RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/GC/M/95 
21 June 2005 
 (05-2640) 
General Council 
26 May 2005  
 
 
 
MINUTES OF MEETING 
 
Held in the Centre William Rappard  
on 26 May 2005  
 
Chairman:  Ms Amina Mohamed (Kenya)  
 
 At the close of the meeting, and following a statement by the Permanent Representative of the 
United States, Ambassador Deily, in connection w ith her imminent departure from Geneva, the 
Chairman, on behalf of all delegations, s poke to pay tribute to Ambassador Deily. 
 Subjects discussed
: Page  
1. Iran – Request for Accession ...................................................................................................2  
2. Sao Tome and Principe – Request for Accession ...................................................................3  
3. International Trade Centre UNCTAD/WTO – Report of the Joint Advisory 
Group on its Thirty-Eighth Session.........................................................................................6  
4. Report by the Chairman of the Trade Negotiations Committee ........................................10  
5. Report by the Director-General on his consultative process on all outstanding 
implementation issues under paragraph 12(b) of the Doha Ministerial Declaration .................................................................................................................... ..........14
 
6. Work Programme on Small Economies – Report by the Chairman of the 
Dedicated Session of the Committee on Trade and Development ......................................16  
7. Implementation of Paragraph 11 of the Decision on the Implementation of 
Paragraph 6 of the Doha Declaratio n on the TRIPS Agreement and Public 
Health  - Statement by the Ch airman of the TRIPS Council..............................................22  
8. Non-recognition of rights under Article XXIV:6 and Article XXVIII of the 
GATT 1994 – Communication from Hondur as and Guatemala – Statement by 
the Chairman................................................................................................................... ........27  
9. Appointment of the next Director-General – Statement by the Chairman .......................32  
10. Albania – Request for a waiver to extend the staging period of implementation 
for a number of  products ....................................................................................................... 38 
11. Committee on Budget, Finan ce and Administration ...........................................................38  
(a) Report of the Committee on its meetings of October, November and December 2004 ...........38  
(b) Report of the Committee on its meeting of March 2005 ..........................................................38  
12. Sixth Session of the Ministerial Co nference - Administrative matters ..............................40  
(a) Attendance of observers from governments and international intergovernmental 
organizations – Statemen t by the Chairman .............................................................................40  WT/GC/M/95 
Page 2  
 
 (b)
 Attendance of non-governmental organiza tions – Statement by the Chairman........................41  
(c) Election of officers for the Sixth Session – Statement by the Chairman ..................................42  
13. WTO Pension Plan Management Board - Election of Chairman, members and 
alternates - Proposal by the Chairman .................................................................................42  
14. Chairmanships of the Working Parties on Accession of Serbia and of 
Montenegro..................................................................................................................... .........43  
 
 
1. Iran – Request for Accession (WT/ACC/IRN/1) 
1. The Chairman  drew attention to the communication from Iran in document WT/ACC/IRN/1, 
requesting accession to the WTO Agreement pursuant to  Article XII, and recalled that the General 
Council had last considered this matter at its meeting in February and had agreed to revert to it at the 
present meeting.  At the February meeting, a numbe r of Members had spoken in support of an early 
and positive action on this long-standing item on th e Council's agenda.  The Council Chairman had 
stated then, in view of the many statements, that he trusted that his successor would take this matter 
up in consultations with delegations  before the next Council.  Accordingly, on 25 May, she had held a 
consultation meeting in order to see if there were  any movements in positions that might allow 
Members to work towards a satisfactory resoluti on to Iran's accession request.  She had invited to 
these consultations all delegations  who had spoken on this subject at previous Council meetings, as 
well as others who had expressed an interest in atte nding.  On the basis of these consultations, she was 
pleased to be able to announce that there now appear ed to be a consensus in favour of establishing a 
working party to examine Iran's request.  With this  in mind, she proposed for Members' consideration 
that the General Council agree to establish a Work ing Party with the following standard terms of 
reference and composition: 
 Terms of Reference  
 
 "To examine the application of the Govern ment of Iran to accede to the WTO Agreement 
under Article XII, and to submit to the Gene ral Council recommendations which may include 
a draft Protocol of Accession." 
  Membership
 
 
 Membership would be open to all Members indicating their wish to serve on the Working 
Party.   
  Chairmanship
 
 
 In keeping with customary practice, the Gene ral Council would authorize her as Chairman to 
designate the Chairperson of the Working Pa rty in consultation with representatives of 
Members and with the representative of Iran. 
 2. The General Council agreed
 to establish a working party with the terms of reference and 
composition as read out by the Chairman. 
3. The Chairman  invited the delegation of Iran to cons ult with the Accessions Division of the 
Secretariat as to the further procedures, and in par ticular with regard to the basic documentation to be 
considered by the Working Party.  She also invited Iran, on behalf of the Ge neral Council, to attend 
meetings of the General Council and, as appropriate, meetings of other WTO bodies as an observer 
during the period when the Working Party was carrying out its work.  WT/GC/M/95 
 Page 3 
 
 
 4. The representative of Iran , speaking as an observer , said that a decision that had long been 
overdue had now been taken, and recalled in this c onnection a Persian proverb that a fish was always 
fresh when it was caught even if one went fishing be latedly.  The future of Iran's working relationship 
with the WTO would make clear both to Iran and to Members the potential outcomes of the accession process, which was something that both Iran and the Members would explore and examine closely 
and prudently.  It was clear that with the decisi on just taken the membership had done a service to 
itself by correcting a wrong.  He did not wish to  recall the anomalous history of Iran's formal 
application to join the WTO since 1996, a year after the WTO had come into existence, as he was sure this was quite well known to all.  Iran had a forward- looking approach to its accession process.  It had 
substantive and extensive trade relations with nearly all Members.  Over the past nine years, Iran had 
continued its efforts to meet the requirements fo r accession negotiations and for membership.  Thus, 
Iran had done its homework.  It had also manage d to keep the momentum up, despite consecutive 
discouraging signals from the General Council in th e past.  Universality was the essence of this 
organization, and any past or future attempt to interfere with this principle undermined the essence 
and relevance of the WTO in current global trade.  On behalf of his Governme nt, he wished to express 
appreciation to the delegations a nd groups who had worked hard to uphold this pivotal principle of 
this body, despite long and undue hindrance.  He also  wished to thank the Chairman for her efficient 
and fruitful consultations. 
5. The representative of Paraguay
, on behalf of the Informal Group of Developing Countries , 
thanked the Chairman for her consultations, and e xpressed satisfaction at the outcome at the present 
meeting.  He thanked also the United States for its decision, and emphasized the importance of the 
step that had been taken to overcome an obstacl e that had been proving harmful not only to the 
operation of the organization, but also to the image it sought to project worldwide.  Indeed, the WTO 
traditionally operated under an open and non-discriminatory multilateral system that gave precedence 
to objective and technical considerations, so as to foster economic growth, development and 
employment in its Member countries.  It was therefore necessary to put aside, as far as possible, 
political considerations that bore no relationship to trade.  The developing countries hoped this 
experience would serve to prevent a similar situati on in future where a country's desire to initiate 
negotiations for accession was thwarted by consider ations having nothing to do with economics and 
trade.  On the contrary, they wi shed for proceedings in all spheres of WTO activity to be guided 
solely by economic and trade considerations, so as to address the legitimate interests of the Members 
while furthering the adoption of measures that coul d help governments of poorer economies to reduce 
the gap that separated them fr om more prosperous economies. 
6. The Chairman  said she was confident that she spoke  for all delegations in echoing the 
sentiments expressed by Paraguay on behalf of the Informal Group of Developing Countries, and in 
welcoming and extending best wishes to the delegation of Iran. 
7. The General Council took note  of the statements. 
2. Sao Tome and Principe – Request for Accession (WT/ACC/STP/1) 
8. The Chairman  drew attention to the communication fro m Sao Tome and Principe in document 
WT/ACC/STP/1, requesting accession to the WTO Agreement, which was on the Agenda of the present meeting for consideration by Members on the b asis of consultations held on her behalf by the 
Secretariat.  She recalled in this connection th at, as delegations were aware, accession to the WTO 
was governed by Article XII of the WTO Agreement. 
9. The representative of Sao Tome and Principe
, speaking as an observer , said that Sao Tome 
and Principe had been an observer in the Genera l Council and subsidiary bodies since 2001, and now 
wished to become a full-fledged Member.  His c ountry had always believed that the WTO had a key 
role to play in the process of linking trade a nd development, and the organization's emphasis on WT/GC/M/95 
Page 4  
 
