RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  TN/TF/M/28 
20 March 2009 
 
 (09-1392) 
Negotiating Group on Trade Facilitation  
  
 
SUMMARY MINUTES OF THE MEETING 
 
Held in the Centre William Rappard
 
from 23-27 February 2009  
 
Chairman:  H.E. Mr. Eduardo Ernesto Sperisen-Yurt (Guatemala) 
 
 
1. The Chairman  recalled that the proposed agenda for the session had been circulated in 
WTO/AIR/3312.  As Members would have seen from the airgram, the meeting aimed at advancing 
the Negotiating Group's work on all elements of  the mandate, starting with the relevant GATT 
Articles and then moving to the areas of technical assistance and S&D.  
2.  In addition, delegations would take up the st anding item of ad hoc attendance by the Annex 
D organizations.   
3. The agenda was adopted . 
4. The Chairman  outlined the organization of work over the course of the week.  The overall 
structure of the meeting resembled that of the l ast sessions.  It reflected the targeted objectives, 
seeking to advance work on all proposals under cons ideration.  The mode of operation remained 
unchanged. Members would continue their tradition of conducting most of the exchanges in open-
ended, informal mode.  The presentation of new subm issions would be considered formal while their 
detailed discussion remained off the record.  Subs tantive work would start with the introduction of 
new proposals.  This would then be followed by their detailed discussion – as well as a review of the 
previously submitted texts - in the context of the informal working sessions, which were scheduled to 
commence right after the end of the opening plenar y.  GATT Article X-related proposals would be 
addressed first.  From there, the Group would move on to the Article VIII- and Article V areas, as time permitted.  Technical assistance and S&D matter s would be the focus of work on Thursday 
before then looking at the needs assessment area the day after, and finally closing in plenary mode.  
5. Work on S&D would commence under his chairmanship and then be followed by a 
complementary, Member-driven process.  Delegations would recall that, at the last meeting, they had requested him to identify a suitable candidate fo r the position of a Member-facilitator to support the 
work on implementation.  In response to that dema nd, he had engaged in a series of exchanges with 
all interested parties, as announced in his fax of 14 January.  What had emerged from those 
consultations was a clear wish from Members to en trust Matthew Wilson from Barbados with the role 
of a friend of the Chair.  And since he kindly agr eed to assume this responsibility, he was in a position 
to announce that Mr. Wilson would be executing such a function starting as of this week.  The idea 
was for him to assist the Chair with his work on th e crucial areas of technical assistance and S&D.  
Mr. Wilson would carry out the initiatives in his pe rsonal capacity as a complementary element to the 
activities in the NG They would take place within  the framework of the NGTF sessions under the 
Chair’s overall responsibility.  Regular reports woul d be made to the plenary on progress made and 
yet to be achieved.  He was confident that Mr. Wils on would be of great help  in determining existing 
points of convergence and in identifying additional common ground.   TN/TF/M/28 
Page 2  
 
