WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/TPR/OV/M/6 
11 April 2006 
 (06-1693) 
Trade Policy Review Body  
 
 
OVERVIEW OF DEVELOPMENTS IN THE 
INTERNATIONAL TRADING ENVIRONMENT 
 
Minutes of the Meeting of 28 February 2006  
  
1. The Chairperson
, Ambassador Claudia Uribe (Colombia), welcomed Members of the Trade 
Policy Review Body and the Director-General to  the Annual Overview of Developments in the 
International Trading Environment, manda ted under the Uruguay Round Agreement which 
established the Trade Policy Review Mechanism and gave Members an opportunity to discuss current 
issues in the trading environment.  The Review had been assisted by the Report by the Director-
General, issued as document WT/TPR/OV/11.  It was a comprehensive look at the state of the 
multilateral system, giving particular attention to ke y areas, such as agriculture , market access, textiles 
and clothing, and regional trade agreements.  She in vited the Director-General to present the Report. 
2. The Director-General , noted that in 2005 global trade had grown by 7% with commodity 
price developments shaping nominal merchandise tr ade flows.  Africa, South America, the Middle 
East, and the CIS had recorded their largest share in total manufactures trade in a decade, which was 
also related to commodity price developments.  In addition, the removal of quotas on textiles and 
clothing had started to result in long-term structur al changes.  World economic prospects remained 
favourable, which was important for the WTO's wo rk, although the question remained about their 
impact on the negotiations;  a strong economic envi ronment would make negotiations easier although 
it might also lead to complacency.  There were  some downside risks, including oil-prices and 
macroeconomic imbalances, with th e latter possibly resulting in a build-up in protectionist sentiment, 
reverberating in decisions by governments.  These had to be resisted as past experience had shown 
that they were not a solution.  A successful conc lusion of the DDA in 2006 would be a positive signal 
for global growth by bringing stability, pred ictability, and transparency to the system. 
3. Several key areas that were vital to the WTO's wo rk were highlighted.  Agriculture, despite its 
small and diminishing share in many economies,  remained highly distorted, with significant 
repercussions on world agricultural markets.  Memb ers needed to help each other, and the multilateral 
trading system, by moving the agenda forward.  Previous trade rounds had made major achievements 
in market access.  Yet there was much unfinished business including serious impediments to trade and 
competition, and thus economic efficiency.  Tariff peaks and escalation were often found in 
agriculture, food products, textiles and clothing,  and other manufactures in which developing 
countries had a comparative advantage.  However, ta riffs tended to be higher in developing countries, 
increasing prices, not least of exports, and limiting the promising prospects for South-South trade.   
4. Services were a large and growing share of gl obal GDP and vital to all economies.  They 
were also among the fastest growing segments of world trade.  The current negotiations therefore 
would have important implications for services as well as for trade facilitation, where improvements 
in infrastructure, and transparency in customs regul ations, held the promise of significant benefits.  
Although the use of contingency measures had dec lined, the number of cases remained significant and 
needed careful monitoring.  The growth in regi onal trade agreements (RTAs) was a significant 
challenge to the multilateral trading system.  RTAs could complement trade liberalization efforts and 
deepen economic relationships.  But by discrimin ating against third countries and creating complex WT/TPR/OV/M/6 
Page 2  
 
networks of trade regimes, they presented a systemic  risk.  The transparency agreement that Members 
were close to achieving would help keep RTAs under closer scrutiny. 
5. The TPRM mandate asked the Director-General to assist the Trade Policy Review Body's 
annual overview with a report setting out the major activities of the WTO, highlighting the significant 
policy issues affecting the trading system.  There was already an annual report of WTO activities and 
it had been recognized that including these activities in the Overview would be duplicative.  There 
was also the World Trade Report , which discussed the main issues confronting Members and could be 
factored into their discussions.  Again, there was a se nse of duplication.  So his intention was to focus 
on the main developments in the international trad ing environment in the previous year, to have a 
better understanding of how the Secretariat saw the tr ends in trade flows and trade policy changes.  
The Overview could be useful as a radar screen to try to spot future developments that could have an 
impact on WTO work.  He suggested a shorter, crisper and more focused report for the following 
year, to better serve the Membership and to feed a strategic discussion among Members that could then have an impact on the activities of the WTO.  He looked forward to Members' comments and views on this suggestion. 
6. Members thanked the Director-General and the Secretariat for the Report and for suggestions 
to improve it.  They also welcomed the Amba ssador of Colombia as the Chair of the TPRB. 
7. The representative of Switzerland
 agreed with the overall assessment of current and future 
world economic prospects and the ri sks.  There were signs that Eu rope's long awaited recovery had 
begun but remained fragile and there was a long wa y to go to improve employment.  However, as 
long as oil prices fluctuated within their present ra nge, the risks to overall growth and inflation should 
be limited.  Compared to the 1970s and 1980s when  price increases were triggered by supply shocks, 
they were currently demand driven, reflecting stro ng world economic growth, particularly in the 
United States and China.  Higher oil prices also presented an opportunity, by reducing energy consumption per unit of output.  Central Banks now also had an improve d knowledge of monetary 
phenomena and the conduct of monetary policy, resu lting in lower inflationary trends over the last 
two decades.  He was confident that this hard  won result could be sustained in the future. 
8. The main risk of global financial imbalances wa s the persistence of subs tantial, and in some 
cases, rising fiscal deficits, even if in the short- term large global private savings had driven down 
long-term interest rates.  If high growth was to  continue, especially in large emerging economies, 
investment would have to rise substantially.  Th e danger in the long run was a possible crowding out 
of private investment due to higher long-term inter est rates, if the public sec tor did not restrict its 
borrowing;  the savings-investment disequilibria needed  to reflect differentials in growth rates.  A 
faster growing economy could sustainably accommodate a moderate current account deficit as long as it was used to finance productive investment.  But if the public sector was the main source of the 
deficit, as in the United States, there were financia l risks and increased risk to the multilateral trading 
system, as protectionist calls from domestic industry would rise, especially if external competitiveness 
faltered. 
9. Despite almost 60 years of tariff reductions, much unfinished business remained.  While in 
developed countries applied and bound rates were the same for industrial products and quite low on 
the whole, tariffs continued to be a major issue in many developing countries, including incomplete bindings and high bound rates, causing uncertainty as to the effective level of protection.  Developed 
countries had to recognize the need to open markets for industrial products of interest to developing 
countries, notably textiles and clothing.  Tariffs on agriculture remained substantially higher than for 
industrial products.  Given that it had taken almost 60 years to reduce industrial tariffs to 3.8% in 
developed countries (2.5% for Switzerland), he doubted that it was possible in a single round to reduce the highest agricultural tari ffs by a factor of 10, to eliminate export subsidies by 2013 and 
make major cuts in trade-distorting domestic suppor t.  Switzerland, like others, would not increase 
agricultural market access while bound rates in ma jor emerging markets would only be reduced for WT/TPR/OV/M/6 
Page 3 
 
