritius  said his delegation supported the proposal to begin 
consultations on the reappraisal of the functioning of the Transparency Mechanism, without prejudicing their final outcome. 
75. The representative of Gabon
, on behalf of the African Group , said that RTAs were an 
important issue for the African Group, some of w hose members had engaged in the EPA process.  The 
conformity of these agreements with the rules governing the international trading system the WTO embodied was a matter of the utmost importance to it.  The African Group took note of the communication from India, China and Pakistan  on the implementation of a permanent RTA 
transparency mechanism, and intended to pursue consultations on this issue with the co-sponsors 
within the Negotiating Group on Rules. 
76. The representative of Canada
 said his delegation fully supported the proposal by China, India 
and Pakistan to start consultations on the im plementation of the Transparency Mechanism on a 
permanent basis.  Given the existing mandate, the most appropriate forum for this discussion was the 
Negotiating Group on Rules. 
77. The representative of Brazil  said his delegation shared the co-sponsors' positive appraisal of 
the operation of the Transparency Mechanism on RT As during the past three years.  While his 
delegation was waiting for a reaction from capital on the substantive aspects of the joint proposal, he 
wished to recall a systemic concern regarding the e nhancement of transparency in relation to all trade 
agreements.  It was important to note that, wh ile the Transparency M echanism was already in 
operation, Members had not yet been able to c onclude the negotiation on a similar mechanism for 
preferential trade agreements, which was a matter of gr eat interest to Brazil.  His delegation expected 
that progress on both fronts would ultimately enable  the achievement of a definitive solution that 
encompassed the need for fu ll transparency with regard  to all trade agreements. 
78. The representative of the United States  said that while his delegation was sympathetic to the 
desire of the co-sponsors to initiate a paragraph 23 review of the Transparency Mechanism, the 
proposal seemed off the mark in its procedural postu re.  He stressed that this was the domain of a 
subsidiary body of the TNC, the Negotiating Group on Rules, and his delegation did not see any need 
for a General Council decision.  He further stressed  that the United States was not arguing against the 
review of the Transparency Mechanism and that it agreed with the co-sponsors on this, but that the 
roles of the various WTO bodies should be respected.  
79. The representative of Japan  said his delegation shared the goal of further strengthening the 
transparency of RTAs and welcomed the proposal by China, India and Pakistan for the General 
Council to advise the Chair of the Negotiating Group on Rules to start consultations.  In this regard, 
she recalled that the Chair of the Negotiating Group on Rules, in his statement at the December 2009 
General Council meeting, had proposed to schedule an  informal meeting to consider the views of  WT/GC/M/126 
 Page 21 
 
 
  Members on the functioning of the Transparency M echanism.  Japan recognized the importance of 
such informal consultations and would actively participate in them. 
80. The representative of El Salvador  said that RTAs were instruments through which countries 
deepened trade liberalization, and recently, to an  increasing extent, they included formalized links 
between sovereign States that went beyond trade rela tions.  For countries such as El Salvador, RTAs 
had resulted in instruments that were constantly be ing utilized to achieve its economic integration into 
the global economy.  Thus, the work being undertaken in implementation of the WTO Agreements relating to these international legal instruments was of systemic and trade interest to his country.  In 
the three years during which it had been implem ented, the Transparency  Mechanism for RTAs 
administered by the CRTA had enabled progress to be made as far as possible in the factual 
examination of the trade agreements implemen ted by Members.  Although progress had been 
important, much remained to be done in ex amining RTAs through implementation of the 
Transparency Mechanism.  El Salvador supported en hanced transparency in the WTO's work, and in 
this particular case, for the time being, the n eed to consider whether or not the Transparency 
Mechanism should be reviewed.  As proposed by th e Chairman of the Negotiating Group on Rules, El 
Salvador was in favour of consu ltations that could be initiated in  this body, and would certainly 
participate so that its views could be taken into account.  For the time being, the consultations to be 
held should be conducted under the guidance of the Chairman of the Negotiating Group on Rules, so 
that Members could, in a comprehensive manner,  decide whether or not there was sufficient 
experience in applying the Transparency Mechanism, and then decide on the path to be followed for 
its review. 
81. The representative of Hong Kong, China
 said that as RTAs proliferated, the need to examine 
their compatibility and convergence with the multilate ral trading system had become more pressing.  
To this end, the provisional Tr ansparency Mechanism established by the Council in December 2006 
was an important first step in monitoring the comp liance of RTAs with WTO rules, and in ensuring 
that they remained constructive building blocks of, rather than impediments to, the multilateral trading 
system.  While the provisional Transparency Mech anism had been operating smoothly over the past 
three years, it was high time to review its operati on, as previously mandated by the General Council, 
with a view to improving the Mechanism and ma king it permanent.  Hong Kong, China therefore 
agreed with the proposal that the Chair of the Negotiating Group on Rules should start consultations 
on a review, and was ready to particip ate in and contribute to the process. 
82. The representative of the European Union  said that while he did not intend to enter in the 
substance of the submission, his delegation welc omed it and supported the launch of the mandated 
review of the RTA Transparency Mechanism. 
83. The representative of Norway  said the Transparency Mechanism had been a useful tool in the 
past few years, and her delegation continued to sup port it.  In principle, Norway was in favour of 
making the Mechanism permanent but, before doing so, it was important to look at how it was 
functioning and whether it could be improved.  The relationship between the multilateral trading 
system and the ever-increasing spaghetti-bowl of RTAs  was a systemic issue, far larger than the 
confines of the Doha Round.  He also recalled th at at the December 2009 General Council meeting, 
the Chair of the Negotiating Group on Rules ha d expressed his intention to hold informal 
consultations on this subject in 2010.  Norway su pported such a process as a necessary step towards a 
final decision. 
84. The representative of Korea  said that this proposal was timely, given that Members' three-
year experience of the Transparency Mechanism clea rly showed it had been very successful in terms 
of enhancing transparency.  Now was the right tim e to start discussing how to improve the mechanism 
and to explore the possibility of making it permanen t.  Korea fully supported the suggestions made by 
China, India and Pakistan. WT/GC/M/126 
Page 22  
 
 85. The representative of Ecuador
 said that his delegation supported the proposal to initiate 
consultations to consider whether the transpar ency mechanism should be replaced by a permanent 
one.  It was important that the main users of the m echanism shared their experience in this respect, as 
this would contribute to constructive discu ssions on the mechanism and its operation. 
86. The representative of Turkey  said his delegation attached great importance to the principle of 
transparency, which was one of the pillars of the or ganization.  For that reason, the proposal merited 
consideration in the General Council.  Turkey was of the view that the ongoing work in the CRTA should be supportive in this respect.  The pr oliferation of RTAs should be addressed in a 
comprehensive manner.  In the light of these consid erations, it would be appropriate for the Chair of 
the Negotiating Group on Rules to initiate consultations. 
87. The representative of Saint Lucia
 welcomed the proposal and looked forward to consultations 
on this matter, which should take place under the auspices of the Negotiating Group on Rules.  Saint 
Lucia looked forward to the engagement of all inte rested parties, in particular developing countries 
and ACP countries, with a view to ensuring a positive outcome. 
88. The representative of Morocco  expressed her delegation's support for the start of 
consultations to assess the feasibility of  making this mechanism permanent. 
89. The representative of the Chinese Taipei  said his delegation attached great importance to 
establishing the Transparency Mechanism for RTAs on a permanent basis.  It therefore welcomed the 
proposal and would actively participate in future discussions. 
90. The representative of India  thanked those who had spoken.  The wide participation in the 
discussion was indicative of the importance delegati ons attached to this issue.  As far as the 
substantive aspects of the proposal were concerned, there was a clear agreement that this work should 
go ahead.  Some delegations were concerned about the procedural aspects of the proposal and whether 
the General Council should be intervening on this issu e.  In this regard, he recalled that, as Members 
were aware, the original Decision to implemen t a provisional mechanism had been taken by the 
General Council in December 2006, and this was why the co-sponsors had thought it appropriate for 
the General Council to take further steps in trying  to convert Mechanism into a permanent one.  He 
agreed that the review process had to be institute d in the Negotiating Group on Rules.  His delegation 
would rely on the Chairman of the General Counc il to convey to the Chair of the Negotiating Group 
on Rules, in any appropriate manner, the sentiments of delegations regarding the early institution of 
such a process. 
91. The Chairman  said that he was willing to consult with Members further on how to proceed, 
and that there seemed to be support for the intent of the proposal.  He noted that the proponents could 
submit the proposal to Negotiating Group on Rules and said he would inform the Chair of that group about the discussion that had taken place in the General Council. 
92. The General Council took note
 of the statements.   
6. Harmonization Work Programme under the Ag reement on Rules of Origin – the Way 
Forward – Communication from China, India and Pakistan (WT/GC/W/622 and Add.1) 
93. The Chairman  drew the Council's attention to the communication from India in document 
WT/GC/W/622, co-sponsored China and Pakist an in WT/GC/W/622/Add.1, and invited the 
delegation of India to introduce it. 
94. The representative of India  said the proposal was not something Members were unaware of, 
and that the issues had been with the General C ouncil for some time.  This proposal sought to  WT/GC/M/126 
 Page 23 
 