  6. The representative of Barbados
 thanked the Chair and all delegations for the confidence they 
had placed in him to contribute to the collective aim of developing the pillar of S&DT in the TF 
negotiations.  Getting an S&DT package which attain ed the right balance of predictability, flexibility 
and realism was a challenge which he knew Members could rise to if they listened to each others' 
valid concerns, focussed on their priorities and harv ested and recorded either areas of consensus or 
areas where they could narrow th e options for a consensus. 
7. In the past year, Members had made a great deal of progress although they still had some way 
to go before they could craft the requisite legal te xt.  This progress was as a result of the formal work 
they had undertaken in the negotiations under the Chairmanship of Ambassador Sperisen, the 
informal work and contacts between delegations  and the important initiatives assumed by Eduardo 
Tempone from Argentina.  It was important, how ever, that they once again recognized the work 
Argentina had done and that, as they moved forward,  they based their discussions on the first revision 
of Job document (08)/44, amongst other documents. 
8. He had had a number of m eetings with the Chair and with the Secretariat prior to the current 
plenary session to discuss the role of the "Friend of  the Chair".  He had also had many informal 
contributions from delegations about what they woul d expect from the friend of the Chair.  It was 
clear that his role was to assist the Chair to arri ve at a favourable outcome on the S&DT pillar and to 
engender and promote a series of discussions in an  open-ended and transparent context where every 
delegation could feel an ownership of any outcome  and where it was clear to all what progress had 
been made and what progress remained to be made.  To that end, the discussions on Thursday would 
be structured along a series of questions based on a step-by-step approach to the S&DT negotiations. 
The questions were an attempt to focus the debate  and to elicit clear and unambiguous responses and 
positions from all delegations.  The outcome of th ese discussions would be reported to the Friday 
plenary and, without prejudice to the nature  of the debate, a written report under his own 
responsibility would be prepared which would seek to document those areas where he believed a 
possible agreement had been reached or where there was a narrowing of the options available to lead 
to a possible agreement.  
9. The questions were simple and focused a nd covered the areas of needs assessments, 
submission of information at signature, categories of commitments, and implementation plans.  He 
was confident that delegations woul d engage constructively and that they would be able to record 
progress after Thursday.  These questions would be circulated by the Secretariat shortly.  If delegations wished an electronic version of  the questions they could email him at 
mwilson@foreign.gov.bb.  In addition, he would be available in the afternoon from 3 p.m. onwards to 
meet any delegation or country groupings that wish ed to share their ideas of  how they would like to 
see the S&DT discussions unfold.  Any delegation wish ing to meet him could contact him either after 
the morning session or later via email to arrange a ti me.  He looked forward to fruitful discussions on 
Thursday and remained confident that Members w ould have a resolution that addressed all of their 
valid concerns and perspectives. 
10. The plenary session was adjourned
 and the informal working sessions commenced . 
A. NEW AND REVISED PROPOSALS  
11. This part of the meeting was conducted in informal mode  with the exception of the following 
presentations of new/revised proposals: 
12. The representative of Japan  introduced proposal TN/TF/W/117 /Rev.1 on the issue of pre-
arrival processing on behalf of Japan, Hong Kong China, Korea, Mongolia  and Switzerland .  The 
submission revised an earlier proposal on the matter, reflecting the comments made by other Members in past NGTF meetings.  
  TN/TF/M/28 
 Page 3 
 
 
  13. The revision contained three main changes of the previous version.  The first related to the 
preamble and to paragraph 4.  The descriptions  concerning national treatment, most-favoured nation 
treatment, general and security exceptions, S&D and TACB had been updated and made 
comprehensive in order to reflect the horizontal discussion that had taken place on those items.  As a 
result, paragraph 4, which addressed S&D, had been  deleted as the matter was discussed horizontally 
as a cross-cutting issue.  
14. The second change could be found in the sec ond sentence of paragraph 1.  The word 
"cleared" had been changed to "released".  Some Members had commented that the goods would not 
be cleared unless duties and taxes were paid or suffi cient guarantees were posted.  In order to reflect 
that comment, the word "cleared" had been replaced by "released", with the condition set out in the 
last part of the sentence which read "provided th at duties and taxes are paid or provided that a 
guarantee sufficient to ensure such payment is posted".  
15. In accordance with the addition of  the conditionality for immediate release, the term "should" 
had been replaced by "shall".  Furthermore, since th e sponsors considered that physical inspection and 
any other submission by traders prior to the arrival of goods, other than examination, might be needed 
before the authorities released goods upon arrival,  a necessary modification had been made in that 
sentence.  
16. The third change concerned the use of international standards and practices as described in 
paragraph 2.  The sponsors had received comments from Members that more flexibility was needed.  In order to reflect these comments, the term "where applicable" had been added in paragraph 2.  As a 
result of this addition, the sentence would be weak ened. Therefore, paragraph 2(a) had been inserted 
for Members to recognize the importance of us ing international standards and practices. 
 
