RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/GC/M/125 
20 April 2010 
 (10-2013) 
General Council 
22 February 2010  
 
 
 
MINUTES OF MEETING 
 
Held in the Centre William Rappard  
on 22 February 2010  
 
Chairman:  Mr. Mario Matus (Chile)  
 
  Prior to the adoption of the Agenda, delegations  observed a minute's silence in memory of the 
victims of the recent earthquake in Haiti.  The Chairman extended condolences, on behalf of all 
delegations, to the representative of Haiti, and thr ough him, to the Government and people of Haiti. 
  The representative of Haiti
 made a statement.1 
 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 ......................................16  
3. The financial and economic crisis and the role of the WTO – Communication from Argentina, Ecuador and India......................................................................................17
 
4. Accession of developing countries – Comm unication from Gabon on behalf of 
the Informal Group of Developing Countries ......................................................................22  
5. Information on EU Schedule CXL – Statement by the European Union ..........................28  
6. Appointment of Officer s to WTO Bodies .............................................................................30  
7. Statement by the Chairman on the Chairmanship of the Working Party on the 
Accession of Belarus ........................................................................................................... ....32  
8. Statement by the Chairman in connect ion with Administrative Measures for 
Members in  arrears ............................................................................................................. ...33 
9. Election of Chairperson........................................................................................................ ..33 
ANNEX Statement by Haiti prior to the adoption of the Agenda ........................................38 
 
                                                      
1 The text of the statement is reproduced in the Annex to these Minutes. WT/GC/M/125 
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  1. Report by the Chairman of the Trade Negotiations Committee 
1. The Chairman
 invited the Director-General, 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 , said2 that when he had reported to the General 
Council in December 2009, the focus had been on re viewing and evaluating the year 2009.  He had 
noted in his report that overall, 2009 had seen  technical progress across the WTO's negotiating 
agenda, but that the necessary political will to prope l Members to the finishing line remained absent. 
During their deliberations at the Seventh Ministerial Conference in December, Ministers had been unanimous in calling for 2010 to signal a change of gear, and had endorsed a continuation of the 
Senior Officials process, which had provided an impor tant forum for discussion in the last quarter of 
2009 following the informal meeting of Ministers in  New Delhi.  In the present report, however, he 
wished to look forward as Members moved towards the stocktaking exercise at the end of March.  In 
this context, he wished to provide a brief overvie w of his most recent activities as Chair of the TNC, 
including the activities during the previous week's me etings among Senior Officials.  As all knew, the 
President of the Swiss Confederation had hosted the traditional informal Ministerial meeting at Davos 
at the end of January.  He understood that the Sw iss mission had circulated the personal concluding 
remarks of the Swiss President, Mrs Leuthard.  Th e purpose of the meeting had been to assess where 
Members stood in the Doha Round and what was need ed to reach their target.  From the discussions 
among Ministers present in Davos, as well as from hi s meetings with individual Members, a number 
of important messages had been underlined.  First,  in relation to the DDA, he had detected an 
unwavering commitment to the progress achieved to date , as the basis for entering into the last stage 
of the negotiations.  Unravelling the hard-won prog ress made in the negotiations would not be an 
option if Members wanted to conclude the Round.  There had been genuine concern that time was not 
a friend and that further delay would only increase th e risks of back-tracking.  Second, Ministers at 
Davos had reiterated the importan ce of continued Ministerial attention over the coming weeks, as 
Senior Officials intensified their work in preparation for such an exercise.  Thir d, in the context of the 
global economic crisis, Ministers had pledged to con tinue to resist protectionist pressures.  He had 
informed Ministers that at the TPRB meeting on 22 January 2010, all Members had welcomed the 
contribution made by the WTO's monitoring of trad e and trade-related measu res, and had asked him 
to prepare two reports for 2010 – one in June and a second one in November.  He had also informed 
them that, in addition to the general monitoring of  relevant measures taken by Members and Observer 
Governments, the Secretariat would continue to  prepare, jointly with the OECD and UNCTAD 
Secretariats, reports on G20 trade and investment m easures, as requested by G20 leaders.  The next 
such report was expected to be ready in early Marc h and, as usual, would be made available to all. 
3. Since then, he had met with a number of Ministers and leaders, including members of the 
Australian Government and the new EU Trade Co mmissioner. These meetings had re-enforced his 
sense that capitals remained engaged and committed  to injecting momentum from the political level 
into the Geneva process.  The previous week, he ha d held consultations in various formats, including 
a Green Room meeting, the purpose of which had been to briefly share with participants his 
impressions of where Members stood in the negotia tions at the present juncture and to initiate 
preparations for the stocktaking, including an exch ange of views on its purpose, content and format.  
Even if Members did not need to close on all the de tails of the stocktaking at the present stage, they 
now had a clearer sense of the direction in which they were moving.  The stocktaking was meant to 
assess whether or not a conclusion of the Doha Ro und in 2010 would be do able, and it had been 
collectively thought this had to be done after the Seventh Ministerial Conference.  In his view, the 2010 question had two components – a solid technical preparation and a political determination.  On 
the state of play in the bilateral and multilateral processes, his sense was that although some progress 
was taking place, gaps remained.  At the present stage,  there was as yet no clear sense of the size of 
these gaps, and a better sense of this would be necessary by the time of the stocktaking at the end of 
                                                     
 
2 The Director-General's statement was subsequently circulated as JOB/GC/1.  WT/GC/M/125 
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  March.  Regarding the political decision about 2010, this was a judgement that belonged to Ministers, 
and engagement would be needed on this specific point.  Given where Members were at the present time, it was also clear, however, that the end of March would be too early for that.  Given where Members currently were, the stocktaking would prov ide an important opportunity to inject political 
energy and momentum into the negotiations, so that hopefully Members could chart the path for 
cracking the remaining nuts.  At the present stage, this exercise would be best undertaken by Senior 
Officials. 
4. At the stocktaking, Members should identify pr ogress made until now at the technical level, 
and the outstanding gaps.  On the multilateral side, this could be done by the Negotiating Chairs in 
factual reports to the TNC under their own respons ibility, according to standard practice.  With 
respect to the work taking place bilaterally among a number of Members, by the time of the 
stocktaking, and given the bilateral engagement taking place in the meantime, one should have a 
clearer sense from participants on the gaps between their positions as well as a clearer sense of a negotiating dynamic to address these gaps.  At the stocktaking, Members would therefore have a 
better sense of where the gaps remained and the size of these gaps, as well as the dynamic to address 
them.  This would enable dele gations to report to their Ministers and decide, after further 
consultations, on how best to address the next st eps post-stocktaking, which would need political 
guidance.  In terms of timing, the dates being cons idered for the stocktaking were 29 and 30 March.  
This would provide delegations and Chairs with the week starting 22 March for any further 
consultations to prepare the stocktaking.  This was his sense of where Members stood at the present 
juncture vis-à-vis  the stocktaking. 
5. He then provided a brief outline of the state of  play in the different negotiating groups.  In 
Agriculture,  work continued on two-tracks:  on templates and on the bracketed, or otherwise 
annotated, issues in the draft modalities.  On te mplates, and on the associated work on base data, 
Step 2 had been engaged to draw up drafts of th e actual proposed formats for the scheduling process, 
and Members were actively involved in that.  There had been progress on base data and its 
verification.  In particular, there was an agreed  definition of the Value of Production, which was 
fundamental to commitments on OTDS.  On the moda lities, the Chair had continued his consultations, 
especially in the area of SSM, where some tec hnical issues were under discussion, including on the 
basis of submissions from Members.  Consultations  were also continuing on tariff simplification, 
TRQ creation, tropical products and preference eros ion.  The Agriculture Chair would again convene 
open-ended informals in the first weeks of March on  templates and base data.  In addition, he would 
consult on the bracketed and othe rwise annotated issues in the draft modalities, including again on 
SSM, other market-access matters and also cotton.  During this period he would also engage with 
Members on the work plan and, of course, he re mained available for "confessionals" on technical 
ambiguities in the draft modalities.  On NAMA, the Negotiating Group on Market Access had met 
during the first week of February to pursue discussions on several NTB proposals.  He understood that 
the exchanges had been good and business-like, with  Members engaging.  Clearly NTBs was not an 
area where results could be achieved quickly, and there was a need for much more discussion and clarification.  However, he understood that Members were moving into a text-based discussion on 
some of these proposals.  The Group was meeting ag ain the week of 15 March, where the objective 
would be to make further progress on these texts in orde r to get them to a higher level of maturity.  
The Chairman had called for input which took account of the work done during the recent NAMA 
week, and he hoped that Members would be in a po sition to respond by the end of February.  He 
understood that the Chairman had categorized NTB proposals into Wagons I and II of a train.  
Wagon I proposals were those which had been highlight ed as meriting particular attention in the draft 
modalities text, as well as the two more recent pr oposals which looked at the cross-cutting issues 
arising from the TBT-related sectoral proposals.  The Wagon II proposals comprised all the other 
remaining NTB proposals.  The Chairman intended to hold consultations on how to address this group 
of proposals after the NAMA week beginning 15 March. WT/GC/M/125 
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  6. Since the beginning of 2010, the Services ne gotiations had addressed market access, rule-
making and the text of a draft waiver for LDC pref erences.  A two-week negotiating cluster had been 
completed the previous week, during which these thr ee topics had been fully covered.  On market 
access, there had been few surprises.  Little if any substantive progress had been made.  What 
progress there had been was mainly in the nature of technical clarifications of offers, or of signals 
made by Ministers in July 2008.  On rule-maki ng, there had been some forward movement.  The 
Chair of the Working Party on Domestic Regulation would issue an annotated version of the Chair's 
text to serve as basis for future negotiations.  In the Working Party on GATS Rules, there was now 
agreement to proceed with the ga thering of information on services subsidies to serve as a basis for 
future discussions on this subject.  The Chairman of  the Special Session had held consultations in late 
January on the issue of a waiver mechanism to gr ant preferences to LDCs.  The small consultative 
group led by Norway had produced a draft text of a waiver, which had been circulated to all Members 
and discussed at the Special Session held on 9 February.  The text contained several elements on which agreement had yet to be reached, not least of which were the scope of the waiver and its 
duration.  In the weeks ahead, the Chairman of the Special Session inte nded to continue his efforts to 
drive forward the discussion on this topic.  Looking  ahead, Members had agreed to a further meeting 
of the Special Session on 15 March that would focus on the issue of an appropriate input for the stocktaking.  In the meantime, the Chair of the Special Session would continue to consult on this 
matter, including through his us ual Enchilada consultations. 
7. In the Rules area,  the Negotiating Group had continued its  work with a meeting in late 
January dedicated to horizontal subsidies and fisher ies subsidies.  Having completed its review of the 
fisheries subsidies roadmap late in 2009, at that  meeting the Group had beg un consideration of new 
proposals from delegations presenting alternative appr oaches to fisheries subsidies disciplines.  The 
Group's next meeting, scheduled for the first week of  March, would complete its review of the Chair's 
text on anti-dumping, with a discussion of the remain ing bracketed issues.  A further Rules cluster, 
covering all three areas, would take place in early Ma y, back-to-back with the meetings of the Rules 
Committees.  At that meeting, the Group would continue considering pr oposals from delegations 
presenting alternative approaches to fisheries subsid ies disciplines, including on S&D treatment.  In 
conjunction with that meeting, the Chair had al so scheduled a panel discussion with the FAO on 
international fisheries management instruments and their implementation.  With regard to Regional 
Trade Agreements, the Chair would hold a meeting in  March 2010.  On S&D treatment, work in the 
CTD Special Session had resumed in 2010 with the consideration of elements of the Monitoring 
Mechanism.  This work was continuing on the basis of the Chairman's revised non-paper of 
November 2009, with the objective of bridging the remaining gaps and removing brackets, wherever 
possible.  There were still a number of areas wh ere Members would need to find common ground.  
The Chair planned to intensify work in the mee tings scheduled through February and March, and 
based on the progress made, he hoped to revise his non-paper by the time of the stocktaking.  The 
Chair had indicated that he was also prepared to revisit the Agreement-specific proposals, on some of 
which, areas of divergence were quite narrow, as soon as Members were ready to put forward new 
ideas and language that would enable progress.  The Chair would also be working in close 
collaboration with the relevant Chairpersons to de termine the best way to coordinate and ensure 
progress on the Category II proposals that we re being addressed in other WTO bodies. 
8. In the area of Trade and Environment, cons ultations had been conducted by the Chair on 
different aspects of the mandate since the beginni ng of the year, and the Committee had held an 
informal open-ended meeting the previous week on 18-19 February.  On the issue of the relationship 
between the WTO and Multilateral Environmental Ag reements (MEAs), the Work Programme called 
for text-based negotiations to begin a nd, to this end, further work w ould have to be undertaken in the 
coming weeks, based on the proposals on the table, to develop language that could be acceptable to 
all.  Regarding the mandate on environmental goods and services, a number of new submissions – 
such as that of Saudi Arabia, th e Philippines and Japan – had been put forward and discussed at the 
recent CTESS meeting.  These submissions had furt her contributed to the process of identifying  WT/GC/M/125 
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  environmental goods of interest to Members pursuan t to the Work Programme.  As a next step, the 
Chair would be working towards developing a compilation document based on Members' inputs on 
environmental goods of interest to  delegations.  In the area of Tr ade Facilitation, Members had been 
able to take a considerable step forward by coming up with a first draft consolidated negotiating text 
(TN/TF/W/165).  While still a work in progress, with a significant amount of further negotiation yet 
to be done, this marked a clear sign of advancement, in that delegations were now in a position to base 
their future work on a single legal text.  The current draft still required a lot of refinement and "cleaning-up".  Members had had an opportunity to advance this process during the second week of 
February, with a first run-through of the consolidated  text.  This would be c ontinued, and intensified, 
in the context of the Group's second meeting cluste r, scheduled to take place at the beginning of 
March.  By the time of the stocktaking, Members w ould have been able to complete their first round 
of revisiting the entire negotiating text.  Opportunity for subsequent in-dept reviews would be given in 
the course of two further meetings in the period up  to July.  This process aimed at advancing the 
substantive work of the Group that still needed to be  done.  The current text needed to be streamlined 
by reducing the number of square brackets and elimin ating duplicative elements.  Negotiations had to 
intensify on all elements of the draft, especia lly with respect to the area of S&D treatment. 
9. As far as the DSU negotiations were concerned,  a first round of discussion of all issues had 
now almost been completed, based on the Chair's text of July 2008.  At an open-ended informal meeting of the DSB Special Session on 5 February, the Chair had reported on the most recent work and had taken stock of the state of play and way fo rward.  He had noted that it had been useful to 
discuss all the draft legal texts and consolidate the basis for work.  On that  basis, the Chair had 
proposed starting a more intensive process, in whic h it would be necessary for delegations to engage 
on the basis of the comments received in the prev ious phase.  Over the coming months, he had 
proposed that the work be conducted around group m eetings in variable geometry, depending on the 
topic to be discussed.  This would combine meeti ngs convened by the Chair and space for meetings 
among delegations.  With respect to the TRIPS Sp ecial Session, informal group consultations had 
been held on 4 February, followed by an open-e nded informal meeting on 5 February.  Delegations 
had reiterated their appreciation of the Chair's repor t in TN/IP/19 as a fair a nd balanced reflection of 
the state of play and remaining challenges.  While the five guiding principles for the way forward that 
were suggested in that report had been considered as useful for future discussion, the view had been 
expressed that they should not be used as a b asis for negotiations, nor as a reason to continue 
rhetorical debates on certain issues such as the mean ing of "to facilitate protection" or "multilateral 
system".  It had been generally agreed that the Special Session would proceed by clusters of issues, as 
had been done in the past, and that technical wo rk on practical examples of or concerns with the 
implementation of the different proposals in different countries would be most useful.   Several 
delegations had indicated a willingness to make  or further develop case studies, examples and 
scenarios.  The Special Session would hold a fo rmal meeting on 4 March, well ahead of the 
stocktaking. 
10. Turning to the two TRIPS issues on which he ha d been mandated to pursue consultations as 
Director-General, not as Chair of the TNC – the relationship between TRIPS and the Convention on 
Biological Diversity and the extension of Article 23 GI  protection – he wished to refer to the report he 
had made at the December 2009 meeting of the Gene ral Council.  It was his intention to convene 
another round of consultations on 5 March and to report to delegati ons at an open-ended informal 
meeting on 12 March.  This overview should leave no one in doubt about the determination with 
which the Negotiating Chairs pursued the work in th eir respective areas.  In each of the Negotiating 
Groups there was a forward-looking agenda that would ensure that the Geneva process remained 
ready to translate political movement into concrete  and substantive progress.  He would, of course, 
continue to meet frequently with the Negotiating Ch airs as Members moved towards the stocktaking.  
At a time when many Members were becoming frustrated at the time it took to r ealize the gains of this 
Round for them, the Negotiating Chairs and he could and would chart a path for Members' engagement.  However, no matter how good this path  might be, the Members themselves had to walk WT/GC/M/125 
Page 6  
 