 consensus-building should enable Me mbers to reach the objectives set in the Doha Agenda.  Recalling 
the geographic location of his country, he said that Sao Tome and Principe was one of the smallest 
States in the world – the second smallest African country after the Seychelles – with a population of 140,000, of which 51 per cent were women who formed 38 per cent of the working population.  Unemployment stood at 17.9 per cent.  The population growth rate was approximately 2.5 per cent, 
and the proportion of the urban population was 60 per cent, most of whom lived in the capital.  The 
country, independent since 1975, had inherited an  essentially agriculture-based economy dominated 
by cacao – representing more than 90 per cent of exports – and copra.  A land tenure system of large plantations had failed to promote agricultural divers ification or to reduce dependency on the outside 
world.  The country's economic imbalances, with  production and exports on the decline and imports 
on the rise, had adversely impacted the balance of pa yments.  In 1987, with the technical assistance of 
the IMF and the World Bank, the country had em barked on its first Structural Adjustment 
Programme.  A major share of the funds made available then had gone into rehabilitating cacao 
estates, but without achieving the anticipated results .  Sao Tome and Principe had recently discovered 
oil deposits which bode well for development. 
10. With a per capita income less than US$365 per annum, Sao Tome and Principe was 
categorized as a low-income country and LDC.  At the human development level, it was classified among the medium-development countries, and in 2001 ranked 122
nd out of a total of 174 countries.  
Its main development problems stemmed from the weakness of its single-crop economy consisting of 
cacao.  The country's exports, almost exclusively limited to cacao, had declined in recent years and 
were not sufficient to restore the trade balance.   Inadequate infrastructure, including transport 
infrastructure and the absence of  a deep-water port, had restricted the country's economic 
competitiveness, the effective size of the markets a nd the potential of existing enterprises, while 
hampering development of the productive sector and discouraging new investors.  Secondary and 
rural roads were in very poor condition.  Priority investment in the country 's development programme 
should go into maintaining, rehabilitating and buildi ng rural roads, re-building first-grade roads to 
remote areas and repairing the existing road network.  The cost of air transport and the poor state of 
airport infrastructure were major impediments to th e country's development.  Runways and buildings 
needed to be modernised in orde r to accommodate the growing number  of tourists and to guarantee 
transport services and exports of non-traditional prod ucts.  Off-shore oil pro duction would stretch the 
country's air transport services even further.   
11. The port infrastructure, with its obsolete, sh allow-water wharfs, dila pidated equipment and 
irregular maritime services, was an obstacle to th e full integration of the country in regional and 
global markets and to economic divers ification.  The first priority wa s to conduct as assessment of the 
cost of building a deep-water port and making immediate improvements to the port and harbour 
services.  In the medium-term, the port authority should become an autonomous entity, and a number of port operations should be opened up to the priv ate sector on a competitive basis, in order to 
promote better rates.  Investment in certain types of  infrastructure might trigger further offers.  State 
intervention was justified in some key areas of ma rketing infrastructure in order to stimulate the 
growth of private enterprise.  In addition to ma rketing infrastructure, phytosanitary control and 
certificates of origin, electricity, telecommunicati ons, and water and sanitati on were other areas in 
which improvements were needed.  As far as its new trade policy was concerned, Sao Tome and 
Principe was a vulnerable country in the face of grow ing liberalization of world trade.  Therefore, the 
realities facing LDCs and their integration should be  taken into account in the design of a new trade 
policy within the WTO framework.  Consequently, Sao Tome and Principe's development partners 
had to ensure that opening of markets for its expor ts coincided with innovativ e, concrete and target-
oriented measures aimed at increasing its competitiveness, inter alia , through infrastructure and 
human-resource development, the diversification of exports, and the strengthening of human and 
institutional capacities.  WT/GC/M/95 
 Page 5 
 
 
 12. The representative of Angola  thanked Sao Tome and Principe for its statement and welcomed 
the establishment of a Working Party for the accession of Sao Tome and Principe – a sister country of 
Angola.  These countries had a shared history, economy, culture, social and family relations.  Their peoples spoke the same language, and together with  Cape Verde and Sao Tome's accession, all the 
Portuguese-speaking countries would be WTO Member s.  All these countries were LDCs and shared 
the same development concerns.  His delegation warmly welcomed Sao Tome and Principe, and 
expressed its willingness to participat e in the accession working party. 
13. The representative of Chinese Taipei
 fully supported Sao Tome and Principe's request, and 
urged Members to take into account the gu idelines approved by th e General Council in 
December 2002 (WT/L/508) aimed at facilitating the in tegration of LDCs into the multilateral trading 
system.  In particular, Members had agreed that they "shall exercise restraint  in seeking concessions 
and commitments ... from acceding LDCs, taking in to account the levels of concessions and 
commitments undertaken by existing WTO LDCs' Memb ers."  They had also agreed that during the 
accession process, the Secretariat and Members alike should provide the necessary technical 
assistance and capacity building, and that efforts should be made to streamline accession procedures 
for LDCs to make them more effective and efficient, and less onerous.  His delegation wished Sao 
Tome and Principe success with its request. 
14. The representative of Brazil  fully supported Sao Tome and Principe's request for accession 
pursuant to Article XII of the WTO Agreement.  Br azil expected that, once the request was approved, 
the accession process would advance swiftly, and that Sao Tome and Principe could fully benefit from 
the simplified and streamlined procedures in accord ance with the guidelines set out in the General 
Council's Decision of December 2002.  His delega tion wished to express its satisfaction at the 
prospect of soon having Sao Tome and Principe, a c ountry with whom Brazil shared close historical 
and cultural affinities, as a Member. 
15. The representative of Rwanda , on behalf of the African Group , supported the quick accession 
of Sao Tome and Principe.  The latter had subm itted to the WTO a comprehensive report on its 
economic and foreign trade policies since January 2001.   As an LDC, Sao Tome and Principe required 
special and differential treatment during and after the accession period.  In this regard, the African 
Group requested Members to consider granting si mplified accession procedures, transitional periods, 
and trade-related technical assistance and capacity-b uilding measures that would allow Sao Tome and 
Principe to meet its WTO obligations. 
16. The representative of Benin , on behalf of the ACP Group , expressed the Group's firm support 
for the request for accession by Sao Tome and Principe, which was one of its members, and wished it 
every success in this undertaking.  This request  bore further witness to the ACP Group members' 
commitment to the multilateral trading system, convin ced as they were that, in  the words of the Doha 
Declaration, "[i]nternational trade can play a majo r role in the promotion of economic development 
and the alleviation of poverty", and that it w as necessary for all Members "to benefit from the 
increased opportunities and welfare gains that the multilateral trading system generates".  Sao Tome 
and Principe was not only an ACP country, but also an LDC.  The ACP Group therefore urged Members to take into account "the particular vul nerability of the least-developed countries and the 
special structural difficulties th ey face", as stated in the Doha Declaration, by supporting and 
facilitating the prompt accession of Sao Tome a nd Principe.  The ACP Group hoped that Sao Tome 
and Principe would join the WTO in the nearest possible future, thus swelling the ranks of ACP 
Members. 
17. The representative of Zambia
, on behalf of the LDCs , associated these countries with the 
statements by other Members regarding Sao Tome an d Principe's request.  The LDCs appreciated the 
comprehensive statement by Sao Tome and Principe, and had heard with satisfaction the efforts its Government had made and continued to make to raise the standard of living of its people.  The LDCs WT/GC/M/95 
Page 6  
 
 wished to see expeditious consideration of this re quest by the membership and, as had been stated by 
other speakers, noted that Sao Tome and Principe , as an LDC, would require S&D treatment during 
and after its accession process in order to be able to  meet the various WTO obligations.  Therefore, 
simplified accession procedures – which were most important for LDCs – meaningful technical assistance and capacity-building support measures would be a sure way for the membership to live up 
to its commitment to help those w ith the greatest needs, the LDCs. 
18. The Chairman
 proposed that the General Council take note  of the statements and of the 
expressions of welcome and support, and agree  to establish a working party with the following terms 
of reference and composition: 
 Terms of Reference : 
 
 "To examine the application of the Government  of Sao Tome and Principe to accede to the 
WTO Agreement under Article XII, and to s ubmit to the General Council recommendations 
which may include a draft Protocol of Accession." 
 
 Membership : 
  Membership would be open to all Members indicating their wish to serve on the Working 
Party.   
  Chairmanship
: 
 
 In keeping with customary practice, the Ge neral Council would authorize its Chairman to 
designate the Chairperson of the Working Pa rty in consultation with representatives of 
Members and with the representative of Sao Tome and Principe. 
 
19. The General Council so agreed . 
20. The Chairman  then invited the delegation of Sao To me and Principe to consult with the 
Accessions Division of the Secretariat as to the furthe r procedures, and in particular with regard to the 
basic documentation to be considered by the Working Party. 
21. The General Council took note  of the statement. 
3. International Trade Centre UNCTAD/WTO – Report of the Joint Advisory Group on 
its Thirty-Eighth Session (ITC/AG(XXXVIII)/204) 
22. The Chairman  recalled that the Joint Advisory Group of the International Trade Centre 
UNCTAD/WTO had held its Thirty-Eighth Session on 18-22 April 2005, and drew attention to its 
report in document ITC/AG(XXXVIII)/204.  In keepi ng with customary practice, the report had been 
considered initially by the Committee on Trade and Development at its meeting on 11 May, where it 
had been presented by the Vice-Chairman of the Joint Advisory Group, Mr. Jürgens, (Germany). 
23. Mr. Senadhira (Sri Lanka), Chairman of  the Committee on Trade and Development , said that 
at the Committee's 11 May meeting, Mr. Jürgens (G ermany), Vice-Chairman, reporting on behalf of 
the Chairman of the Thirty-eighth Session, had st ated that at the JAG session the WTO Director-
General had noted that the ITC's success could be se en in the consistent and growing demand for its 
services.  The WTO had particularly appreciated th e ITC's initiatives to info rm and educate business 
communities in developing countries on the multilateral trading system and the DDA.  The 
representative from UNCTAD had emphasized the ITC's  contribution to trade and to building supply 
side-capacities, its role in poverty reduction and its work towards fulfilling the Millennium  WT/GC/M/95 
 Page 7 
 