17. The representative of Hong Kong, China  introduced proposal TN/TF/W/155/Rev.1 on 
behalf of his delegation and  the co-sponsors Japan, Mongolia, Norway, Switzerland  and Turkey , 
highlighting the major changes that had been ma de to the first version of the submission.  
18. As colleagues might recall, TN/TF/W/155 was a proposal seeking to replace two related 
proposals on the subject of publication and availability of information.  At the workshop held by the 
co-sponsors at the NGTF meetings where the pr oposal had been discussed, Members had provided 
many useful comments and suggestions.  Taki ng those comments on board, the co-sponsors had 
recently revised the submission and circulated it to Members.  While they ap preciated that colleagues 
might need more time to consult their capitals as the submission had only been tabled a little while 
ago, they would like to highlight the major ch anges they had made and would like to receive 
Members' further feedback.  He therefore wished to  explain the amendments that had been made by 
going through the different paragraphs of the proposal. 
19. First, on paragraph 1, Members had previously  raised the question of the inter-relationship 
between the list in paragraph 1 and the existing re quirements under Article X.  Concerns had been 
expressed as to whether they sought to replace the ex isting requirements in Article X.  The intention 
of the co-sponsors was to clarify and improve the existing Article X provisions, which remained fully 
valid and applicable.  In order to spell out this  intention more clearly, the sponsors had added the 
relevant Article X provision in the chapeau of the proposal.  They had also added the phrase "including but not limited to" towards the end of the chapeau, which they hoped to provide greater 
clarity on the relationship between the list under pa ragraph1 and the existing Article X requirements. 
20. On paragraph 1(a), in response to the comments th at the term "procedure" used in the original 
version of the proposal was not specific enough, the s ponsors had elaborated it to specify that it would 
cover only procedures relating to importation, expo rtation or transit that were required by the TN/TF/M/28 
Page 4  
 
  Government.  In other words, pro cedures that were not required by th e Government would not need to 
be published. 
21. On paragraph 1(c), there had been comments th at the original wording of "decisions and 
examples of customs classifications" was unclear.  Doubts had been expressed as to whether it was 
meant to cover judicial decisions or decisions made  by customs authorities.  To address this concern, 
the sponsors had replaced the paragraph by "General  rule for classification of products for customs 
purposes as well as examples of such classifications".  The intention was to ask Members to inform 
traders of the type of systems they were using in  classifying products for customs purposes.  Members 
should also provide some examples of the classi fication of products under their systems.  
The sponsors had also amended paragraph 1(e) so  that Members would only need to publish those 
fees and charges of procedures that were required by the Government. 
22. As for paragraph 1(h), the sponsors had specifi ed that Members would only be required to 
publish agreements or parts thereof they had entered into with any country or countries relating to the 
importation, exportation or transit.  This was hoped to provide greater comfort to Members. 
23. On paragraph 2, there had been comments that the sponsors should further elaborate the word 
"convenient manner".  They had done so by adding the phrase "in order to enable interested parties to 
become acquainted with them". 
24. Paragraph 3 had been revised with a view to providing greater clarity on the linkage between 
the requirement to publish materials on the website as  opposed to the general publication requirement 
under paragraph 1.  Under the revised  paragraph 3 (a), Members would have to publish on the Internet 
a description of the procedures required by th e Government in connection with importation, 
exportation or transit, which should include sever al key materials as specified in paragraph 1, 
including the appeal procedures, import, export or transit requirements, restrictions or prohibitions 
etc.  Under paragraph 3(b), Members should also publish on the website the forms a trader would 
need to fill in and the documents traders might have to provide to the authorities. 
25. The sponsors had also changed the word " outline of procedures" to "description of 
procedures" in paragraph 3 (a) as suggested by  some Members.  The original heading of 
"establishment of an official website" had also been  changed to "availability of official website" as 
some Members might already have established official  websites for the publication of information.  
By the same token, they had also changed the heading of enquiry points to now refer to the 
"availability of enquiry points". 
26. On paragraph 5, the sponsors had now specif ied that the enquiry points should only be 
responsible to answer enquiries on issues covered by paragraph 1.  They would not have to handle any 
enquiries unrelated to issues mentioned in paragraph 1.  The word "reasonable" had been added before 
"enquiries" as suggested by some Members. 
27. Likewise, the sponsors had added "reasonable" be fore "time period" in the same paragraph.  
Under the revised provision, Members should reply to enquiries within a reasonable timeframe.  
There had been concerns that more time might be  needed for more complicated cases.  However, the 
sponsors believed that in such cases, Members could satisfy the relevant requirements by providing an 
interim reply after a reasonable period of time.  They did not consider it necessary to prescribe and define the term "reasonable" and believed that it sh ould be left to the discretion of each Member. 
28. As regards paragraph 8, the sponsors had added the words "j udicial" and "administrative" 
before "decisions" and "rulings", respectively, to clarify their meaning, as suggested by Members.  
They hoped that the revisions of the proposal woul d help to address Members' concerns.  Feedback 
would be much appreciated.  TN/TF/M/28 
 Page 5 
 