  it, by engaging in negotiations w ith each other.  It was also necessary to underline once more that 
bilateral contact, important though it might be, co uld not be a substitute for a strong multilateral 
engagement at all levels.  The year 2010 could not  be a wasted year, and his consultations the 
previous week had confirmed that the determination to ensure that  this year was used wisely and 
fruitfully was very present among delegations. 
11. All delegations who spoke  thanked the Director-General for his report and for his overview of  
developments in the D oha Development Agenda. 
12. The representative of Egypt
, on behalf of the Arab Group , assured the Director-General of the 
Group’s appreciation and support for his efforts to  advance the negotiations.  The Arab Group had 
always recognized the role of international trade in promoting economic development, creating jobs 
and alleviating poverty.  The impact of the gl obal economic and financia l crisis had undoubtedly 
reinforced its conviction that a fair and expeditio us conclusion of the Doha  Round would significantly 
contribute to the recovery of the global economy , establish a more strengthened, better-regulated, 
development-oriented multilateral trading system, and promote trade as an engine of growth.  It was 
within this context that the Arab Group was serious ly concerned with the current stalemate in the 
negotiations, which had not seen any tangible progr ess since early 2009.  There had been a growing 
abyss between rhetoric and reality.  One had witness ed many rituals where the Doha sutra had been 
addressed, but after which not much  had happened, or indeed, matte rs had often regressed.  At the 
Davos meetings, the multilateral trade agenda had been  noticed by its absence.  It was no secret that 
Members were at a critical juncture of the D oha Round, where nuances that had recently been 
factored in had made the challenge to conclude th e Round even more difficult, let alone in 2010.  
Members seemed to have difficulty in agreeing on an effective stocktaking exercise that would be 
able to deliver the necessary breakthrough in the nego tiations.  It had also not been clear for some 
what this exercise really meant, or how its resu lts would guide Members to conclude the Round in 
2010, not to mention the lack of clarity and understanding of where one actually was in the negotiations and the road ahead.  It was clear, howev er, that this exercise would represent the moment 
of truth, wherein Members' resolve to conclude the Round in 2010 would be tested.  In the Arab 
Group's view, the political dimension would far outweigh the technical one. 
13. There was a need to ensure th at the current work had a bearing on substance, in order to 
prepare for the stocktaking exercise in March.  Me mbers needed to safeguard this exercise by moving 
beyond market-access expectations, and to ensure a breakthrough that would restore confidence in the 
multilateral trading system.  Determination, real commitment, and translating political commitments 
into concrete actions to bridge the remaining gaps  were the main necessary factors for concluding the 
Round.  They were the key to success of the current  work programme and the stocktaking exercise.  
Members had a collective responsibility to guarantee this determination and real commitment, by 
putting the Doha Round and its benef its at centre stage.  In this regard, he recalled the idea introduced 
by Egypt's Minister of Trade and Industry during th e informal ministerial meeting held in Davos, on 
the importance of highlighting the Round’s contri bution to job creation and economic growth.  The 
Arab Group therefore called on the Secretariat to co nsider issuing a report on the link between these 
two issues.  On the other hand, Members should no t lose sight that delivering on development should 
remain the core component of the DDA.  The Arab Group shared the views of many developing countries on the need to uphold the mandates an d build on the progress achieved so far in the 
negotiations, to oppose any backtracking and any form of selective re-sequencing of issues or 
reopening of the stabilized parts of modalities, and th e need to counter new notions introduced to the 
detriment of development. 
14. The Arab Members realized the growing impor tance of the multilateral trading system and 
were determined to play a more active and c onstructive role in the WTO and the Doha Round 
negotiations.  As they strove to engage their popul ations in the multilateral trading system and to 
ensure that the system's benefits were enjoyed by their societies, the language handicap undoubtedly  WT/GC/M/125 
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  represented a challenge to this e ngagement and restricted communi cating the benefits and challenges 
of the WTO to their people.  It further represen ted a major impediment for Arab Members' active 
participation in WTO meetings, workshops and sym posia, not only in digesting the documentation, 
but also in interacting effectively.  The Arab  Group therefore called on Members to consider the 
adoption of Arabic as one of the working languages of the WTO, highlighting in this context that 
Arabic was a working language in the United Nati ons and other internationa l organizations.  Many 
developing countries remained mired in comple x accession negotiations – seven Arab countries 
among them, namely Algeria, Comoros, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Sudan, and Yemen, three of which were LDCs.  The Arab Group wished to express its full solidarity with all developing countries that 
were undergoing the accession process, and urged Me mbers to contribute to expediting their 
accession.  The Group wished to stress that th e accession of LDCs should be facilitated and 
accelerated, as mandated by Ministers at Doha and Hong Kong, China, and th at they should not be 
asked to negotiate concessions and commitments that  went beyond those made by LDC Members.  It 
equally considered that no acceding developing co untry should be compelled to make concessions 
incompatible with its level of development or that went beyond existing WTO rules.  The Group 
furthermore supported enhancing the structured techni cal assistance for acceding countries at the level 
of capitals, in order to provide the necessary support on how to deal with requests submitted 
bilaterally and multilaterally.  The Arab Group wish ed to commend the Director-General for issuing 
the first annual report on WTO accessions for 2009 (WT/ACC/13).  However, it was concerned that 
this report did not contain any reference to the accession request submitted by Syria in 2001, which 
had been renewed in 2004 and 2005, and the requ est by Palestine in 2009 as a separate customs 
territory, to obtain observer status in the Gene ral Council and its subsidiary bodies.  The Group 
reiterated its full and unequivocal s upport for those requests, and stressed  that in a rules-based trading 
system, only commercial, technical and legal – not political – considerations should be the deciding 
factors in every accession process.  The Arab Group remained fully committed to a successful 
conclusion of the Doha Round, and was determined to contribute positively to all efforts leading to 
convergence among Members. 
15. The representative of Gabon
, on behalf of the African Group , reaffirmed the Group's 
commitment, both technical and political, to the succe ssful outcome of the Doha Round, with its focus 
on an aspect that was so important to the Group, namely, development.  Thus the Group was completely and totally determined to work with  the TNC Chair and with the various Negotiating 
Group Chairs to attain this common objective.  The African Group welcomed the publication of the 
draft modalities text on Trade Facilitation and the resumption, since January, of the consultations 
initiated by the Negotiating Chairs in various modes,  particularly multilateral.  This approach, which 
satisfied the requirements of transparency and fair ness, should be welcomed and encouraged, since it 
was essential, if only for the sake of the organiza tion's credibility, that all of the regional groups, 
whether they had offensive or defensive inter ests in the subjects under negotiation, should be 
represented in the different consultation formats.  As Members resumed the negotiations with an eye 
on the important meeting scheduled for the end of March 2010 to take stock of the ongoing DDA 
process, the African Group wished to stress the importance of ensuring that Members did not lose 
sight of what had made this Round unique, namely  the development dimension.  The African Group 
dearly hoped that this meeting would at last enab le Members to determine precisely what was wrong 
with the Round, and wished to recall the dange r of reopening issues that had already been 
consolidated in the different areas of negotiation.  The African Group again reiterated its position on 
the stability of concessions obtained and the gains unde niably recorded.  It went without saying that 
the consolidation of these concessions should enable th e consultations currently underway to focus, as 
a matter of priority, but not exclusively, on questi ons that were still the subject of disagreement.  
While it was known that the stocktaking meeting woul d take place from 29 March to 1 April 2010, the 
practical arrangements had not yet been properly de fined.  The African Group would appreciate some 
clarification regarding the operational procedures for this meeting reasonably soon, so that it could 
prepare itself properly.  As momentum gathered for this stocktaking meeting, the African Group 
urged Members to show the maturity and understa nding needed to achieve progress in the different WT/GC/M/125 
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  areas under negotiation.  The African Group endorsed the statements to be made by Zambia for the 
LDCs and Mauritius for the ACP countries. 
16. The representative of Zambia
, on behalf of the LDC Group , said that as Members set their 
sights on the stocktaking exercise in March, they sh ould realise that this was a time of reckoning and 
deep reflection as to whether they were in a positi on to conclude the DDA by 2010.  This should not 
be business as usual.  The LDCs expected that th is exercise would provide an added opportunity for 
positive engagement among all Members.  This enga gement should, it was hoped, be candid enough 
to address the gaps in more specific terms, with a view to finding workable solutions.  Unless there 
was a genuine shift in positions for more flexibility,  the exercise would be business as usual.  The 
LDCs would continue to engage c onstructively in the DDA process to en sure that issues of interest to 
them were taken into account in all respects.  He wish ed to highlight some of the aspects of interest to 
LDCs that would pre-occupy their focus in the course of 2010.  On Agriculture and NAMA, while 
appreciating and recognising the ge neral support from the entire memb ership in regard to DFQF 
market access, there was a need to make progress on work in areas that would make DFQF effective – 
for example, issues such as rules of origin, pr oduct coverage and the details of the monitoring 
procedure envisaged in the modalities.   These issues were important in order for LDCs to be able to 
progress from obtaining market access to actually accessing markets.  On Cotton, it was regrettable that despite the clear mandate of 1 August 2004, discussions in this area had not been on the active agenda list of the Committee on Agricu lture in Special Session.  LDCs  were left to wonder if there 
was any other meaning to the words "ambitiously, expe ditiously and specifically".  This delay did not 
give hope to the cotton-dependent LDCs who cont inued to be adversely exposed to the negative 
effects of trade-distorting domestic support measures maintained by some Members.  On Services, 
work on the LDC waiver had progressed positively,  and it was the Group's intention to engage 
Members in clarifying some of the issues that had been raised during the most recent formal meeting 
of the Special Session of the Council for Trad e in Services on 9 February 2010.  The Group 
considered that the successful conclusion of discu ssions on the waiver would be a positive input into 
the stocktaking exercise.  On Trade Facilitation, th e LDCs' focus would be to ensure that the S&D 
text was sufficient and effective in addressing the issues of capacity building and technical assistance 
by having full regard to the limitations of LDCs and to the provisions of Annex D.  The common 
thread of focus for the LDCs would continue to be development, with an  over-arching demand for an 
early harvest in all aspects where there was convergence. 
17. The representative of Colombia
 said that while on previous occasions, his delegation had 
asked for Senior Officials meetings to have a stru cture that related to the committees' and negotiating 
groups' thematic activities, the previous week it ha d agreed that plenty of space should be made 
available for bilateral and plurilate ral meetings between Senior Offici als, and that in those meetings, 
there should be an exchange of signals with re gard to the negotiations.  Without being overly 
optimistic, Colombia believed that the past week th ere had been some positive signals that suggested 
an interest in greater involvement in the negotiati ons.  It was necessary to give these signals a chance 
to be confirmed and, above all, ma de clearer at the negotiating table.  However, this chance would not 
last forever.  Time was running out to conclude the Round within the period all had agreed   With this 
aim in mind, and with political will, Members had to  take full advantage of the coming weeks.  
Colombia wished to draw Members' – especially the largest Members' – attention to this point, so that 
they could assume their responsibilities regarding the ne gotiations.  One also needed to remember that 
the bilateral and plurilateral processes were not, a nd could not be, a substitute for a transparent, 
inclusive and participatory multilateral process, a nd this was the golden rule for concluding the 
negotiations in a satisfactory and legitimate way.  Regarding the stocktaking, this had to be 
demythologized.  It should simply serve to examin e where Members were and, above all, how much 
remained to be done in order to conclude.  If in  the coming weeks the stocktaking could be taken 
forward based on the signals one seemed to be seeing, it should allow Members to develop a serious 
and realistic work plan for the following weeks.  If those signals had not taken concrete shape by then, 
that would have to be clearly recorded.  In an y case, Members should not rule out the possibility of  WT/GC/M/125 
 Page 9 
 
 
  future stocktaking exercises beyond March or, above all, Ministers' involvement if and when this was 
considered necessary.  He once again recalled the word s of Molière that "[i]t is not only for what we 
do that we are held responsible, but also for what we do not do". 
18. The representative of Mexico  said that in a WTO meeting the previous week, he had learned 
the word "despondent".  It had been mentioned in th e context of the mood of negotiators regarding the 
future of the Round.  He believed that "angst" would be a more appropriate word to describe 
Members' situation.  They were one month away from the stocktaking exercise that Ministers had instructed them to undertake, and although there was clarity on how they were going to proceed – 
dates had been fixed and the level of participatio n defined – there was complete uncertainty with 
regard to both the substantive scope for Members'  discussions and the outcome expected from this 
exercise.  However, their collective angst did not refe r merely to the March stocktaking.  It went well 
beyond, for no one had a clear sense of what process  or mechanism should be put in place to conclude 
the Round, let alone of how to conc lude it in 2010, as Ministers had ag reed.  Members were stuck in a 
box with a number of corners where dark shadows pr evailed.  All knew what the issues were, but not 
how big the gaps were.  Moreover, there had been ta lk to open, shake or reconfigure the box, with no 
agreement on how to do that or what to do next.  It  was pointless to repeat that delegations needed 
political guidance from their Ministers to move ahead.  That was clear to all.  The question was when, 
exactly, Ministers would have to intervene.  If, during the March stocktaking, Members succeeded in 
identifying the gaps in the different  topics and were therefore able to  present them in such a way that 
Ministers could take difficult decisions in a simple  way, by all means they could and should bring 
Ministers to town as soon as possible.  However, if not, they would have to meet in other processes 
outside the WTO – in APEC, OECD and other similar groupings – where they would surely discuss 
the Doha Round. 
19. Members faced three basic scen arios.  The first was letting the Round become ever more 
irrelevant.  No one was going to kill it, it would ju st fade away, and maybe in the future a new and 
different Round would take its place.  The problem with this scenario was that the organization, and 
therefore the rules-based multilateral trading system , might be weakened, and the launching of a new 
substantive Round in the future would have no cr edibility.  The second scenario was that Members 
agreed to suspend the negotiations for a while, while they tried to identify how big the gaps were in 
the different issues.  The problem here was that the gaps were not static, but dynamic.  The gaps at 
present seemed to be wider than in July 2008.  In a year's time, Members might realize that the gaps 
were even bigger and more difficult to resolve.  Thus, this scenario would end up becoming the first 
one via a different road.  The third was that throug h persistent bilateral, plurilateral and multilateral 
efforts, Members were able to close the gaps to su ch an extent that Ministers could reach agreement 
on the gateway issues, providing the required moment um to conclude the Round.  Needless to say, 
this was the option all favoured.  However, in orde r to realize this, Members needed to fill the gaps 
through "TEF" – trust, engagement and, most of all,  flexibility – three elements that so far had been 
seriously missing.  At the present late stage in the negotiations, Members had to remain within the 
confines of the existing box, but had to think outside of that box in order to find a solution.  His delegation very much appreciated the Director-General 's efforts and those of the delegations that had 
taken important initiatives to create momentum in th e negotiations.  Members still had what might be 
a last chance, during the Senior Officials meeti ng of March.  However, the Heads of Delegation 
needed to set the stage between now  and the SOMs week.  One could count on his delegation to try to 
help in that endeavour.  To paraphrase Shakespeare, he said "let's together make this the winter of our 
discontent and the next SOMs meeting the spring of our hope". 
20. The representative of Japan
 said his delegation appreciated the Director-General's detailed 
account of the present state of play of the DDA.  In light of the current situation, Japan could go along 
with the Director-General's idea of the stocktaking at  the end of March.  It seemed very important at 
the present time that Members saw progress in the ne gotiations.  Such progress could be achieved by 
the real engagement of all Members, both in the multilateral and bilateral c ontext in Agriculture and WT/GC/M/125 
Page 10  
 