 
  accelerate the work on the Harmonization Work Pr ogramme (HWP) mandated by Ministers in the 
Uruguay Round.  It was a reminder to Members that work as important as putting in place global, non-preferential rules of origin had been lying unfinished for the past 15 years, and that it should be completed without further delay.  With respect to the structure of the proposal, he explained that, in the first three paragraphs, the importance of rules of  origin for global trade had been brought out in 
general terms.  The fourth paragraph introduced  the HWP under the Agreement on Rules of Origin 
and outlined its principles.  The next four paragr aphs briefly captured the progress made on the HWP 
since July 1995 and the present state of play.  Th e ninth paragraph focused on the work already done 
and the work that remained to be completed.  Included in the latter category were the outstanding 
94 core policy issues, the "dual rule approach" for machinery products, and a number of other 
unresolved issues that included the ov erall architecture of the rules.  The tenth paragraph flagged the 
issues that were to be addressed by the General C ouncil.  The last paragraph contained the specific 
proposals.  
95. It was obvious that delegations had not given th is work the attention it deserved.  It was 
recognized by all Members that use of harmonized ru les of origin would provide greater certainty in 
the conduct of world trade.  It was also accepted that the administration of rules of origin in a uniform, 
impartial, consistent and reasonabl e manner would facilitate the flow of  international trade.  Despite 
this understanding, the fact remained that even af ter 15 years of intense negotiations, there were no 
common non-preferential rules of origin in place.  It was often said that the HWP issues were highly complex and technical and, therefore, time-consuming.   While this was true, there had to be a timeline 
for finishing the work.  He stressed that the HWP was an unfinished agenda item of the Uruguay 
Round, and it was a matter for reflection among Memb ers that the work remained incomplete even 
after so many years of negotiations. 
96. He recalled that the issues that could not be  resolved by the Committee on Rules of Origin 
(CRO) had been referred to the General Council in 2002 for discussion and decision.  The unresolved 
issues were the outstanding 94 core policy issues an d "the dual-rule approach" for machinery items.  
In pursuance of the General Council's decision, the CRO was presently examining the product-
specific technical issues, including  technical aspects of the overall architecture.  However, progress 
had been very slow.  The same issues were bei ng discussed over and over with no solution in sight.  
There was clearly a deadlock situation in the CRO , and the intervention of the General Council was 
required to break this deadlock.  Therefore, his delegation had proposed that a deliberative process be 
established under the chairmanship of the Chair of  the General Council to discuss and decide the 
94 core policy issues and "the dual-rule" approach fo r machinery items.  Harmonized rules had been 
finalized for 1,528 products out of 2,739.  The issue flagged in the submission was whether these 
rules could be implemented, pending completion of the exercise.  Finally, the submission proposed 
that the CRO could resolve the other technical i ssues, including the technical aspects of the overall 
architecture and transposition of the agreed rules in to HS2007, by July 2011.  He trusted that these 
proposals would receive a positive cons ideration in the General Council. 
97. The representative of Pakistan
 said his delegation strongly believed that the WTO was not 
synonymous with the Doha Agenda.  There was a need to work on other important issues that had 
been on the table since the end of the Uruguay R ound.  Against this backdrop, Pakistan had co-
sponsored the proposal with China and India.  It could not be denied that harmonizing non-
preferential rules of origin would facilitate interna tional trade.  This initiative was contained in the 
Agreement on Rules of Origin where the HWP ha d been established to harmonize non-preferential 
rules of origin within three years.  However, even after more than 15 years, the task had still not been 
accomplished.  The proposal was an attempt to re mind the General Council that a number of issues 
had been referred by the CRO for guidance and th at these were still pending.  The CRO, during the 
previous two years, had remained confined to technical aspects of the overall architecture of the 
initiative, and had made some progress.  The negotiations  needed to be intensified with a view to early 
completion.  Since the product-specific rules of orig in were based on the HS2 002 version, there was a WT/GC/M/126 
Page 24  
 
 need for its transposition into the later versions of  the HS.  The CRO might undertake this exercise.  
His delegation was not fixated on any particular out come or specific process.  The intention was to 
develop consensus and address the sensitivities of Members.  This initiative should not remain 
unattended and could be complete d in a time-bound manner.  Pakistan would welcome any comments 
and suggestions to further crystallize this concept.  
98. The representative of China
 recalled that the current negotia tion on the harmonization of non-
preferential rules of origin had been on-going for 15 years.  According to Secretariat figures, Members had reached consensus on rules of origin for 55 per cent of the prod ucts negotiated within 
the CRO.  Of course, the unresolved  areas remained the most difficult part, including the implications 
issue and the "dual-rule approach" for machinery produc ts.  He recalled that in July 2007, the General 
Council had decided that discussion of the above-m entioned difficult issues be suspended so as to 
allow Members to reflect their views and enable the CRO to continue its work aimed at resolving all 
technical issues as soon as possible.  Since then, th e CRO had undertaken formal as well as informal 
meetings to discuss the technical aspects of the ove rall architecture and to refine chapter rules.  
However, the process was slow.  Considering th e current situation of the HWP, the proponents 
believed it was time for a change, and therefore s uggested that the Council Chair consider establishing 
a process within the General Council to find a way fo rward on issues such as dual rules for machinery 
and implication-related issues.  The outcome of  negotiation on the HWP so far should not be put 
aside, and the possibility of implementing the agreed rules on 1,528 products at an early stage should 
be considered in a timely manner. 
99. Many delegations thanked China,  India and Pakistan for their proposal on the HWP under the 
Agreement on Rules of Origin in documents WT/GC/W/622 and Add.1.   
100. The representative of Indonesia
 agreed that there was a need for the WTO to speed up the 
process of concluding the HWP under the Agreement on Rules of Origin.  As highlighted in document 
WT/GC/W/622, rules of origin were the basic foundations of global commerce, and the WTO should not ignore this issue any longer.  A fresh look and a renewed political energy were needed to enable 
the CRO to work more intensively and hamme r out its pending issues as soon as possible.  
Completing work on the rules of origin was becomi ng more and more crucial, since world trade was 
complicated by globalization and the fact that a pr oduct could be processed in several countries before 
reaching its final destination.  This was a matter that  required the urgent attention of all Members.  A 
way forward should be quickly found and the negotia tions completed, in order to achieve the common 
goals of harmonization of rules of origin for MFN trade. 
101. The representative of the Philippines
 said the importance of making progress on this still-
unfinished piece of business from the Uruguay Round had been well summarized in the communication, and the credibility of the WTO would be further put into question if this matter remained unfinished.  It could not be denied th at substantial good work had been accomplished in the 
CRO, where no less than 55 per cent of product-specific rules (PSRs) had been agreed.  She noted that 
the 55 per cent of the PSRs that had been agreed we re in HS1996 nomenclature, and stressed that it 
would be unfortunate if th e benefit of these agreements would not bear fruit due to the failure to take 
these into account with the HS2002 and HS2007 changes.  It should also be noted that even HS2012 
changes had been agreed.  The Phili ppines therefore urged that the remaining balance of 45 per cent, 
that included the 94 core issues referred to the Gene ral Council in July 2001, needed to be addressed 
by the General Council, given that it had not been possible to make progress in the CRO.  In this 
context, the Philippines supported the proposal in paragraphs 10(a) and 11(a) of the communication 
for a deliberative process under the chairmanship of the General Council Chair.  The Philippines also 
believed in the merits of the para graph 11(b) proposal for the CRO to  resolve other technical issues, 
including the important work of transposing the agreed rules into HS2007 by July 2011, and to facilitate the transposition to HS2012.  WT/GC/M/126 
 Page 25 
 