 
  29. On a more general note, there was a need to ensu re consistency and to deal with the issue of 
overlapping proposals.  The current revision sought  to consolidate different, related proposals on 
publication under Article X.  There were a num ber of other proposals under GATT Articles X and 
VIII which contained provisions on a publication requirement.  They included the proposals on 
advance rulings, fees and charges and appeal proc edures.  The co-sponsors of the present proposal 
would continue to work with the proponents of these other proposals to explore the feasibility of 
further consolidation.  They hoped that the conso lidation work done on this front could help reduce 
unnecessary overlaps between related proposal s and could create more synergy. 
30. The representative of Honduras  introduced proposal TN/TF/W/158 on the establishment of a 
national committee on Trade Facilitation, co-sponsor ed by Honduras, Norway and Switzerland.  
31. As indicated in the document, the reports subm itted by the different groups set up in capitals 
in the context of the execution of a self assessment activity had indicated that Members paid a lot of 
importance to the national committees that were form ed as a basis to carry out the assessment work.  
32.  It was important to signal in a guide on th e self-assessments that an effective coordination 
mechanism was crucial to ensure the proper develo pment and execution of the different stages of the 
activity which had the objective of identifying the s ituation in relation to the different measures 
currently under discussion in the Negotiating Gr oup.  As everybody knew, Trade Facilitation 
measures implied the need to coordinate amongst th e different governmental agencies and to ensure 
the participation of the private sector in order to arrive at a better implemen tation and application of 
the Trade Facilitation measures.  
33. It was also important that a future Agreement on Trade Facilitation contained provisions 
which enabled Members to deal effectively with possible implementation difficulties that could arise 
with respect to the commitments undertaken.  Th e proposed coordination mechanism would enable 
Members to find solutions to the problems by means of consultation.  It would be an inter-institutional 
forum to promote Trade Facilitation.   
34. The proposal was simple.  There would be an obligation to set up a committee or a similar 
coordination mechanism to assist with the implem entation of the TF Agreement.  The proposal did 
not tell Members how to do that.  It simply tried to identify how the committee would like.  It was up 
to each Member to decide which form and mode wo rked best for them.  The overall objective was to 
ensure a better implementation of the measures undertaken.  
35. The Negotiating Group took note  of the statements made.  
36. Upon resumption  of the plenary meeting, the discussions continued in informal mode with the 
exception of the following statements, which were requested to be placed on record: 
37. The representative of Cuba  wished to thank Mr. Wilson for his work and his report on S&DT.  
Cuba understood that this document, while pr epared under the friend of the Chair's own 
responsibility, would serve as a basis for future discuss ions.  Consequently, Cuba  would be grateful if 
the report included the documents circulated by Argentina, as well as the proposals circulated by 
Members which referred to S&D.  This would give a more objective and complete picture of the issue 
and would help in the final analysis in order to find the proper path to follow.   
38. Cuba was also grateful for the Chair's report.   With respect to his comments regarding 
Members' excellent participation, his remark that  there had even been discussions on issues which had 
previously received little attention and that there ha d been greater momentum in the work on S&DT, 
Cuba did not wish to contradict that assessment, but also wanted to stress that there was still a lot of 
work which remained to be done.  There was no que stion that there had been a real discussion, but TN/TF/M/28 
Page 6  
 