  NAMA, as well as in Services and other areas.  Japan hoped that strong momentum would be 
gathered in advance of the stocktaking in March,  and that this momentum would lead Members to 
further advance the DDA negotiations. 
21. The representative of Nepal
 associated his delegation with the statement by Zambia for  the 
LDCs.  This meeting came at a crucial  stage of  the negotiations.  Great stakes were involved in the 
process as Members prepared for the March stoc ktaking exercise.  After almost a decade of 
negotiations, the question was what was in store for sealing the Doha deal by the end of 2010.  Over 
the years, LDCs had carried out deep reforms of their economies.  They had acted on their 
commitments in the hope of rapid growth and develo pment.  He asked where their hopes, dreams and 
expectations of being fully integrated in the multila teral trading system and pa rtnership in prosperity 
were now.  In addition to the traditional challenges,  a new set of challenges and crises – including the 
financial and economic crisis, grow th of terrorism, environmental degradation, energy crises, food 
crisis and climate change – had emerged.  Th ese had impacted adversely on trade, investment, 
financing for development and tr ade, and employment.  He asked where Members stood in pushing 
the DDA, with development at the centre of the proc ess, in the midst of these challenges.  These were 
the questions which should form the core component of the stocktaking exercise.  While his country 
appreciated the generosity of developed-country Members, it called upon the entire membership to 
listen to the cries of the poor and address the irony a nd contradictions that bese t the functioning of the 
world trading system.  Nepal called for early corrections  of historic distortions and structural flaws in 
the global trading system, and for addressing the le gitimate concerns and asp irations of the poor. 
22. LDCs accounted for one-fourth of the UN memb ership.  Including 12 of the countries that 
were in the process of accession, LDCs accounted fo r about 30 per cent of the WTO membership.  Of 
the 26 countries that were in the accession process,  12 were LDCs, accounting for over 40 per cent of 
the ongoing accessions.  LDCs needed the generous  support and assistance of their development 
partners.  A more inclusive, predictable, transp arent trading system and participatory process would 
make the WTO a truly universal organization.  Pove rty was an affront to a dignified society, which 
Members claimed to be working for.   The poor were tired.  It should be understood that LDC issues 
were about the livelihood of people who accounted for about 12 per cent of the global population 
living in abject poverty and daily deprivation, a nd who continued to suffer from widespread poverty 
and remained vulnerable and marginalized.  His dele gation wished to request the membership to agree 
on an early harvest on the following issues that were of crucial importance to LDCs:  (i) the full and 
earliest implementation of the DFQF market access fo r all products originating in LDCs;  (ii) Cotton 
issues;  (iii) operationalization of the LDCs Se rvices waiver;  (iv) Trade Facilitation measures – 
operationalize S&D treatment principles, and make  Aid for Trade operational in order to help 
mobilize adequate resources for LDCs.  The accession route for LDCs had been complex and time-consuming.  The General Council Decision of Dece mber 2002 that the "accession of LDCs should be 
conducted under a fast-track approach," seemed to  be hardly working.  The accession process for 
LDCs had taken as long as 185 months – his own c ountry had waited restlessly for over 179 months 
for accession.  The capacity of acceding countries had to be given due consideration.  The LDCs 
wanted to see simplified and streamlined accession pr ocedures, and to be provi ded adequate technical 
assistance and capacity building. 
23. The founding documents of the WTO recognized that  trade had to help LDCs secure a share 
in the growth in international trade commensurate with the needs of their economic development.  
The documents also promised to protect the export  interests of LDCs and substantially increase 
technical assistance and timely review of their need s.  Nepal had dreams, promises and hopes that the 
Doha Round would provide meaningful market acce ss, support for the diversification of production 
and export bases, and trade-related technical assi stance and capacity building.  The Hong Kong 
Declaration clearly reaffirmed the commitment to e ffectively and meaningfully integrate LDCs into 
the multilateral trading system.  The Seventh Minist erial Conference had reiterated the need for an 
early conclusion of the Doha Development Round with development at the centre of the process.  It  WT/GC/M/125 
 Page 11 
 
 
  was time that Members seriously reflected on the mountains of pledges and promises that had been 
made, against the reality on the ground.  One-sixth of the global population liv ed in poor countries.  
Two-thirds of the countries in the world were eith er in the traps of political tensions or violent 
conflicts, or in the aftermath of conflict or war.  Most of them included middle-level or low-level 
income countries.  The immediate tasks in these c ountries included establishing peace, injecting trust 
and confidence into the society in order to creat e an environment of na tional reconciliation, and 
generating economic opportunities to sustain peace and a democratic process of  development.  This 
was economically essential.  It was essential for socio-political stabilit y, and this was essential for 
human security.  It was time to be serious, to show  results and to work towards lifting millions of 
people out of poverty and conflict towards building a stable architecture of global peace, security, 
stability and prosperity.  A fair and free global trad ing system could act as a powerful instrument in 
this process.  Nepal reiterated its commitment to  work for the success of the multilateral trading 
system, a system that had to benefit the poor. 
24. The representative of the European Union  said the Director-General had referred to his 
meetings with Commissioner De Gucht, who had visited Geneva on his first mission as European 
Commissioner for Trade.  This was a clear signal of  the EU's commitment to the WTO system and the 
Doha Round, at what all knew to be a difficult time in  the negotiations.  He reiterated that the EU was 
absolutely committed to concluding the negotiations , at least substantially, in 2010, on the basis of 
progress made so far, which was considerable, as the Director-General himself had pointed out.  The EU was also prepared to constructively examine ad justments to the draft package that others might 
propose.  However, it would not be willing to suppor t a fundamental reopening of the draft package of 
texts and understandings on the table.  The EU appr oached the March stocktaking established by G20 
leaders, with a continuing lack of clarity on the na ture and extent of the gaps facing Members and on 
the way forward.  All recognized that at the presen t stage of the negotiations, and in an organization 
the size of the WTO, some problems had to be worked  on bilaterally before they were put to the wider 
membership for consideration.  However, so far Me mbers simply did not seem able to deliver the kind 
of meaningful bilateral engagement needed to ach ieve progress.  The time and patience of many were 
running out.  After several years of negotiations, all possible landing zones were clear.  Given the 
negotiating record and technical skills of delegatio ns, one could only conclude from this that the 
problem was not technical, but political, and required political leadership to be resolved.  His delegation's own view, as expressed in discussions the previous week, was that Ministers would need 
to address this deadlock at some point, and soone r rather than later.  The EU Commissioner was 
prepared to do so, as and when the Director-General  decided the time was right.  However, in the run-
up to this political moment, Senior Officials and Ge neva-based delegations had to do what they could, 
and to try once again to move the discussion away  from generality towards a more precise, refined 
and granular expression of the difficulties, the exte nt and nature of gaps and blockages, and the 
negotiating options facing Members.  They needed  to do this now, in order to feed into the 
stocktaking and to prepare the way for a more u seful Ministerial discussion after it.  The EU was 
prepared to contribute constructively to this in th e weeks ahead.  It was hope d that as Members moved 
through 2010, what seemed the worst of times would soon become the best of times. 
25. The representative of India
 said his country agreed with the Director-General's comprehensive 
report and his assessment, especially that Members coul d not allow 2010 to be a wasted year.  He also 
wished to associate his delegation with the angs t expressed by Mexico, and to admire the Mexican 
representative for sharing his creative thoughts on  how Members should move forward in the 
negotiations.  Similarly, he wished to associat e his delegation with the sentiments expressed by 
Zambia for the LDCs and by Nepal, which reminded Members that in their preoccupations with their 
national positions, they sometimes forgot the difficu lties and aspirations of the smallest countries.  
Based on the present progress, one could only conc lude that while Members continued to make 
progress in a number of areas, the prospects for concl uding the negotiations in 2010 appeared to be in 
question.  In the absence of any real energy in the negotiations, Members had to rely on the 
stocktaking exercise to assess the size of the gaps and discuss measures to bridge them.  They had not WT/GC/M/125 
Page 12  
 
  achieved fresh convergence of a significant nature to  reasonably expect the stocktaking to generate 
any new momentum.  After the stocktaking, Memb ers would clearly need fresh directions from 
Ministers, and then, presumably, from leaders in the G20 meeting.  There was a sense of déjà vu, 
because Members had been doing similar things for some time now.  At the Davos meeting, South 
Africa's Trade Minister had quoted Einstein's de finition of insanity – doing the same thing over and 
over again and yet expecting different results.  He  was sure Einstein would find the WTO of the 
present a very interesting place. 
26. As things stood, Members were not on course to  achieve the politically mandated target of 
concluding the Round in 2010, because the political commitment to conclude the negotiations based 
on the broad ambition manifest in the December  2008 texts on Agriculture and NAMA was clearly 
absent across the board.  Unless something dramatic  happened in the next few weeks to inject new 
realism into the negotiations, Members could not mo ve towards full modalities.  If this premise was 
accepted, the only two options Members would have we re to continue to negotiate the way they had 
been the past few months, or to recalibrate thei r negotiating objectives for the year.  The first option 
could bring incremental progress, which still did not provide the momentum to address the big issues 
on which there was no consensus.  The second optio n would require creative thinking with the 
promise of a bigger reward.  The first option was, on the face of it, safer, but the systemic damage of an unending Doha Round to the WTO and the global tr ading system would have to be factored in.  
The second option was certainly riskier, but anything worth having involved risk.  While India hoped that it would soon witness a change of political mo mentum to take Members towards conclusion of 
the Round.  Members had to be ready to review th eir options in the next few weeks and make their 
choices. 
27. The representative of Bangladesh
 said his delegation fully endorsed the statement by Zambia 
for the LDC Group, and wished to stress a few poi nts.  Nine years after the Doha Ministerial 
Conference, the outcome of the Round still remained  elusive.  Members had missed deadline after 
deadline, and this had led to a state of uncertain ty.  Public confidence in the WTO was eroding, and 
unless Members could deliver soon, the credibility of a rules-based multilateral trading system would 
be seriously undermined.  It was against this bac kdrop that an overwhelming number of Ministers had 
reaffirmed the need for a stocktaking exercise and to  conclude the Round in 2010.  However, this was 
not to suggest that Members should have an out come only for the sake of an outcome.  The long-
awaited results of this Round had to reflect Member s' collective commitments made in Doha.  It had 
to retain the development dimension at its core.  The development dimensi on had to enhance market-
access opportunities for developing countries and to build in adequate policy space.  Fair and 
equitable trade rules upholding the core principl e of S&D treatment were essential elements.  For 
LDCs, market-access opportunities had to ensure DFQF market access for all products of LDCs.  Bangladesh appreciated the commitment Members had made in Hong Kong, China in this regard.  
This was the first step in the right direction.  However, the Hong Kong decisions unfortunately 
created scope for excluding certain export products  of LDCs and for delaying the implementation 
period.  In order to ensure that LDCs benefited from trade, Members would have to fully implement 
the DFQF Decision at the earliest.  Those countries no t in a position to do so should provide clarity on 
the products included on the "97 per cent" list, a nd time-bound phasing-in of the remaining three per 
cent well ahead of the conclusion of the Doha Round , so that the LDCs would know the value of the 
commitment.  The only area of Services negotiations  from which LDCs would benefit substantially 
was in Mode 4.  This benefit had to be achie ved through early adoption of a Services waiver for 
LDCs, and draft text had been circulated.  Such  a waiver would not create obligations for all 
Members, but rather enabled those who were in a pos ition to do so to assist LDCs with market access.  
Bangladesh hoped for an early agreement on this te xt.  However, to operationalize this waiver, 
specific commitments would have to be made in the areas of interest to LDCs.  This had to be done 
before the conclusion of the DDA, in order to add development content to the Round.  Members were 
all for a fair, equitable and balanced outcome of the DDA.  Their agreed objective was to correct the 
prevailing imbalances.  Hence, they should be mindf ul not to create new imbalances.  In this regard,  WT/GC/M/125 
 Page 13 
 
 
  he referred particularly to the NAMA Chair's current te xt on this issue.  LDCs were the worst affected 
by the long delay in the conclusion of the Doha R ound.  They therefore urged Members once again to 
address the issues of concern to LDCs on a priority  basis, and to have an early harvest on DFQF 
market access, the Services waiver and Cotton.  His delegation reiterated its full commitment to 
remain engaged in the negotiation process under th e Director-General's overall guidance, with 
renewed vigour and optimism. 
28. The representative of Hong Kong, China  thanked the Director-General for outlining the plan 
for the March stocktaking exercise.  His delegati on fully supported holding this exercise at Senior 
Official level.  The objectives for the exercise we re clear – to review where Members stood and to 
identify the remaining gaps and how they might be closed.  As the TNC Chair had just reported, over 
the months since the Seventh Ministerial Conferen ce different negotiating groups had been holding 
meetings to make further progress.  Members had also been meeting among themselves with the same 
goal in mind.  These were commendable efforts.  Wh ile major breakthroughs were yet to be seen, one 
should not downplay the advances Members had coll ectively made.  In this sense, his delegation 
supported the holding of the stocktaking exercise as planned at the multilateral level, to review the 
progress made, identify the remaining gaps and map out the road ahead.  However, Members needed 
to guard against any unrealistic expectation a bout the outcome of the stocktaking exercise.  
Originally, his delegation had hoped that the exercise  would help deliver conc rete results and confirm 
the 2010 target to be firmly within reach.  However,  one needed to put this into the wider context of 
global political and economic de velopments.  It was true that Minist ers might be needed at some stage 
to decide on matters requiring further political input.  However, it was also a reality that the political 
currents in the past few months had not been str ong enough to bring Members to that point.  Once the 
politics of the global economy had improved, and once political will had been effectively translated 
into practical negotiations, Members could then look for greater political engagement at a higher 
level.  For the present, one had to keep the engine ru nning in the right gear in order to build up further 
incremental progress. 
29. The representative of Turkey  said his delegation totally sh ared the Director-General's 
assessments.  Turkey had reiterated on every possi ble occasion that for the good of the Members and 
the credibility of the multilateral trading system, fro m which all benefited, the Doha Round needed to 
be completed soon.  All Members, big or small, had the responsibility to do their utmost to that end.  
Simple political engagement was the thing that could have been done better.  He cautioned that it was 
important not to raise expectations in any quarter, fo r the reason that in the long run, the frustrations 
caused by inflated expectations could accumulate and then turn into a danger of an avalanche, where 
the whole of the WTO would be affected.  Delega tions were not only tasked to complete the DDA 
negotiations, but also to see that the multilateral trading system functioned well under the agreed set 
of agreements, and that it adapted to changing times.   A recent example was the monitoring exercise.  
The Director-General had done everything humanly possible to bring the negotiations to a certain 
level of maturation where the landing zones were visi ble.  Turkey was grateful for all the efforts the 
Director-General had put into this process.  It w as obvious that Members had not made much progress 
in closing gaps in order to conc lude the negotiations successfully in 2010.  Moreover, there was no 
clear signal from the major stakeholders indica ting any shift in their well-known positions for 
achieving convergence soon. 
30. Under these circumstances, the best way to proceed  was to continue to work on the technical 
issues.  Members should prepare for when all the part ies had the same level of enthusiasm to complete 
the Round.  Patience was a virtue, and sometime s a necessary asset for success.   Patience was waiting, 
but not passively – that was laziness. It was to keep  going when the going was hard and slow.  It was 
now time to show resilience, perseverance and patie nce for the moment when the negotiations would 
reach a certain maturity when all parties would enga ge with the same level of enthusiasm.  Turkey 
supported the Director-General's proposal for the stockt aking at Senior Official level.  This would not 
only give delegations a clear picture with regard  to the negotiations, but also an appropriate WT/GC/M/125 
Page 14  
 
  opportunity to report back to their political masters a nd to appeal to them to take action.  Whatever 
Members did, they needed to stick to some fundame ntal basics in terms of substance and process.  
There should be no change in the mandate.  Memb ers needed to concentrate by building on the 
progress already made.  Unravelling the already stabili zed issues carried the risk of undoing nine 
years of negotiations.  On process, there was no shortcut and no alternative to inclusiveness, 
transparency and multilateralism, which were crucial. 
31. The representative of Cuba
 said that rhetoric about the completion of the Doha Round and 
alleged commitments to do so had become constant features of WTO meetings, as well as of meetings 
of the G8, G6, G20 and so on.  Unfortunately, as Eg ypt, speaking for the Arab Group, had said, since 
the beginning of 2009 there had been no tangibl e progress in the negotiations.  Nevertheless, 
Members had spent time trying to make themselves be lieve that they were working and negotiating, 
when in fact this was fiction.  If they waited for all of the 153 Members – out of which 100 were 
developing countries and close to 50 were LDCs – to  complete the data, it  would probably take a 
number of months, if not years, to complete the temp lates.  The setting of dates and holding of Senior 
Officials meetings had now become a ritual.  In the meantime, Members were every day moving 
further and further away from their mandates.  N one of the dates set for completion of the Round 
since Doha had been met.  Furthermore, the se quencing mandate of the negotiations had not been 
respected, in that the modalities on Agriculture an d NAMA were to have been completed before 
anything else.  Regarding development, this was onl y referred to as a type of slogan, and it remained 
to be seen what would be left of development in  the final outcome of the Round.  There was now a 
true risk of a breakdown of the Single Undertaking,  bringing in elements extraneous to the mandate, 
such as climate change, which it had not been possi ble to solve in Copenhagen, and was now being 
brought to the WTO, as well as other issues – possibly labour standards – which some Members were promoting, although not complying with such standards. 
32. The only possible format or track for Members to move these negotiations forward was 
genuinely multilateral, transparent negotiations that were inclusive, participatory, democratic and 
respected the mandate.  It was a fallacy to believe  that bilateral and plur ilateral negotiations could 
replace multilateral negotiations – that a meeting of  several selected Members could bring one to the 
end of the Round.  The problem was political will.  For some Members, it was merely a question of market access into developing countries, particular ly the large emerging economies, relegating to the 
sidelines the whole development mandate.  If Members continued to make a simplistic and selfish accounting of what could be gained in the short run if the Doha Round were  to be completed under 
one scenario or another, they were going nowhere.  He asked how much all Members stood to gain if 
the more than a billion people earning less than a dolla r a day, or the close to 2 billion people living 
on less than 2 dollars per day, or the close to 900 million people suffering from hunger, were not able 
to eat at least once a day.  If Members did not take  action to this end, nothing else in the world would 
take them anywhere near safe, sustainable and defini tive solutions to the world's problems.  What was 
obviously required was for Members to accept that this was a globalized world – as the national hero 
of Cuba, José Martí, had said, "our nation is hum anity".  As long as Members did not think about 
others, did not bring into the market all of those b illions of people in developing countries, and also in 
developed countries, who were not really benefiti ng from the chain of production, who did not have 
jobs, who did not have health insurance – they would not manage to make  substantive progress. 
33. The representative of Switzerland
 said his delegation was pleased to hear that the Director-
General envisaged continuing his cons ultations in two of the three TRIPS-related issues, where he had 
shown great leadership.  In terms of the stocktaking,  it would be useful if those delegations involved 
in bilateral consultations could re port substantially on where they we re, because otherwise it would be 
difficult to take stock.  Now was the time for a ll Members to show creativity, because simply working 
in the negotiating groups and hearing about bilatera ls would not do the trick.  Something more was 
needed, and this should be the outcome of the stockt aking.  His delegation was sure that delegations 
could do this, if their capitals wished them to.  WT/GC/M/125 
 Page 15 
 