 
  102. The representative of Sri Lanka  said the submission on the HWP under the Agreement on 
Rules of Origin was the second joint proposal by Chin a, India and Pakistan.  Apart from the merits of 
the two proposals, this was a welcome collabora tion.  The proposal captured the essence of the 
substantial items of this particular matter.  Ther e was a need for an early conclusion of this work, 
which had been undertaken 15 years earlier.  While the proposal was being evaluated in his capital, 
his delegation could see the merit and the importance of the harmonization work, as it was important 
for resource-deficient small developing countries lik e Sri Lanka.  Rules of origin denoted essentially 
the economic nationality of export products.  When di fferent rules were applied by different trading 
partners in different markets, the small and vulnerable resource-de ficient countries like Sri Lanka – 
who depended heavily on imported ma terial, parts and components – found it difficult to meet the 
original requirements.  Therefore, the harmonization of these rules was particularly important.  
Furthermore, early results for this issue and the implementation of what had already been agreed 
would also provide some clarification for the revision of preferential rules of origin.  It was in this 
context that Sri Lanka viewed this proposal. 
103. The representative of Australia  welcomed India's interest in moving forward the HWP under 
the Agreement on Rules of Origin.  His delegati on had always favoured reaching an outcome based 
on the key principles that should govern rules of origin .  They should be simple, practical, flexible and 
defensible, and should not of themselves constitute  an administrative burden on trade.  However, 
work under the HWP had not reached a stage consis tent with these principles.  There were many 
political and technical obstacles which had prevente d the CRO from finalizing the HWP over the past 
15 years.  Australia had indicated its willingness to  consider new and creative ways of getting around 
these obstacles and advancing this programme.  At the same time, it had concerns about exploring 
possible partial solutions which could draw the work further way from the mandate, without getting 
closer to a solution on the hardest issues. 
104. Australia's preference therefor e was to provide the new CRO Chair with a greater opportunity 
to complete consultations on the issues and determin e the appropriate course of action.  This was a 
sensible first step, and one which was worth pursing further before considering referring the matter to 
other bodies such as the General Council.  Accordingly,  the first step one should be looking at was to 
revitalize the CRO, which would ensure a more vi brant and informed discussion in that Committee, 
which was where the expertise lay in the organization.   With this in mind, Australia favoured the CRO 
undertaking a full stocktaking of progress made under the HWP to date and of all outstanding issues 
yet to be resolved, so that Members could have a common understanding one where the HWP was 
before making a decision about how best to deal with it in future. 
105. The representative of Brazil  thanked India for bringing this issue to the attention of the 
General Council and for its carefully prepared pr esentation.  The HWP under the Agreement on Rules 
of Origin was, as pointed out by the Philippines,  unfinished business from the Uruguay Round.  It was 
a matter too crucial to the operation of most WTO Ag reements to be left unregulated.  Since it seemed 
that technical discussions had been exhausted, it was high time the General Council took stock of the 
situation and tried to find a way forward.  India's proposal offered practical terms in this respect, and 
Brazil therefore supported it. 
106. The representative of New Zealand  expressed his delegation's appreciation to the co-sponsors 
for bringing this longstanding issue back to the a ttention of the General Council, and agreed with 
them that the WTO could not ignore the reality that this work remained incomplete after 15 years of 
negotiations.  The resource and credibility implications of that fact were of concern to New Zealand.  
The submission gave a flavour of the enormous num ber of outstanding technical and political issues 
that remained unresolved after 15 years of work .  If anything, it overestimated progress made.  
Completing rules for 55 per cent of tariff lines did not  equate with completing 55 per cent of the work.  
In this context, his delegation was not sure wh ether a deliberative process under the Chair of the 
General Council, and yet another de adline, were the answer.  Firs t, it was important to have a WT/GC/M/126 
Page 26  
 
 common understanding of the nature and extent of the work remaining.  In that regard, he noted the 
proposal in recent informal consultations of th e CRO for the Chair to complete a stocktaking 
document, and recalled that there had been widesp read support for this idea.  He suggested, as 
Australia had also mentioned, that Members be give n an opportunity to consider this document before 
deciding on next steps.  Overall, he believed that  Members had to be honest and acknowledge that the 
HWP was not heading in a direction which would fulfil the mandate in the Agreement on Rules of 
Origin, that these were to be harmonizing, objectiv e, coherent, trade facilita tive and applied equally 
for all purposes.  New Zealand was disappointed w ith this situation but would not hide from the 
reality.  The HWP had begun with a particular purpo se, but this purpose and the trading environment 
under which it had originated had changed.  For example, some delegations had referred to the 
development of globalized production chains.  The implic ations of this for rules of origin was not at 
all obvious.  Creative thinking was required to resolv e this situation, includi ng a reassessment of the 
utility of harmonized rules of origin for non-preferential trade.  Once the Chair's stocktaking document had been completed, the way forward proposed  in the paper could be useful if it encouraged 
this kind of creative thinking. 
107. The representative of Colombia
 said his delegation shared the concerns raised in the 
communication.  Regarding the HWP, the fact that such an important area of work was languishing on the sidelines did not say much for Members' commitm ent.  Rules of origin were a key element in 
international trade, and the work on harmonizing them could not remain unfinished.  Colombia 
therefore endorsed the invitation to resume thes e discussions comprehensively, without prejudging 
specific outcomes, with a view to bringing them to a speedy conclusion in whatever body and at 
whatever level might be necessary. 
108. The representative of Canada
 said that the proposal highlighted the significant number and 
complexity of outstanding issues facing the CRO.  Li ke India, Canada was also concerned with the 
lack of an agreement after 15 years of negotiations , and was reflecting on how best to advance work 
in the CRO in a way that would be relevant and useful.  As such, Canada would support having the 
CRO Chair undertake a stocktaking exercise with the objective of clearly identifying all the 
outstanding issues.  His delegation looked forward to  receiving and studying this report, as this would 
help it better understand the present s ituation and the formulation of next steps.  The new CRO Chair 
should be given sufficient time to consult Members on the establishment of a work plan in this regard. 
109. The representative of Guatemala  said that according to Article 9.2(b) of the Agreement on 
Rules of Origin, the CRO was the appropriate  body to conduct the work under the HWP.  
Accordingly, the outstanding 94 core policy issues,   including the implications of non preferential 
rules of origin, should continue to be discussed within the CRO.  Likewise, Guatemala viewed with 
great concern the proposal to approve and apply the ru les of origin for the 1,528 products in square 
brackets.  This would not be fully consistent with  the terms of reference la id down in the Agreement 
on Rules of Origin.  Moreover, approval of a temp orary package did not resolve the question of the 
implications of the application of the rules of orig in, and might upset the careful balance that had been 
reached in negotiations on a much  broader package of rules.  In addition, the proposal did not 
specifically cover the issue of whether these would be binding or not.  Furt her, it did not define 
clearly how progress would be made towards a solu tion for the outstanding 1,211 lines, where each 
Member undoubtedly had an opposing position.  Guatemal a recognized that greater efforts had to be 
made to move ahead in these negotiations, but it di d not share the idea of establishing a deliberative 
process in the General Council with a view to adop ting a formal decision at the next Ministerial 
Conference.  Discussions should remain within the CRO, as was mandated.  In order to make 
progress, the priority should once again be to di scuss the scope of these rules of origin, their 
applicability and implications.  Only by clarifying these factors could Members review their positions 
and make decisive progress towards conclusion of th e negotiations.  Guatemala was ready to continue 
playing a constructive part in discussions in the CRO.  In fact, it had products of interest both within  WT/GC/M/126 
 Page 27 
 