 
industrial products.  It was therefore critical th at the NAMA negotiations lowered applied rates to 
ensure real additional market access.  Switzerland would consider necessary flexibilities and special 
and differential treatment, where appropriate and necessary. 
10. Market access could also be enhanced by an agreement on trade facilitation, on which more 
work was required.  Given that services represente d 60% of world GDP, increased market access was 
essential for world economic growth.  The developmen t of a strong export services sector in India 
showed that it was not just in developed countries that services could be a major source of increased 
value.  Switzerland offered tariff preferences fo r all products from developing countries including 
agriculture.  Substantial tariff reductions applied to products of export interest to developing 
countries;  in 2005 Switzerland imported products worth over CHF 11 billion from GSP countries, 
and since 2000 GSP imports had increased from 6.3% to  7.35% of all Swiss imports.  A special tariff 
preference scheme for LDCs, like the EC's Everythi ng But Arms offered zero duties on all industrial 
products, and Switzerland decided in 2001 to gr adually grant duty- and quota-free access to 
agricultural products from LDCs;  since April 2004, LDCs had had an out of quota tariff reduction of 
between 55% and 75% of the MFN rate and a du ty-free quota for oilseeds and edible oils.  The 
agreement by developed a nd developing countries, in a position to do so, to grant LDCs tariff- and 
quota-free market access for at least 97% of the tariff at the latest by 2008 was welcome, although the 
gap in coverage was regrettable. 
11. He hoped that the formal incorporation in 2005 of  the transitional agreement on access to 
medicines for developing countries in the TRIPS Agreement would not be the only measure to strengthen the Agreement during the current ne gotiations.  Agricultural liberalization placed 
additional pressures on farmers of net agriculture importing countries, making it essential to give them 
the chance to adjust their produc tion according to their comparative advantage.  An extension, and 
more effective protection, of geographical indica tions for wines and spirits to agricultural and 
industrial products would be a key factor in such a process. 
12. The WTO and the current negotiations were also  about strengthening existing rules. Faster 
globalization presented opportunities and challenges for all, but for the opportunities to prevail, trade 
liberalization had to be controlled through correctly ap plied international rules.  This was particularly 
important for countries that were  highly dependent on foreign trad e, which was why Switzerland 
favoured the clarification and interpretation of ex isting rules to improve their legal security and 
transparency and to ensure cons istency and mutual support between RTAs and the multilateral trading 
system.  A cornerstone of the rules-based system  was a well functioning a nd fully-fledged dispute 
settlement mechanism, and Switzerland was committe d to a rapid completion of the DSU Review. 
13. The representative of Malaysia
 welcomed suggestions to improve  the Report.  He noted that 
average bound agricultural tariffs were considerably higher than for industrial products.  The applied 
MFN agricultural tariff in the United States, the Eu ropean Communities, Japan, and Canada averaged 
over four times that for non-agricultural products .  Domestic support for agriculture in OECD 
countries in 2004 was US$378 billion, or over US$1 b illion a day.  Coupled with export subsidies, 
such support lowered world agricultural prices a nd displaced developing country products, making 
agriculture the most distorted sector.  Agriculture was also important for economic development and, 
in many cases, the mainstay of developing countries where many of the poor eked out a living.  The 
DDA was an important opportunity to achieve multila teral agricultural reforms with potential annual 
gains of US$128 billion. According to the report,  due to declining commodity prices, developing 
countries would have to export increasing volumes of commodities for the same value of 
manufactured goods and services and therefore needed  to look beyond agriculture in the current 
negotiations.  However, to do so they needed ma rkets, including in other developing countries, 
because many developing country markets were too small in terms of pop ulation and effective 
demand since their incomes were low.  This was Malaysia's position in the NAMA negotiations. WT/TPR/OV/M/6 
Page 4  
 
14. Services were growing in importance but developed Members continued to dominate.  The 
Report suggested that trade in services would increase if barriers to delivery were removed.  Even 
though developed countries accounted for 75% of th e market, their level of commitments was about 
the same as that of developing and transition Members;  the level for recently acceded Members 
seemed higher.  Since the theme of the GATS was the integration of developing Members into the 
global services market, and the DDA was a developm ent round, concerted capacity-building efforts 
should be made to increase participation by develo ping Members' service suppliers.  Efforts in the 
WTO should also focus on issues of interest to de veloping Members, such as the lack of a domestic 
regulation architecture.  A text was also needed on the disciplines in the Working Party on Domestic 
Regulations by the end of the round.  The emer gency safeguard mechanism (ESM) was important, 
and the Hong Kong, China manda te should not be forgotten. 
15. The launch of trade facilitation negotiations ha d marked a new phase in multilateral efforts to 
expedite the movement of goods a nd cut red tape and there was in creased global awareness of its 
potential gains and link to economic growth.  Tr ade facilitation was no longer considered the 
"plumbing" of trade policy, but an important econo mic issue and a core element of trade strategy.  
The mandate linked the implementation capacities of developing countries and LDCs to the extent 
and timing of new commitments and it was important for developing countries to identify their needs and for potential donors to give details of their technical assistan ce and capacity building 
programmes. 
16. The representative of Argentina
 noted that developing countries' relatively high growth and 
their unilateral economic policy decisions had also  contributed to the improved global economic 
environment.  From a financial standpoint, the rise of the U.S. dollar had not had a major impact on 
markets.  Rising European interest rates it seemed c ould also be absorbed.  It was also important to 
point to the repurchase of the debt by developing co untries and the fact that a number of developing 
countries had had part of their IMF debt forgiven was a no less important indication.  There were some concerns regarding the fiscal deficit in some developed countries and oil prices, but the 
economy seemed to be holding up relatively well.  Th is view was reflected in Latin America, which 
had experienced good economic growth;  growth in Ar gentina, for example, had been 9.1% in 2005.  
Exports had accounted for over US$40 billion, an increase of about 25%, and a current account and 
fiscal surplus signalled good growth and trade prospects for 2006.   
17. Agriculture continued to be the most distorted sector and greater efforts were needed in the 
negotiations.  He highlighted the important contribu tion that could be made by developed countries in 
the current round with regard to non- ad valorem  import duties, AVEs, tariff peaks and escalation, and 
the difference in treatment between developi ng and developed countries.  These were a key 
characteristic of import policies in developed count ries.  Thus, a series of elements illustrated the 
negotiating process, not just for expanding trade, but  also for this to be a development round.  He 
commented on the mistaken view by developed countries of what should result from the round and 
what development was.  Their vision was trying to force a series of structural changes that had been 
included in previous rounds by the developed count ries;  for example, developed countries had been 
provided with special and differential treatment in textiles for over 30 years and had had ample 
opportunity to adapt to recent changes.  To suc cessfully conclude the round, developing countries 
needed sufficient time to adapt to  trade and commercial realities and not sacrifice their long-term 
growth prospects simply to expand trade, which was one, and not the only, factor for growth.  He 
agreed with suggestions to improve the report and ca lled for consultations with interested Members.   
18. The representative of the Philippines
 agreed broadly with the stylistic improvements 
suggested, and welcomed suggestions that the Repor t should be shorter and crisper and should feed 
into Members' strategic discussions, especially in  their efforts to complete the Doha Round. 
19. Agriculture was central in many developing count ries, but still the most distorted sector.  It 
was, and should remain, the core of the Doha Round.   If the negotiations were to level responsibilities WT/TPR/OV/M/6 
Page 5 
 