 
  34. The representative of Chinese Taipei  said his delegation also wished to extend its appreciation 
to all the Negotiating Chairs for their great effo rts and work.  His delegation fully supported the 
March stocktaking exercise at Senior Official level.  However, the most urgent task for all was to turn 
political will into real substance and to find practi cal solutions as they entered the final and critical 
phase of the negotiations.  It was imperative to cont inue working diligently in all areas to achieve a 
commensurate level of credibility and maturity acro ss the different negotiatin g groups, in order to 
ensure a balanced and meaningful final outcome .  His delegation was convinced that a swift, 
substantial and balanced conclusi on to the Doha Round would make a significant contribution to the 
recovery and substantive growth of the globa l economy, and to the establishment of a more 
sustainable development-oriented international trading system.  Completion of the Round would 
strengthen the rule-based multilateral trading system. 
35. The representative of Norway  said that Members were indeed in a difficult situation – 
negotiations were grinding to a halt.  However, in  facing the stocktaking, Members should not paint 
the situation too black, or engage in describing to each  other what deep trouble they were in.  It would 
also not be helpful to try to overplay what meag re technical progress had been made lately, which 
would not take Members anywhere.  Members knew wh ere they were, but not where they were going.  
Norway agreed with those who believed that the st ocktaking should focus on the remaining gaps that 
needed to be bridged, with a focus on bridging them.  This exercise was not a question of aid, or of 
political or technical commitment.  This exercise  was important in identifying which gaps were 
important to the hammering out of a final balance in  the Round, and for establishing the exchange rate 
between the crucial elements in the negotiating ar eas, as well as between market access and rules.  
Norway thus welcomed the process pr oposed by the Director-General fo r the end of March to do this 
in Geneva with the help of capitals. 
36. The representative of the United States  said his delegation wished to underline the importance 
his country attached to the successful conclusion of the DDA, as reflected in President Obama's State 
of the Union Address, in which he had called fo r renewed efforts to achieve an ambitious and 
balanced result.  In this regard , the US agreed with the statement by Bangladesh that it was not 
looking for a result just for the sake of a result,  but rather a result that made a difference.  As 
Members focussed on preparations for the stocktaking, it was important to keep in mind that it was not events that would lead to success but, as many  Members had noted, engagement among Members, 
particularly among all the major players.  There w as simply no substitute fo r this.  His delegation 
agreed with the statement by Turk ey that there were no shortcuts.  The US would work with other 
Members to identify not just the nature of the ga ps, which were well known, but their size and, most 
importantly, the paths to close them.  In this re gard, the US shared the views of others who had 
emphasized the importance of flexibility and creativity. 
37. The representative of China
 said his delegation shared the Director-General's assessment of 
the situation.  Since the Council had last met, some  Ministers had been able to meet informally in 
Davos.  The previous week, Members had finished a nother round of Senior Officials meetings.  They 
now looked forward to the stocktaking scheduled for the end of March.  China appreciated the efforts 
and work of the Director-General as well as the Ch airs of all the negotiating bodies.  If anything was 
missing in Members' efforts, it was the political will to close the deal and the proper appreciation of 
the value of what had been achieved by some par ties.  Due recognition of the negotiation results on 
the table and the political will for an early conclusi on of the Round were of crucial importance, not 
only to maintain the credibility of the multilate ral trading system, but also to boost people's 
confidence in achieving a full world economic recovery .  China was fully convinced that the only way 
to lead the negotiations out of the current impass e and to conclude the Round within the year, as 
instructed by leaders, was to fo llow three principles, namely, to respect the mandate for development, 
to lock in the progress already made, and to nego tiate through the multilateral process based on the 
Agriculture and NAMA Chairs' texts of December 2008.   China appreciated the statements by Zambia 
for the LDCs, Nepal and Bangladesh, and supported consideration of the possible early harvest WT/GC/M/125 
Page 16  
 
  proposed by the LDC Group.  Members should at l east make sure that 2010 would not be another 
wasted year.  Only through the concerted efforts of all could Members build up consensus, win over 
support from their constituencies, and achieve the goa l set by leaders to conclude the Round in 2010. 
38. The representative of Pakistan
 assured the Chairman that Pakistan would continue to remain 
constructively engaged in negotiatio ns, not only to achieve a successf ul and balanced conclusion of 
the Doha Round and to enter into the end game by the end of 2010, but also to put negotiating capital 
into the built-in agenda of the WTO.  Pakistan s upported the decision to conduct a stocktaking on 29 
and 30 March, and hoped that this might reinforce the DDA negotiations. 
39. 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 
40. 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. Servansing (Mauritius), 
Chairman of the Dedicated Session of the CTD, to  report on the progress of work in this area. 
41. Mr. Servansing (Mauritius), Chairman of the Dedicated Session , recalled that the latest report 
on the Work Programme on Small Economies in docum ent WT/COMTD/SE/6 had been circulated to 
the Seventh Ministerial Conference.  The report was a factual summary of all the work that had taken place in the Work Programme since the last report to Ministers in 2005.  It provided a summary of all 
the submissions and proceedings discussed in the CT D's Dedicated Session and instructed the CTD to 
continue its work on Small Economies in accordan ce with the original mandate contained in 
paragraph 35 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration.   The proponents of SVEs had gotten off to a good 
start in 2010 and had already circulated a new proposal to the Negotiating Group on Rules.  The proposal in document TN/RL/GEN/162 concerned "a dditional flexibilities for Small and Vulnerable 
Economies under Article III of the draft Chair's text on fisheries subsidies".  It had been discussed in 
the Rules Negotiating Group at the end of January  and would be added to the compilation of 
proposals made so far by the SVEs in all WTO bodies and committees and Doha Negotiating Groups.  The Dedicated Session would continue to monitor an y future proposals made by SVEs and include 
them in the compilation document circulated as WT/COMTD/SE/W/22/Rev.4. 
42. The representative of Barbados
, on behalf of the SVEs , thanked the Chair of the Dedicated 
Session for his report, and the Secretariat for its continued role in updating the compilation document 
in WT/COMTD/SE/W/22/Rev.4.  As the Chair's repo rt reflected, the SVEs' latest submission in the 
Rules Negotiating Group sought to build on their pro active approach to identifying appropriate trade-
related solutions that met their specific devel opment needs in the fisheries sector.  Through the 
proposal on "Additional Flexibilities for Small and Vulnerable Economies under Article III of the 
Chair's draft text on Fisheries Subsidies", the proponents aimed to make a positive contribution to the 
negotiations, as well as to work towards fulfilling th e original Paragraph 35 Doha mandate on Small 
Economies, as most recently reaffirmed by their Ministers at the Seventh Ministerial Conference.  
They looked forward to continuing the fruitful dial ogue and collaboration with  Members in advancing 
this proposal, along with other proposals containi ng identified trade-related issues within other 
negotiating groups and bodies, including the CTD in Dedicated Session, in the coming weeks and 
months.  The SVEs wished to pay tribute to Mr. Servansing for his dedication and tireless energy in  
advancing the work of the CTD over the past three years.  His record and sterling contribution spoke 
for themselves.  The SVEs thanked him for this  and for his astute leadership and guidance in 
facilitating the monitoring role of the Dedicated  Session and promoting the objectives of the Small 
Economies Work Programme.  They welcomed Mr. Servansing's successor, with whom the SVEs 
looked forward to working closely.  WT/GC/M/125 
 Page 17 
 
 
  43. 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. The financial and economic crisis and the role of the WTO – Communication from 
Argentina, Ecuador and India (WT/GC/W/617 and Add.1) 
44. The Chairman  recalled that at the Council's meet ing in December 2009, Members had 
discussed the communication from Argentina and Ecuador in document WT/GC/W/617, which had 
been co-sponsored also by India, and had agreed to revert to this matter at the present meeting. 
45. The representative of Argentina  said his delegation was pleased to revert to the 
communication in WT/GC/W/617 co-sponsored by Arge ntina, Ecuador and Indi a.  Ten months had 
passed since the first communication – which con cerned the need to analyze and improve the 
information available with respect to stimulus p ackages granted by governments in the context of the 
economic and financial crisis – had been presented at the May 2009 Council mee ting.  Since then, his 
delegation had been fine-tuning the proposal and in corporating suggestions, in regular consultation 
with other concerned delegations.  As a result,  the communication that had been submitted in 
December together with Ecuador and India represented a step forward in terms of greater 
methodological precision regarding the nature of the work  foreseen.  The topic had also been raised at 
the Trade Policy Review Body meeting of 22 Janua ry 2010, where some Members had noted that it 
could be feasible to analyse measures applied to specific industrial goods sectors, for example the 
automotive sector.  As a result of these consideratio ns, his delegation believed that the proposal had 
matured and that the two-tier approach suggested was achievable.  There was plenty of room for 
improvement in transparency and in the informa tion currently being collected, and this could be 
achieved by a higher level of disaggregation of the da ta contained in the Director-General's reports.  
Regarding methodology, the paper indicated that the Secretariat could apply a quality-oriented 
method, which involved fewer technical difficulties than  any other approach.  He stressed that this 
methodology had been widely used for traditional me asures, and that applying it to the analysis of 
stimulus packages should not present any disadvant ages, nor should it require the allocation of 
additional resources. 
46. As his delegation had previously stated, the intention was not to point a finger at specific 
measures already adopted by Members, to prejudg e compliance with obligations, or to deny the 
positive effects that those measures might have ha d in boosting aggregate demand.  Rather, the aim 
was to enhance understanding of non-traditional measu res.  Collective evaluation of the impact on 
trade of the different measures applied in response to the crisis was something that concerned all 
Members.  It was a task which, by its very nature , had to be conducted in a multilateral environment, 
and multilateral for a, such as the WTO and UNCTAD, should be analysing the trade-related aspects.  
This was the right moment to decide on the introd uction of a work programme for the analysis of 
stimulus packages, and his delegation suggested th at the Chairman should hold consultations with 
Members in order to define the steps to be taken.   Argentina was open to discussing the most suitable 
forum and the nature of the analysis to be conducte d, and the Chairman's c onsultations should provide 
Members with a sufficient opportunity to discuss these matters. 
47. The representative of Ecuador  recalled that in December 2009, Argentina, Ecuador and India 
had submitted document WT/GC/W/617, which proposed ideas for the formal methodology and analysis of fiscal stimulus programmes and financial aid for discussion by Members with the aim of reinforcing the principle of transparency, but whic h did not seek to identify these programmes.  The 
document introduced an approach to this work in two parallel tiers, simultaneous and complementary, 
in which ideas to improve the formal aspect of th e presentation of information already available were 
put forward and the use of a methodology for qualitative analysis of this information was proposed.  The purpose of this document was to stimulate a de bate that would present ideas on the approach to 
this work to help the Secretariat monitor the afor ementioned programmes and aid and, in this way, not 
only reinforce the principle of transparency, but also achieve a better balance between WTO WT/GC/M/125 
Page 18  
 
  obligations and rights.  In the Director-General's latest report to the TPRB on the international trade 
situation in document WT/TPR/OV/12, he recogni zed that lack of information hampered the 
monitoring of fiscal stimulus and financial aid progr ammes, and limited the capacity for analysis of 
their impact and any distortions in terms of competit ion in international trade.  On that occasion, the 
Director-General had also recognized that the S ecretariat would need a mandate from Members in 
order to give guidance on the methodology to be followed in monitoring such programmes.  The 
TPRB meeting had highlighted Members' concern re garding this problem, including the willingness 
of some developed-country Members to consider  the initiation of discussions on the format for 
presenting information on fiscal stimulus and financ ial aid programmes, and also on the methodology 
for analysis to be applied – for example, in the automotive and steel industries. 
48. Ecuador felt it was necessary to monitor the impact the fiscal stimulus and financial aid 
programmes might have on international trade a nd, in particular, on the economies of developing-
country Members, and to understand better their scope and effect.  C onsequently, Ecuador considered 
that Members could not allow themselves to ignore a problem that was so important and so real and 
affected all economies to a greater or lesser extent .  This was why Ecuador called on the Chairman to 
initiate consultations on the proposal submitted by Argentina, Ec uador and India, and supported by 
many Members, and to establish a programme of wo rk defining the steps to be taken, the most 
appropriate forum for discussion and the criteria for th e analysis to be undertaken by the Secretariat. 
49. The representative of India
 said that in the wake of the ongoing economic and fi nancial crisis 
in various parts of the world, governments had natu rally adopted mitigating measures to neutralize the 
impact of the crisis.  India was one of the count ries which had taken such action.  It had to be 
recognized that one lived in an increasingly inte rconnected and globalized world – a world where 
trade flows were characterized by seamless supply and value chains.  The cross-country spread of 
such supply chains reflected the di spersal of comparative advantage,  which determined international 
competitiveness.  The fiscal and monetary interven tions witnessed over the past two years had an 
obvious implication for competitive conditions across borders, thus affecting the terms of trade.  
There were a number of possible implications of such  measures that were of interest to Members.  
These included the issue of financial services liberali zation, an issue which continued to acquire fresh 
resonance through recent revelations of the role of international financial services providers.  Other 
relevant issues related to the subsidies provided to various manufacturing and services sectors and 
their compliance, or otherwise, with WTO disciplines.   It was this aspect of the fiscal and monetary 
interventions which concerned Members in the WTO and which explained their continuing efforts to 
launch an informed dialogue in the WTO on this i ssue.  An informed dialogue could only be possible 
if Members had a comprehensive factual study of such measures.  The Secretariat was fully competent to conduct such a study.  Much of the in formation regarding the measures taken in various 
countries was in the public domain, and India was ther efore surprised that a lack of information was 
being cited as an excuse for inaction.  Such a dialogue was the lifeblood of an organization which 
rightly claimed to be the premier rule-making body for global trade.  The absence of such a discussion 
in the WTO had clear and obvious implications for the role and relevance of the WTO in the global 
economy.  In brief, the WTO ignored such issues only  at its peril.  His delegation was surprised that 
despite a number of discussions on this issue, and despite widespread support for the proposal, a clear 
decision had not emerged.  This did not reflect creditably on the way Members conducted business at the WTO.  India hoped that the present discussion  would lead to a clear decision directing the 
Secretariat to take up this study at the earliest.  If Members were still not able to come to such a 
decision at the present meeting, India urged the Chairman to immediately hold consultations to 
discuss a way forward.  Until such ti me as Members were able to come  to a decision, the issue should 
remain on the Council's agenda. 
50. The representative of China
 supported the proposal put forw ard by Argentina, Ecuador and 
India.  A comprehensive factual study by the Secret ariat was necessary to ensure an informal dialogue  WT/GC/M/125 
 Page 19 
 
 
  on this important issue.  China shared India's stat ement that the Secretaria t was fully competent to 
conduct such a study. 
51. The representative of Turkey  said that as his delegation had said at the previous General 
Council meeting, the proposal of Argentina, Ecuador and India could give Members a clear picture of 
the trade effects of the stimulus packages taken in  response to the crisis.  If done properly, each 
Member would benefit from such an exercise.  T hus, Members should concentrate on how to do this 
study, and any form the parties agreed on was fine with Turkey.  The co-sponsors had already given considerable attention to the concerns expressed and had declared their readiness to compromise.  
Turkey had full confidence in the Secretariat's competence and professionalism, and thus hoped that in consultations on this issue, Members would r each a compromise on how to implement the proposal. 
52. The representative of the United States
 said that during the discussion of this proposal at the 
TPRB meeting in January, his delegation had said it was more appropriate for the proposal to be 
addressed in the TPRB than in the General Council.  However, wherever it was discussed, the US 
maintained its view that the proposal was flawed.  As his delegation had said previously, the proposal 
would require the Secretariat to conduct a theoretical  analysis of the possible trade effects of fiscal 
and financial measures.  This was untenable, becau se such an exercise was a potentially enormous one 
and would invariably involve examining issues outside the mandate of the WTO.  Moreover, limiting the examination to a few sectors did not necessarily narrow the challenges that such an undertaking 
would entail.  The US continued to share the interest s of others in learning what lessons there were to 
be learned from the way Members ha d responded to the financial crisis  in areas of relevance to the 
work of the WTO.  It was thus not at all seeking to avoid these issues.  It simply believed that this 
work had to be Member-led.  In this regard, if  the co-sponsors or any other Member had concerns 
about measures taken in a particular sector, those Members could outline their specific concerns in the 
relevant WTO committees.  In this case, his delegation would see no need for Members to limit 
themselves to new measures in any one sector.  Instea d, they might find it useful to discuss generally 
measures used for trade protection in that sector.  Once Members had a better sense of the interests 
and concerns, as well as how the work in the releva nt committees was proceeding, they could then see 
if input from the Secretariat would be helpful for further discussion, or if additional direction from the General Council was appropriate.  Hi s delegation was interested in participating in any consultations 
the Chair might conduct, but these had to be without prejudice to the views of Members. 
53. The representative of Brazil
 thanked Argentina, Ecuador and India for once again bringing 
this proposal to the Council's attention.  The fina ncial stimulus packages enacted in the aftermath of 
the financial crisis had played a key role in mitig ating its impact.  To evaluate the opportunity and 
effectiveness of those extraord inary measures taken in extraord inary times was beyond Members' 
mandate.  At the same time, one c ould not underestimate the trade impact of the vast sums of money 
provided, many of which had been directed at spec ific sectors.  Transparency was a cornerstone of 
this organization, and there was certainly a case for greater transparency concerning the trade-related 
impact of the stimulus packages.  TPRB monitoring ha d helped prevent the spread of protectionism in 
this difficult period.  Additional information w ith regard to the support measures provided in 
connection with the financial crisis would improve the TPRB reports and would be a useful tool for 
Members.  At the same time, it was essential that the exercise be focused and remain Member-driven.  
This was the spirit in which the proposal had been  presented.  The consultations suggested by the 
proponents could serve to ensure that those principles were respected. 
54. The representative of Bolivia  associated his delegation with statements supporting the 
proposal submitted by Argentina, Ecuador and India, b ecause, as it had stated at previous meetings of 
the General Council, Bolivia considered there was a need for the WTO to analyse the crisis using the 
methodology suggested by the co-sponsors.  Although there were some positive signs, the crisis was 
persisting, and the WTO could not refrain from under taking an analysis within the framework of its 
competence and its terms of reference, as the OECD, UNCTAD and other organizations had done WT/GC/M/125 
Page 20  
 