 
  and outside the 94 core policy issues.  Consequent ly, his country would only approve an agreement 
that reflected and took into account these interests. 
110. The representative of the United States  said his delegation had just recently received the 
proposal and was still reviewing it.  He recalled that  in July 2007, the General Council had directed 
the CRO to continue work on the technical issues  remaining, including the related architecture.  
Paragraph 5 of the proposal recognized that this wo rk was technical and voluminous.  He pointed out 
that there had been progress in addressing the pr oduct-specific technical issues and in drafting an 
architecture that was both understandable and administrable by Members' customs services and the trading community.  The work was highly technical , with customs experts still disagreeing on the 
meaning and structure of the overall architecture.  From the US perspective, it might not make sense 
for the General Council to tackle the core policy issu es before this process was completed.  He further 
recalled that some time earlier, the then-Chair of the General Council had held a number of HODs-
level meetings to try to make progress on these issu es, and this had not been successful, due in large 
part to the fact that these were highly technical  and complex issues.  Another attempt now would 
probably not be more successful.  If Members wished to pursue this further, the Chair should hold 
consultations not only on when, but al so how, these issues might be tackled. 
111. The representative of Hong Kong, China
 acknowledged the difficulties involved in 
developing a set of harmonized rules of origin.  Th e fact that the CRO had been working on this for 
the past 15 years spoke volumes to that.  On the othe r hand, one needed hardly point out the benefits 
of a set of harmonized rules of origin.  This would provide not only greater predictability in 
facilitating international trade flows, but would also be an instrument of defence against rules being 
misused in the pursuit of protectionist trade objectiv es.  Although some headway had been made in 
certain areas by the CRO, the commitment had to be turned, as reiterated by many Members, into 
flexible and constructive solutions, in order to t ackle the outstanding matters and bring this overdue 
task to a fruitful conclusion.  As manufacturi ng processes became increasingly subject to global 
supply chains, one should not underes timate the intricacy of the work of drawing up trade rules that 
were acceptable to all Members.  Hong Kong, Chin a hoped that, in accordance with the proposal put 
forward by India and supported by China and Pa kistan, for which it was grateful, Members could 
collectively take a fundamental and critical look at the objectives, priorities and progress of the HWP and consider how best to breathe new life into the negotiations on  rules of origin.  Hong Kong, China 
remained firmly committed to this unfinished busin ess of the Uruguay Round, and would continue to 
work closely with Members in identifying pr agmatic ways to expedite its completion. 
112. The representative of Turkey
 thanked the delegations of India, China and Pakistan for the 
proposal on the HWP under the Agreement on Rules of Origin.  Indeed, rules of origin was a very 
important issue on which work needed to be completed.  His delegation understood that the 
proponents were seeking a way to accelerate the work  being carried out in the relevant Committee.  
Turkey was examining the proposal, and its internal consultation process had not been concluded.  His 
delegation therefore hoped to be able to comment on the issue soon.  With regard to the proposal of 
organizing a workshop, Turkey was in favour of an y process that would facilitate an exchange of 
information. 
113. The representative of Switzerland  said his delegation appreciated India's initiative co-
sponsored by China and Pakistan drawing attenti on to this important issue which was dragging on. 
Switzerland was sympathetic to an approach where by one could try to bind the agreement reached on 
some of the issues and to continue serious work on the issues still outstandi ng.  While progress had 
been made in the past, it was not sufficient.  The main reason for this was not the lack of willingness, 
but real difficulties to overcome.  He recalled that in 2007, the CRO had come to the General Council to get guidelines for its work, but had been sent back  to continue its technical work.  The 94 core 
issues had to be resolved, and it should also be ex amined whether there was a package of rules of 
origin on which decisions could be taken.  On th e 94 core issues, the CRO could start preparing the WT/GC/M/126 
Page 28  
 
 ground work for decisions by the General Council.  The treatment of the 94 issues would take time, 
and this could mean discussing these issues one by one.  It would be helpful if the CRO could draw up 
a timetable for inputs to the General Council, provi ding for the treatment of those 94 core issues as 
soon as possible.  However, one had to be conscious that this exercise had linkages with issues outside 
the realm of the CRO, which made th e exercise even more difficult.  In parallel, the CRO should re-
check the 1,528 rules of origin on which consensus had been reached in order to take into account 
possible changes in technologies since the beginning of the HWP. 
114. The representative of El Salvador
 thanked the proponents of this initiative, which his 
delegation had referred to its authorities for consider ation.  It wished to make a number of comments 
of a preliminary nature.  With regard to the tw o elements contained in the proposal, El Salvador 
agreed that Members should pursue the discussion a nd reach decisions on the fundamental issues.  
One of the main obstacles to progress was precisely the lack of clarity as to the implications and scope 
of application of the rules, and a clear statement by the Council woul d facilitate technical discussions 
in the Committee.  Regarding the adoption of a decision to apply the rules to the 1,528 products on which the Committee had completed its work, Members should give this matter further thought before 
adopting partial agreements, especially in an area such as this, since they did not know what the 
consequences of applying the non-preferential ru les to a limited number of products would be.  
Accordingly, it was hard to think that the next  Ministerial Conference could take a decision if 
delegations in Geneva had not resolved all the i ssues under discussion.  El Salvador was in favour of 
continuing work to resolve the remaining techni cal issues in the Committee, and the CRO Chair 
should prepare a document reflecting the present state of  affairs, together with a roadmap for future 
discussions, on the basis of which Members should pursue the harmonization work.  His delegation 
was ready to continue working on this issue with the Council and CRO Chairs. 
115. The representative of the European Union
 said it would be of enormous value to commerce 
and industry to have harmonized, non-preferential rules of origin.  Hong Kong, China had explained 
the benefits of such harmonized rules, and the EU  fully shared those arguments.  European industry 
was very keen to see harmonized non-preferential rul es in place.  It was, as some had said, somewhat 
embarrassing that for 15 years this piece of unfi nished business from the Uruguay Round could not be 
accomplished.  This was for two reasons:  one was that the issues were inherently complex, not just technically, but also economically and politically.  Th e second was that they had not been dealt with 
at the right level in the WTO.  The work had been to some extent bogged down in a technical 
exercise, while many of the issues at stake were  more economic and political.  The work had been 
stuck in what in a different context had been describ ed as the dictatorship of the technical experts.  
For these reasons, it was essential to start addressing the outstanding issues at a higher level, as proposed by India.  The CRO alone should not continue working away at the coalface on a number of technical issues, because in order for progress to be made, high-level guidance on some fundamental 
issues relating to, for example, implications, scope  and coverage was needed.  These issues could not 
be decided at the technical level. 
116. There was a role for the General Council, and in 2007 there had been an understanding that 
some of the policy issues would need to be examined  and decided at General Council level.  This too 
was unfinished business.  Therefore, the EU supporte d the procedural process proposed by India and, 
in addition, also saw merit in the notion that an early harvest of the already agreed rules could be 
useful in order to consolidate the work achieved so far.  On the other hand, it would not be useful to 
set a specific deadline for any of the remaining tec hnical work that could be done by the CRO, since 
in the past none of those deadlines had proved to be  binding or credible.  The EU looked forward to 
the Chairman devising the right forum within the framework of the General Council to start 
addressing some of the policy and economic issues that  needed to be determined and decided if the 
technical work was to reach fruition anytime soon.  WT/GC/M/126 
 Page 29 
 
 
  117. The representative of Norway  shared India's concerns about the status of the HWP.  Her 
delegation agreed with Brazil that this unfin ished business from the Uruguay Round was too 
important to leave unsolved, due also to the cha llenges posed by the globalization of trade, where 
implications for rules of origin were far from being obvious, as indicated by New Zealand.  Her 
delegation was particularly concerned that there wa s no agreement either on the overall architecture or 
on the product-specific rules of origin for fish products.  As Norway attached great importance to 
finding a solution on these issues, harvesting preliminar y results that did not cover these major export 
sectors would not be very helpful.  Norway supporte d India's proposal to establish an overall process 
to address these issues and believed that, in paralle l, the CRO should continue its work on technical 
issues. 
118. The representative of Chinese Taipei  was concerned that after more than 15 years of 
negotiations, the HWP had yet to finalize its work, in particular given the importance of the Agreement on Rules of Origin in implementing va rious WTO agreements a nd related measures.  
While considering implementing those specific rules of origin that had already been agreed, it was 
also necessary to take into account that the Harmonized System on which these were based was 
HS1996, which had been revised sever al times since 1996.  In addition, one should also take into 
consideration the changes in the industrial sector a nd in technology, and reflect the possible influence 
of such changes on the specific rules of origin th at had already been agreed.  His delegation supported 
the suggestion that the Chair of the CRO should take  all these factors into consideration, undertake a 
stocktaking and report to the General Council,  so that a way forward could be found. 
119. The representative of Chile
 said this matter was of great im portance to many Members, and it 
thus required the appropriate level of considerati on.  The work recently done in the CRO addressed 
some of the concerns raised by India in its pro posal.  This matter should be dealt with in that 
Committee in order that the results reached th ere could be brought to the General Council. 
120. The representative of Japan  said his delegation appreciated India's initiative, and stressed that 
delegations had worked on this issue for 15 year s and had achieved a lot, especially on technical 
issues, and the work done by the CRO was greatly appreciated.  The HWP was part of the Uruguay 
Round package, and Japan was keen on participating actively in the discussion to arrive at an early 
conclusion of it.  It was essential to keep on wo rking on technical issues, such as product-specific 
rules, in the CRO and aim to advance further on these issues as much as possible.  On India's 
suggestion that the 94 core policy issues and th e dual-rule approach for machinery should be 
discussed under the guidance of the Chair of the General Council, discussions on technical issues 
should be built up prior to discussions on those issu es.  The ultimate goal was to agree on a package 
of rules as a whole, and because of the risk of losing momentum for the harmonization work, Japan 
could not support the idea of implementing rules for certain products at an earlier date. 
121. The representative of Ecuador  said his delegation wished to highlight the professional job 
done by the outgoing Chairperson of the CRO over th e years.  Ecuador attach ed enormous importance 
to this issue, which was clearly a significant one in terms of future market access for Members, in 
particular for a country like Ecuador which had few bilateral trade agreements and therefore put great 
store in multilateral accords.  This issue deserve d deliberate consideration, and Ecuador had already 
indicated in the past that, in its view, nothing  could be agreed in these negotiations until full 
agreement had been reached on all 2,739 products.  Ecuador was willing to work hard on this task and 
complete it as quickly as possible, but at the same  time, account would have  to be taken of the 
institutional weaknesses and constrai nts of certain developing-country delegations in Geneva, such as 
Ecuador's, which had prevented these delegations fro m becoming more actively involved in these 
important negotiations.  For the time being,  Ecua dor had asked the Chairperson of the IGDC to 
organize a workshop for the Group so that all develo ping countries were clear on the obligations and 
consequences of this issue. WT/GC/M/126 
Page 30  
 