  there had also been some delegations who had compla ined that their concerns had not been covered.  
In that context, Cuba wished to warn that this was a process in which all comments, suggestions and 
proposals must be duly covered in orde r for Members to make proper progress. 
39. Consequently, Cuba was grateful for the worksheets circulated on 19 February where 
Members could see the comments made by various dele gations.  Cuba drew attention to this because 
they saw that proposals had continued to app ear, which contained comments, including major 
objections on the part of some delegations, w ithout these comments having been covered in the 
revised proposals.  As a result, Cuba encourag ed the proponents to take these comments and 
suggestions into consideration.  
40. Cuba also wished to underline th at, despite the fact that there had been a long and extensive 
discussion on S&DT, as far as Cuba was concerned, it was quite remarkable that there was a 
difference between the direction of the revised pr oposals and what was available in terms of S&D 
material, which had not yet been made concrete.  Members were s till talking about proposed legal 
texts.  Cuba encouraged for those themes to be tr eated in parallel so that developing countries could 
take on the necessary commitments.  Cuba and many other developing countries had major 
reservations to take on commitments without concre te and satisfactory answers to the questions which 
were essential to meet the developing needs of their countries. 
41. The representative of Bangladesh
 thanked the Chair for his factual report.  It had indeed been  
a very fruitful negotiating week under his leadership .  However, Bangladesh wished to make a few 
points. 
42. The first related to the relationship betw een GATT Articles V, VIII and X and a Trade 
Facilitation Agreement.  Since Annex D mandated Me mbers to clarify and improve relevant aspects 
of GATT Articles V, VIII and X, they could not support an amendment of GATT.  As clarification and improvement did not imply an amendment or replacement, Members could build on the existing 
GATT Articles that were already under implementation.  That way, Members could preserve the integrity of the three GATT Articles. 
43. The second point related to that fact that th ere were many references to international 
standards such as the Revised Kyoto Convention in th e proposed texts.  Bangladesh had tried to make 
clear on a number of occasions that, like many other WTO Members, it had not yet ratified the Revised Kyoto Convention.  As a result, they could not agree to a binding language in the textual proposals.  In addition, there should be uniformity of language where the citations of international 
standards were made across the proposals. 
44. The third point concerned the pillars of TA/ CB and S&DT.  Bangladesh thanked Members for 
appointing Mr. Matthew Wilson of Barbados as a Frie nd of the Chair.  Mr. Wilson had already done 
an excellent job as a faithful Friend of the Chai r and Bangladesh remained duly bound to cooperate 
with him in his future endeavours. 
45. Regarding the needs assessment, Bangladesh mainta ined that it was an integral part of the 
negotiations as far as Annex D was concerned, but  it could not be a precondition for implementing 
commitments.  It could be regarded as a valuab le stage towards implementing commitments.  In 
addition, a needs assessment was an ongoing process.   In some LDCs, including Bangladesh, it could 
be regarded as a modest beginning.  A comprehens ive needs assessment was necessary in the future 
with possible donor assistance to examine further whether the proposed measures were consistent 
with Bangladesh's peculiar trade, development,  financial needs or their administrative and 
institutional capabilities.  TN/TF/M/28 
 Page 7 
 