  within their respective competence s, and whose work or the methodologies used could provide inputs 
for the study to be carried out in the WTO, as su ggested in the proposal.  The document set out an 
approach that would help to enhance transpar ency and public understa nding of this phenomenon 
through a qualitative analysis of the information available, as set out in the proposal.  Bolivia 
reaffirmed its support for the proposal and hoped it w ould be implemented rapidly or, if not, that the 
relevant consultations would be held in order to determine the best mechanism for putting this 
proposal into effect. 
55. The representative of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
 said his delegation again 
welcomed the proposal by Argentina, Ecuador and India, which was a valuable contribution to the 
efforts made by the WTO and its Members to monito r the situation and at the same time prevent the 
impact of the economic and financ ial crisis on international trade from becoming worse.  The idea in 
the submission, which Venezuela had supported si nce the beginning, would allow Members to know 
in what way Members had reacted to the crisis and the responses they had devised to confront it, and 
this multilateral trade forum could not escape its r esponsibility, which would not only provide clarity, 
but also enable the system to be strengthened.  Since the beginning, the proposal had sought to 
develop a clear methodology that would allow the Dir ector-General's reports to achieve a result based 
on research that was as scientific as possible and f ounded on reliable sources, in order to limit the 
possibility of subjectivity, and to try to understand the effects on multilateral trade of the measures 
taken by some Members as a matter of urgency in the face of the crisis.  Anything that affected the transparency of the multilateral trading system cons tituted one of the most important cornerstones of 
the WTO.  This had been reaffirmed in the work  undertaken in 2009 in all the committees at the 
request of the General Council Chair, and it appeared  that in 2010 such a practice would play an even 
more important role, as had been proposed at th e latest TPRB meeting.  Thus, any tool that 
contributed to the principle of transparency shoul d be welcomed by all Members.  His delegation 
asked that all Members analyse the advantages this proposal might impl y for the health of the system 
and support it, as its implementation did not prejudge  any outcome but was intended to strengthen the 
multilateral trading system.  Venezuela requested th e Chairman, in view of the growing support for 
the proposal since its submission, to initiate a process of consultations on it, wi th a view to approving 
and implementing it. 
56. The representative of Canada
 thanked Argentina, Ecuador and India for their proposal.  
Proposals and new ideas from Members could help enhance the monitoring process and encourage 
Members to consider new methods of analysis, wh ich could contribute to a more efficient global 
economy.  Canada continued to be very supportive of the monitoring work the WTO and other 
international organizations had undertaken.  The heightened reporting had helped bring political 
attention to measures that were protectionist in natu re and had helped stem the tide of protectionism.  
As noted in the proposal, one of the most reliable ways for the WTO to collect information for its 
monitoring reports was for Members to provide inpu t on trade and trade-related measures.  Canada 
had found this approach to be useful, and encourag ed other Members to profit from this opportunity, 
provided the process was Member-driven. 
57. The representative of the European Union  recalled his delegation's statement at the TPRB 
meeting of 22 January 2010.  Ther e, the EU had said it would support any mechanism that increased 
transparency, but at the same time, Members would need  to remain realistic in terms of the nature and 
scope of the exercise.  His delegation wished to r estate that it remained open to start analysing and 
assessing the impact of the most obviously trade-distorting measures.  It could thus support 
conducting a general analysis of certain specific s ectors that had received large support programmes, 
starting with the goods area.  However, there were a few caveats.  First, Members should be careful to 
avoid any signal that economic stimulus programmes in a severe and exceptional crisis situation, such 
as the one experienced, were seen as a priori  negative.  To the contrary, it would seem that in the 
current crisis, the likelihood of some countri es benefiting from others' spending programmes was 
substantially greater than any possible trade distortio ns.  The G20's coordinated crisis response had to  WT/GC/M/125 
 Page 21 
 
 
  be seen as an overall success rather than a distor tive policy.  The second caveat was that Members 
should also be realistic in their expectations.  Th e Secretariat itself had recalled that there was not 
enough reliable data and resources to pursue an in-dep th analysis, notably in the services area.  The 
EU fully shared this view.  The EU was not conv inced that data available in services would render 
any useful findings, and it would thus be more fru itful to start focusing on the goods area.  However, 
the proponents seemed to be convinced that these da ta existed and could be easily used.  Perhaps 
these could be flagged and indicated to the EU.  Me mbers should also recall that similar discussions 
were been held in the Committee on Trade and Financial Services, where positive steps towards 
greater collective understanding of the financial cris is and its effects on trade were already being 
sought.  However, the EU continued to believe that  the best forum for discu ssing transparency and 
measures taken pursuant to the crisis was the TPRB.  The EU could support a general trade-impact 
analysis of measures with potentially the biggest impact on trade, notably in goods, and suggested 
using the TRPB framework, rather than maintaining this item on the agenda of the General Council.  
His delegation invited the new Council Chair or TPRB Chair to carry out consultations on the best 
way forward. 
58. The representative of Cuba  said it would come as no surprise that his delegation supported the 
proposal by Argentina, Ecuador and India, which had also been supported by a majority of Members.  
Cuba regretted what had happened to the proposal an d that it had not been possible to implement it, 
despite the fact that several documents had been put  forward which had tried to take into account the 
views of various Members.  If all Members were truly in favour of transparency, as they claimed, if all complied with the WTO agreements, and if th e stimulus packages were not trade-distorting 
subsidies, there was nothing to hide or to fear.  There was also no reason to continue to place 
obstacles in the path of this proposal.  It was di fficult to understand the positions of some Members 
regarding this proposal, and the doubts expressed and reasons given by them were not very 
convincing.  The information and analysis requested in this proposal would also be an element that 
could be taken into account in facilita ting the completion of the Doha Round. 
59. The representative of the Dominican Republic
 said that the international financial crisis 
which, according to the most recent economic indi cators, the world economy was now moving out of, 
had been one of the most difficult and complex of th e past 100 years.  Due the nature of the crisis, 
countries had responded to it with exceptional meas ures in accordance with their own capacity and 
possibilities.  Unquestionably, the measures taken to overcome the downward pull of the crisis had an 
effect on trade in one way or another.  As a resu lt, his delegation viewed favourably the proposal put 
forward by Argentina, Ecuador and India. 
60. The representative of Japan  said that concerning the improvement of transparency for 
stimulus programmes, his country shared the inter ests of the proponents, and thought it was important 
for the TPRB, in cooperation with other relevant  bodies, to proceed with discussions on how to 
improve notifications.  The analysis made so fa r by the TPRB had been quite useful, and Japan 
supported it.  That body had the capacity to conduct this analysis without excluding any area.  Japan 
wished to participate in any informal consultations the Chair might hold on the proposal. 
61. The representative of Mexico  recalled that in 2009, Members had seen a fall in the volume of 
trade of more than 11 per cent.  In 2010, one would see an increase of 5 to 6 per cent.  However, 
Members would not be completely out of the hole they had found themselves in in 2009.  This was where one needed to see the stim ulus packages.  Such a packag e would have three fundamental 
elements.  The first was an increase in aggreg ate demand through fiscal stimulus packages.  The 
second was through financial stimulus packages and fi nancial measures that were intended to seek to 
stabilize the international financial system.  The th ird element was support for specific sectors.  Each 
of these three elements contained pa rts that were favourable to trade and other elements that were 
trade-distorting.  Members' interest, as a community , was to see what the net effects on trade were.  
Any subsidies that had been granted in various Me mbers had had an impact that was very important WT/GC/M/125 
Page 22  
 
  for Members to study.  Mexico agreed with what was stated in the proposal  by Argentina, Ecuador 
and India.  However, he recalled the WTO's Worl d Trade Report of 2006 which showed that the 
subsidies granted, or those identified through natio nal accounts, were much higher than the subsidies 
which Members were notifying to the WTO.  Thus, the first element was that Members comply with 
their own obligations under the Marrakesh Agreem ents.  The second element was that Members had 
to continue to discuss all those measures that were trade-distorting, without forgetting those that were 
trade-promoting, because one had to look at both sides.  Whether Members discussed this in the 
General Council or in the TPRB was irrelevant.  Me xico was open to discussing this matter in either 
forum.  His delegation wished to participate in an y consultations the Chair might hold on this matter. 
62. The representative of Paraguay
 said the proposal by Argentina, Ecuador and India was 
extremely interesting, because it sought to provide  information on the effect of the scope of the 
measures taken to mitigate the financial crisis, whic h had affected and was affecting all Members.  
The beneficiaries would be each and every Member.  Thus, Paraguay supporte d the implementation of 
this proposal, and would participate in any consultations that might be held on it. 
63. The representative of Chile  said that Members once again had the proposal from Argentina, 
Ecuador and India before them.  The proposal woul d provide an increase in transparency, and would 
help Members better understand the stimulus packages and their effects.  However, as Chile had said 
on previous occasions, there were more appropriate fora in which to discuss this.  The recent positive 
understanding in the Committee on Trade in Financial Se rvices would seem to point in this direction, 
as well as the discussion in January in the TPRB.  Both examples reflected the fact that there were 
bodies with greater competence for conducting the analysis proposed.  At the Council meeting in 
December, Chile had expressed some apprehension as to the scope of the process, and had cited some 
problems it saw in the proposal, which needed to be  avoided if Members wanted to have an objective 
exercise that would not prejudice the nature or WTO-consistency of the measures and packages.  
Chile had some technical questions on the met hodology and therefore welc omed consultations, in 
which it was interested in participating. 
64. The representative of Switzerland  said that Switzerland had a longstanding interest in links 
between different areas in trade, such as trade and fina nce.  It also had a permanent interest to steadily 
improve the monitoring mechanisms.  His de legation was convinced that the TPRB was the 
appropriate forum to take up this important proposal, and consultations  should be held to see how the 
proponents' ideas could be taken up.  The proponents might wish to present some concrete examples 
on the basis of measures already notified and covere d by the monitoring reports.  Switzerland wished 
to participate in any consultations that might be held. 
65. The representative of Chinese Taipei  said the TPRB was the appropriate body in which to 
conduct the analysis proposed, and his delegation looke d forward to participating in any consultations 
on this matter. 
66. The Chairman  proposed that the General Council take note of the statements and that, in line 
with what seemed to be the gene ral view of the Council, he would recommend to his successor that he 
undertake consultations on the best way forward concerning this proposal, without prejudice to the position of any Member, and that he report back to the Council at its next meeting. 
67. The General Council so agreed
. 
4. Accession of developing countries – Communication from Gabon on behalf of the 
Informal Group of Develo ping Countries (WT/GC/126) 
68. The Chairman  said the communication from Gabon on behalf of the Informal Group of 
Developing Countries in document WT/GC/126, requesti ng that this item be placed on the Agenda of  WT/GC/M/125 
 Page 23 
 
 
  today's meeting, had been received on 5 February.  As the coordinator of the Informal Group had now 
changed, he invited the Dominican Republic to introduce this item. 
69. The representative of the Dominican Republic , on behalf of the Informal Group of 
Developing Countries , said the Informal Group wished to th ank the Director-General for his 2009 
annual report on WTO accessions in document WT/ACC/ 13.  This provided a comprehensive review 
of the processes of current initiatives and of the st ate-of-play of the individual accession cases.  The 
Informal Group understood that this report would be  updated at least every six months.  However, the 
report should have given greater attention to the valuable conclusions of the Seventh Ministerial 
Conference on the subjects contained in the Chai rman's summary, which said there was strong 
convergence on the importance of accessions in broa dening and strengthening the WTO, as well as 
the importance of technical assistance at all st ages of the accession process.  It was necessary to 
respect the guidelines in the 2002 General Council Decision on Accession of LDCs.  The Informal 
Group also backed the proposal to promote the shar ing of experiences, particularly those of the 
recently-acceded Members.  It wished to stress its  position that the accession process had to be based 
on legal and technical issues, and should not be  guided by political issues, which was why the 
Informal Group was once again expressing its frustration over the slowness and drawn-out nature of 
the accession process. 
70. The delegations of Nigeria , Zambia for the LDC Group , Pakistan , Turkey , Bangladesh , 
Chinese Taipei , Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , Paraguay , China , Egypt for the Arab Group , 
Argentina  and India  supported the statement by the Dominican Republic on behalf of the Informal 
Group of Developing Countries. 
71. The representative of Nigeria  said his delegation wished to thank the Director-General and the 
Secretariat for the comprehensive annual report on WTO accessions, which should constitute the basis 
for Members' future engagement on this issue.  Nigeria had observed that a common element shared 
by Members was the need to strengthen and further improve the transparency of WTO accessions.  It 
therefore welcomed the general thrust of the repor t, which aimed at contributing to further improving 
the transparency of the accession pro cess.  It was also happy that the report had provided Members 
with the opportunity to engage and address some of the concerns of acceding developing countries, 
particularly the LDCs.  Nigeria was encouraged by the increased level of engagement by Members on this issue during the past one year, which had signi ficantly helped in fostering a better understanding 
of the concerns of acceding developing countries an d the need to fully address them.  In particular, 
Nigeria noted the progress and impetus that had been achieved in several accession working parties.  
However, as pointed out in the report, his dele gation was concerned that some accessions had not 
witnessed similar progress, due to various challenges,  including domestic situations, political choices, 
post-conflict situations and natural disasters.  It therefore encouraged Members to continue this 
dialogue as well as to accelerate the pace of work in the various accession working parties.  He 
recalled that Nigeria had consistently underlined  the importance of accessions, especially regarding 
developing countries and LDCs.  In particular, it urged that priority should be accorded to the 
accession of LDCs by expediting action on outst anding accessions, strengthening transparency, 
increasing technical assistance and outreach and, most importantly, deepening engagement as well as building on the progress made in 2009.  Nigeria also  shared the view that accession was central to 
achieving the universality of the multilateral trading system.  It recognized that a successful accession 
process would, no doubt, enable acceding countries to undertake the appropriate domestic reforms 
that should enable them to fully integrate and be nefit from the international trading system.  An 
intensified and pragmatic approach would be co nsistent with the conc lusions from the Seventh 
Ministerial Conference, where on accessions, the Ch airman had noted the broad support for sharing 
experiences, particularly those of the recently -acceded Members, including the contribution of 
accession in broadening and strengthening the WTO, as well as the importance of technical assistance 
at all stages of the accession process. WT/GC/M/125 
Page 24  
 