 
 Development Goals.  Also, the Executive-Director of the ITC, Mr. Bélisle, had described the year 
2004 at the ITC and developments since the beginni ng of 2005, had given a description of the ITC's 
vision for the future, and had said that trade w as increasingly recognized as an important tool for 
development.  The ITC was well  placed to help countries build their capacity to supply world 
markets, with its 40 years of experience, techni cal expertise, cost-effective tools and targeted 
programmes.  2004 had been a year of consolidation,  when special efforts had been made to forge 
new strategic alliances and to communicate better with  stakeholders.  Mr. Jürgens had explained that 
Mr. Bélisle saw four important challenges for the ITC in the year ahead:  (i) to attract the best people 
possible to form the new senior management team;  (ii) to move further in ITC's niches without falling into the trap of over-stretching its human re sources;  (iii) to achieve greater synergy between 
ITC's programmes and tools;  and (iv) to achieve  managed growth with predictable and timely 
transfer of donor funds.  
24. Mr. Jürgens had also explained that during its deliberations, the JAG had called on the ITC to 
help LDCs build capacity to supply international ma rkets and reverse a trend of marginalization.  
Many had spoken of the difficulty in adjusting to th e "erosion of preferences" and the move towards 
liberalization without having competitive export stru ctures in place for goods and services.  The ITC's 
work in poverty reduction, services exporting, nati onal export strategy development, public-private 
partnerships, textiles and clothing, market analys is, South-South trade, e-trade and sensitization on 
WTO issues were among trade-development areas of interest most frequently singled out by representatives.  The JAG had encouraged the ITC in its current "managed growth" strategy to ensure 
that both countries and the ITC would develop the capacities to sustain and absorb growth.  Some 
representatives had also complimented the ITC for being referred to as a model for other 
organizations in the UN system by the Office of Inte rnal Oversight Services in its inspection report on 
the ITC.  The JAG had also been in formed of the status of the Join t Evaluation of the ITC, the final 
report on which would be available in  June or July 2005 for a possible discussion at the Informal Joint 
Advisory Group meeting in November 2005.  Finally,  Mr. Jürgens had noted that many government 
representatives had announced voluntary  contributions to the ITC and, on behalf of the JAG, he had 
expressed appreciation to the Governments of Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Sw itzerland for their support to the organization.  
Finally, at the CTD meeting several Members had inte rvened to praise the work of the ITC in the past 
year. 
25. The Chairman
 suggested that, in light of the CTD's consideration and action on this matter, 
and the report just made by the Chairman of the CT D, she offer the floor to delegations wishing to 
make additional comments on the JAG report furt her to those already made in the CTD. 
26. All representatives who spoke expressed appreciati on to the ITC for its very useful activities 
in promoting trade, and to the donors for their contributions that made ITC's work possible. They also thanked the CTD Chair for his report. 
27. The representative of Switzerland
 said that, as one of the ma in contributors to the ITC, 
Switzerland wished to express its satisfaction at th e quality of the work again done by the ITC in 
2005, and to thank some of the direct collaborators,  two of whom he understood would be leaving the 
ITC in the next couple of months.  He believed thes e individuals had contributed very heavily to the 
work and reputation of the ITC, and deserved Me mbers' appreciation.  Finally, he expressed his 
delegation's confidence that the two new "godfathe rs" of the ITC would continue to devote the 
necessary interest and support to this organization, which in Switzerland's view was one of the very 
important instruments to help developing countries. 
28. The representative of Pakistan  said that Pakistan particularly appreciated the ITC's activities 
in informing and educating government official s and business communities, and its support for 
building the capacity of developing countries to supply goods and servi ces.  He particularly wished to WT/GC/M/95 
Page 8  
 
 thank the ITC for its intensive capacity-building work through the EU-funded Asia Trust Fund, and 
especially for its assistance in exploring new potentia l for exports and for the building of supply-chain 
management.  The ITC Executive Director had done an  excellent job, and Pakistan wished to thank 
him for all he had done for Members. 
29. The representative of Djibouti
 said his delegation particularly appreciated the ITC's assistance 
to Djibouti under the Integrated Framework.  Having sometimes accompanied ITC experts in the 
course of their work in Djibouti, he  could attest to their excellent work in the field and to the simple 
manner in which they explained issues to help in understanding trade relations and the programmes of 
the Integrated Framework.  ITC experts had very valuable field experience in the area of technical assistance for trade development and, as all were aw are, was one of the implementing agencies of the 
Integrated Framework.  Djibouti was very pleased to be able to work with the ITC in this context.  His 
delegation also wished to thank all countries who had announced voluntary contributions for technical 
assistance, including developing country donors such as China and India.  These grants, which would 
be implemented by the ITC, were very useful in the field, particularly for LDCs and countries in 
Africa. 
30. The representative of El Salvador
 said that the ITC Executive Director had recently visited his 
country, which had provided the latter an important  opportunity to see progress in the projects under 
way in El Salvador and to set new objectives.  Hi s delegation hoped that the JAG's report would give 
new impetus to successful future projects. 
31. The representative of Canada  said that Canada joined others  in thanking the ITC Executive 
Director and his staff for all their hard work.  He wished to underscore a point related to the 
importance of continued institutiona l strengthening at the ITC.  As the JAG report indicated, the ITC's 
senior management was expected to retire within the next 18 months, and this was an issue that 
Members needed to monitor.  Canada also l ooked forward to the upcoming release of the Joint 
Evaluation of the ITC that was expected in June or July 2005.  His delegation had high hopes with 
respect to this evaluation, and would be following this  closely.  Canada wished also to reiterate its 
overall support for the ITC and the key role it played in both trade and development. 
32. The representative of Costa Rica  said his delegation joined ot hers in congratulating the ITC 
Executive Director and his staff for their work.  His country had witnessed with great satisfaction the development of the different programmes in the IT C, and believed that programmes such as World 
Trade Net, South-South trade promotion and trade bridge and other programmes had truly contributed 
to achieving the objectives that had been fixed for th e ITC.  Costa Rica was very satisfied with this, 
and with new programmes such as capacity buildi ng, export strategy design and management and 
services export net.  His delegation wished to cong ratulate all those working on these programmes in 
the ITC. 
33. The representative of Benin
, on behalf of the ACP Group , supported the report just made and 
paid tribute to the work done by the ITC and by its Executive-Director and his team.  The ACP Group 
sincerely appreciated the ITC's work in favour of developing countries, especially the ACP countries 
which, in the current circumstances, had to dive rsify their economies and their production.  He also 
wished to express gratitude to all the donor countries , who ensured that the ITC could fulfil its tasks.  
The ACP Group wished an excellent future to  the ITC in the service of their countries. 
34. The representative of Guatemala  said that, like El Salvador, Guatemala had recently had a 
visit from an ITC team, and a business-for-devel opment meeting had taken place focussing on work 
relating to the Doha negotiations.  Guatemala wish ed to thank donor countries for that activity, and 
hoped that the different and excellent programmes for capacity building and development carried out 
by the ITC would strengthen its region.  WT/GC/M/95 
 Page 9 
 
 
 35. The representative of Mexico  said his delegation wished publicly to thank the ITC Executive 
Director for the magnificent work the ITC had done and for the great support the ITC had given to various Members. 
36. The representative of Rwanda
 joined other speakers in tha nking the ITC and its Executive 
Director for the quality of support given to developing countries, including a number of African 
countries.  The ITC was known for its resolutely  pragmatic approach and its very operational 
solutions in areas such as export promotion and export diversification.  Rwanda was very happy with 
this approach and wished to encour age the ITC to continue down this  road.  Rwanda was currently in 
the process of preparing a project with the ITC fo r the diversification of its agricultural exports. 
37. The representative of the Kyrgyz Republic  said that the ITC was strongly represented in his 
country.  In particular, ITC had a regional repr esentative in Bishkek who was involved in capacity 
building for the private sector and in the developm ent of the national export strategy.  His delegation 
appreciated the ITC's activities in Kyrgyzstan and wished to express its support for the report as well 
its gratitude to the ITC Executive Director and the latter's excellent team. 
38. The representative of Egypt  said that as a long time beneficiary of technical assistance 
provided by the ITC, Egypt wished formally to st ate its appreciation for the work the ITC had been 
undertaking over the past few years.  One positive elem ent he wished to highlight was that despite the 
fact that the ITC had been streamlining its operations , it had at the same time been able to improve 
and increase the assistance it had been providing to ma ny developing countries, particularly in Egypt's 
region and in Egypt in particular.  That, in itself,  was a major achievement.  He could only encourage 
donor countries to continue to contribute to the ITC, as it was a worthwhile cause. 
39. The representative of Zambia  said his delegation wished to commend the ITC's Executive 
Director and staff for their efforts in contribu ting to capacity building and technical assistance, 
including export promotion in the LDCs in particular.  Zambia also wished to thank development partners for the financial contributions they were  making through the ITC.  The money they were 
contributing was making a very big difference, and Zambia hoped they would continue to make such 
contributions. 
40. The representative of Jamaica
 said that the ITC had a very productive relationship with 
Jamaica, particularly the inv estment promotion agency, JAMPRO, and looked forward to the 
continuation and strengthening of th at relationship, which had been very beneficial to the productive 
sector and to Jamaica's exporters.  He wished to cite  in particular the market analysis tools in support 
of the services sector, and to note the launc hing at UNCTAD XI in 2004 of the UNCTAD/ITC 
Investment Map.  This provided a useful tool to assist the analysis and targeting of investments and 
the creation of export capacity.  Jamaica looked forwar d to benefiting from this new tool initiated by 
the ITC. 
41. The representative of Cuba  associated her delegation with the statement made by Benin, and 
wished to thank the ITC for its very close coope ration with Cuba, and also donor countries for their 
contributions.  Cuba also wished publicly to congra tulate the ITC Executive Di rector and the rest of 
the ITC staff for their professionalism, their full co mmitment to the ITC's work and the results they 
had achieved. 
42. The representative of Mauritania  said his delegation supported the statements on behalf of the 
LDCs, the ACP Group, and the African Group, and wi shed to express its appreciation for the quality 
of the work carried out by the ITC.  The ITC distinguished itself among the various agencies and 
programmes involved in trade and development by the quality of its activities, its ability to listen, its 
effectiveness and its particular closeness to the r ecipient countries.  As a beneficiary of the ITC's WT/GC/M/95 
Page 10  
 