 
  46. On the other hand, Bangladesh felt that a n eeds assessment might not enable LDCs, even 
developing countries, to determine the timeframe and the cost implications of relevant categories of 
measures. 
47. In Annex D, implementation capacities had been placed at the top as a prerequisite to take up 
any commitment.  Paragraph 2 of Annex D stated that  "In particular, the extent and timing of entering 
into commitments shall be related to the implem entation capacities of developing and least-developed 
Members".  To fill in the capacity constraints, TA /CB had been given vital importance in the Annex 
D mandate.  There was no element of compulsion in taking up any commitment.  For LDCs, there was a special provision in the mandate.  Paragraph 3 of Annex D said that "Least-developed country 
Members will only be required to undertake commitm ents to the extent consistent with their 
individual development, financial and trade ne eds or their administrative and institutional 
capabilities." 
48. There was no one-size-fits-all formula even am ong LDCs.  In the entire developing world, 
LDCs were not only poor, but the poorest of the poor .  That was why they did not have any reduction 
commitment in the areas of Agriculture, NAMA or Servi ces.  It would therefore not be fair to expect 
LDCs to make commitments at the time of signing the TF Agreement  on what measures were to be 
contained in categories A, B or C.  As the measur es were still evolving, Bangladesh needed more time 
and consultation with its capital to submit a list of commitments after signing the TF Agreement as 
part of the Single Undertaking.  Such S&D was required in addition to the provision of TA/CB. 
49. As regards the implementation of capacity build ing plans, which the Friend of the Chair had 
not had time to discuss, Bangladesh hoped that Members would find time to look into that in the 
future.  Bangladesh felt that those plans should be  as simple as possible and that there should be 
flexibilities such as an early warning system .  In any case, LDC Members would notify 
implementation plans for which they needed TA/C B and had to get the assurance of donors.  Donors 
were expected to come forward to indicate wh ich commitments they were ready to finance. 
50. On the question of who would determine wh ether the implementation capacity had been 
obtained, it was solely the LDCs who would make that determination as they best knew where the 
shoe pinched.  That was what LDC Ministers had agreed on in Maseru.  
51. Finally, he wished to reiterate Bangladesh's co mmitment to engage fully in the negotiations.  
They did not lack the willingness to take up commitme nts as an LDC, but lacked the capacity that had 
to be provided through appropriate technical  assistance and support for capacity building. 
52. The representative of Rwanda
, speaking on behalf of the African Group , wished to raise three 
issues.   
53. The first related to the Chair's assessment of  the current negotiating week, which the African 
Group shared.  The momentum enjoyed over the course of the previous year had not been lost.  Members had even advanced further.  The Africa n Group therefore wished to register its deep 
appreciation of the Chair's leadership and patien ce, especially as far as the bottom-up approach was 
concerned, which would result in a collective resu lt of Members' work.  There was no doubt that the 
NGTF advanced more than any other negotiating group. 
54. Having said that, the African Group wished to place on record that any outcome of the TF 
negotiations should be an integral part of the Doha  Package. It should not be treated as a stand-alone 
negotiating exercise and should not be separated from the rest of the Round.  It was not possible to enter into a TF Agreement without havi ng finalized the broader Doha work. TN/TF/M/28 
Page 8  
 