 122. The representative of Barbados
 said her delegation supported Indi a in its initiative to speed up 
the harmonization of rules of origin.  The fact that this matter had been outstanding for 15 years 
reflected on the credibility of the organization.  Fu rthermore, Barbados recognized that within this 
time, changes in the globalization of production had served to complicate the process.  The delay 
might have led to sourcing of goods as a trade policy instrument, leading to cherry picking and 
country shopping.  One needed to consider whethe r the past approaches should be used and whether 
the 1,528 products on which work had been comple ted should be accepted, given the changes in the 
technologies of production.  Therefore, her delegati on supported India's proposal to set up a process to 
correct the problem.  However, prior to referring the matter to the General Council, a working group 
could be set up, so that ideas could be shared as to  whether to use methodologies that had been used in 
the past, and also whether to accept the agreem ent on the 1,528 products or to undertake a more 
fundamental review.  One also needed to take into consideration the fact that technology had changed. 
123. The representative of India  said the fact that a large numbe r of delegations had responded to 
this particular forgotten issue was itself a small vi ctory, to the extent that the discussion helped to 
focus minds, attention and energies on resolving the outstanding issues in this area.  A large number 
of delegations had agreed that the non-completion of this work was adversely impacting the smooth 
flow of global trade.  Beyond this, a large numbe r had also supported the proposal, while others had 
stated other perspectives.  One particular idea was that the CRO should be asked to undertake a 
stocktaking process, to determine what the real issues pending were and on where decisions remained to be taken.  Such a stocktaking had already b een done, as Members in the CRO already knew what 
they could not agree on and the reasons why most of these issues remained unresolved, which were 
more than just technical, but also political and economic, as the EU had said.  This merited an 
approach that went beyond technical issues, and this was the rationale for the CRO itself having 
referred the matter to the General Council.  Therefor e, and this point was worth repeating, this was 
not a new proposal, but one which had been re ferred by the CRO itself to the General Council. 
124. He agreed with those who had said that the fact  that work on 55 per cent of the tariff lines had 
been completed did not mean that 55 per cent of the work had been completed.  One could not 
implement the rules of origin on those tariff lines without an agreement on th e overall architecture of 
the rules and without decisions on the implications i ssue.  Indeed, these were th e core issues which the 
CRO wished the General Council to deliberate on and to  decide.  On the question of why this matter 
should be referred to the General Council, the General Council was the higher decision-making body 
of the WTO.  It had a responsibility not only to Members, but also to the systemic issues involved in 
global trade.  Therefore, if a Committee had found itself in a deadlock, he believed it was natural for 
that Committee to seek the guidance of the higher body, which was the General Council.  One might 
wish to reflect on the implications of the Genera l Council not deciding on this matter, and on whether 
this could be construed as the Genera l Council abdicating its responsibilities. 
125. The other issue which had been mentioned was the usefulness of deadlines.  The only reason 
for suggesting a certain deadline was that it could he lp to focus minds.  However, if Members could 
continue to work without deadlines, India had no pr oblem with that.  Its major intent was that the 
membership recognize the systemic importance of th is particular issue and renew its energy in 
addressing it.  Some Members had said a parallel process was the right approach.  The CRO had to continue its deliberations to see how progress could be made on the remaining issues.  At the same time, a process at the General Council level to delib erate on the larger issues which continued to 
bedevil the negotiations was needed.  Ecuador had referred to the general principle of the Single 
Undertaking, whereby nothing was agreed until ev erything was agreed, in arguing against partial 
implementation.  This was not an issue for the Si ngle Undertaking nor within the Doha mandate.  It 
was mandated in the Agreement on Rules of Origin  in the Uruguay Round, and therefore remained 
outside the Single Undertaking.  A practical and pr agmatic view was needed to try to make progress 
on this broad issue.  WT/GC/M/126 
 Page 31 
 
 
  126. The representative of Ecuador  said he wished to clarify that he had not said the issue was part 
of the Single Undertaking, but that not all produc ts had been agreed on in the HWP and that several 
products were still pending.   
127. The Chairman  said that, given the different perspectiv es, he would consult with Members on 
how best to proceed. 
128. The General Council took note  of the statements.  
7. Request by the Syrian Arab Republic to accede to the WTO – Communication from 
Egypt on behalf of the Arab Group (WT/GC/127) 
129. The Chairman  drew attention to the communication received on 22 April from Egypt on 
behalf of the Arab Group in document WT/GC/127, re questing that this item be placed on the Agenda 
of the present meeting, and inv ited Egypt to take the floor. 
130. The representative of Egypt , on behalf of the Arab Group , said that in introducing the request 
submitted by the Syrian Arab Republic to accede to the WTO, he wished to make the following 
remarks.  First, the Arab Group had previously e xpressed in the General Council and in various WTO 
fora its full and unequivocal support for Syria’s request  to accede to the WTO.  This request had first 
been submitted by Syria on 10 October 2001 a nd had been renewed on 29 January 2004 
(WT/ACC/SYR/), 7 September 2005 (WT/ACC/SY R/3), and most recently on 29 March 2010 
(WT/ACC/SYR/4).  Nine years after its first request, a working party on the accession of Syria had not yet been established.  Article XII of the WT O Agreement stated that "any state or customs 
territory with full autonomy in the conduct of  its trade policies may accede to the WTO".  
Accordingly, as was common practice, any trade -related details should be discussed within the 
framework of a formally established working party.  It was against this backdrop that the Arab Group 
had requested the inclusion of Syria's request to  accede to the WTO on the Agenda of the present 
meeting for consideration and decision. 
131. Second, the Group wished to bring to Members' attention that ever since Syria's decision to 
accede to the WTO, the Syrian Government had fo llowed a clear roadmap to fulfil the necessary 
requirements of accession.  At the institutional level, the Ministry of Economy and Trade had 
established a High National Committee on Syria's accession to the WTO.  The current five-year economic development plan included measures such  as enhancing competition-driven markets and 
eliminating monopolies, eliminating non-tariff barrier s, modifying investment laws, rehabilitating the 
transportation infrastructure, promoting electronic commerce, and modernizing foreign trade laws and 
regulations, in conformity with trade liberaliza tion principles.  Moreover, Syrian experts on WTO 
accession had successfully participated in numerous workshops, seminars and trade policy courses 
organized by the Institute of Training and Techni cal Cooperation.  This had provided them with the 
necessary skills and qualifications to effectively negotiate the terms of Syria's accession, once a 
working party was established, bearing in mind that they had successfully produced the first draft of 
Syria's memorandum on its foreign trade regime.  Furthermore, Syria had undertaken far-reaching 
legal reforms in order to bring its regulatory framework up to par with that required for full 
integration in global markets.  Those reforms included laws on competition and antitrust, on organizing trade in human medications and chem icals, and on financial institutions.  Economic 
reforms in Syria also included the modernization of  the banking and monetary system, the creation of 
the Damascus Stock Exchange, and a Commission on Financial Markets and Securities in order to 
further transparency and efficiency in those mark ets, as well as the Syrian Investment Agency whose 
aim was to promote a more conduc ive investment environment. 
132. Third, throughout their history, Arab countries ha d always recognized the role of international 
trade in promoting economic development, and the role  of the WTO in ensuring that the principles of WT/GC/M/126 
Page 32  
 