 
as a pre-requisite for a fair trading system, they had to ensure that the degree of adjustment by 
Members corresponded to their contribution to market  distortions.  An outcome in the negotiations 
that committed all to substantial reforms in domestic  subsidies and the elimin ation of export subsidies 
would benefit developing countries and the world tr ading system.  Special and differential treatment 
in the negotiations was also important, especially for developing countries to be able to establish their 
list of special products (SP) and have recourse to the special safeguards mech anism as affirmed by the 
Ministerial declaration.   
20. The Philippines reached different conclusions fro m the trends on tariffs described in the 
Report. The relationship between ta riff reductions and taxation, fo r example, was logical, but only 
from a revenue perspective.  It had to be recogni zed that as part of their national economic policy, 
Members used tariffs to mitigate the effects of fo reign competition on domestic industries, as could be 
seen by the practice of developed countries in te xtiles and agriculture.  The Philippines therefore 
objected to the assertion that tariffs were policy instruments especially for developing countries.  Rather, they were more pronounced in developed countries’ policies, which could instead lead the 
way by example, by removing tariff peaks and esca lation.  Too much concern was attached to the 
unpredictability that could result from the gap betw een applied and bound tariffs;  increases in applied 
rates were not prevalent, and rates tended to d ecline over time, resulting in real market access from 
which all Members benefited.  It was also vital to  recognize that the gap was needed for political and 
economic policy space at home. 
21. Services were increasingly important.  Since 1999, they had been the Philippine economy’s 
engine of growth, contributing a bout 3.4 percentage points to GDP growth in 2004, and 47% of total 
GDP, and played a vital role in job creation and livelihood enhancement.  The GATS provided 
flexibility for developing Members should liberalizati on result in high adjustment costs.  Thus, while 
the market access negotiations were important, nego tiations on rules and technology transfer would 
ensure a development outcome in services.  As mand ated by Ministers, it was important to develop 
domestic regulation disciplines before the end of th e current round.  An optimal balance was required 
between the right to regulate, and providing for necessar y disciplines. It was also critical to intensify 
the ESM negotiations in the Working Party on GATS Rules, pursuant to paragraph 4 of Annex C. 
22. Technology transfer was essential for improving productivity, promoting export growth, and 
meeting development objectives.  It was also a br oader development issue, not just relevant to 
services, or to TRIPS, where it was discussed in th e Report.  Trade facilitation was an important 
economic issue, that could foster developmen t, although under Annex D of the July Package 
Members would not be obliged to undertake infr astructure projects beyond their means and where 
infrastructure support was not available and there was a lack of necessary capacity, implementation 
would not be required.  While improved trade facilitation was the ideal, it could and did present 
physical, resource, and financial challenges to many  developing countries, especially the LDCs.   
23. The number of RTAs and their share of world trade had been steadily increasing over the last 
ten years and the proliferation of non-MFN trading networks could jeopardi ze the multilateral trading 
system.  A well-functioning WTO was important to  Members and for international trade.  But 
regional or bilateral trade agreemen ts that genuinely facilitated trade and enhanced closer integration 
could also complement the multilateral trading system.  The Philippines was actively engaged in the RTA rules negotiations, to develop an appropriate framework to deal with the systemic challenges 
posed by RTAs to the multilateral trading system. 
24. 
The Philippines welcomed the General Council decision to amend the TRIPS Agreement to 
reflect the waiver of 30 August 2003, and hoped it was the responsible solution.  He was pleased that 
the issue of TRIPS and the Convention on Biological  Diversity (CBD) and traditional knowledge had 
been highlighted in the Report. The Philippines, like many Members, had experienced unfair or inequitable exploitation of biological and ge netic resources or trad itional knowledge and was 
concerned that national schemes, such as contractual arrangements, might not have been adequate to WT/TPR/OV/M/6 
Page 6  
 