 assistance over several years, Mauritania wished to pay tribute to the ITC for its activities and to 
thank the ITC Executive Director and hi s team for their remarkable work. 
43. The Chairman
 said she was sure she was speaking on behalf of all Members in expressing 
appreciation to the ITC and to its Executive Director for the support the ITC had continued to provide to Members of the WTO, and in thanking those Members who had continued to support the ITC's 
work through their contributions. 
44. The General Council took note
 of the statements and adopted  the report of the Joint Advisory 
Group in document ITC/AG(XXXVIII)/204. 
4. Report by the Chairman of the Trade Negotiations Committee 
45. The Chairman  invited the Director-General, as Chairman of the TNC, to report on the TNC's 
activities since his last report to the Council. 
46. The Director-General, Chairman of the Trade Negotiations Committee , said that since the 
February meeting of the General Council, the TNC had held two formal meetings, on 28 April and 
19 May.  He had also held an informal TNC m eeting at the level of Heads of Delegations on 
21 March.  These had all been productive and busin esslike meetings, although they had taken place 
against the background of an unsa tisfactory level of overall progress in the negotiations.  The note of 
caution which he had signalled in March – that Memb ers were not yet in a crisis mode, but did need 
more sense of urgency – did not see m to have been fully heeded.  At the TNC meeting in April, he 
had expressed concern that Members were just not making the progress needed to be able to reach their July marker in good shape,  despite the very hard work th at had been taking place across the 
negotiations.  He was still not pushing the alarm button, but his finger was hovering over it.  The 
rather worrying overall picture at that time had stemme d mainly from the fact that, in the agriculture 
negotiations, Members appeared to have stalled on the first difficult issue – ad valorem  equivalents 
(AVEs) – which was having a knock-on effect in several other areas of negotiation.  He was pleased to report that the TNC's meeting the previous w eek had taken place against a somewhat brighter 
background than the April TNC, even though substa ntive progress since then had continued to be 
rather limited.  Some gatherings at the Ministeria l level prior to the meeting had renewed the impetus 
in some areas, but he stressed that there was still ve ry much a need for a greater sense of urgency.  At 
the previous week's meeting, he had reminded Memb ers that they had only some 30 working days left 
before the July TNC meeting.  This figure took into account several important Ministerial gatherings that would take place over the next two months.  He had cautioned that it was very important that these make positive and immediate contributions to Members' work in Geneva, and that there was a 
great need for coordination between these two processes.   He had stressed that the Geneva process in 
which all were involved was, and had to remain, th e primary negotiating forum.  However, it was also 
important that the work in Geneva gave Ministers meeting in other parts of the world a clear picture 
of where they needed to  focus their attention. 
47. He had asked Members to be clear now about wh at they could realistically expect by July, 
and what was needed by then, k eeping in mind the goal of the Sixth Ministerial Conference in Hong 
Kong, China in December.  This, of course, was without compromising the ambitions that 
governments had established for the Round.  He had pointed out that Members were obviously not in the same situation as in July 2004, and he did not think anyone envisaged a p ackage of decisions such 
as Members had taken then.  He had also informed  Members that from his participation in various 
Ministerial gatherings, it was clear that Ministers were expecting more than just progress reports.  As 
Chairman of the TNC, he would have to provide Members in July with a very good idea not only of 
the progress they had made, but also of what would ha ve to be done to ensure a successful Ministerial 
Conference.  He had informed Members that he was personally determined to do so as clearly and 
frankly as possible, but to enable him achieve this, negotiating groups would have to narrow  WT/GC/M/95 
 Page 11 
 
 
 differences, so that the respective Chairs could pr ovide him with their inputs and assessment by early 
July.  As much specificity as possible would theref ore be required in some areas of the negotiations 
on the shape of the likely outcome at Hong Kong.  In other areas, the level of specificity would 
necessarily be lower.  Overall, however, governments would need to be confident that their priority 
interests would be handled at the Ministerial Conf erence in such a way as to prepare for a successful 
concluding phase of the Round.  The substantive b asis of whatever progress he would be able to 
report in July was being built now in the negotiati ng groups.  The further Members could get by the 
summer break, the better the outlook for Hong Kong.  This was why he had continuously stressed to 
delegations the need for a greater sense of urgenc y.  Members had made some ground, but they did 
not have any time to lose.  In this light, he ha d assured delegations that he would keep the work 
processes under review.  It was his belief that it might be opportune to make greater use of informal 
processes in order to maximize the productive linka ges among issues and to be gin to develop a sense 
of coherence as Members moved ahead to Hong Kong. 
48. He then briefly highlighted the status of progr ess in the negotiations in some specific areas.  
On agriculture, some significant developments in  resolving the AVE issu e had preceded the TNC 
meeting.  Although there remained so me aspects of this issue that s till needed to be settled, all seemed 
to hope that the Special Session the following week would be able to start discussion of the complex 
and difficult set of issues related to agricultural mark et access.  His hope was that the way would then 
be cleared for progress to be made in the othe r negotiating groups.  On the NAMA negotiations, 
although the five proposals had had a catalytic eff ect, there had been no convergence as yet.  He was 
hopeful that the momentum created by resolving the AVE issue would also have a positive knock-on 
effect in these negotiations.  The CTD Special Session had now started on the Agreement-specific 
proposals on S&D submitted by the LDCs, which was a good sign.  As time was running particularly 
short in this area, his hope was that Members would allow the Chairman of the Special Session to find 
a way to move on to the other proposals as well.  On Services, he had written to Ministers in January about the state of torpor they risked falling into if they did not get more offers on the table, as well as 
substantive improvements to those already submit ted.  He had sent another, stronger letter to 
Ministers of those Members which had not yet submitte d an initial offer, asking them to do so without 
delay.  This letter had also served as a reminder of the broader implications for the overall DDA negotiations.  He was pleased to report that a fe w Members had begun to heed these calls.  Since the 
beginning of May, initial offers had been receive d from Brunei Darussalam, Pakistan and Dominica.  
Canada had submitted a revised offe r, and he understood that Australia  had also submitted its revised 
offer earlier that day.  This was indeed encouragin g, and he thanked all those Members.  He also 
urged other Members with outstanding offers  to follow in this positive direction. 
49. In the other areas of the negotiations, di scussions in the Negotiating Group on Trade 
Facilitation continued to move ahead on the basis of  quite a number of new proposals, including from 
developing countries, which was an encouraging sign.  In the Negotiating Group on Rules, a meeting 
on RTAs had concluded the previous week, and th e Group would take up its other areas of work from 
the following Monday, on the basis of informal pape rs submitted for consideration at that meeting.  
He said that although there was now a brighter overa ll picture, it was still not good enough.  Members 
were still well behind where they should be, and time  was not on their side.  Members absolutely had 
to make concrete progress across the board.  Ther e continued to be a high level of commitment to 
achieving results at the Ministerial Conference, whic h would take Members into the end-game of the 
Round so that it could conclude in 2006.  Howeve r, if Members were going to be able to judge 
whether they were on course for this in July, they would have to make progress very rapidly.  He still 
remained hopeful that his report at that time would reflect solid progress, and that he would also be able to give Members a clear idea of what would ha ve to be done in the autu mn to ensure a successful 
Ministerial Conference.  He would certainly do everything within his power to facilitate that.  
However, ultimately, this did not depend on him.  Rather, it depended fully on the Members, and the 
convergence they were able to achieve. WT/GC/M/95 
Page 12  
 
 50. All representatives who spoke thanked the Director-General for his report. 
51. The representative of Rwanda
, on behalf of the African Group , said she shared the Director-
General's assessment of the progress of the negotiations.  She thanked the Director-General for his efforts in helping all Members to better carry out their tasks.  It appeared that the development component was still lagging behind in all issues.  In this context, while Members were preparing 
to work hard for the first approximation outcome in July, the African Group wished to make a 
few comments.  First, the development compon ent in all clusters under negotiation was a key 
element for Africa.  This was a mandate given to the entire membership, not just to the African 
Members.  Second, the need for urgency as alerted by the Director-General, as well as the need for a constructive and pro-active work was of great importance to the entire membership for a 
successful Hong Kong Ministerial Co nference.  Third, and finally, the African Group once again 
remained ready to play continuously its positi ve role in ensuring a balanced outcome. 
52. The representative of Benin
, on behalf of the ACP Group , thanked the TNC Chairman for 
his unstinting efforts to drive forward the negotiati ng process of the Doha Round, and requested that 
Benin's statement on behalf of the ACP Group at th e 19 May meeting of the TNC be included in the 
records of the present meeting.1 
53. The representative of Australia  confirmed the Director-General's understanding that 
Australia had earlier that day submitted its revised offer on services.  A key feature of the revised 
offer was new commitments Australia was proposing to  make in the temporary movement of business 
persons, or Mode 4.  The offer on Mode 4 covered, in particular, contractual service suppliers and 
independent professionals, and respond ed directly to the concerns and interests of many developing-
country Members who wanted stronger commitments in Mode 4 categories that were de-linked from 
commercial presence.  The revised offer also fore shadowed new and improved commitments in a 
range of sectors, including legal, communications, e nvironmental, freight logistics, construction, air 
transport and other business services.  Australia lo oked forward to working with other Members to 
achieve a critical mass of ambitious, comprehens ive and high-quality services offers in the coming 
weeks. 
54. The representative of Zambia , on behalf of the LDCs , supported the statements by Rwanda 
for the African Group and by Benin for the ACP Group. 
55. The representatives of Djibouti  echoed Zambia's support for the statements by Rwanda and 
Benin.  While the Director-General was doing ever ything possible to assist Members to find solutions, 
his delegation was not sure what degree of progr ess would be found in July.  July was only 30 
working days away, and Members needed to be ma ture and intelligent enoug h to find solutions in 
certain areas so that they did not end up in Ho ng Kong, China empty-handed.  This was a concern 
shared by all delegations as well as by the Director -General.  Delegations in  Geneva had to produce 
results, whatever their importance, as the outside  world was observing the WTO.  Success in the 
negotiations depended to a great extent on the Memb ers in Geneva – i.e. those who were responsible 
for conducting the negotiations.  Ministers were far fr om Geneva and had other problems to deal with.  
Therefore, it was important that delegations in Gene va worked to help their Ministers, who followed 
their advice.  He wished all delegations good luck. 
56. The representative of the Philippines  said that the Director-General's report captured the 
essential points of the important discussion held by the TNC the previous week.  It also provided 
Members with a clear indication of what needed to be accomplished by the summer break, if they 
were to increase the chances of su ccess at the Hong Kong Ministerial.  He wished to underscore 
                                                      