 trade were closely adhered to.  This was clearly re flected in the active participation of the 11 Arab 
Members in different WTO activities, the ongoing accession process of seven Arab countries, and the 
efforts exerted by Syria and Palestine – as a separ ate customs territory – to start their process of 
accession to the organization.  On the other hand, in  an increasingly globalized world – one in which 
countries were decidedly more prone to being aff ected by anything taking place next door – the 
integration of all countries in one system took on mo re urgency and importance.  It was therefore in 
the best interest of every Member  to ensure that more and more countries became part of the unified 
system of the WTO, abiding by the same rules and regulations, and thus becoming more integrated in 
the multilateral trading system in a way that guaranteed  more predictability and transparency.  All this 
applied to Syria as much as to any other country.  Clearly, Syria would benefit in the long run from 
being part of the WTO, and this wa s why it had put this goal very high on its list of national priorities.  
However, the international trading community w ould benefit as well from the reforms Syria would 
undertake during its accession process, and should ther efore encourage such reforms by establishing a 
working party on Syria’s accession.  In light of th is, the Arab Group requested the General Council to 
establish a working party on Syria's accession with st andard terms of reference, and urged Members 
to support Syria’s request. 
133. The representative of Turkey
 recalled that accessions had been one of the key issues 
discussed at the Seventh Ministerial Conference.  Turkey, along with other Members, had expressed its desire to address the issue of accessions during th at Conference.  The issue had been emphasized in 
an adequate manner in the concluding statement of  the Chair of the Conference.  Further accessions 
would reinforce Members' commitment to make th e WTO truly global in scope and membership and 
would further strengthen the rules-based multilatera l trading system.  The WTO should keep its doors 
open to countries seeking accession and wishing to align their trade policies with WTO rules.  The process should be fair and objective, and legal and technical considerati ons should prevail.  More that 
half of the 30 acceding countries were in Turkey's vicinity.  His delegation urged Members to take a 
favourable approach to Syria's request. 
134. The representative of the Dominican Republic
, on behalf of the Informal Group of 
Developing Countries (IGDC ), reaffirmed the Group's support fo r the accession of all developing 
countries, a position the Group had maintained since its formation.  In this particular case, the request 
was even more justified, given the fact that the acceding country had been one of the 23 GATT 
founding countries in 1947.  In a rules-based trad ing system, only commercial, technical and legal 
considerations should serve as deciding factors in any accession process.  The Group once again 
wished to underline the importance of basing a ll WTO accession processes for developing countries 
on non-political factors, and to stress that acced ing countries should not be asked to undertake 
commitments that went beyond their level of development and current WTO rules. 
135. The representative of Gabon , on behalf of the African Group , thanked Egypt, for having put 
this matter on the Council's agenda, on behalf of the Arab Group.  The African Group attached 
particular importance to a simplified and accelerated accession process.  The Group expressed its 
wholehearted solidarity with acceding countries, and stressed that these countries should not be forced to negotiate concessions that were incompatible with  their level of developmen t and that went beyond 
existing WTO rules.  It therefore fully endorsed the proposals of the IGDC concerning the accession 
process.  The African Group supported the statement and the request for accession by Syria, and asked that a constant effort be made in the fi elds of technical assistance and capacity building for 
acceding African countries, especially the LDCs. 
136. The representative of India
 said his delegation supported the proposal for establishing a 
Working Party to consider Syria's accession. 
137. The representative of Pakistan  said the WTO was the only organization responsible for trade 
rules in the international trading system.  Intern ational trade and creating an environment for its  WT/GC/M/126 
 Page 33 
 
 
  smooth functioning were necessary to achieve the WTO's objectives.  Since the WTO's strength was 
not in its exclusiveness but in its inclusiveness, the process of accession needed to be simple and 
speedy.  In the light of this, Pakistan strongly supported Syria's request for accession and the early establishment of a working party to consider it. 
138. The representative of Malaysia
 said that like previous speakers, Malaysia placed emphasis on 
and continued to support efforts to integrate developing and least-developed countries into the 
multilateral trading system, to promote the creation of new trade opportunities for development and to make the WTO a truly global orga nization with universal membership.  The issue of the accession 
process of developing countries had been raised a number of times in the General Council, and on the 
most recent occasion there had been a lot of support from Members for conducting this process 
expediently and in a transparent and inclusive ma nner, while providing opportunities to engage and 
address the concerns of acceding developing countries.   In this connection, Malaysia wished to 
support Syria's request.  It hoped the process could be expedited within a reasonable timeframe so as to ensure that the potential economic benefits aris ing from integration in the WTO were also extended 
to Syria.  Members should also ensure that  the accession process was not burdensome and that 
developing countries and LDCs acceding to th e WTO were not asked to undertake excessive 
commitments that went beyond their level of deve lopment and current WTO rules.  These countries 
should be allowed adequate opportunities and sufficien t time to reform their trade regime to meet 
WTO rules and standards. 
139. The representative of Indonesia
 said his delegation supported the statement by the Dominican 
Republic for the IGDC and Egypt for the Arab Gr oup regarding the accession of developing countries 
to the WTO.  Indonesia shared the views of the IGDC and the Arab Group that every accession 
process should be guided by commercial, technica l and legal factors.  Members should remind 
themselves that the primary objective of the WT O was to continuously strengthen the multilateral 
trading system by bringing all trading partners together under the same set of rules and disciplines.  The equal treatment of all Members and the provision of welfare to all people were the key objectives 
of the WTO, and all should strive to fulfil them.  The principles of universality and inclusiveness 
which characterized the WTO should be maintain ed and strengthened, by way of allowing the 
accession of new Members.  Since submitting its application to the WTO, Syria had undertaken economic and domestic reforms to adapt its la ws and regulations to meet WTO rules and 
requirements.  Therefore, a working party should be established as soon as possible to verify that 
Syria's domestic standards were indeed in line with those stipulated by the WTO.  Bringing Syria and 
other developing Middle Eastern countries into the WTO fold would be highly constructive in 
strengthening the welfare and stability of the region. 
140. The representative of Cuba
 said her delegation was in favour of more countries acceding to 
the WTO.  Given that this was a universal organiza tion, the objectives of which were clearly focussed 
on trade, the accession of Members could not be col oured by political overtones.  The situation of 
Syria, which had been endeavouring to accede to the WTO for nine years, was at variance with the 
ongoing request by developing countries that access ions involving developing countries be given 
priority, without the imposition of requirement s that went above and beyond what had been 
established by the organization.  Cuba hoped that a working party would be established promptly and 
that Syria's accession process would get underway. 
141. The representative of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela  expressed his country's solidarity 
with the statement by Egypt for the Arab Group and the Dominican Republic for the IGDC.  His 
delegation regretted that the issue of accessions was once again on the Council's agenda.  Indeed, it 
had become something of a constant, given the lack  of progress in some accession processes.  The 
accession process should be rapid and expeditious, so as to enable developing countries to join the 
multilateral trading system, which had always been sa id to be an instrument for development, as had 
been proclaimed at Doha.  Conse quently, putting obstacles in the way of accession was contrary to the WT/GC/M/126 
Page 34  
 
 goals laid down by Ministers for this organization,  as well as contrary to the UN Millennium Goals.  
Regrettably, the time-frame for ac cessions was disrupted by requests and demands that went beyond 
the possibilities of developing countries, as well as beyond WTO rules, involving political matters that had nothing to do with what was supposed to be the essentially technical nature of this body.  
This appeared to be true in the case of Syria, which not only had the experience stemming from 
GATT membership, but had also requested accession in  2001, and yet to date had been unable to 
begin the formal process for WTO membership.  This situation was growing worse and clearly 
showed that the obstacles Syria had had to face we re not economic ones, as it had made considerable 
efforts in this regard – in particular in th e economic sphere, where it had brought its laws and 
regulations into conformity with WTO requirements.  Venezuela therefore wished  to stress the need to 
make the accession process transparent, so as to bring about the rapid membership of developing 
countries that were engaged in the accession process, in  particular Syria, which had been waiting the 
longest and whose request had been blocked for so long. 
142. The representative of China
 said his delegation thanked Egypt, on behalf of the Arab Group, 
for having put this item on the Council's Agenda, and fully supported the statement by the Dominican 
Republic for the IGDC.  China noted that this was the fourth time Syria had submitted its request to 
accede to the WTO.  In line with its consiste nt call for the speedy accession of all developing 
countries to the WTO, China strongly supported Sy ria's request to launch the accession process, 
which China believed would not only help Syria to integrate into the world economy and the 
multilateral trading system, but would also be benefici al to current Members.  China wished to see the 
establishment of a working party on th e accession of Syria as soon as possible. 
143. The representative of Djibouti  said his delegation supported the statements by Egypt for the 
Arab Group, Gabon for the African Group, and the Do minican Republic for the IGDC.  It also wished 
to reaffirm its support and its fu ll and wholehearted solidarity with the Syrian Arab Republic in its 
efforts to accede to the WTO, and hoped that this  would be realized soon.  Serious and careful 
attention should be given to the scope of the reform s that had been made by Syria in order to comply 
with the WTO rules, as could be seen from the ser ies of measures to harmonize and modernize its 
legal and institutional framework.  The road map dr awn up by the Government showed its seriousness 
and determination, and this commitment shoul d be taken into account and everything done to 
facilitate Syria's accession.  Technical and legal re quirements alone should guide the examination of 
its application. 
144. The representative of Bangladesh  said that in order to make the WTO truly global, 
Bangladesh had always welcomed and supported th e accession of new Members.  Trade was not only 
an engine of growth and welfare, but also of p eace and harmony.  Experience showed that trading 
partners were always tolerant of each other and maintained peace for the sake of mutual gain from 
trade.  Thus, for more trade, one needed more Me mbers, and this would bring more welfare and peace 
in the world.  Bangladesh fully supported the st atement by Egypt for the Arab Group and Gabon for 
the African Group supporting Syria's request for accession.  It had b een more than nine years since 
Syria had first applied for accession, but no working pa rty had yet been established.  Syria had taken a 
number of steps in preparation for joining the WTO.   Bangladesh thanked Syria for undertaking those 
preparatory steps for integrating into the multilateral trading system.  It supported the statement by the 
Dominican Republic for the IGDC.  Syria's case was particularly strong as that country had been one 
of the 23 founding countries of the GATT in 1947.  It was high time to establish a working party on 
Syria's request for accession and to start the ball rolling. 
145. The representative of Brazil  said the statement by the Dominican Republic for the IGDC 
raised very important systemic considerations wh ich should be taken seriously by all Members.  
Brazil shared the expressions of support and solid arity for the accession to the WTO of all countries, 
developed or developing.  In particular, the accession  of Syria would be an important additional step 
towards making the organization universal.  WT/GC/M/126 
 Page 35 
 