ensure prior informed consent, and benefit-sharing.  A multilateral solution could, therefore, 
contribute to protecting, guaranteeing and recognizi ng the rights of the countries of origin of 
biological and genetic resources, and of the local communities which possess such knowledge and 
were the custodians of the resources.  Thus, the free trade process needed to consider varying levels of 
development and respect national policy objectives.  The Report should also be a basis for reflection, 
as widespread poverty, in a world marked by free trade and economic growth, continued to be the 
fundamental development issue.  The continued suffering of people in poverty, notwithstanding 
economic growth, put into perspective that the we lfare of the human person should be the central 
subject of development and the world trading system.  
25. The representative of Singapore
 supported the suggestion for a shorter and crisper report 
focusing on recent general trends in trade as well as  an Executive Summary.  He  said that agriculture 
was central to the DDA and the Report also noted th at it was the most distorted sector with "far-
reaching social and economic repercussions" domesti cally and globally.  While tariffs had fallen over 
the last 50 years, many products, particularly th ose of export interest to developing countries, 
continued to face high tariffs, tariff peaks, and escalation.  It was time for these distortions to be 
removed, requiring political leadership by major st akeholders.  A meaningful outcome was critical for 
the success of the round. 
26. Removing barriers to agricultural and manufactured goods trade was not sufficient;  there was 
a need to take these goods in an efficient manner to their export markets.  Infrastructure services were 
also critical for the supply of services such as tour ism and IT-based services,  which were becoming 
areas of export interest to developing countries.  It  was hoped that the plurila teral process launched in 
the negotiations would deliver results.  Trade faci litation could benefit all stakeholders, including 
developing countries.  Faster and more efficient processing of imports and exports could complement 
trade liberalization efforts in agriculture and NAMA.  
27. Trade remedy measures had shown a downward trend over the past five years, although the 
number of anti-dumping measures remained high:  213 new initiations in 2004 and 96 in the first half 
of 2005.  The use of these measures, particular ly anti-dumping, would have a chilling effect on 
imports and could frustrate market access in NAMA a nd agriculture.  It was in the Members' interest, 
including developing countries, to work to improve and tighten the provisions of the anti-dumping agreement so that these measures were not used as import barriers.  It was incumbent on all Members 
to work closely to bring the round to an end and to deliver a meaningful outcome. 
28. The representative of Colombia
 noted that the Report was a good reference for the current 
market access negotiations.  It was of concern, th erefore, that current account imbalances had given 
rise to protectionist tendencies, in some devel oped countries, to counter competition from emerging 
markets.  High industrial and agricultural tari ffs in developed countries were of concern for 
developing country exports of labour-intensive goods.  Non- ad valorem  rates, particularly on 
agricultural products, with ad valorem  equivalents between 2.5- and 20 times the simple average of 
ad valorem  tariffs in the Quad, were also of concern.   This problem was also found in some large 
developing economies.  Colombia agreed that the erosion of tariff preferen ces was inevitable unless 
liberalization was suspended.  Studies noted in the bi bliography, on the impact of preference erosion, 
should be consulted by all Members as these were an excellent reference for complying with the 
mandate in para. 20 of the Ministerial Declaration.   The Report noted that for some developing and 
least developed countries preference erosion would scarcely affect exports, while for others the 
consequences could be far reaching even with small preference margins.   
29. The statistics on agriculture were extremely disappointing.  For example, average applied 
tariffs in the Quad were more than four times great er than for industrial produc ts, affecting developing 
country exports of agriculture.  Total agricu ltural support by OECD countries in 2004 exceeded 
US$1 billion per day, more than six times all deve lopment support.  Produc tion and export subsidies 
tended to reduce world prices for agricultural produc ts, to the detriment of farmers in developing WT/TPR/OV/M/6 
Page 7 
 
 
countries and LDCs, not only in the markets of subsid izing countries, but also in their own and third 
countries. Around a third of the income of OECD farmers resulted from transfers in these countries 
(about 60% for the Quad).  Prices in the OECD  in 2000-04 were, on average, 29% above world 
prices.  All these elements were relevant for the cu rrent negotiations.  Elimination of this distortion 
would be the best contribution that could be made in favour of developing countries.  The 
proliferation of RTAs was due to the lengthiness of multilateral trade negotiations, and while RTAs 
facilitated multilateral negotiations by creating great er negotiating space, a more efficient mechanism 
for monitoring their development was needed. 
30. The representative of China  agreed that agriculture was the most distorted sector.  Although it 
accounted for less than 10% of total trade, over 70%  of the population in de veloping countries relied 
on agricultural exports.  Subsidies tended to depr ive most developing countries of their competitive 
advantage in agriculture, thus having a negative impact on their development.   
31. While the 2005 average bound and applied tariffs for the Quad were not too high, there were 
tariff peaks and escalation, especially in labour-intensive sectors such as textiles and clothing, and footwear and leather, in which many developing c ountries enjoyed comparative advantage.  Textiles 
and clothing trade was also distorted by a couple of major developed Members through discriminatory 
non-tariff restrictions, which had ca st a shadow over Members' confidence and the credibility of the 
multilateral trading system.  To eliminate peaks, escal ation, and other market distortions, negotiations 
in agriculture and NAMA had to be accelerated and modalities established by the end of April, as 
scheduled.  Discriminatory measures restricting normal tr ade needed to be eliminated at an early date. 
32. Anti-dumping measures were much more common th an other types of contingency measures.  
Regrettably, China had been the primary target of  these investigations and measures for the previous 
11 years.  Anti-dumping measures had been used by some major developed Members to protect their 
markets and had had a negative impact on economic a nd social development in developing countries.  
It had also seriously affected the conduct of fa ir trade and hampered normal trade relations among 
Members and had therefore been the focus of attention of many Members in the rules negotiations.  
Although China had notified a growing number of such measures, it believed that further tightening of 
anti-dumping rules would benefit all Members and th e healthy functioning of the multilateral trading 
system.  A meaningful result in the anti-dumping negotiations was of great importance to the successful conclusion of the Doha round, and China r esolved to work closely and constructively with 
other Members to that end. 
33. On the relationship between the TRIPS Agre ement and the CBD and the protection of 
traditional knowledge and folklore, there were a gr owing number of examples to show that the 
developing countries had lost benef its due to patent holders not disclosing the source of genetic 
resources and traditional knowledge of  developing countries, which they had used in their inventions 
and in their patents.  It was of vital importance to  developing countries to address this and to ensure 
balanced treatment of stakeholders in developed and developing countries.  The WTO needed to start 
its substantive work on the relationship between the TRIPS Agreement and the CBD to ensure 
concrete provisions in the TRIPS Agreement that en sured the full respect by all Members for national 
sovereignty, prior informed consent, and benefit sharing.  
34. The representative of Japan
 noted that the WTO had demonstrated the effectiveness of a 
rules-based multilateral trading system over the last ten years.  In particular, the dispute settlement 
mechanism was more operational and effective than under the GATT.  This “rule of law” in the 
multilateral trading system contributed highly to enhancing predictability and fair competition in 
world trade, and was one of the WTO's greatest achievements.  However, the increase in RTAs and their share of world trade suggested the limits of the WTO for Members' diversified expectations for 
world trade and economic relations.  The DDA was th e first round of negotiations since the WTO's 
establishment;  if there were no substantial results , the credibility of the WTO would be seriously WT/TPR/OV/M/6 
Page 8  
 