  72. The representative of Zambia
, on behalf of the LDC Group , commended the Director-General 
for his report on the WTO accession process in document WT/ACC/13, which the LDC Group welcomed.  The process of reporting to the Gene ral Council on the status of accession, under the 
leadership of the Director-General, was an importa nt and right step towards enhancing transparency 
on accession, which should be continued as a standi ng item on the Council's agenda.  The LDC Group 
supported the statement by Nigeria.  It was fully cognizant of the role of accession in strengthening 
the multilateral trading system through expanded me mbership and integration of countries with 
diverse experiences.  The LDC Group also viewed th is process as a means of assisting the weak and 
vulnerable economies, especially the least-develope d among them, to realize trade and development 
benefits from an expanded and consolidated rules-ba sed multi lateral trading system.  As reflected in 
the Director-General's report, progress had been  made in facilitating the accession process of LDCs, 
including through the adoption of the guidelines in  the 2002 Decision.  Other initiatives undertaken to 
facilitate and accelerate the process of accession included the facilitation of dialogue among Members, and the hosting of high-level conferences and meetings.  While progress had been achieved 
in various accession working party meetings, with three cases nearing completion, there was still a 
considerable amount of work to be undertaken in terms of both pr ocess and substantive issues under 
consideration.  Work on some cas es, such as the accession of Ethiopia, had stalled due to the lack of 
agreement on the Chair of the Working Party.  This  issue should be resolved as a matter of urgency. 
73. As indicated in the Director-General's repor t, LDCs represented 47 per cent of countries in 
accession, a figure which was of great concern to the LDC Group.  The LDCs in accession were 
continually being subjected to a complex and prolong ed process, despite the gu idelines adopted in the 
2002 Decision.  The LDC Group wished to reiterate the call made by Ministers during the LDC 
Ministerial Conference in Dar Es Salaam and the Seventh WTO Ministerial Conference for Members to faithfully implement the letter and spirit of the guidelines on LDC accession.  The Group had full 
confidence in the initiatives undertak en by the Director-General a nd the WTO Accessions Division 
towards facilitating and accelerating accession of LDCs, and wished to see these initiatives further 
enhanced.  The enhanced role of the Director-Gener al as facilitator was particularly important for the 
expeditious and smooth accession of LDCs.  In additi on, coordinated and targeted technical assistance 
and capacity building was equally crucial to ensu re the successful completion of LDC accessions.  
The LDC Group acknowledged the support provided by  many technical-assistance providers, both 
traditional and non-traditional agencies, including the WTO and UNCTAD.  It equally welcomed the 
new initiative by the WTO, ITC and the EIF Executive Secretariat, launched at the Seventh 
Ministerial Conference, to establish a framework for technical assistance and capacity support to the 
private sector in acceding LDCs, effective 1 Dece mber 2009.  The LDC Group looked forward to 
seeing this initiative fully implemented very soon.  The Group reiterated the need for Members to 
conclude both multilateral a nd bilateral consultations in respect of the three cases that were at an 
advanced stage, namely Samoa, Vanuatu and Yemen, in order to enable these countries to accede to 
the WTO by the end of 2010. 
74. The representative of Pakistan
 said it would also be important to agree on a template for 
simplified and expeditious accession, in accordance  with the capacities of the LDCs, and Members 
should adhere to those parameters.  LDC accession requests should be put on a fast track to be 
completed in a time-bound manner.  At present, it took years to complete these accessions, and LDCs 
had to undergo a lot of pain.  Bringing LDCs into the fold of the WTO would make the organization 
truly global, and would shift the negotiating capital away from bilaterals and towards multilateralism. 
75. The representative of Turkey  expressed his delegation's thanks to the Director-General for his 
2009 annual report on accessions.  This report was ve ry useful and comprehensive, and provided 
substantial transparency in the accession process.  However, perhaps a more comprehensive reference 
to the Seventh Ministerial Conference Chair' s Summary, which underlined the importance of 
accession, might have been appropriate.  Turkey commended the Director-General for embracing the 
need for clarity in WTO accessions and valued his commitment to support Members' efforts in this  WT/GC/M/125 
 Page 25 
 
 
  regard.  Accessions should be a priority for the WT O.  Acceding countries, especially LDCs, should 
not be faced with ambitious requests for commitm ents beyond their level of development, as 
requested by the Informal Group of Developing Countries.  Turkey supported updating the Director-General's report every six months. 
76. The representative of Bangladesh
 expressed his delegation's appreciation for the report in 
document WT/ACC/13.  Bangladesh fully supported the statements by Zambia for the LDC Group 
and by those delegations who had asked for an accelerated accession process for developing countries, 
particularly LDCs.  In paragra phs 9 and 42 of the Doha Declara tion, Ministers had committed to 
accelerate the accession of LDCs.  The importance of fast-tracking LDC accessions had also been highlighted at the Third Ministerial Conference of LDCs in 2001.  At all LDC Ministerial 
Conferences, including the one recently held in Dar Es Salaam, Ministers had underscored the same 
importance.  At Hong Kong, Ministers had stre ssed the importance of accelerating the accession 
negotiations of LDCs, taking due account of the guidelines on LDC accession adopted by the General 
Council in December 2002.  Those guidelines ma ndated that Members "exercise restraint  in seeking 
concessions and commitments on trade in goods and services from acceding LDCs, taking into 
account the levels of concessions and commitments  undertaken by existing WTO LDC Members."  
Therefore, Bangladesh asked Members and key nego tiating partners to show maximum flexibility and 
restraint in asking for concessions and commitm ents from LDCs in the accession process.  His 
delegation looked forward to seeing Yemen, Samoa and Vanuatu become Members before the year 
concluded. 
77. The representative of Chinese Taipei
 said that as a recently-acceded Member, his delegation 
also wished to draw Members attention to th e communication from the Recently-Acceded Members 
(RAMs) Group prior to the Seventh Ministerial Conference in document WT/MIN(09)/6, in which this Group supported expediting the accession process of developing countries, in particular LDCs, 
including through the effective implementation of the guidelines in the 2002 Decision. 
78. The representative of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
 supported the statement by the 
Dominican Republic for the Informal Group, and said his delegation again wished to request 
Members to speed up the accession process, particul arly for developing countries.  Venezuela 
recognized the importance of the participation of  developing countries in the multilateral trading 
system, but this did not mean making it more di fficult nor imposing measures that could put the 
stability of the candidate countries in danger.  Th erefore, the WTO principles of transparency and 
S&D treatment had to be strengthened in orde r not to prejudice developing countries' accession, 
where in some cases, there had been political reta liation which had nothing to do with the standards 
and principles governing the WTO.  For example, macro-economic reforms carried out by developing 
countries should not have a domestic social impact which affected the wellbeing of the population.  Therefore, it was necessary to reiterate the need for progressivity regarding acceding countries' commitments in order to maintain the developmen t objectives and to strengthen the principles that 
were a paradigm of the WTO.  Venezuela wished  to work on the idea proposed by Turkey at the 
December General Council of the possibility of orga nizing a workshop to identify the impediments to 
WTO accession and to ensure that accession proce dures were more efficient in the future. 
79. The representative of Paraguay
 said that among the countries in the process of accession were 
some land-locked developing countries, and this w as why Paraguay appealed to Members to show the 
necessary flexibility, with a view to speeding up the accession of developing countries, in particular 
the land-locked ones. 
80. The representative of China  thanked the Dominican Republic for its statement on behalf of 
the Informal Group of Developing Countries, which could serve as a starting point for Members' discussion on this important issue.  Members should refrain from imposing excessive demands on 
acceding developing countries, particularly LDCs, th at went beyond their level of development or WT/GC/M/125 
Page 26  
 
  current WTO rules.  Accession negotiations should fo cus on trade issues and technical issues, rather 
than non-trade or even political issues. 
81. The representative of Egypt
, on behalf of the Arab Group , recalled the Groups' reference to 
accessions in its statement under Item 1 of the presen t Agenda, and said it supported the statement by 
Zambia for the LDC Group. 
82. The representative of the United States  said his country strongly supported the accession 
process and was committed to working with accession candidates to move their accessions forward as 
quickly as they were able to do so.  The US had liste ned with great interest to the statement by Nigeria 
reflecting the many different factors that affected the pace of accessions.  It was hard to imagine a 
one-size-fits-all template for accessions, given th e different situations each candidate faced.  
However, the US also agreed with statement made  on the importance of accession to the integration of 
the individual countries into the multilateral trading system and their readiness to assume the obligations of membership.  The US had fully supported the guidelines in the 2002 Decision on LDC accession, and would continue to do so in word and in  deed.  As an institutional matter, the US did not 
support the creation of standing agenda items, but re spected the right of Members to place issues on 
the agenda of individual meetings.  It looked fo rward to working with others on accession issues, 
which had been, and had to remain, a Member-led process. 
83. The representative of Argentina
 thanked the Director-General for his report on accessions.  
This was not the first time the Informal Group of Developing Countries had raised this issue in the 
General Council.  Over the past five years, th e Informal Group had been lodging requests that the 
accession process be conducted along technical lines, si nce in some cases othe r factors were being 
taken into consideration, because some Members tried to wring out concessions from developing 
countries that were not in keeping with what the latter could offer.  Unfortunately, one had often also seen cases in which concealed political pretexts were  used to slow down the process of accession of 
certain countries.  Argentina hoped that such obs tacles would be removed with time, and that 
accessions could be conducted in conformity w ith the technical requirements of the WTO.  
84. The representative of the European Union
 said this was the third time Members had discussed 
this communication in the General Council, and it ha d been very useful to discuss it in this body, 
because it had at least sensitized the membership to  some legitimate concerns.  The discussion would 
help Members to find a way forward in addressing wh at were clearly, deeply felt concerns by the 
Informal Group of Developing Countries.  On the substance of the issue and the proposals made by the Group in the document, the EU shared the view  that accession processes had to be and to remain 
open and transparent, because that was how they could convey the right messages to the governments 
and constituencies of acceding countri es.  There were things to be said both on the procedural aspects 
of this issue and on the substantive aspects.  On the institutional or procedural aspects, the existing 
mechanisms, if used more fully an d better, could provide the right vehicle for all of these concerns on 
accessions to be properly debated and aired.  There was no need to create new institutional 
mechanisms.  All acceding countries and Members were  well informed about the state of play of 
individual accessions.  Acceding Members could and did make their views known to Members, and 
while the General Council might discuss specific acc ession-related issues when  this was considered 
appropriate by the membership, the normal fora for this kind of discussion remained the Working Parties' meetings.  The accession process was already relatively transparent.  Nonetheless, the EU 
would be open to exploring ways to give a more st ructured character to futu re discussions in the WTO 
on accessions.  His delegation was aware that some Members wished to have a more cross-cutting 
inter-comparison kind of discussion.  Perhaps one way to do that would be to give a more structured 
format to the current informal group on accessions,  to broaden its participation and use it as a 
discussion forum where Working Party Chairs could compare notes, and not solely as a place to fix 
timetables and agenda.  It could perhaps be chaire d by a Member, in order to give it far greater 
legitimacy.  A second point on the procedural asp ect, was that the EU we lcomed the Director- WT/GC/M/125 
 Page 27 
 
 
  General's report in WT/ACC/13.  It would be lo gical to produce these reports annually, as they had 
been in the past, and the EU looked forward to that. 
85. On the more substantive issues raised by the proponents of the document from the Informal 
Group of Developing Countries, he had recently hear d the idea that there could be some kind of 
uniform template in order to fast-track membership  in the WTO.  The EU was of two views on this 
matter.  On the positive side, the WTO rules alr eady provided a template to measure Members' 
commitments, and that was the benchmark by wh ich accession could be granted.  The WTO rules 
both set the standard or template and also included all of the S&D treatment provisions and flexibilities that countries – notably the LDCs – n eeded.  Regarding market-access liberalisation, 
which was the other dimension of accessions, th ere was no one-size-fits-all for the level of 
commitments.  Those commitments, as well as any transitional periods, were very individual and 
could vary, depending on the level of development of  a particular country, its  industrial and economic 
profile and its market size.  It was generally recognised that for many countries, the process of accession, both in terms of market-opening and putti ng in place the right domestic laws and policies, 
was an essential instrument to enable domestic refo rms to take place that would be very difficult to 
make on a purely autonomous basis.  Countries used accession processes to make much-needed 
reforms, so one should be very cau tious about opening a debate that w ould lead to expectations that 
there could be some kind of standardised low est common denominator entry price for accessions.  
Superficially it was attractive, but in the long run it would not be in the interests of acceding countries 
seeking to modernise their economies and bring them selves under international rules.  If something 
became too cheap and too easy, it lost its value.  The EU recognised the legitimate concerns of the 
proponents of these ideas.  Some institutional and procedural improvements could be made in the 
organization in order to improve transparency and the cost comparison of accession processes that would facilitate accessions.  However, the EU was so mewhat hesitant regarding any notional proposal 
to create a one-size-fits-all type of template in order to fast-track accession processes.   
86. The representative of Japan
 said his country supported the sincere efforts being made by 
acceding countries to reform their domestic trade regi mes in line with WTO rules.  Their integration 
into the global trading system was one of the fundamental means to address development issues.  
Japan wished to emphasise the signi ficance of accession, particularly the further effective integration 
of LDCs into the global trading regime thr ough the promotion of accession processes based on the 
guidelines on LDC accession in the 2002 Decision.  Transparency in the accession process had to be 
ensured.  Japan was open to any constructive a nd concrete suggestions to facilitate further 
transparency in this process.  However, the existing mechanisms offered ample opportunities for 
transparency.  Regarding Turkey 's proposal, it would be extrem ely useful for recently-acceded 
countries to share their experiences and know-how w ith acceding countries, in order to accelerate the 
accession process. 
87. The representative of India  said that despite this issue having  been taken up repeatedly in the 
General Council, one had not yet witnessed much progress on the accession issue.  The WTO's 
objective of universal membership and integration of  all countries into the global trading system could 
be met only by facilitating the accession of applicant c ountries.  It was important that in the accession 
process, only trade-related issues were raised, and ot her considerations were kept out.  Members also 
needed to revisit the 2002 Decision on accession of  LDCs and institute a process to examine the 
extent to which the guidelines in that Decision were  being adhered to.  Members also needed to look 
at procedures to moderate demands that were cl early beyond the ability of acceding countries to meet.  
India had been assisting a number of developing coun tries, especially LDCs, who were in the process 
of accession, and would continue these efforts. 
88. The General Council took note  of the statements. WT/GC/M/125 
Page 28  
 
  5. Information on EU Schedule CXL – Statement by the European Union 
89. The Chairman
 said this item had been placed on the Agenda of the present meeting at the 
request of the European Union, and invited that delegation to introduce it. 
90. The representative of the European Union  said his delegation had requested the inclusion of 
this item on the Agenda for information purposes at the request of a number of its trading partners.  
He gave a rapid description of the calendar and histor y of this issue.  The Eu ropean Union, then the 
European Communities, had communicated its Schedule CXL to the WTO on 28 February 1996.3  
The Schedule covered market-access commitments as well as commitments on export subsidies and 
domestic support.  The market-access commitments a nd negotiations had been conducted pursuant to 
GATT Article XXIV:6 procedures and had resulted in modifications to Part 1 of the Schedule.  
Following the enlargement of the EC in 1995, the then-EC15 had unified four separate Schedules of 
commitments on export subsidies and domestic suppor t for agricultural products.  Specifically, the 
Uruguay Round Schedules of the EC12, together with Austria, Sweden and Finland, had been unified, 
resulting in the Schedule CXL that had been notifie d.  In merging the commitments of the EC12 and 
EC3, his delegation had followed an approach, in agreement with Members, which had provided for 
the netting out of export commitments, the netting out of tariff quotas and the simple aggregation of 
domestic-support commitments.  The EU was bound by the results of this approach, which had been 
recorded in Schedule CXL.  When that Schedul e had been notified, several Members had placed 
reservations on the certification of the Schedule, a nd as a result, it had remained non-certified ever 
since.  Recently, however, the last reservations had been lifted. 
91. He underlined that the technical adjustments that appeared in Schedule CXL preserved the 
integrity of the commitments of the EC12 and th e three countries then-acceding to the EC, and had 
not resulted in the introduction of any new expor t-subsidy product groups.  Similarly, the EC15 
Schedule Part 4 had not resulted in an overall increase  in the level of agricultural subsidies set out as 
commitments.  The Schedule had been drawn up in  the context of the enlargement of the customs 
union, and his delegation recognized that the proce dures that it had used would not create a precedent 
regarding the technical adjustments to commitments  on domestic support, export subsidies or tariff 
quotas.  The issue of subsequent enlargement of the European Union and the commitments taken at 
the time had been raised in the Agriculture Comm ittee, and his delegation w ould continue to engage 
in information exchanges on this issue.  On 19 Febr uary the EU had organized an information meeting 
with the membership to explain the technicalities of how the procedures had been applied in the 
context of this Schedule.  All reservations on th e EU Schedule CXL had been withdrawn, and his 
delegation understood that the Director-General would now circulate that Schedule as certified.  It 
also understood that the Director-General would, at the same time, circulate as certified all 
rectifications and modifications to Schedule CXL th at had been pending for some time, awaiting the 
certification of the Schedule. 
92. The Chairman  said this understanding was correct. 
93. The representative of Australia  thanked the European Union for its statement and confirmed 
that Australia had lifted its reservation to document G/L/65/Rev.1.  In 1996, as the EU had explained, 
Australia had objected to the certification of th e EC15 Schedule on the basis that the proposed 
domestic-support and export-subsidy commitm ents could not be negotiated under GATT 
Article XXIV:6.  He recalled that Article XXIV:6 dealt only with adjustments to tariff commitments, and there was no agreed process to adjust agricultu ral subsidy commitments under Part 4 of Members' 
Schedules.  Therefore, the methodology which had ulti mately been used in cal culating adjustments to 
EU agricultural subsidies had been agreed in the context of the EC15 enlargement and was not 
provided for under Articles XXIV:6 or XXVIII.  In lif ting its reservation, his delegation wished to 
make clear that this was without prejudice to Australia's position on future EU enlargements.  
                                                     