1 The statement by Benin on behalf of the ACP Group at the TNC meeting of 19 May, which is 
reflected in the records of that meeting in document TN/C/M/18, is incorporated by reference.  WT/GC/M/95 
 Page 13 
 
 
 briefly three points.  First, there was clearly much  work to be done in 2005, and while Ministerial 
involvement was critical from time to time, the b ackbone of the negotiations, as the Director-General 
had said, would be the Geneva process.  His delegation shared the Director-General's assessment of the need for a sense of urgency among delegations an d in capitals.  Second,  the Philippines wished to 
reiterate its view that the outcome of the DDA nego tiations should be a balanced package that all 
could take back to their capitals  and constituencies.  His delegation hoped, however, that in the run-up 
to the Hong Kong Ministerial, Members would avoi d unqualified characterizations of the pace of 
negotiations by broad claims that some sectors were moving faster than others, and that slower sectors 
were supposed to move faster.  Third, the Phili ppines wished to reiterate its position that the 
development dimension should be clearly reflected in  the outcome of the negotiations, particularly in 
issues crucial to developing countries and in areas  where they could generate viable commercial 
gains, and in means to accelerate their full integr ation into the multilateral trading system.  His 
delegation joined those who had pledged their full commitment to the successful conclusion of the 
DDA negotiations.  In this light, the Philippines re iterated its commitment to remain actively engaged 
in the negotiations, and looked forward to workin g with all delegations towards a convergence of 
ideas and positions. 
57. The representative of Kenya
 said his delegation agreed with the Director-General's 
assessment of the level of progress thus far.  Ind eed, when Kenya looked at the development-related 
issues, it could use stronger words than those of the Director-General .  Kenya also took note that the 
Director-General had written twice to Ministers re garding services, and wondered if the Director-
General could not do the same on development-related issues, because these seemed to be lagging 
behind services.  This would also help to ensure th at development did not cont inue to take a backseat, 
but took its rightful place as Members headed towards Hong Kong. 
58. The representative of Barbados  said that more urgent attention should be given to the matter 
of S&D treatment for all developing countries. 
59. The Chairman  thanked the Chairman of the TNC on Members' behalf for his report, joined 
him in welcoming the three initial and three revised  offers that had been received on services, and 
joined him in encouraging those who had not yet subm itted their initial offers to do so, and for the rest 
to submit their revised offers in good time. 
60. The General Council took note  of the Director-General's report and of the statements. 
61. The Chairman , referring to the chairmanship of th e Special Session of the Committee on 
Agriculture, said that all Members would have seen the communication she had received on 23 May 
from the New Zealand authorities informing her and the membership as a whole that Mr. Tim Groser 
had stepped down as New Zealand Permanent Representative, following his decision to become a candidate for election to his country's legislature.   This communication had been circulated to all 
Members at the request of New Zealand.  She was sure all Members would join her in welcoming the 
offer of the New Zealand Government to supply the necessary resources to enable Mr. Groser to 
continue to carry out his functions as Chair of  the Agriculture Special Session and Cotton Sub-
Committee until the summer break.  This showed a strong sense of responsibility and commitment to 
the WTO system, and Members thanked New Zealand for it.  Concerning the position after July, it 
would be necessary for the membership to reflect on wh at was in the best interests of the negotiating 
process as one approached the Hong Kong Ministerial.  Members had time to consider this before the 
next General Council, and she would be r eady to conduct consu ltations as necessary. 
62. The General Council took note
 of the statement. WT/GC/M/95 
Page 14  
 
 5. Report by the Director-General on his consultative process on all outstanding 
implementation issues under paragraph 12(b) of the Doha Ministerial Declaration 
63. The Chairman
 recalled that in paragraph 1(d) of its Decision of July 2004 (WT/L/579), the 
General Council, without prejudice to the positions of  Members, had requested the Director-General 
to continue with his consultative process  on all outstanding implementation issues under 
paragraph 12(b) of the Doha Ministerial Declaration,  including on issues related to the extension of 
the protection of geographical indications provid ed for in Article 23 of the TRIPS Agreement to 
products other than wines and spirits.  The Genera l Council had agreed that the Director-General 
would report to the TNC and the Gene ral Council no later than May 2005. 
64. The Director-General, Chairman of  the Trade Negotiations Committee , said that at the 
previous week's TNC meeting he had made a deta iled progress report on these consultations.  His 
report had been circulated immediately after the TN C meeting in document J ob(05)/83, and he wished 
to highlight some important aspects of it.  In keep ing with the July 2004 Decision, the process he had 
undertaken since July 2004 had been without prej udice to the positions of Members on any of the 
outstanding implementation issues.  As he had re ported to the General Counc il on previous occasions, 
this work had been undertaken on two track s.  The first track concerned all outstanding 
paragraph 12(b) implementation issues except the GI  extension issue.  In the light of initial 
consultations he had undertaken in October 2004, he had requested the Chairpersons of the WTO 
bodies concerned to act as his Friends, in line with th e July Decision, and had asked them to carry out 
consultations, on his behalf, on the scope for progr ess on the issues relevant to the WTO body they 
were chairing at that time.  He wished to th ank the Chairs who had acted as his Friends for the 
strenuous efforts they had put in to make progress on the individual issues, and for the dedication they 
had demonstrated in doing so. They had all conti nued their work until quite recently, and he had met 
with them to hear their reports to him on a regular basis.  On the second track, namely, the 
GI extension issue, in the light of a number of consultations he had unde rtaken in October and 
November of 2004, he had requested Deputy Direct or-General Mr. Thompson-Flôres to conduct, on 
his behalf, a technical-level process aimed at clarifyi ng the issues related to GI extension, building on 
the work already undertaken.  Mr. Thompson-Flôres had held a number of consultative meetings, and 
had reported to him on this process. 
65. From his full progress report in document Job(05)/83, he would say that the signs of progress 
overall were rather modest, but that taken together  with the good level of e ngagement by delegations 
on both tracks, he remained hopeful that some substa ntive results were still possible.  The picture was 
a mixed one, with more encouraging signs in some ar eas than in others, and in some cases, ways in 
which Members could try to move forward had emerge d which deserved to be further explored.  This 
was positive and, he hoped, a sign that Members might  yet be able to reach appropriate solutions in 
some areas.  He suggested that the consultativ e processes continue on both tracks.  He would report 
again to the July meetings of the TNC and Gene ral Council.  The aim would be to move ahead 
wherever possible, so that the General Council was in a position to review progress and take any 
appropriate action, in line with the July 2004 Decisi on.  He again urged all to make every effort to 
allow progress to be made.  In the July Decision, Members had been asked to redouble their efforts to 
find appropriate solutions to the outstanding impl ementation issues as a priority.  Members would 
need both flexibility and creativity in their approaches to  these issues if they were to be able to respect 
their mandate. 
66. The representative of Peru  said his delegation wished to reiterate the interest it had expressed 
at the recent TNC meeting when the Chairman ha d presented his report on implementation issues.  
Peru was committed to the principles governing th is organization and to the multilateral trade 
negotiation process launched in Doha.  It was convinced  that this Round had to be ambitious in all of 
the areas covered if Members wanted a favourable ou tcome that benefited all and met the objectives 
they had set when they had identified this Round as the Development Round.  It was therefore with  WT/GC/M/95 
 Page 15 
 