damaged and the current trend in RTAs would further accelerate.  The success of the DDA was critical for trade liberalization and the credibility of the multilateral trading system. 
35. World economic growth had continued to be le d mainly by the United States and China in 
2005.  Japan had also contributed, through its ec onomic recovery resulting from reforms such as 
privatization of some public agencies and the restructuring of the private sector, after a long economic 
slump.  As a country relying on trade, Japan had promoted significant trade liberalization.  Its bound 
tariff on agricultural products had fallen from 25.3% to 16.8% in the last six years and the bound rate for non-agricultural products was now 3.7%.  The a pplied tariff had been reduced, and the ratio of 
duty-free tariff lines to all lines had risen to 41.6%. 
36. Selected emerging developing countries, like Chin a, Brazil and India, had recently achieved 
high economic growth and were becoming new driving forces in the world economy.  Japan believed 
that they should also share in the responsibilities of promoting trad e liberalization in accordance with 
their growing world economic share.  For ex ample, their bound and applied tariff rates on non-
agricultural products (WTO) were considerably highe r than those in the Quad, and the ratio of duty-
free tariff lines to all lines remain ed lower than in the Quad.  Japan hoped for improvements in these 
issues in the ongoing NAMA negotiations.  A successful  outcome to the DDA was critical for poverty 
reduction.  Japan's development initiative included in creased coverage of duty-free, quota-free market 
access to LDCs, and enhancement of production capacity and trade infrastructure.  As stated in the 
Report, LDCs and small economies needed to be in tegrated effectively and meaningfully into the 
multilateral trading system. 
37. In the on-going negotiations Japan had initiated dom estic agricultural reforms;  it participated 
actively in the negotiations, and hoped for well-balan ced modalities to be developed in early 2006.  
Services accounted for a growing share of Members’ national income, and promoting their liberalization, in particular social infrastru cture services, such as financial services, 
telecommunications, and distribution, would promot e efficiency and competitiveness in services and 
in all other sectors.  However, there had not been enough submissions of ini tial and revised offers.  
The plurilateral negotiations had just started a nd Japan hoped that all re questing and requested 
Members would participate actively to make furthe r progress in the negotiations.  Japan agreed with 
the benefits to business of trade facilitation, wh ich resulted in particular from reductions in 
compliance costs, service charg es, time costs, business opportunities, personal opportunity cost, and 
costs related to unpredictability and corruption.  Japan hoped that meaningful results would be 
achieved in the final outcome of the DDA by the end of 2006. 
38. The representative of Brazil
 said that the content of the Report did not really correspond to 
the title, nor to the subject of the discussion, which was the international trading environment.  There 
was an emphasis on tariffs, which read almost like a "tariff for dummies".  Given that the tariff was 
the most transparent means of protection, the best understood, and the most frequently discussed in 
negotiating groups and in regular bodies, there wa s also a certain amount of duplication.  On 
agriculture, which was the most distorted sector, the information was not new, and the section was 
much shorter than the one on tariffs even thoug h it was less well understood.  There were some 
interesting sections on non-tariff barriers, for ex ample on standards, technical regulations, and SPS, 
where it would be useful to elaborate further, especially on the trends over the previous year.  The literature in this area suggested that TBT and SPS  issues were becoming the new tariff escalation, and 
he believed that there were difficulties in th e negotiations because Members did not understand 
enough, about such non-tariff barriers, or what could be done about them.  Members knew that there 
were problems, but not how to translate speci fic difficulties into more general rules.   
39. He agreed with the suggestion to focus the Re port on major changes and trends.  There were 
three elements to this:  the first was the macroec onomic overview.  In recent years, the international 
macroeconomic environment had been  benign, with certain imbalances  and important elements such 
as the rise in the price of oil.  The impact of the latter had thus far been mainly redistributive and had WT/TPR/OV/M/6 
Page 9 
 
 
not led to a dead weight loss, although that could s till happen.  But this was the forum in the WTO to 
discuss these issues.  Another issue was trends in  trade policy, including recent developments in 
RTAs, rather than just a description of the past;  if put in the context of the macroeconomic trends, 
this could generate a useful discussion.  The nature  of agricultural reform, which appeared to be 
carried out in small instalments in major countries could be a source for a discussion.  Some issues 
fell between the macroeconomic trends and trade policy, for instance technology.  A number of 
tensions in international trade arose from issues of ten attributed to trade policy but which more likely 
resulted from a trend towards capital- and technology- intensive production.   He looked forward to a 
somewhat different Report in 2007. 
40. The representative of Thailand  said that the Report reminded Members of the concrete 
benefits for developed and developing countries from multilatera l trade liberalization and of the 
benefits yet to be reaped from further liberaliza tion, which only a successful, strong conclusion to the 
DDA could bring.  She also welcomed the suggestions to improve the report. 
41. The section on tariffs clearly demonstrated that continued liberalization would help 
developing economies achieve their development goa ls and the elimination of prohibitive tariff 
patterns in certain countries would promote global tr ade.  For example, while the average applied 
tariff in the Quad was relatively low for industrial products, that for agriculture and textiles remained 
high.  The high tariffs were also in the form of spec ific duties, which served to conceal tariff peaks.  
For one Member, in particular, the average applied tariff on agricultural products was higher than the 
bound rate, which deserved deeper analysis and di scussion.  The overall value of developing country 
tariff preferences was minimal compared with the va lue of their exports to the preference granting 
Members;  for sub-Saharan African countries, they amounted to 4%, 1.3% and 0.1%, respectively, in 
the cases of the EC, the United States, and Japan.  Da ta on Members' utilization rate of preferences 
would help clarify the extent of preference erosion.   Thailand also asked for an analysis of measures 
taken by Members on textiles trade following the expiry of the ATC. 
42. Agriculture remained the most distorted and protected sector despite its central role in 
development.  Although the Quad and OECD count ries had reduced consumer market price support, 
other forms of trade distorting support remained prom inent.  For example, new agricultural policies in 
several OECD members still included trade distor ting measures that caused slumps in commodity 
prices, causing harm to developing country farmers.   This proved the need for better agricultural 
reforms and disciplines to lessen and eliminate such  trade distortion.  The detail on domestic support 
was appreciated, but a more balanced study of all th ree pillars of agricultural support, in particular 
export subsidies, including details of subsidi zed products, would deepen future analysis. 
43. Members continued to use anti-dumping and countervailing measures for protectionist 
purposes.  Although there had been a declining tre nd in new investigations recently, the number of 
new users and initiations remained very high, w ith over 200 new annual cases being initiated since 
1996, of which around 60% resulted in  measures being applied.  In ot her words, 40% of the initiations 
had caused a chilling effect on trade, threatened exporters, and burdened i nvestigating authorities, 
despite no final measures being imposed.  This suggested the need for restraint and careful 
consideration before the initiation or imposition of  such measures.  By improving current WTO 
disciplines, Members could also prevent and terminat e unwarranted petitions and investigations at an 
early stage, which would reduce costs, curta il harassment, and ease the burden on authorities. 
44. The Report contained historical and factual description of services rather than analysis.  It 
also did not mention Annex C of the Ministerial d eclaration, which contained progressive concepts  
necessary for a balanced services p ackage, including to improve th e quality of negotiated market 
commitments, a possible set of disciplines on dom estic regulations to buttress those commitments, 
technical assistance, and a possible mechanism to re dress injuries.  The Report, nevertheless, rightly 
stated that much remained to be done to achieve  commercially meaningful results and that Members 
were behind in the rules negotiations, aff ecting the overall ambition of the Round. WT/TPR/OV/M/6 
Page 10  
 