 
3 Circulated in document G/L/65/Rev.1.  WT/GC/M/125 
 Page 29 
 
 
  Australia also reconfirmed its position that lega l modalities for the appropriate mechanisms for 
modifications to commitments in Part 4 of Members' Schedules remained to be agreed. 
94. The representative of New Zealand  thanked the EU for its statement.  When the EC15 
Schedule CXL had been submitted to the WTO in  March 1996 after the EC accession of Austria, 
Finland and Sweden, New Zealand had objected to it s certification on the basis that the modalities for 
the submission of revised subsidies commitme nts had not been agreed.  Following recent 
consultations – and without prejudice to New Zeal and's position that the methodology used by the 
EC15 in 1995/96 for subsidies did not create a precedent, and also without prejudice to its position that there was no basis upon which the EU could claim that the list of special agricultural safeguard 
reference prices referred to in document G/L/65/Rev. 1 was an integral part of its Schedule – New 
Zealand had agreed to lift its reservation to that  document.  His delegation looked forward to an 
ongoing fruitful information exchange in the rele vant WTO committees, including the Committee on 
Agriculture, on potential domestic-support and expor t-subsidy commitments that might result from 
the EU's enlargement subsequent to its 1995 enlargement. 
95. The representative of Canada
 said that as indicated by the EU, Canada and the European 
Union had held bilateral consu ltations, and Canada had agreed to lift its reservation on EC15 
Schedule CXL.  In addition, the parties' mutual  understanding was that regarding the domestic-
support and export-subsidy commitments in Part 4 of the EU's Schedule that might result from 
enlargement subsequent to the 1995 enlargement, th e European Union would initiate an information 
exchange in a timely manner in the relevant WTO committees, including the Committee on Agriculture.  He noted that Canada was lifting its reservation without prejudice to its position that the 
methodologies and processes used by the EC15 in 19 95/96 in relation to tariff-rate quota concessions, 
domestic-support and export-subsidy commitments, did not create a precedent and was without prejudice to Canada's position that there was no basi s upon which the EU could claim that the list of 
special safeguard reference prices referred to in G/ L/65/Rev.1 was an integral part of its Schedule.  
Canada looked forward to review ing information regarding the potential domestic-support and export-
subsidy commitments of subsequent enlargements that  the EU would provide at future meetings of the 
Committee on Agriculture. 
96. The representative of the United States
 said that when the EC15 Schedule CXL had been 
submitted to the WTO in 1996 after the EC accessi on of Austria, Finland and Sweden, the United 
States had objected to its certification, in part due  to its concern regarding the proposed manner to 
implement changes to domestic-support, expor t-subsidy and tariff-rate quota commitments.  
Following recent consultations, and without prejudice to the US position that the methodology used 
by the EC15 in 1995 for domestic support, export s ubsidies and tariff-rate quotas did not create a 
precedent – and also without prejudice to its position that there was no basis upon which the EU could 
claim that the list of special agricultural safeguard reference prices referred to in G/L/65/Rev.1 was an 
integral part of the EU's Schedule – the United States had agreed to lift its reservation to EC15 
Schedule CXL.  His delegation looked forward to an  ongoing fruitful information exchange in the 
relevant WTO committees, including the Committe e on Agriculture, on potential domestic-support 
and export-subsidy commitments that might result  from EU enlargements subsequent to the 1995 
enlargement. 
97. The representative of Argentina  said that in light of the statements made, Argentina wished to 
reserve its rights with regard to future certificati ons due to subsequent enlargements of the EU.  The 
method used by the EU in the case of the cer tification of Schedule CXL for 1995/96 regarding 
domestic support, tariff-rate quotas a nd export subsidies could not be used as a precedent in any future 
enlargements of the EU. 
98. The representative of Switzerland  said his delegation had no specific reservations on 
Schedule CXL, but could go along with what had been said by previous speakers with regard to a 
possible precedent of the methodology used by the EU. WT/GC/M/125 
Page 30  
 
  99. The General Council took note
 of the statements. 
6. Appointment of Officers to WTO Bodies 
100. The Chairman  recalled that, in accordance with the Gu idelines for Appointment of Officers to 
WTO Bodies approved by the General Council in D ecember 2002 (WT/L/510), he and his colleague, 
Mr. Gero (Canada), the Chair of the Dispute Se ttlement Body, had conduc ted consultations with 
delegations on a slate of names for the appointment of  Chairs to the bodies listed in Groups 1, 2, 4 and 
5 in the Annex to the Guidelines.  In line with what had been agreed at the Council meeting in 
October 2009, Mr. Gero and he had also been consulting with delegati ons on the question of 
appointment of Chairs to the bodies established by the TNC.  Under the principle set out in document TN/C/1, the Negotiating Group Chairs were appointed to  serve up to the next Ministerial Conference, 
at which time all the appointments were reviewed.  This review had last taken place in February 2006, 
following the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference, and in October 2009, the Council had agreed to undertake this review in the February 2010 slate of na mes exercise, in line with past practice.  At the 
outset, he wished to thank Mr. Gero  for his assistance, which had been very valuable to him and, he 
was certain, also to all Members.  They had c onsulted delegations both in dividually and in groups, 
including through group coordinators.  These cons ultations had included an informal open-ended 
Heads-of-Delegation meeting on 17 February. 
101. Beginning first with the appointments to WTO bodies other than those under the TNC, he was 
pleased to be able to inform delegations that, on the basis of these consultations, there was a 
consensus on the following slate of names: 
General Council H.E. Mr. John GERO (Canada) 
Dispute Settlement Body H.E. Mr. Yonov Frederick AGAH (Nigeria) Trade Policy Review Body H.E. Mr. Bozkurt ARAN (Turkey) Council for Trade in Goods H.E. Dr. Anthony Mothae MARUPING 
(Lesotho) 
Council for Trade in Services H.E. Mrs. Elin Østebø JOHANSEN (Norway) 
Council for TRIPS Mr. Martin GLASS (Hong Kong, China) Committee on Trade and Development H.E. Mr. ERWIDODO (Indonesia) Committee on Balance-of- Payments 
   Restrictions Mr. Raimondas ALIŠAUSKAS (Lithuania) 
Committee on Budget, Finance 
   and Administration Mr. Pasi-Heikki VAARANMAA (Finland) 
Committee on Trade and Environment H.E. Mr. Eduardo MUÑOZ GÓMEZ 
(Colombia) 
Committee on Regional Trade Agreements H.E. Mr. Alfredo SUESCUM (Panama) 
Working Group on Trade, Debt 
   and Finance H.E. Mr. Federico A. GONZÁLEZ (Paraguay) 
Working Group on Trade and 
   Transfer of Technology H.E. Mr. Hisham M. BADR (Egypt) 
  WT/GC/M/125 
 Page 31 
 
 
  102. Appointments for these bodies would be for one year as usual, in keeping with the general 
rule in the Guidelines.  These appointments would, of course, be made formally by the WTO bodies 
concerned at their subsequent meetings in 2010. 
103. He then turned to the question of Chairmansh ips of bodies under the TNC.  He recalled that, 
as he had said earlier, in the case of these Chairman ships Members were undertaking a review of the 
existing appointments.  He was pleased to be able  to inform delegations that, on the basis of the 
consultations, there was agreement to renew these a ppointments, except that, in the case of the TRIPS 
Special Session, where Ms Tan had been  kind enough to serve as Chair on a pro tempore basis since 
the departure of Mr. Clarke in December 2009, Mr. Mwape (Zambia) would be appointed Chair.  He wished to thank Ms Tan for the work she had put in  on Members' behalf during this period.  He also 
wished to inform Members that Mr. Valles Galmés, Chair of the Rules Negotiating Group, had also 
informed him that he would shortly be recalled to capital, and his successor as Council Chair would 
therefore be undertaking consultations on finding a new Chair for the Rules Negotiating Group in due 
course.  He then read out the following slate of names: 
Special Session of the Committee 
   on Agriculture H.E. Dr. David WALKER (New Zealand) 
Special Session of the Council for Trade 
   in Services H.E. Mr. Fernando DE MATEO Y VENTURINI 
(Mexico)
Negotiating Group on Market Access H.E.  Mr. Luzius WASESCHA (Switzerland) 
Special Session of the Council for TRIPS H.E. Mr. Darlington MWAPE (Zambia) 
Negotiating Group on Rules H.E. Mr. Guillermo VALLES GALMÉS 
(Uruguay) 
Special Session of the Dispute 
   Settlement Body H.E. Mr. Ronald SABORÍO SOTO (Costa Rica) 
Special Session of the Committee on 
   Trade and Environment H.E. Mr. Manuel A.J. TEEHANKEE 
(Philippines) 
Special Session of the Committee on 
   Trade and Development H.E. Mr. Thawatchai SOPHASTIENPHONG 
(Thailand)
Negotiating Group on Trade Facilitation H. E. Mr. Eduardo Ernesto SPERISEN-YURT 
(Guatemala)
 
104. Regarding the duration of the appointments for the bodies under the TNC, he proposed that 
these Chairpersons – with the exception, as noted above, in the case of the Rules Negotiating Group – 
be invited to serve until the next Session of the Mi nisterial Conference.  This would be in keeping 
with the term of office that had been establishe d by the TNC at its first meeting in January and 
February 2002 and again by the General C ouncil in February 2004 and February 2006. 
105. The General Council took note
 of the statement and of the consensus on the two slates of 
names for the appointment of officers. 
106. The Chairman , on behalf of the General Council, expressed sincere appreciation to the 
outgoing Chairpersons of all WTO bodies for their dedicated work in chairing these bodies.  He 
wished to add a few words with regard to the pro cess just completed for the Appointment of Officers 
in 2010.  This process was governed by the Guid elines adopted by the General Council in 2002.  In 
these consultations, Mr. Gero and he  had underlined the various principles set out in the Guidelines 
and the need for all to respect them fully during th e process.  The Guidelines set out very clearly the 
purpose of the exercise, which was "to ensure that th e Organization continues to be able to handle its 
business in a smooth and seamless way."  As the Guidelines said, an "overall balance of WT/GC/M/125 
Page 32  
 
  representation" should be achieved in this exercise, but there was no agreed mathematical formula set 
out anywhere to guide Members in this respect.  As  in the negotiations, such a balance was very much 
in the eye of the beholder, and each delegation woul d inevitably have a differe nt perception of what 
an overall balance represented in practical terms of an outcome.  More importa nt, this balance was not 
the only criteria required to be used in choosing th e Chairpersons.  The Guid elines also stated that 
"[t]he choice of a chairperson should primarily reflect  the capacity and the availability of that person 
to undertake the special responsibilities required of such posts in the WTO system", and that 
"[a]ppointments must be acceptable to the membership as a whole, and not only to the regions or groupings that may have proposed them".  In other words, this was not a one-dimensional exercise or 
an automatic selection at a group level.  This was a collective exercise.  The aim had to be getting the 
right people in the right jobs in the interests of the system as a whole.  In doing so, he and his 
colleague had not been free to ignore parts of the Guidelines which did not suit them.  As both he and 
Mr. Gero had tried to do throughout this exercise, the Guidelines had to be applied in full.  He 
therefore urged all delegations to approach future appointment exercises with the Guidelines fully in 
mind and in a spirit of cooperation for the good of the system.  Compromise was never easy, but it 
was an essential element of workin g by consensus, which was the ru le by which Members worked in 
this house. 
107. Before concluding on this item, he recalled th at, in keeping with Paragraph 7.3 of the 
Guidelines for Appointment of Officers to WTO Bo dies, the outgoing Chairpersons of the Council for 
Trade in Goods and the Council for Trade in Serv ices were to conduct consultations to select 
Chairpersons for the bodies established under their respective Councils.  The Guidelines also provided 
that these Chairs should announce the start of thei r respective consultation processes at the February 
General Council meeting.  He therefore invited, firs t, Ms Elin Johansen (Norway), Chairperson of the 
Goods Council, to take the floor. 
108. Ms Johansen (Norway), Chairperson of the Council for Trade in Goods
, informed Members 
that, in accordance with the Guide lines for Appointment of Officers to WTO Bodies, adopted by the 
General Council in December 2002 (WT/L/510), sh e would be starting consultations for the 
appointment of chairpersons to the subsidiary bodi es of the Council for Trade in Goods.  She would 
be carrying out this process with a view to proposin g and agreeing on a balanced slate of names at the 
next meeting of the Council for Trade in Goods, sch eduled for 23 March 2010.  She intended to make 
sufficient time available to meet with any interest ed Members and to hear their views and suggestions, 
and would be sending a fax to all Heads of Delega tion the following day, indicating her availability 
for this purpose.  Following this, she would conduct further consultations as necessary.  In order to 
ensure the efficiency of the process and the balan ce mentioned in the Guidelines, she would work in 
coordination with the Chairman of the Services Council. 
109. Mr. Agah (Nigeria), Chairman of  the Council for Trade in Services , said that in accordance 
with the Guidelines for the Appointment of Offi cers to WTO Bodies, adopted by the General Council 
in December 2002 (WT/L/510), he would be starti ng his consultations for the appointment of 
chairpersons to the subsidiary bodies of the Counc il for Trade in Services.  He would be consulting 
with a view to arriving at a proposed slate of name s of chairpersons for 2010 that enjoyed the wide 
support of the membership.  In order to ensure the balance of the slate, he would be consulting with 
the Chairperson of the Goods Council, and would ma ke sufficient time available to meet with any 
interested Members. 
110. The General Council took note  of the statements. 
7. Statement by the Chairman on the Chairmanship of the Working Party on the 
Accession of Belarus 
111. The Chairman  informed Members that following cons ultations with members of the Working 
Party and the authorities of Belarus, and in keeping with usual WTO practice, it had been agreed that  WT/GC/M/125 
 Page 33 
 
 
  Mr. Aran (Turkey) would serve as Chairperson of th is Working Party, replacing Ms Horn (Sweden), 
who had resigned as Chairperson.  On behalf of the General Council, he wished to thank Ms Horn for 
having served as Chairperson of this Working Party. 
112. The General Council took note  of the statement. 
8. Statement by the Chairman in connection wi th Administrative Measures for Members 
in arrears 
113. The Chairman  recalled that at its meeting in May 2006, the General C ouncil had approved a 
recommendation from the Committee on Budget, Fina nce 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 Chairman of the Committee on Budget, 
Finance and Administration should provide informat ion with regard to which Members were under 
Administrative Measures in Categories II through IV .  In the absence of the Chairperson of the 
Budget Committee, Mrs. Swärd Capra (Sweden), and on her request and behalf, he invited 
Mr. Östberg (Sweden) to read her statement 
114. Mr. Östberg (Sweden), on behalf of Mrs. Swärd Capra (Sweden), Chairperson of the 
Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration , said the Members under Categories II through IV 
of the Administrative Measures as at 21 February  2010 were:  El Salvador, Honduras, Kenya, Papua 
New Guinea and Peru in Category II;  Grenada and Senegal in Category III;  and the following 
Members in Category IV:  Burundi, Central Afri can Republic, Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic 
Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Dominica, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Mauritania, Nicaragua, 
Niger, Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone and Togo .  Since the last General Council meeting, El 
Salvador, Honduras, Kenya and Papua  New Guinea had become subject to administrative measures in 
Category II. Grenada had moved from Category II to III, and Mali and Nicaragua had moved from 
Category III to IV.  During the recent WTO Minister ial Conference, the Director-General had held 
consultations with several Members in arrears, re sulting in payments from Senegal, Peru and Mali, 
and the serious intention of Burundi, Côte d'Ivoire and Guinea to find a solution to the situation.  A 
full report of these actions would be made at the ne xt meeting of the General Council.  The Director-
General was also following up on the situation w ith Gabon, whose administrative measures had been 
suspended by the General Council in 2009, follow ing the approval of a schedule of instalment 
payments aimed at liquidating the arrears.  Th e Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration 
would  continue to review the situation. 
115. The Chairman  then recalled that under the revised Administrative Measures, he was also 
required at each Council meeting to request those Members in Categories III and IV of the Measures 
to inform him, before the next meeting of the Ge neral Council, as to when their payment of arrears 
might be expected.  In keeping with the Admi nistrative Measures, he would report on Members' 
replies to the next meeting of the General Council. 
116. The General Council took note  of the statements. 
9. Election of Chairperson 
117. The Chairman , as the outgoing presiding officer of the General Council, said that 2009 had 
been a year of gratitude, pride and learning.  Gratit ude and thanks were due to all for having entrusted 
him with directing the most decisive and the high est-level body in the WTO, and the responsibility of 
acting on behalf of all Members in the international system in general.  He was proud to have had the 
honour of representing his country and the region of Latin America and the Caribbean in this office, 
which he hoped he had served with transparency, impartiality and humility.  He had learned much, 
thanks to the wise and sensible advice of his colleag ues, and it had been possi ble for him to navigate 
in waters that had not always been calm.  He had learned a great deal of diplomacy from the countless WT/GC/M/125 
Page 34  
 