 
  146. The representative of Bolivia  said her delegation supported the request by Syria to accede to 
the WTO and hoped that a working party would be set up as quickly as possible.  Bolivia also associated itself with the statement by  the Dominican Republic for the IGDC. 
147. The representative of Mauritius
 said his delegation aligned itself with the statements by 
Gabon for the African Group, the Dominican Republic for the IGDC, and Egypt for the Arab Group 
with regard to the early approval of Syria's request for accession. 
148. The Chairman  said it appeared that delegations were  agreeable to considering this request 
positively.  He thus proposed that the General C ouncil agree to establish a Working Party to examine 
Syria's request, with the following standa rd terms of reference and composition: 
 Terms of Reference : 
 
"To examine the application of the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic to accede to the 
WTO Agreement under Article XII, and to s ubmit to the General Council recommendations 
which may include a draft Protocol of Accession." 
 
 Membership : 
 
Membership would be open to all Members i ndicating their wish to serve on the Working 
Party. 
  Chairmanship
: 
 
In keeping with customary practice, the General Council would authorize him as Chairman to designate the Chairperson of the Working Pa rty in consultation with representatives of 
Members and with the representative of Syria.  
149. The General Council agreed
 to establish a working party with the terms of reference and 
composition as read out by the Chairman. 
150. The Chairman  invited the delegation of Syria to consult with the Accessions Division of the 
Secretariat as to the further procedures, and in par ticular with regard to the basic documentation to be 
considered by the Working Party.  He also invited Syria, on behalf of the General Council, to attend 
meetings of the General Council and, as appropriate, meetings of other WTO bodies as an observer 
during the period when the Working Party was carryi ng out its work.  He then invited the delegation 
of Syria to take the floor. 
151. The representative of Syria , speaking as an observer , said this was an historic occasion for the 
WTO and for Syria.  In taking this decision, the organization had responded, as it had always done, to 
promote international cooperation for trade and de velopment.  He wished to thank the General 
Council and all of its Members, and particularly the Council Chairman and the Director-General for 
their universally acknowledged objectivity and impar tiality.  Special thanks were also due to the 
Director of the Accession Division.  He assure d the Council and the organization that Syria would 
work with all Members in its accession negotiatio ns, pursuant to Article XII of the Marrakesh 
Agreement.  His Government was convinced that wh en the negotiations were completed and the terms 
agreed, they would contribute to improving market  access, strengthening the rules-based multilateral 
trading system, and contributing both to global welfar e and the welfare of the people of Syria.  He 
wished to thank Egypt, as coordinator of the Arab Group, all WTO groupings, and all Members who had joined in the positive decision on this matter. 
152. The General Council took note
 of the statements. WT/GC/M/126 
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 8. Accession of LDCs – Statement by Zambia for the LDCs 
153. The representative of Zambia
, speaking under "Other Business" and on behalf of the LDCs , 
said that on the eve of the dialogue on LDC accession to  the WTO to be held on 5 May, he wished to 
echo the Group's support for acceding LDCs.  More importantly, the Group hoped that the dialogue 
would allow all Members to bette r understand and appreciate the pa rticular situation of acceding 
LDCs, with a view to expediting the conclusion of  the accession process for LDCs that were at an 
advanced stage of accession.  As cases in point, Samoa, Vanuatu and Yemen had already made major strides to accommodate requests by their respect ive negotiating partners.  They had shown their 
willingness and readiness to conclude the accession pr ocess by the end of 2010.  What was required 
was for Members to accelerate the process of concluding these accession processes, on both the 
bilateral and multilateral tracks.  The LDC Group a ppealed to Members that had made burdensome 
requests to reconsider their positions and make th eir submissions in accordance with the terms and 
conditions specified in the December 2002 Genera l Council Decision on Accession of LDCs.  This 
Decision required Members, among other things, to  exercise restraint when seeking market-access 
concessions and commitments from acceding LDCs.  The full and faithful implementation of these 
guidelines would result in the speedy and successful conclusion of the process of accession for all 
remaining LDCs.  It was the Group's expectation that  the three countries mentioned, and indeed other 
acceding LDCs, would be treated fairly, in line w ith multilateral agreements, Ministerial Decisions, 
and other relevant WTO legal instruments pertai ning to LDCs.  It looked forward to welcoming 
Yemen, Samoa and Vanuatu as new Members by th e end of 2010 and the remaining LDCs in the 
nearest possible future. 
154. The General Council took note
 of the statement. 
9. Statement by the Chairman on his consultations on Members' priorities for 2010 
155. The Chairman , speaking under "Other Business ", recalled that at the February Council 
meeting, he had promised that he would consult Members on what their priorities were for the 
General Council in 2010.  He had ha d the privilege of talking to mo re than 115 Members in order to 
understand their priorities.  He apologized to those with whom it had not been possible to meet, and 
remained open to meet with them at any time.  He  thought it might be useful to share with the Council 
the key messages he had been hearing in his meetings  to date.  Not surprisingly, the completion of the 
Doha Round was still viewed as the first priority.  However, many had also expressed a concern that in focussing on Doha over the past few years, Memb ers had let the management of the global trading 
system atrophy.  The economic crisis had underlin ed the necessity of the global trading system.  
Everyone had expressed the view that the organisa tion had done a good job in  monitoring what was 
happening in the real world in real time.  This seemed to have brought a focus on the fact that 
Members should be able to do several things at th e same time.  In this regard, there had been an 
overall sense that the General Council was not living up to its role and expectations.  While there had 
been a view that the WTO's role should be elevat ed from the consideration of routine and mundane 
matters, there had been no real answ er provided to the question of ho w to generate the policy dialogue 
that Members wished to have, in a room of 153 Members.  The question was how to stop debating 
issues and start finding solutions, even if this meant Members might need to devote more time to creating a meaningful dialogue. 
156. There seemed to be a desire to raise polic y issues to the General Council from the TNC and 
from a number of other committees dealing with issues such as Aid for Trade, Development, E-
commerce, the Enhanced Integrated Framework for LDCs, Environment, Rules of Origin and SVEs.  
At the same time, however, there had been difficulty in explaining why the General Council would be 
able to advance discussion on such issues when th e subordinate bodies had not.  Many believed that 
one should also address a number of systemic issu es such as the challenges of accession to the WTO, 
the credibility and the functioning of the system, the analytical capacity of the organization, coherence  WT/GC/M/126 
 Page 37 
 