45. The increasing utilization of the dispute settle ment system by developing Members, as 
complainants and respondents, showed the need for legal expertise to enable them to effectively 
navigate the system.  Thailand commended the ro le of the Advisory Centre on WTO Law and 
proposed the inclusion of suggestions for sustaini ng this critical assistance.  This would encourage 
developing Members to deepen their commitments with the assurance of assistance for protecting 
their rights in the WTO.  Information on disputes in which DSB recommendations and rulings had not 
yet been implemented was useful and she suggest ed the inclusion of figures on the rate of 
implementation by respondents with comparisons between major dispute categories, such as cases involving contingency measures, agriculture, etc. 
46. The Report stated that the benefits from trade facilitation outweighed necessary 
administrative costs.  Trade facilitation would suppor t the multilateral trading system, particularly for 
market access.  The Report might be improved by  including results of related analyses by other 
institutions such as the World Customs Organi zation, the World Bank, OECD, and UNCTAD.  
Thailand had found the report to be insightful an d wide-ranging, covering several new topics 
suggested by Members in the previous year, such as TRIPS, SPS/TBT and trade facilitation. 
47. The representative of Pakistan
 believed that the tariff was an important issue and that until 
tariff distortions were removed they should receive  adequate coverage.  Although tariff averages had 
fallen since 1998, tariff peaks had shown an upward trend in the United States, the EC, and Japan.  
Most were in sectors of export interest to developing and least developed countries.  Non- ad valorem  
rates were important in the Quad;  they not only dist orted tariffs, but hid tariff peaks.  Tariff escalation 
in industrial tariffs in the Quad impeded industria lization in developing countries.  The value of 
preferences was often highly exaggerated.  The Re port showed that average GSP rates in the Quad 
were one to two percentage points lower than MFN rates.  The differentials were even lower for 
sensitive sectors such as textiles a nd clothing and, the value of the preferences for LDCs in sub-
Saharan Africa, were 4% of the value of their exports  to the EC, 1.3% to the U.S., and 0.1% to Japan.  
48. The Report referred to an IMF study showing that  the removal of distortions in agriculture 
would raise global income by US$128 billion.  Howe ver, most gains would result from the removal of 
tariffs, on which not much had happened thus fa r, including the offer made by one major economy 
with high tariffs.  Although the number of new anti- dumping cases had fallen since peaking in 2001, it 
remained high;  the trend might increase again with the reduction of tariffs as a result of the DDA.  Thus Members had to be careful in their nego tiations.  Whether RTAs were good or bad for 
international trade, Pakistan was concerned about th e lack of an effective WTO mechanism to monitor 
them.  Although work was ongoing on some systemic issues, progress had been slow.   
49. He welcomed the DG’s suggestion for a more focused and crisper report, reflecting changes 
in trade patterns over the last year.  The Report focused on the Quad, and two or three key developing countries.  It would be useful to also refer to ot her countries that had grown rapidly in recent years. 
50. The representative of Korea 
took note of changes in the structure of the Report, specifically, 
the inclusion of TRIPS, SPS/TBT, and trade facilita tion.  He was pleased that the report gave a ten-
year overview of GATS, the economic benefits of tr ade facilitation, preference erosion, and potential 
trade barriers arising from the lack of recogniti on and conformity in the area of standards. 
51. The section on the general trading environment made only a passing reference to 
protectionism.  However, trade protectionism was a source of increasing concern as in recent business 
deals (such as steel in Luxembourg and U.S. por t facilities) in which government intervention was 
increasing.  Protectionism was being fueled by fears of increasing competition resulting from 
globalization.  This needed to be addressed as a key threat to the international trading environment.  
While agriculture might be the most distorted sector , he suggested that the Producer Support Estimate 
(PSE), based on OECD data, created a misunderstandi ng.  The Report stated that for some countries, 
including Korea, total support for agriculture was cl ose to, or even exceeded, the sector’s contribution WT/TPR/OV/M/6 
Page 11 
 