 
 prudent optimism that Peru viewed the results achieved  at the recent Mini-Ministerial meeting in Paris 
with respect to AVEs.  Peru hoped this was only the first of a number of steps needed to build 
confidence and consolidate the negotiating process in  Geneva, which it considered fundamental.  
Although Peru had only a small delegation, it was tr ying to participate actively in all areas and to 
contribute to the progress of the negotiations and the search for c onsensus by submitting concrete 
proposals in areas such as services, trade facilitation, and rules. 
67. At the recent TNC meeting when the Chairman had presented his report on implementation 
issues – and prior to that, in meetings of the TR IPS Council and informal c onsultations on the subject 
– Peru had stressed the high priority it attached to  intellectual property and to fulfilling the mandate of 
bringing the TRIPS Agreement into line with th e Convention on Biodiversity.  His delegation had 
spoken in particular of the need to address the issu e of including the obligation of disclosure of origin, 
prior informed consent, and access and benefit-shari ng with respect to genetic materials and resources 
– whether or not associated with traditional kn owledge of indigenous peoples – as a mandatory 
requirement in the patent system.  The consultatio ns had revealed that many Members felt the time 
had come to address this problem effectively in the WTO and to try to rebalance and clarify the 
TRIPS Agreement, which currently failed to respon d to many developing-country concerns.  This was 
reflected, inter alia , in the growing number of cases of bio-piracy, the effect of which on the 
developing countries was substantial.  Peru also be lieved this would help balance the negotiations on 
implementation and, in general, the final results of  the Round.  Peru's target for the end of the Round 
was the mandatory disclosure of origin of genetic  resources and traditional knowledge in the patent 
system.  Both the first approximation and the te xt submitted to the Hong Kong Ministerial should 
single out this issue.  In Hong Kong, Members woul d have to agree on a clear mandate to tackle the 
problem of disclosure of origin of genetic r esources and traditional knowledge, prior informed 
consent, and access and benefit-sharing, including agreeing on the modalities, the time-limits, and the 
various elements that would have to be included.  In reiterating Peru's commitment to an ambitious 
Round with concrete results for a ll, his delegation trusted that th e next stage of the informal 
consultation process suggested by the TNC Chairm an would enable Members to find a positive 
response on this subject, and a concrete soluti on for the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference. 
68. The representative of India  said that implementation issues had been a major concern for 
India and other developing countries in the negotia tions.  India was therefore strongly supportive of 
the process under the Director-General's responsibility, and called for its intensification in the run-up 
to the first approximation.  Enhancing the develo pment content of the TRIPS Agreement, and in 
particular making it fully supportive of the objectives  of the CBD through appropriate clarifications 
and improvements, was an important element in the development agenda of the negotiations.  In this 
connection, he fully associated his delegation with  Peru's statement.  India urged speedy progress on 
this implementation issue, with a view, at the l east, to securing an explicit recognition in the first 
approximation of the negotiating mandate of  the Doha Declaration on this subject. 
69. The representative of the Dominican Republic  supported Peru's request regarding a clear 
mandate at the next Ministerial Conference that  would solve the problem of adapting the TRIPS 
Agreement to the CBD.  In particular, Members needed  to look at the need to consider the obligation 
for the disclosure of origin, prior in formed consent and distribution of benefits with regard to genetic 
resources. 
70. The representative of Ecuador  said that as his delegation had stated on several occasions, it 
firmly supported the disclosure of origin of genetic resources whethe r or not they were related to 
traditional knowledge, prior informed consent and ac cess and distribution of benefits within the 
implementation-related issues that were being discussed in the Doha Round negotiations.  His 
delegation joined in supporting Peru's statement, and was confident that this agreement, around which 
a large consensus had been built, would indeed meet the concerns of countries that had great 
biological diversity.  Ecuador hoped that this could be incorporated both in the first approximation for WT/GC/M/95 
Page 16  
 
 July, as well as in the results of the Hong Kong Minist erial Conference.  This was an issue that was 
positive and that would dissuade bio-piracy.  Amen dment of the TRIPS Agreement in this respect 
would be a very positive step. 
71. The representative of Benin
, on behalf of the ACP Group , noted the Director-General's report 
on his consultative process on all outstanding impl ementation issues under paragraph 12(b) of the 
Doha Declaration.  He expressed appreciation for th e Director-General's efforts in carrying out the 
mandate entrusted to him in the July 2004 Decision.  It was clear, however, that much remained to be 
done, and that the absence of concrete and significant results in this area would substantially detract 
from the Doha Round's development dimension.  The ACP Group therefore urged the Director-
General to redouble his efforts, and called upon Me mbers to engage further in constructive and 
fruitful negotiations aimed at resolving implementa tion issues.  The ACP Group continued to stand 
ready to provide every support in ensuring a successf ul outcome to this part of the Doha Agenda. 
72. The representative of Bolivia  said that, as her delegation had stated on previous occasions, 
one of the priorities and responses Bo livia hoped to have in Hong K ong was the well-stated final goal 
Peru had outlined, as well as the path to be followe d to make mandatory the disclosure of origin of 
genetic resources and traditiona l knowledge, as one of the re quirements for patentability. 
73. The representative of Paraguay  thanked the Friends of the Director-General for the 
consultations they had been holding.  Paraguay hope d that Members could achieve results promptly, 
and that one of these would be precisely the propos al described by Peru, and supported by a large 
number of delegations, to clarify the TRIPS Agreemen t so as to incorporate bio-diversity, which was 
of considerable interest to Paraguay.  His delegati on joined in supporting the statements by Peru and 
others who had stated their interest in this subject. 
74. The representative of Brazil  said that his country's position on this question was well known.  
Brazil fully supported the statements by Peru, I ndia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Bolivia and 
Paraguay. 
75. The representative of Colombia  said that, as his delegation had also stated on previous 
occasions, it wished to see the conclusion of the Round include adapting the TRIPS Agreement to the 
CBD.  It was also important to deal with disclosur e of origin, prior consent, access and distribution of 
benefits for genetic resources, associated or not with the traditional knowledge of indigenous peoples.  
These were the central pre-requisites to patentability. 
76. The representative of China  associated his delegation with the proposal by Peru which had 
been supported by a number of delegations. 
77. The representative of Costa Rica  supported the statements made under this item. 
78. The General Council took note  of the Director-General's report and of the statements. 
6. Work Programme on Small Economies – Report by the Chairman of the Dedicated 
Session of the Committee on Trade and Development 
79. The Chairman  recalled that at its meeting in Febr uary and March 2002, the General Council 
had taken note of a framework and procedures fo r the conduct of the Work Programme on Small 
Economies, under which this Work Programme sh all be a standing item on the General Council's 
agenda.  The framework and procedures also pr ovided that the Committee on Trade and Development 
shall report regularly to the General Council on the pr ogress of work in its Dedicated Sessions on this 
subject.  WT/GC/M/95 
 Page 17 
 
 
 80. Mr. Senadhira (Sri Lanka), Chairman of the Dedicated Session of the Committee on Trade 
and Development  said that since the previous General Council meeting the Dedicated Session had 
held three formal, as well as some informal, meetings.  The first of the formal meetings had been held 
on 21 February under the chairmanship of his predecessor, and had focused on two main points.  The first concerned the three-step approach for adva ncing the Work Programme, namely (i) considering 
the use of characteristics to identify what could be  accepted as small, vulne rable economies, without 
naming any group of countries;  (ii) considering th e trade-related problems which could reasonably be 
attributed to those characteristics, without naming any group of countries;  and (iii) framing responses 
to those trade-related problems, without naming any group of countries.  The second point discussed 
at that meeting concerned a new proposal by a group of countries, which provided an indicative list of 
specific characteristics and problems face d by small economies (WT/COMTD/SE/W/12). 
81. The first Dedicated Session under his chairmanship  had been held on 6 April, at which he had 
expressed his intention to continue following the useful three-step approach developed by his 
predecessor.  In the discussions of the Work Progra mme, it had been agreed to try to have informal 
meetings of the Dedicated Session at the pace of on e a month, so that Members could move ahead and 
deliver some concrete results in time for the Sixth Ministerial Conference.  The Dedicated Session's 
meeting in April had coincided with the "Gen eva Week" programme for non-residents, and had 
focused again on document WT/COMTD/SE/W/12.  In  response to statements by Members, a three-
pronged approach had been proposed to examine the characteristics and problems.  This approach 
included looking at the problems and characteristic s identified by the proponents from three main 
angles, including:  (i) areas where a WTO solution could be found;  (ii) areas where WTO solutions 
might be available, but would need to be comb ined with assistance from other agencies;  and 
(iii) areas where a solution might lie elsewhere, i.e.  outside the WTO.  Discussions on the indicative 
list of characteristics and problems of small economies contained in WT/COMTD/SE/W/12 had 
concluded on 12 April 2005.  At that meeting, the proponents had announced their intention to submit 
a new paper that would focus more on finding solutio ns to some of the problems identified thus far. 
82. A formal meeting to discuss the new submission by the group of proponents had been held 
the previous day.  This new proposal, entitled "Wor k Programme on Small Economies:  An Approach 
to Framing Responses to the Trade-Related Problem s of Small Economies", had been circulated in 
document WT/COMTD/SE/W/13.  The proponents had e xplained that their paper contained elements 
of responses to the trade-related problems of th e small, vulnerable economies, and that concrete 
responses along the lines of the elements proposed thus  far would be elaborated on at the next stage.  
The latest proposal had been made to help la y the foundations upon which the Dedicated Session 
could start to frame responses to the trade-relate d issues and problems faced by small economies.  He 
was pleased to report that discussions at the mee ting had been very useful, and that Members had 
welcomed the framing of problems faced by small ec onomies into the different areas of WTO work.  
Many delegations believed this w as an incremental step forward in the Work Programme.  Many had 
also expressed the view that the Dedicated Session needed to move soon to start discussing concrete 
proposals.  Regarding the way forward, he remain ed optimistic about addressing the mandate of the 
Dedicated Session and about finding solutions to th e problems of small and vulnerable economies.  
He intended to continue with the Dedicated Session' s monthly informal meetings to advance the Work 
Programme.  The next formal meeting was scheduled  for October, and at that meeting he hoped to 
take stock of the work done so far and to see whethe r there were some elements of a response to the 
problems of small economies that could be presented for action by Ministers at the Sixth Ministerial 
Conference. 
83. All representatives who spoke thanked the Chai rman of the CTD Dedicated Session for his 
detailed report and for the efforts he  had made to try to achieve substantive results in this area. 
84. The representative of Barbados
, on behalf of the small-economy Members , said it was 
important to elaborate further on the work done thus  far in the Dedicated Session, as well as to voice WT/GC/M/95 
Page 18  
 