  ups and downs of international events, from political sensitivities of the acute problems of 
underdevelopment and from difficulties in trade, and he had learned a lot about the human soul – he 
had now perhaps earned a masters degree in psycho logy.  There had been many and varied activities 
and events in 2009, in which all had been actors – Geneva Week, Open Day, the referendum on the 
new building.  One had lost dear friends and made  new ones.  However, he wished to comment on a 
few specific cases.  First, the selection of Chai rs of both the regular WTO bodies and negotiating 
groups, of the Director-General and of members of the Appellate Body.  On these issues there had been small frictions in the system, and it might be a good idea to begin to discuss these issues, but 
outside of the context of the selection process, in orde r not to harm that process.  Some of these were 
due to the increasing number of Members, others to the emergence of certain new players, and others 
still to a change in the themes of the organization.   Another was due to the development of events 
occurring outside the WTO, and the fact that Memb ers were in a negotiating Round and had to talk. 
118. The second issue was the Seventh Ministerial C onference.  This had given regularity to the 
organization.  However, he did not think this mee ting had been an example of what Members wanted 
as a regular meeting in the future.  As long as Me mbers were negotiating a Round, this would always 
influence a regular Ministerial Conference.  The que stion that remained for analysis was whether the 
regularity of the WTO could be separated from th e negotiating process.  He hoped the answer was 
yes.  All knew that the WTO was much more than a negotiating process.  Regarding the banana issue, 
the present Council meeting had been the first in ma ny years in which bananas had not been on the 
agenda.  Although the Council chairmanship had very  little to do with the solution to this dispute, 
everyone had been pleased to see th e resolution of a very long-lasti ng conflict.  This demonstrated 
that dialogue, with flexibility and political will, contin ued to be the heart of Me mbers' activities.  This 
was a good signal for the Round.  Accessions was a th eme on which collectively, Members were still 
behind.  The Informal Group of Development Countri es had made this theme a priority, and this had 
been clear in the Ministerial Conference Chair' s Summary, as well as at the present meeting.  
Members had to seek a solution for pending ac cession processes.  They had to increase the 
universality of the WTO, because this would be a denial of allegations that the WTO had lost 
relevance and effectiveness as an institution.  Desp ite this, there was an important number of countries 
and customs territories who wished to join the WTO.  Finally, regarding what he would qualify as incremental improvements to the institution, in th e course of 2009 there had been various proposals 
which aimed to improve the effectiveness of the WTO, particularly regarding how to monitor 
Members' obligations.  The organization of th e Seventh Ministerial Conference had prevented 
Members from devoting a great deal of time to thes e priorities, but the future of the WTO had to do 
with monitoring.  Members had to improve the mon itoring process, to intensify and add value to it.  
The Director-Generals' reports had been improving in their analysis, and had included the concerns 
and suggestions expressed by Members.  Independent of that, he wished to thank the staff of the 
mission of Chile in Geneva, who during the past year  had had to live with almost a ghost of a chief, 
who appeared only periodically and only to ask fo r a favour.  The mission staff had had to do most of 
the work of representing Chile.  He also wished to e xpress his gratitude to the Secretariat, particularly 
to the Council and CTNC Division, which had suppo rted him with devotion and care in 2009.  As he 
had said on other occasions and wished to repeat, the Members had tremendous good fortune to have 
one of the most effective and highest-quality secr etariats in the entire international system. 
119. The General Council then unanimously elected
 Mr. John Gero (Canada) to the Chair. 
120. The outgoing Chairman  said that all knew Mr. Gero, who had been through many trade 
battles, in the course of which he had made ma ny friends and had shown his professional capacity, 
deep knowledge of trade issues and the ability to th ink out of the box – sometimes Pandora's Box.  
Above all, he was his friend and a reliable person, and it was a real honour to be replaced by him. 
121. The Director-General  said it was a day for farewells.  It was the fifth time he had witnessed 
the change of the chairmanship of the General C ouncil.  His first words to the outgoing Chair would  WT/GC/M/125 
 Page 35 
 
 
  be of gratitude.  The latter had been a dedicated, di screte and efficient Chairman.  He had chaired the 
General Council at a time of preparation for an im portant Ministerial meeting, which had not been 
held since 2005.  He had conducted all these difficult consultations with a deep understanding of the 
issues and of the people and in a skilful manner, and the list he had just given showed he had had a lot 
of success in his endeavours.  He had met regularly  with the outgoing Chair, as he had with his 
predecessor, and he would try do this  with his successor.  It had always been very good to listen to the 
outgoing Chair's advice.  To the newly-elected Ch airman, he wished him good luck and success in his 
mandate, and assured him of the Secretaria t's full support in his new function. 
122. The newly-elected Chairman  thanked all delegations who had spoken.  He was greatly 
humbled by the enormous task Members had bestowed on him.  This was especially so, because if he 
looked at the shoes he had to fill, it seemed a virtually impossible task.  The outgoing Chair was a 
gentleman with great intelligence, a fantastic sense  of humour, an ability to find compromise where 
mere mortals would have given up long before.  And he had done this with an exceptional grace under 
fire, and to fill those shoes would be next to impossible.  He said that as Members got to know him, they would find that he would not be a "dirigiste" co nductor of the WTO orchestra, rather a facilitator.  
Irrespective of whether one was playing a large or small instrument, whether one played quietly or 
loudly, for this orchestra to function, all would need to play together.  It was up to the members of the 
orchestra to try to demonstrate the kind of music an d the tempo they all wished to play.  For this 
reason, he would undertake, over the next five or six weeks, to sit down with each and every Member 
to find out its priorities and its likes and dislikes with  regard to the music it wished to play and the 
tempo of that music.  He would report back at the next Council meeting what Members had told him 
and the kind of consensus Members could build on what  this orchestra should play.  In that context, it 
was very important for the brass section to practice together, and the string section to practice together, not to mention the woodwinds.  However, ultimately, when Members came back to play in 
this orchestra, each one individually would have to  recognize the contribution it would have to make, 
and the fact that the orchestra as a whole would have to be greater than some of its parts if it was to 
succeed.  As a very famous musician by the name of Itzhak Perlman had said, "the conductor does not 
have the real power.  It is the orchestra that h as the power and every member of the orchestra knows 
instantaneously if the conductor is just beating time ".  He was certainly hoping that at the end of the 
year, Members would come to the conclusion that he had not just been beating time. 
123. During the course of the meeting, many de legations expressed their gratitude and 
congratulations to the outgoing Chair, and welcomed the newly-elected Chair. 
124. The representative of El Salvador
, on behalf of GRULAC , expressed the Group's thanks to 
the outgoing Chair for the work he had accomplishe d.  The latter had conducted with patience, 
transparency and wisdom the work of this body in  circumstances in which consensus seemed to be a 
distant dream.  One of his most outstanding ch aracteristics was the inclusiveness and transparency 
with which he had conducted the process of prepar ations for the Seventh Ministerial Conference, 
which had been a success.  The Group also wished to underscore the outgoing Chair's sterling work in 
conducting the process of the selection of the Dir ector-General, again with transparency and 
impartiality.  As for the banana issue, the outgoing Chair had played an important part in facilitating 
the negotiations for a satisfactory outcome for all par ties.  He had played his role with great dignity 
and had been the object of great pride for the La tin American region.  The Group also wished to 
welcome the newly-elected Chair and wish him all the best in his functions throughout the coming 
year. 
125. The representative of Gabon , on behalf of the African Group , thanked the outgoing Chair, 
whose country's Minister had chaired the Seventh Mi nisterial Conference in an outstanding manner.  
The Group also wished to thank all the outgoing Ch airs of various WTO bodies who had given life 
and substance to the long process of the DDA ne gotiations.  The African Group also welcomed the 
newly-elected Chair of the General Council for 2010 , and assured him that it would work in harmony WT/GC/M/125 
Page 36  
 
  with him, with a view to concluding the DDA succes sfully in 2010.  The Group also congratulated the 
new Chairs of the WTO bodies, and encouraged them all in the discharge of their respective duties.  
The African Group would collaborate with them  in the various areas of DDA negotiations. 
126. The representative of Viet Nam
, on behalf of the ASEAN Group , said the ASEAN Members 
were pleased to support the election of the new Chairmen for the various WTO bodies, whom they 
congratulated and assured that ASEAN stood ready to work closely and constructively with them in 
their upcoming endeavours.  The ASEAN Members were proud to have the Indonesian Ambassador 
among those selected, and were confident he would discharge his responsibilities successfully.  They 
also wished to express their thanks and appreciati on to all outgoing Chairpersons of WTO bodies for 
their hard work and the meaningful contributions they had made to the WTO, and to wish them all 
great success in the future.  Special thanks went to the Singapore Ambassador, an ASEAN fellow 
ambassador, for her accomplishment as Chair of th e TRIPS Council.  Her successful chairmanship 
was testament to ASEAN's continued contribution to the WTO.  The outgoing General Council Chair 
had left big shoes to fill, but the ASEAN Members were confident that the newly-elected Chair would 
be more than able to fill them.  The later might not  always wear a bow tie, he would be able to lead 
Members in the coming year with the same leader ship, consensus-building style and confidence.  
ASEAN had the strongest confidence in the newly- elected Chair and looked forward to another 
successful year for the WTO agenda in 2010.  Th e ASEAN Members reiterated their commitment to 
work constructively with all the Chairs and other Members of the WTO with a view to fulfilling the 
objectives all shared within the multilateral trading system. 
127. The representative of Mauritius , on behalf of the ACP Group , thanked the outgoing Chair and 
congratulated him for his dedication and the excellent job he had carried out during the past year.  The 
Group welcomed the newly-elected Chair and assured him of its full support.  It looked forward to 
continue working closely with him and with the other newly-appointed Chairs. 
128. The representative of Egypt , on behalf of the Arab Group , said the Arab Group joined others 
in thanking the outgoing Chair and expressing its fu ll consideration and gratitude for his efforts 
throughout 2009.  The latter had been faced with numerous challenges, and the Arab Group 
commended him for the way he had navigated Members through those challenges.  It also wished to 
welcome the newly-elected Chair and expressed its readiness to cooperate and collaborate with him 
on the challenges ahead. 
129. The representative of the Dominican Republic , on behalf of the Informal Group of 
Developing Countries , thanked the outgoing Chair for his supp ort for the subjects of concern to it 
throughout his chairmanship and congratulated him on the extraordinary work he had carried out in 
strengthening the organization.  The Group also wished to welcome the newly-elected General 
Council Chair, as well as all the newly-appointed Chairs of WTO bodies.  The Informal Group hoped to establish very fruitful links with these Chairs in order to fulfil the aspirations of developing 
countries, so that the main objective of this Round co uld be achieved – i.e. for it to be a development 
Round.  It also hoped that the same priority would be given to speeding up the accession of LDCs and 
other aspiring countries in the accession process. 
130. The representative of Zambia
, on behalf of the LDCs , said the LDCs wished to pay special 
tribute to the outgoing Chair for his sterling work and contribution to the sustainability of the multilateral trading system.  The latter had been a true  gift to the Members, with an elegant ribbon in 
the form of his trademark bow tie.  The LDCs also  wished to congratulate the newly-elected Chair, 
who had already demonstrated high-level skills in  his previous capacity as DSB Chair.  The quality 
the latter possessed of always being available and ap proachable should not be lost as he ascended to 
the elevated role of conductor of the entire orchest ra.  The LDCs wished to thank particularly the 
various outgoing Chairs of WTO bodies for their valu able contribution to the system.  Without them, 
the specific achievements recorded in this organization could not have been possible.  In the same 
vein, the LDCs wished the newly-appointed Chairs Godspeed.  WT/GC/M/125 
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  131. The representative of Turkey  said his delegation appreciated the remarkable fairness, 
effectiveness, accessibility and frie ndliness that the outgoing Chair had shown during his tenure.  It 
was no wonder that the Seventh Ministerial Conferen ce, which had taken place at a critical juncture of 
the negotiations, had been held with success duri ng his tenure.  Turkey congratulated the newly-
elected Chair on his new appointment, and was fu lly committed to working in full cooperation with 
him. 
132. The representative of the United States  said that as the WTO prided itself on being Member-
led, and rightfully so, Members had been very fortunate to have always found people of the highest calibre for the post of General Council Chair.  Th e US deeply appreciated the outgoing Chair's having 
spent what must have seemed like several lifetimes in that role in 2009.  In that role, the Chair had 
served as spokesman, leader and therapist for the membership.  It had been a difficult job, particularly 
when the Members were pulling in different directi ons.  The Chair deserved particular credit for his 
work in organizing the Seventh Ministerial Conference.   This had not been an easy endeavour, but he 
had done an excellent job in working with the memb ership to define the nature and details of the 
event.  He also deserved all the credit for the C onference having unfolded in such a smooth way – in 
fact, its calm and positive demeanour were reflec tions of the Chair's own personality.  The US 
thanked him for what he had done and looked forw ard to working with him in the future in his 
capacity as ambassador and in any other capacity.  To  the newly-elected Chair, he said his delegation 
welcomed his acceptance of this Olympic challenge.  It was sure that following the example of his 
countrymen, he would provide strong leadership in  both fair and foul weather.  The newly-elected 
Chair could count on the United States' support, and his delegation looked forward to working with 
him. 
133. The representative of the European Union
 expressed the EU's appreciation for the outgoing 
Chair's outstanding guidance over the Council over the p ast year.  A lot of what he had done had been 
done underwater and behind the scenes, not least th e difficult discussions on WTO chairmanships, but 
above all, his work in preparing and ensuring, fo r the benefit of all, a very smooth Ministerial 
Conference.  The EU extended its heartfelt gratitude to him for his contribution to the organization.  
To the newly-elected Chair, he said the EU congr atulated him on his appointment.  On a personal 
note, he said that he and the latter had been friends  and colleagues for 20 years, and he was delighted 
to see a person of the latter's calibre and integrit y assume this very important position.  The Members 
would need his help in the next 12 months.  He assu red the newly-elected Chair that the EU part of 
the orchestra would give unwavering support to its conductor. 
134. The representative of Mexico  fully supported the statement by El Salvador for GRULAC.  
The outgoing Chair had been an outstanding Chairman due to his thorough knowledge of the organization, his kindness and his constant search fo r consensus.  The newly- elected Chair came with 
exactly the same qualities, so Members would have another great Chairman. 
135. The General Council took note
 of the statements. WT/GC/M/125 
Page 38  
 
  ANNEX 
 
Statement by Haiti prior to the adoption of the Agenda
 
  
 On 12 January 2010, a violent earthquake of magnitude 7.3 on the Richter scale devastated 
Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, and various other parts of the country, causing more than 
217,000 deaths – one and a half million disaster vic tims – and injuring more  than 400,000 people, 
many of whom required surgical operations.  
 Telephone connections between Haiti and the rest  of the world were seriously disrupted and 
subsequently cut off for two days.   The National Palace, the headquarters of the Presidency, the offices of the United Nations 
Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), sever al public institutions (Parliament, courts, 
ministries, town halls, police stations), sev eral churches and schools, hospitals and the 
Directorate-General of Internal Taxation in Po rt-au-Prince all collapsed, causing the death or 
disappearance of dozens of people.  The earthquake struck at a time when Haiti wa s beginning to witness positive and encouraging 
signals:  inflation down to 5.1 per cent – roads r econstructed after the hurricanes in 2008 – insecurity 
under control – the number of jobs on the increase – accelerated growth in 2009 (around 2 per cent), 
due to improvement in agricultural prod uction and resumption of textile exports. 
  At present, the country is in total chaos.  The needs are enormous.  
First of all, shelter will have to be provided for more than one million people who have found 
themselves on the streets after this terrible earthquake.  Distributing material aid for shelters and setting up housing sites remain the Haitian Government's top 
priorities.  The places where these people are living will need to be provided with sanitary services 
and they will need clean drinking water supplies.  The Ministry of Public Health and Population and 
its PAHO/WHO partners are endeavouring to insta ll mobile toilets in the camps set up by the 
authorities in Haiti, but as yet there are very few of them available (5-10 per cent of the total 25,000 needed).  The Government is slowly  but surely trying to group peop le together in areas where it will 
be easier to care for them, manage sanitation and distribute food to those who urgently need it. 
 
As for epidemics, no major developments have been brought to our attention to date.  Epidemiological 
surveillance is being maintained.   The earthquake has led to huge population di splacement from earthquake-stricken zones to 
areas that are believed to be safer.  It has caused  nearly half a million people to be displaced.  The 
Government is concentrating on displaced school child ren in particular.  It has asked the parents of 
such children in the west and the south-west to try to find schools for their children in nearby towns.  
The Government is also working on a financia l aid programme for displaced school children. 
  With regard to insecurity, 4,000 prisoners es caped when the earthquake struck, thus making 
this a matter of concern for both the people of Haiti and the international community.  A further 
3,500 blue helmets sent to reinforce MINUSTAH and the presence of American troops have served to 
secure humanitarian corridors and protect public safety and aid convoys.   Finally, the Haitian delegati on would like to express its gra titude to the international 
community for coming to the aid of the people of Haiti as soon as it saw the scale of the disaster.   WT/GC/M/125 
 Page 39 
 
 
  We would equally like to express our sincere condol ences to the United Nations and all the countries 
that have suffered human and material losses due to this disaster.  The country is wounded, but the people take comfort from the international community's display of generosity.   Thank you to the Director-General of the World Trade Organization and all its Members who 
have sent messages of condolence and sympathy to th e Government and the families of the victims of 
the recent earthquake.  The people of Haiti will be forever grateful.  
__________