 
to GDP and that the PSEs ranged from 63% to 69% of total farm receipts.  The total support estimate 
(TSE) and PSE measures were different from the WTO's aggregate measure of support (AMS) or 
actual government payments.  The TSE was the sum of the price differential between the domestic 
price and the international price plus government subsidies.  The price differential was high if the 
tariff was higher.  The TSE itself was controversial in  the OECD and therefore it should be used with 
caution as a percentage of GDP.  A simple comparison between the figure and the contribution by 
agriculture to GDP did not have a legitimate anal ytical base and was therefore a mismatch.  Korea 
regretted that the Secretariat had not been more car eful in its adoption of a controversial definition 
used by another institution.  The Secretariat should have provided a clear definition of this measurement and the difference between it and the AMS, or Overall Trade Distorting Support 
(OTDS).  Korea's OTDS of US$2 billion, was only around 6.5% of total farm production. 
52. The Report advised developing countries to look beyond agriculture in the current 
negotiations and highlighted their ability to bene fit from lower protection of agriculture (and other 
sectors) dependent upon overcoming a wide range of  supply constraints on their exports, including the 
lack of finance and poor infrastructure.  This was a particularly important point.  Like many 
developing countries, Korea had seen the importa nce of agriculture diminish as the economy 
developed, while that of manufacturing and servi ces increased, making the case for looking beyond 
agriculture.  It was also Kor ea’s experience that sustained ec onomic development required a sound 
financial system and basic infrastructure, including  telecommunications, transportation, distribution, 
and construction.  Developing countries would be wise to heed the advice contained in this paragraph. 
53. The number of new anti-dumping initiatives repor ted by Members had fallen since 2001.  
But, as the second most targeted member, Korea wa s very concerned about the disruption caused to 
its exports.  Some of the actions against Korean e xports could be perceived as excessive and abusive, 
and AD rules should be improved to limit this.  Th e duration of such actions was also unnecessarily 
long, raising questions about a reasonable definiti on of the duration of AD actions.  Korea requested 
the DG to address some of these points in the ne xt Report, especially the new policy aspects of 
increasing protectionism, anti-globalization sentiment, and RTAs.  A successful conclusion to the 
DDA would be the best antidote to this new and syst ematic threat to the multilateral trading system. 
54. The representative of the European Communities
 welcomed the suggestions for next year's 
Overview.  The Report presented a global picture of the international trading system and evidence on  
possible areas of further common work in the WTO,  including in the DDA negotiations.  The EC also 
appreciated the forward-looking approach taken by the Report and shared many of its views. 
55. On tariffs, a lot was to be gained from further market opening and in particular the lowering 
of the gap between applied and boun d tariffs, which was one of the key questions in the DDA.  There 
were also other complementary m eans to ensure better opportunities fo r the most needy.  The EC's 
Everything But Arms fell into this category, and sh e hoped that more Members would be able to offer 
similar access to LDCs in the fu ture, in line with commitments made in Hong Kong, China.  On 
services, much remained to be done to ensure  commercially significant results.  The EC was 
contributing actively to the negotia tions and hoped for significant progress in the coming period.  The 
need to continue and conclude the services negotia tions, as outlined in the Ministerial Declaration, 
was supported by, inter alia , the proposal in Paragraph 7 of Annex C for the request-offer 
negotiations to be pursued on a plurilateral basis, in accordance with the pr inciples of the GATS and 
the Guidelines and Procedures for the Ne gotiations on Trade in Services.   
56. The EC agreed with the need to strengthen procedures for reviewing all RTAs in the WTO 
and to improve and clarify existing disciplines.  A more comprehensive description of the risks 
associated with RTAs, especially those of less substa nce, would be useful as would an examination of 
the inadequacy of existing WTO procedures and rules to deal with the recent dramatic surge in RTAs. WT/TPR/OV/M/6 
Page 12  
 
57. The decision by the TRIPS Council at the end of 2005 to extend the transition period for 
LDCs until July 2013 should be reflected in the Repo rt.  The issue of GIs was important and the fact 
that several proposals were currently on the ta ble concerning the multilateral register and the 
extension of GIs beyond wines and spirits demonstrated  the benefits from further work in this area.  
The EC believed that the third proposal mentioned in the Report, regarding the multilateral register, 
did not offer the minimum elements that would meet the mandate on this particular aspect as 
contained in the Ministerial Declaration and shoul d not be characterized as a "compromise".  The 
inclusion of a detailed section on trade facilitation was welcome, although mo re could be said about 
the potential gains from this area in the DDA fo r business and to boost deve loping country customs 
receipts.  All Members would benefit from improv ed WTO rules, especially landlocked and poorer 
developing countries, and not necessarily the countries that were already highly trade oriented, as they 
tended to face the greatest obstacles in getting their goods to the market. 
58. Despite the absence of a section on trade and development, the development dimension of 
trade clearly emerged as very important.  The EC supported the emphasis on finding ways to integrate 
developing countries meaningfully, especially the weak est and most vulnerable, into the world trading 
system.  Preference erosion was also correctly identified as an important issue in current WTO 
negotiations.  Interestingly, the Report recognized that despite large overall gains from agricultural 
liberalization, some developing countries might gain  very little through such liberalization.  The EC 
agreed that trade liberalization should be accompan ied by mainstreaming of trade into development 
policies and by complementary policies.  The link be tween the current state of play in the various 
areas and the negotiations was obvious and it was regr ettable that not all negotiations were discussed, 
including on anti-dumping rules, DSU, or trade and the environment.  Further work on NTBs had 
started in the DDA, which would have important economic gains for many Members. 
59. The representative of the United States
 welcomed the suggested improvements to the Report, 
although the advantage of a lengthy report was that all Members found something in it to support their 
negotiating positions.  He agreed with many of  the Report's observations although he had reached 
different conclusions and/or used a different approa ch on some issues.  But differing views on content 
and approach were to be expected in an expa nsive and substantive report, which clearly gave 
Members a solid basis for reflection and delibera tion over recent developments in the multilateral 
trading system. 
60. The United States was pleased with, and shared, the cautious optimism in the Report.  Global 
output, trade, and foreign direct investment were al l continuing to expand, in spite of differences 
between countries and several shocks to the system in 2005, including higher energy prices, caused in 
part by natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrin a and the Asian tsunami.  The resilience of the 
global economy was grounds for optimism, as was the impressive growth in markets such as China 
and India, following economic reform.  The Report captured many key developments, not just their 
impact in 2005 but also their prospective effect  on the trading system.  The discussion of global 
financial imbalances was sharper than in previous years and the United States agreed that countries 
with large export surpluses should take action to spur domestic demand and reduce over-reliance on 
exports.  Other significant developments were the economic resurgence in Japan and improved 
growth prospects in some of the poorest countries.  More analysis would have been useful on the growing importance of developing and emerging econom ies as trade and investment partners.  This 
was an important trend in various sections of the Report, including tariffs, although a more detailed 
examination might generate interesting insights, including changes in the level and composition of 
South-South trade, perhaps in tabular form.  In formation on the number of developing and emerging 
economies taking steps to grant, or already granti ng, duty- and quota-free market access to products 
from the poorest countries would have been useful.  The analysis should also cover more countries. 
61. The most important collective accomplishment in 2005 was the Sixth Ministerial Conference, 
where modest progress was achieved in the Doha negotiations, including in development.  He 
strongly agreed that "a successful outcome to th e Doha Round remained critical to securing global WT/TPR/OV/M/6 
Page 13 
 