 these delegations' expectations for the first-approxima tion text and the Sixth Ministerial Conference.  
In this Development Round, and especially since the July 2004 General Council Decision, the small-
economy countries had been working assiduously to rea lize the intentions of Ministers at Doha and 
the promise embedded in Paragraph 35 of the Doha Declaration.  They had sought to avoid forming 
any new sub-category and had embarked on a ch aracteristics-based approach, as reported to the 
General Council on 15 February.  At the previous da y's Dedicated Session, they had sought to confirm 
the assertion that the WTO could r espond to characteristics within th e ranks of developing countries, 
because it had done just that in the past.  One example was the treatment of net food-importing 
developing countries in the Uruguay Round, and a nother was the treatment of subsistence and 
resource-poor farmers in Paragraph 11 of Annex A to the July 2004 Decision.  The concerns of small, 
vulnerable economies could equally be addressed on the basis of needs and characteristics and 
without creating any new sub-category.  The sma ll-economy countries had discussed characteristics 
and trade-related problems resulting from the combination of these characteristics, as well as their intensity in small, vulnerable economies, and th e resulting challenges these economies faced in 
overcoming these intrinsic characteristics and problem s, and were now preparing concrete responses 
to those trade-related problems.  Paragraph 35 of the Doha Declaration stated, in part, that "The 
General Council shall review the work programme and make recommendations for action to the ....  
Ministerial Conference," and these countries wished to see the results of such a review reflected in the 
anticipated first approximation at the end of July.  In addition, as these countries prepared to submit 
concrete proposals to the negotiating bodies, they would expect that the General Council would 
encourage the negotiating bodies to substantively ad dress those proposals, so that the General Council 
could meet its obligation by making recommendations for action to the next Ministerial Conference. 
85. Reaffirming the mandate given by Ministers, a nd with due recognition of the challenges faced 
by the small, vulnerable economies in integrating into the global economy, he said that from both a 
political and a trade-related perspective, the importance of addressing the concerns of these 
economies was imperative.  The responses that th e small-economy Members were aiming at did not 
attempt to minimize the flow of S&D treatment to developing countries, but merely to build on it in a 
few areas.  The responses these countries sought were also not intended to, and could not in any way, undermine the special treatment being extended to LDCs.  They sought nothing that took away anything from other developing countries.  The Pa ragraph 35 mandate should be interpreted only as 
offering an opportunity for Members to recognize the particular circumstances of the small, vulnerable economies and to frame responses accordingly. 
86. The representatives of the Dominican Republic, Paraguay, Cuba, Jamaica, Benin (for the 
ACP Group), Mauritius, Nicaragua, Antigua and Bar buda (for the Eastern Caribbean Members), the 
Solomon Islands (also for Papua New Guinea), Zamb ia (for the LDCs), Honduras, El Salvador fully 
supported the statement by Barbados. 
87. The representative of Guatemala
 said that in order to move constructively ahead and faithfully 
discharge the responsibility Members had with regard to this Work Programme, the delegations of the 
small-economy Members were continuing to work  intensively, both among themselves and in 
consultation with other Members, on the preparatio n of written proposals that would serve as a basis 
for moving this work forward and delivering on the Paragraph 35 mandate.  In view of the current 
stage of discussions in the CTD Dedicated Sessions, Guatemala considered it important to advance in 
search of actions that would lead to solutions to  the identified problems of the small economies.  
These solutions should address the fundamental consid erations bearing on the insignificant share of 
the small economies in international trade – 0.04 pe r cent in the case of Guatemala – and the ensuing 
limitations facing these economies in the multilateral trading system.  Accordingly, the small-economy Members had presented the CTD Dedicated Session with a platform document outlining actions that would enable them to identify soluti ons, which would need to be approved in the CTD 
Dedicated Session, followed by the General Council, before being forwarded to  and reviewed without 
delay – by July – in the various negotiating gr oups.  The proposed actions would provide small  WT/GC/M/95 
 Page 19 
 
 
 economies with a tool for enhanced participation in the Doha Development Round, so that Members 
would be ready to offer Ministers a large window  of opportunity for framing a positive response by 
the multilateral trading system, aimed at promoting broader and growing par ticipation of the small 
economies in international trade and, hence, cont ributing to their development and poverty-reduction 
strategies. 
88. The representative of Bolivia  thanked Barbados for its statement.  Bolivia wished to highlight 
the very valuable and constructive comments that ha d been made by many delegations at the recent 
meeting of the Dedicated Session.  His delegation considered that this very open attitude of the 
membership would enable them to make progress,  and was certain that, with the support of the 
Chairman and the Director-General, they would be  able to make progress and complete one of the 
pending tasks before the Hong Kong Ministerial. 
89. The representative of Honduras  said that addressing this issue was of fundamental importance 
for Honduras.  The Paragraph 35 mandate would not be completely fulfilled unless concrete outcomes 
in this area were secured at the Hong Kong Minist erial.  Honduras had been working constructively 
with other Members to find solutions that would help them move forward.  Document 
WT/COMTD/SE/W/13, which had been presented to the CTD Dedicated Session the previous day 
and was co-sponsored by 20 Members, contained a plat form for framing responses to the trade-related 
problems of small economies.  It was the result of a joint effort by several delegations that viewed 
themselves as sharing certain characteristics and pr oblems, the effects of which made them more 
vulnerable and affected them to a greater degree.  At the CTD Dedicated Session his delegation had 
cited the example of Honduras, which had been hit by a hurricane in late October and early 
November 1998.  According to estimates by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the 
Caribbean, the hurricane had caused close to US$ 4 billi on worth of direct and indirect damage to the 
economy – in other words, an amount equivalent to 70 per cent of the country's GDP in 1998.  Some other countries in the region had not suffered any im pact on GDP growth rates.  Honduras had cited 
this example as evidence of the vulnerability of small economies to such disasters, and was well 
aware that other circumstances could also affect a country and place it in serious difficulty.  Honduras 
considered that special flexibilities for small ec onomies should be included in the negotiations on 
agriculture and NAMA, as in other areas, and str essed that the special circumstances of small 
economies should be taken into account whatever the outcome of the negotiations.  He reminded 
Members of Honduras's insignificant 0.03 per cent share in global trade.  Therefore, the modalities to 
be adopted in the negotiations woul d have to be sufficiently flexible  and in accordance with the level 
of development of small economies.  Honduras remained committed to the mandate and would 
continue to work towards positive outcomes in the immediate future. 
90. The representative of El Salvador
 re-emphasized the importance El Salvador attached to 
delivering effectively on the Doha mandate to seek solutions that would allow small, vulnerable 
economies, such as El Salvador, to become integr ated into the global trading system.  In this 
connection, El Salvador had co-sponsored the submission in document WT/COMTD/SE/W/13, which 
outlined the areas in which concrete proposals for solutions would be put forward, taking into 
consideration the discussions under way in other ne gotiating bodies.  As Members moved closer to 
the July deadline for a first approximation of the r esults of the Hong Kong Ministerial, his delegation 
wished to repeat, as it had said in the CTD, that it was extremely important to include, in proper form, 
a space for small, vulnerable economies.  El Salvad or also wished to underscore the importance of 
achieving concrete outcomes at the Hong Kong Mini sterial.  His delegation hoped that Members 
would continue to work constructively on this Work Programme. 
91. The representative of Dominican Republic  reiterated the high priority of this issue for his 
country.  Like others, her delegation wished to me ntion the presentation at the Dedicated Session of a 
document which it hoped would serve as a basis for the submission of specific proposals to the 
different negotiating bodies under the mandate an d supervision of the General Council.  Her WT/GC/M/95 
Page 20  
 