  55. Regarding the report by the Friend of the Ch air, the African Group was very proud of his 
performance and stood ready to su pport and facilitate his work.  The African Group shared his 
assessment that consensus had emerged on some area s and that, while differences remained, the entire 
membership had worked very constructively.  This attitude was hoped to prevail in the near future.  
It was also hoped that further informal work would be carried out between various groupings so that 
some kind of consensus could be reached on outstanding issues. 
56. On the provision of technical assistance, whic h had not yet been addressed in the process led 
by the Friend of the Chair, the African Group wish ed to see this taken up properly because it was a 
collective engagement.  They comm itted themselves to implementing th e overall package.  There was 
a need for developed countries to commit clearly to  providing technical assistance, as reflected in 
Annex D. 
57. The African Group expected that any legal text  resulting from the discussions would capture 
that commitment in a wording that would stat e that developed-country Members shall provide 
technical assistance in response to  a related request and that deve loped-country Members shall report 
on their technical assistance delivery.  That was a must.  It was a collective engagement.  The African 
Group wished to compare this Agreement to the TR IPs Agreement which contained an obligation for 
developed countries to provide incentives for their comp anies to transfer technology to LDCs.  It was 
a legal obligation in the TRIPs Agreement and he could assure developed Members that there was no 
harm in that because every year, there were reports of over 200 pages, but they were empty.  There 
was no harm to commit to this obligation.  The pr ovision was crafted in a way that did not require 
developed countries to provide such support to all de veloping countries.  They were allowed to pick 
and chose and just had to report that they provided assistance to country A without any obligation to 
give assistance to country B.  This issue should be reflected by the Friend of the Chair if he were to circulate questions again.  It would certainly have to be discussed.  
58. The representative of the World Bank
, speaking on behalf of the Annex D organizations , 
wished to brief negotiators about the work currently being done by the so-called Annex D 
organizations in support of the negotiation process.   As Members knew, the Annex D organizations 
had devoted a significant amount of time and res ources, both individually and collectively, to 
supporting the trade fac ilitation negotiations. 
59. The principle underpinning all their efforts had been the view that facilitating information 
sharing between capital-based content matter specialis ts and Geneva-based negotiators would lead to 
increased confidence amongst negotiators and a higher level of ambition. 
60. The most visible result of their efforts to date  had been the national needs assessment process 
that had been coordinated by the WTO Secretaria t.  Annex D organizations had developed the self 
assessment methodology and documentation and had supported the conduct of assessments in nearly 
60 countries.  They would continue to support th e assessments in countries that had not yet taken 
advantage of the program. 
61. Many Members had reported very favourably on  the needs assessment process and believed it 
had been extremely helpful in assisting them to unde rstand exactly where their country was relative to 
the measures under negotiation.  Generally speaking,  the assessments had also  indicated that capital-
based officials supported the overall thrust of the ne gotiations and believed most, if not all, of the 
measures under negotiation were likely to lead to positive trade dividends. 
62. At the same time, the in-country needs asse ssment exercise conducted as a part of the 
program was only a first step and it was hoped that the committees or groups  established through the 
workshops would continue to meet and discuss the measures being negotiated in the WTO.  
The Annex D organizations acknowle dged, however, that some Members had told them they were  TN/TF/M/28 
 Page 9 
 
 
  likely to need additional assistance to take the needs identified during th e assessment phase and turn 
them into practical action plans to both guide effective implementation and to provide a solid 
reference point for dialogue with potential donors. 
63. As a result, earlier in the week, the Annex D or ganizations had met to discuss the issue.  
At that stage, and based on the successful form ula employed during the needs assessment program, 
they were leaning towards combining their efforts to develop and distribute a Guide that could be 
used by Members to prepare their own national im plementation action plans.  The process they were 
suggesting would build on the work already unde rtaken during the needs assessment program and 
would rely heavily on the capital-based comm ittees and groups established during the needs 
assessment process. 
64. The proposed Guide would likel y suggest a comprehensive and broadly common approach to 
the preparation of individual action plans.  The Annex D organizations would continue to work 
further on the concept and would be happy to shar e their thoughts with Members once their ideas had 
been further developed. 
65. While they were anxious to ensure that the action planning process was clearly directed and 
owned by the Members concerned, the Annex D organizations acknowledged that some Members 
might need additional assistance to prepare their plans.  
66. As was the case with earlier efforts, the Anne x D organizations would only take the concept 
further if Members considered such work to be va luable and likely to contribute to a positive outcome 
in the negotiations.  Like their earlier inputs, they wanted to make sure their support was demand, not 
supply driven.  
67. The Negotiating Group took note  of the statements made.  
B.  A D HOC ATTENDANCE OF RELEVANT INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS , INCLUDING THE 
IMF,  OECD,  UNCTAD,  WCO  AND THE WORLD BANK, AT THE NEXT MEETING OF THE 
NEGOTIATING GROUP  
68. The Chairman  suggested inviting relevant internati onal organizations, including the IMF, 
OECD, UNCTAD, WCO and the World Bank to attend the next formal meeting of the Negotiating 
Group on an ad hoc basis, as provided for in the Work Plan. 
69. It was so agreed . 
C. O THER BUSINESS  
70. The Chairman  addressed the issue of the Group's next meeting.  In line with what Members 
would have seen in his fax of 14 January, he wished to propose for that session to be held during the 
week of 27 April.  Details regarding its content a nd structure would be communicated to Members in 
due course.  
71. It was so agreed .  
72. The Negotiating Group took note  of the statements made. 
73. The meeting was adjourned . 
__________