 
growth over the medium-term, thus contributing to  poverty reduction".  The Report made clear the 
unfinished business in agriculture, NAMA, and services and that the success of the Doha negotiations 
was the common thread in making progress across a number of issues and promoting global economic growth and development.  The United States remained strongly comm itted to the successful 
conclusion of the DDA, which was at the heart of its trade policy and the cornerstone of President 
Bush's vision for open trade and renewed global grow th and prosperity.  Since the launch of the round 
the United States had circulated over 150 proposals aimi ng to dramatically reduce barriers to trade in 
industrial goods, services, and farm products and to strengthen WTO rules and disciplines.  It was also 
expanding funding for trade capacity-building activities,  currently at over US$1.3 billion, to enable 
developing countries to negotiate and im plement reform-oriented agreements.  
62. The United States and Colombia had just signe d a trade agreement, and shared a strong 
commitment to MFN liberalization;  he believed that  the bilateral agreement, rather than decreasing 
that multilateral commitment, would enhance it.  Very little breathing space remained if the Doha Round was to be finished by the end of 2006, which would be pivotal for the global trading system.  
Important decisions on the size and shape of tariff and subsidy cuts were needed without delay to draft 
the agriculture and NAMA schedules by mid-year a nd complete the bilateral requests and offers.  
Progress on services was also needed urgently.  By the time Members met again next year to review 
developments in the international trading envir onment, either the remaining challenges to the 
negotiations would have been overcome or the wo rld would risk missing a landmark opportunity to 
enhance global economic growth and alleviate pov erty.  Thus, while the overall assessment was 
cautiously upbeat, there was an urgent need for ha rd work and determination to advance the DDA in 
2006 and have the best possible chance of expa nding economic growth and development in the 
medium and longer run.  The stakes were high and complacency would serve Members very poorly.  
63. The representative of Canada
 agreed that the major WTO activity in 2005 had been the 
Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong, China.  Alth ough the results were not as ambitious as Canada 
would have liked, there was enough consensus on major points to preserve the possibility of 
concluding negotiations in  2006.  Canada unilatera lly provided greater preferential access to imports 
from LDCs in the form of the Least-developed Co untry Tariff (LDCT).  The LDCT was one of the 
most far-reaching preference schemes of any deve loped country, in the number of countries and the 
range of products eligible, its administrative simplic ity, and the liberal rules of origin.  The rules of 
origin, which, for example, permitted LDC a pparel producers to use textile inputs from any 
developing country and still have duty free access to  Canada, made it much easier to actually take 
advantage of the zero tariffs.  Canada was pleased that at the Ministerial Conference Members agreed 
to ensure that preferential rules of origin on imports from LDCs were transparent and simple and 
contributed to facilitating market access.  Trade be tween developing countri es in inputs for these 
products was also encouraged. 
64. As a trade-oriented and globally integrated ec onomy, Canada benefited greatly from an open, 
transparent, and rules-based intern ational trading system at the multilateral, regional, and bilateral 
levels.  While the WTO was the centrepiece of its trade policy, regional and bilateral initiatives were 
important pillars, and RTAs complemented its obj ectives of improving and strengthening global trade 
rules.  RTAs could stimulate the economy, provide innovative solutions to difficult trade and investment issues, and strengthen economic reforms and, when properly structured and transparent, 
could complement and reinforce further multilatera l liberalization.  Canada therefore supported 
negotiations to clarify and improve WTO provisi ons on RTAs, taking into account the role RTAs 
played in development.  It supported the suggestions  for the Report, particularly streamlining it, and 
focusing on major changes and trends to a void duplicating information in other reports. 
65. The representative of Hong Kong, China
 supported the proposal for a shorter crisper Report, 
provided it continued to capture ke y trends and developments.  The Report provided a picture of the 
world as it was, rather than as one  might like it to be, although it nevertheless vindicated the work of 
the GATT/WTO;  it measured Members against th eir own rules and found them wanting in many WT/TPR/OV/M/6 
Page 14  
 
respects, but that was an essential part of transp arency;  and it was a reminder that the WTO was 
about more than just the DDA.  A key finding w as that the major left-over business, and the major 
remaining distortion was agriculture.  Unless and until this was removed, there was little hope of 
developing countries lifting themselves beyond the subsistence level and climbing the ladder of 
economic development.  That was why agriculture w as and must remain the focal point of the round.  
There remained great scope for further liberalizati on in other areas, including in goods and services.  
Members therefore looked to this round for an ambitious result, particularly the elimination of tariff peaks in sectors that had for a long time been under various forms of management. 
66. There were three areas of concern:  rules, pr eferences, and regional trade arrangements.  The 
rules were supposed to keep Members clean, but some times they simply made it easier to cheat.  The 
dangers inherent in the proliferation of anti-dum ping measures were obvious.  First, small and 
medium sized businesses were worst affected because they could not afford the time and money to 
contest the actions;  second, in the longer run traditional users had most to lose through retaliation;  and third, the most significant lobby against reform  was no longer developed country industry, but the 
lawyers who made a handsome living from encouraging and prolonging their use. 
67. Hong Kong, China had no argument with the desi rability of providing preferences to those in 
most need and welcomed the agreement on duty-fre e, quota-free arrangements for LDCs reached in 
the Ministerial Conference.  However, the erosi on of MFN rights implied by such schemes was less 
regrettable than the all too frequent use of egre gious rules of origin, which in many cases were 
designed to benefit the domestic industry of th e implementing member.  By substituting managed 
trade for market forces, they introduced new dist ortions into international trade, which it would 
ultimately be painful to remove. This same tende ncy towards managed trade was clearly evident in 
the 3% exclusion allowed under the duty- and quot a-free arrangements agreed .  Hong Kong, China 
did not oppose the more rapid move towards a more liberal trading environment through the use of RTAs.  Rather, the concern was with the collec tive impact of such arrangements on business in a 
globalized economy.  Hong Kong, China’s traders thought and traded globally and their advice was 
that such arrangements introduced new bureaucracy.  One calculation concluded that the frictional 
cost of the increasing number of such arrangement s at the border was around 12%, i.e. considerably 
higher than the average burden of tariffs in the de veloped world.  Thus, it was essential that the work 
of the WTO remained relevant to the needs of bus iness, whose daily activity drove global trade and 
economic development. That was why this Repor t and those to follow were so important. 
68. The representative of Ecuador
 suggested that an Executive Summary would make the Report 
more accessible.  In addition to issues already covered, other important aspects should be included 
such as the trends and impact of imbalances on tr ade.  Work was also needed on the erosion of 
preferences, like the study in 2005 on industri al goods, which had suggested, for example, that 
Ecuador would be one of those most affected by  not substantially reducing tariffs in the NAMA 
negotiations.  A similar study had been done on ag riculture which it would be important to have 
access to.  Services were also important and worthy of more detailed study.  The Report could serve 
as a basis for work that would make this a development round for all, not just developed countries. 
69. The Chairperson  thanked Members for their comments  on the content and style of the 
Overview, which would be transmitted to the Direct or-General.  The Report was important because it 
provided a basis for discussions that would feed into the negotiations. 
__________