 
  with other international organisa tions and the relationship of the multilateral system to regional and 
bilateral arrangements.  These ideas would need to be developed further thro ugh consultations among 
Members.  It had also been me ntioned that if Members wanted to hold more than a perfunctory 
Ministerial meeting in 2011, they should start discussing agenda items as soon as possible. 
157. He had heard many thoughtful and constructiv e ideas, but the question was how one moved 
from ideas to solutions.  In this regard, he wished  to share some of his impressions.  During these 
discussions, the intellectual power one had in this organisation to generate creative ideas had been 
very evident, and he noted that the consultations  had included just ambas sadors – one could imagine 
the intellectual force that would have been unleashed  had the many capable officers in all delegations 
been included.  The exchanges had also featured Members' ability to have a meaningful dialogue 
without confrontation, and the recognition that they  were not involved in a zero-sum game, but that 
win-win solutions were possible.  If Members coul d achieve this over lunch outside the WTO, there 
was no reason to change attitude when one walked th rough its doors.  Many smaller delegations were 
concerned about being kept in the dark.  Only tr ansparent interactive dialogue created understanding.  
He asked where this left Members, and how they work ed together to move forward on their priorities.  
Members did not need him to organize meetings fo r them.  They were all capable of convening 
meetings to elaborate and develop ideas.  However,  one should not just invite the members of one's 
group or those who would agree with one.  A truly meaningful dialogue took place only when one involved those with differing views.  Over the past  year it had been seen how  one delegation, through 
dialogue, had proposed and moved forward its ideas about strengthening the WTO system.  He asked 
delegations to imagine what a vibrant agenda they  would have if the other 152 Members did likewise. 
158. Second, he did not believe that Members needed  him to be their confessor.  He had witnessed 
in confessionals over the past few weeks some ve ry basic misunderstandings among Members.  Given 
that such confessionals were confidential, he could not in this context correct such misunderstandings.  
Members should be able to be honest with each othe r.  Solutions to their priorities appeared only if 
they recognized others' difficulties.  Finally, in a Member-driven organisation, it would seem that the 
last thing Members needed was for him to be the re feree and to arbitrate their differences by providing 
solutions to the issues identified.  Solutions that Members had not deliberated over and taken 
ownership of would not be acceptable to them.  Ul timately, as Chair, he saw his role as leading 
Members to talk to each other and facilitating thei r arriving at mutually acceptable solutions.  The 
power to generate, develop and agree on ways to improve this organisation and to create new rules 
under which it would function rested with Members.  He would continue to listen to, help and guide 
Members, and to facilitate the journey, but he c ould not replace their efforts to reach their goals. 
159. The General Council took note
 of the statement. 
10. Chairmanship of the Negotiating Group on Rules – Statement by the Chairman 
160. The Chairman , speaking under "Other Business ", reported that he had not as yet concluded 
his consultations on finding a replacement for the departing Chair of the Negotiating Group on Rules.  
He would continue to conduct th ese consultations, with the assistan ce of the DSB Chair, Mr. Agah 
(Nigeria).  
161. The General Council took note  of the statement. 
11. Administrative Measures for Members in  arrears – Statement by the Chairman 
162. The Chairman , speaking under "Other Business ", recalled that at its meeting in May 2006, the 
General Council had approved a recommendati on from the Committee on Budget, Finance and 
Administration regarding revised Administrative Measures for Members in arrears. Among these 
Administrative Measures was a requirement that, at each meeting of the General Council, the WT/GC/M/126 
Page 38  
 
 Chairman of the Committee on Budget, Finance a nd Administration should provide information with 
regard to which Members were under Administra tive Measures in Categories II through IV.  He 
invited the Chairman of the Budget Committee, Mr . Vaaranmaa (Finland), to provide the Council 
with this information. 
163. Mr. Vaaranmaa (Finland), Chairman of  the Committee on Budget, Finance and 
Administration ,  listed the Members under Categories II through IV of the Administrative Measures 
as at 3 May 2010 as follows:  Papua New Guinea and Pe ru in Category II;  Grenada and Senegal in 
Category III;  and the following Members in Categor y IV:  Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, 
Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Dominica, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, 
Mauritania, Nicaragua, Níger, Sierra Leone and To go.  Since the last progress report, El Salvador, 
Kenya and Honduras had paid up their arrears, a nd Côte d'Ivoire had accepted a payment plan over 
10 years. 
164. The Chairman  recalled that under the revised Administ rative Measures, he was also required 
at each Council meeting to request those Members in  Categories III and IV of the Measures to inform 
him, before the next meeting of the General Counc il, as to when their payment of arrears might be 
expected.  In keeping with the Administrative Meas ures, he would report on Members' replies to the 
next meeting of the General Council. 
165. The General Council took note  of the statements. 
_______________ 
 
  WT/GC/M/126 
 Page 39 
 
 
   
ANNEX 
 
Statement by South Africa at the  
Meeting of the Trade Negotiations Committee on  
22 and 26 March 2010  
 For developing countries that began this round on th e promise that it would address the inequities of 
the current trading system, and that it would create new opportunities for their development, the current impasse in the Doha Round has been frustra ting and painful.  The distortions caused by the 
high levels of protection and trade distorting subsidies in agriculture in rich countries continue to 
destabilize and undermine the productive potential of many developing countries, including South Africa.  The plight of cotton farmers in Africa is a stark reminder of inequity of the current regime.  
LDCs are still waiting patiently for some divi dends from the Doha Round, especially for the 
agreement we reached in Hong Kong to create ne w opportunities for their development by providing 
them with DFQFMA.  
As Minister Davies pointed out at the Ministerial Conference held in December 2009, "South Africa 
was not part of the agreements reached by some Memb ers in the July 2008 Package."  We continue to 
believe that the texts that emerged "are imbala nced and reflect too much accommodation of the 
sensitivities of developed countries in agricultu re, while demanding too much from developing 
countries in terms of reducing their applied in dustrial tariffs and policy space for industrial 
development".   
However, Minister Davies also stated that, "Desp ite these reservations we have been willing to work 
to see whether, on the basis of the existing text s, the specific problems posed for SA and SACU, 
arising from the historic injustice of South Africa's classification in the Uruguay Round as a 
"developed country", can be resolved in a fair manner."   
We recognize that the current recession has cau sed job losses in many countries around the world 
with developing countries suffering the major impa ct.  South Africa which already had 23 percent 
unemployment before the recession has lost close to a million jobs since then.   
We therefore find it disconcerting that the US remain s the most significant major player in the Doha 
Round that is unwilling to work on the basis of thes e multilateral texts.  Its major constituencies and 
business lobbies are demanding more market a ccess commitments from its trading partners, 
particularly from the major emerging markets; incl uding China, India and Brazil, with a longer list of 
countries in this targeted group that includes South Africa.   
This is the main reason for the current impasse in the Doha Round.   As we go forward, it is clear to us that the only way of overcoming the current impasse and bringing 
the round to a successful conclusion will require a renewed dialogue amongst WTO Members.  This 
will require us to discard the mercantilist approach  taken by some of the major players and an 
adherence to the principles or values of: a) Fairne ss, b) Respect for the Doha Development Mandates, 
c) a willingness to honour convergences and agreemen ts reached during the multilateral process; d) a 
recognition of the value of a stable multilateral ru les based trading system and e) a willingness to 
contribute to the strengthening of global governance.   
All these values do not necessarily bring substantially more market access in the short term, nor can 
they be added up in dollars and cents but they are the basic ingredients required to secure the 
conclusion of the Doha Round in the shortest time and to build a more sustainable multilateral trading 
system.   WT/GC/M/126 
Page 40  
 
 As Minister Davies stated at the Davos Ministerial discussions, doing the same thing over and over 
again and expecting different results, was recogni zed a long time ago by Albert Einstein as the 
definition of madness! A process that continues to wo rk in the silos of single issues and that does not 
attempt to discuss the balances required to  make the final package acceptable to all and that continues 
with "business as usual" will lead to debilitation, a nd will risk unravelling over 8 years of work.   
We therefore agree with you that what is require d now is a process that is based on multilateralism, 
transparency and inclusiveness based on the work of  the Chairs of the negotiating groups and the 
TNC, but that also allows for frank horizontal discussions on the trade-offs required across the 
negotiations to allow for a fair  and balanced package that all Members can sell to their constituencies.  
The current stock-taking exercise takes place in a politi cal context.  Ministers at MC7 recognized the 
impasse that the round was faced with and felt it wise to give us more time to find our way forward.  
They will require a report.  It is clear to us that at some stage in the process we will require ministerial 
guidance and engagement.  How and when such engagement takes place will require further 
consultations.  We leave this to your judgement.   
What do we do in the meantime?  
The question we should be asking is, How do we  address the issues that confront the poorest 
countries, and those issues that are of clear systemic interest to all of us? It would seem to us that 
WTO Members would be wise to use the time while we struggle to overcome the current impasse to 
address some of these issues.  In this spirit we fully support the plea of the LDC group, the Africa Group and the ACP for an early harvest on issues they have highlighted such as DFQFMA, a services waiver for LDC preferences and an early resolution of the cotton issue.   
It would also be wise to use the time available to  us to reach interim understandings and agreements 
on some of the most important systemic issues th at offer opportunities for all and that address the 
most harmful practices of Members.  These issues could include: trade facilitation, export competition 
and fish subsidies.   
We urge Members to begin a serious discussion in the coming weeks on these suggestions as a way 
forward and how to successfully conclude the Round.   
__________