 delegation hoped that all of this work would, at th e end of the day, lead to the adoption of concrete 
decisions at the Sixth Ministerial Conference, and that this would allow for the full integration of 
small economies into the multilateral trading system. 
92. The representative of Paraguay
 said that Barbados had aired most of his delegation's views – 
for example, regarding specific measures which soug ht to respond to the needs of small economies.  
At the present juncture, the concerns that exis ted on the meaning and the objectives of countries 
considered to be small and vulnerable economies had now been cleared up.  Therefore, Members 
could now move forward and fulfil the mandate set ou t in Paragraph 35 of the Doha Declaration.  The 
delegations that were pushing this Work Programme  forward had carried out informal consultations 
with many interested delegations.  The docum ent they had presented in WT/COMTD/SE/W/13, 
which had been examined at the most recent meeti ng of the Dedicated Session, reflected the approach 
adopted in the CTD in this area.  This had been me ntioned by the CTD Chairman in his report at the 
present meeting.  At the same time, this document re flected many of the opinions and points of view 
expressed by the Members consulted.  Paraguay was therefore confident that this would serve as a 
good basis to move forward with this work, in order to be able to adopt specific decisions in Hong 
Kong which took on board the concerns of small economies.  Paraguay, as a landlocked developing 
country, considered that the time had now come to look into the need, as far as trade was concerned, 
of this group of developing countries which su ffered from a very serious disadvantage, which 
substantially limited their competitiveness and also frustrated their development efforts.  That was 
why Paraguay supported the statement by Barbados, and why it also hoped that it would be able to 
rely on the understanding a nd support of delegations, so as to be able to see its efforts crowned with 
success. 
93. The representative of Cuba  said this issue was of fundamental importance for Cuba, and her 
delegation hoped that the July General Council w ould specifically take up the action-oriented 
recommendations and solutions to problems encountered  by small economies.  In the meantime, Cuba 
would continue to work constructively on this issue.   Her delegation wished to stress certain elements 
in Barbados's statement.  One concerned the fact th at the treatment to be gi ven to small economies did 
not at all erode the fair treatment that should be  given to the LDCs, nor was it an erosion of S&D 
treatment for developing countries.  This was a pr inciple that Cuba considered to be one of the 
foundations of the multilateral trading system, and the only way to restore balance in that system.  This involved allowing for an equitable distribution of  the benefits of international trade, which for 
Cuba constituted a fundamental hope.  Cuba therefore hoped that the July package would prepare the 
way for an effective decision on small economie s to be taken at the Hong Kong Ministerial 
Conference. 
94. The representative of Jamaica
 thanked Members for their con tinued constructive engagement 
in this process, which was aimed at ensuring th e implementation of Paragraph 35 of the Doha 
Declaration.  It was fair to say that significan t progress had been made over the past few weeks, 
particularly since the Dedicated Session had agreed  to a three-phase approach as a basis for moving 
the Work Programme forward.  Members had had a thorough discussion on phases one and two, which concerned the characteristics of small, vulne rable economies and their trade-related problems.  
They were now at a point where it was necessary to move into the third and most important phase of 
this work, which was to frame responses to those probl ems.  In this context,  Jamaica joined in co-
sponsoring an important document that had been ta bled the previous day in the Dedicated Session, 
which outlined a non-exhaustive list of elements of responses to the trade-related problems of small 
economies.  Jamaica discerned an increasing level of understanding of these issues on the part of the wider membership, and also the preparedness to further engage, not only in the CTD Dedicated 
Session, but in the relevant negotiating groups.  Ja maica wished to note that this document addressed 
important issues to be addressed in ongoing nego tiations in agriculture, NAMA, services, trade 
facilitation and, importantly, also in rules.  His delegation intended to work with other Members and 
other small-economy proponents to elaborate speci fic and concrete proposals in these areas, and  WT/GC/M/95 
 Page 21 
 
 
 anticipated further constructive engagements so as  to ensure the fulfillment of the mandate in 
Paragraph 35 of the Doha Declaration.  For Jamai ca, the outcome regarding Paragraph 35 would be a 
very important element.  Indeed, it would be a cr ucial element in its evaluation of balance in the 
overall Doha Work Programme.  Jamaica theref ore looked forward to a positive and accommodative 
response to the concerns that small economies woul d address in the specific proposals to be tabled. 
95. The representative of Benin , on behalf of the ACP Group , stressed the importance of the 
mandate in Paragraph 35 of the Doha Declara tion.  The ACP Group wished to see a successful 
outcome in the Dedicated Session with a view to adopting, at the Hong Kong Ministerial, concrete 
measures that would assist small economies in tackling the specific problems they faced. 
96. The representative of Mauritius  said that the issue of small economies was vital for a small, 
island developing country like Mauritiu s.  His country was also prone to particular vulnerabilities, and 
needed specific responses to match the special circumstances of its weaknesses.  This was why his 
delegation fully supported the statement by Ba rbados, as well as the comprehensive document 
submitted by Barbados the previous day to the De dicated Session, which Ma uritius wished to co-
sponsor. 
97. The representative of Nicaragua  said his delegation particularly wished to thank the Members 
who had shown flexibility on these issues, and hoped that such a position would be maintained 
throughout the negotiating process. 
98. The representative of Antigua and Barbuda , on behalf of the Eastern Caribbean Members ,2 
said that these countries were some of the smalle st in the WTO, with a population of less than 
500,000.  He expressed their appreciation to Members who the previous day in the Dedicated Session 
had held a very open and constructive discussion on the proposal in document 
WT/COMTD/SE/W/13, which all Eastern Caribbean Members had co-sponsored.  They appreciated that Members were indeed moving positively, al beit incrementally, towards framing concrete 
solutions in the negotiatin g groups for small, vulnerable countries in fulfilling the Doha mandate.  The 
members of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States placed a high priority on this Work 
Programme which aimed at ensuring that sm all-economy countries could integrate into the 
multilateral trading system. 
99. The representative of Australia
 said his delegation had been struck by the number of concerns 
expressed by representatives of small-economy countries, including, in particular, the Solomon Islands.  He had listened carefully to these concerns  and, like many other de legations, Australia was 
following the discussions on this matter very closely.  It had taken note of the fact that the proponents 
were anticipating bringing forward specific proposal s in negotiating groups in due course.  He was 
very conscious that many of these countries, including those who had spoken at the present meeting, were producers and exporters of fruits and vegetables.  It was in that context that Australia noted with 
concern an item his delegation had seen in the press,  that reported that one major participant in the 
negotiations was contemplating designating the fruit and vegetable sector as a sensitive item in terms 
of agricultural market-access negotiations.  His dele gation had noted that report with grave concern, 
because it was conscious that many countries in the Cairns Group, and many of those countries who had spoken at the present meeting, had aspirations to increase their exports of fruits and vegetables.  It 
was disappointing if an importing country or group of countries – particularly the largest –  anticipated that they would be excluding this sector  from the sort of opening of markets that Members 
were all hoping to achieve in the Doha negotiations. 
                                                     
 
2 Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the 
Grenadines. WT/GC/M/95 
Page 22  
 
 100. The representative of Zambia
, on behalf of the LDCs , said that appropriate measures to 
integrate the small-economy countries into the worl d trading system would be very much welcomed 
and appreciated. 
101. The representative of the European Communities , responding to Australia's statement, said 
the latter had no need for any sensitive products  in terms of the agri cultural market-access 
negotiations in view of its  phytosanitary regulations. 
102. The General Council took note  of the report by the Chairman of the Dedicated Session of the 
Committee on Trade and Development and of the statements. 
7. Implementation of Paragraph 11 of the Decision on the Implementation of Paragraph 6 
of the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health (WT/L/540) - 
Statement by the Chairman of the TRIPS Council 
103. The Chairman  recalled that at its meeting on 30  August 2003, the General Council had 
adopted a Decision on the implementation of para graph 6 of the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS 
Agreement and Public Health (WT/L/540).  Paragra ph 11 of that Decision provided that the Decision, 
including the waivers granted in it, shall term inate for each Member on the date on which an 
amendment to the TRIPS Agreement replacing its  provisions took effect for that Member.  
Furthermore, the Decision instructed the TRIPS Coun cil to initiate, by the end of 2003, work on the 
preparation of such an amendment with a view to  its adoption within six months, on the understanding 
that the amendment would be based, where appr opriate, on this Decision, and on the further 
understanding that it would not be part of the nego tiations referred to in Paragraph 45 of the Doha 
Ministerial Declaration.  At its meeting in June 2004, the TRIPS Council had agreed to continue its 
work on the preparation of the amendment with a view to making a recommendation by the end of 
March 2005, so that the General Council could conclude its work on the amendment at its first 
meeting thereafter.  The Chair of the TRIPS Council had informed the General Council, at its meeting 
on 27 July 2004, of these arrangements. 
104. Mr. Choi (Korea), Chairman of the TRIPS Council , informed the General Council of the 
status of the TRIPS Council's work on the preparat ion of an amendment to replace the provisions of 
the Decision on Implementation of Paragraph 6 of th e Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and 
Public Health.  Since July 2004, when the General Council had been informed of the arrangements for 
the continued work on this matter, it had been on  the TRIPS Council's agenda at its meetings in 
September and December 2004 and Ma rch 2005.  In addition, both hi s predecessor and he had held 
intensive consultations in various formats with a vi ew to carrying forward the work expeditiously, so 
as to be in a position to present a recommendation fo r the present meeting of the General Council.  
The TRIPS Council had not been able to reach agreement on a recommendation at its meetings in March and had agreed to continue consultations in the period up to the presen t meeting.  Since then, 
as the incoming Chair of the TRIPS Council, he had he ld further consultations on this matter.  As a 
result of these, he could report to the General C ouncil that the question of the preparation of an 
amendment continued to be actively under consider ation in the TRIPS Council, but that more time 
was necessary before the Council would be in a position to make a recommendation.  The TRIPS 
Council would be reverting to this issue at its next meeting, scheduled for 14-15 June. 
105. All representatives who spoke thanked the Chai rman of the TRIPS Council for his report and 
for his efforts on this matter. 
106. The representative of Rwanda
, on behalf of the African Group , said this issue was of great 
importance to the entire African membership.  Th e African Group took note that, according to the 
Chair's report, more time was still needed for the TRIPS Council to make a recommendation.  The 
Group was deeply concerned that time was once again running out for finalizing the permanent  WT/GC/M/95 
 Page 23 
 
 
 solution as mandated.  As all were aware, only a permanent solution would provide a sustainable, 
predictable and secure answer to this critical matter .  Therefore, the African Group strongly requested 
all Members to engage constructively in a pro-activ e manner, so that they could achieve a positive and 
final outcome before the summer break.  In this re gard, the African Group urged the Chairman of the 
TRIPS Council to conduct the necess ary consultations, as he was already doing, in the forthcomings 
weeks. 
107. The representative of Zambia , on behalf of the LDCs , associated his delegation with the 
statement by Rwanda on behalf the African Group.  He took note of the report of the Chairman of 
TRIPS Council following the latter's consultations with some Members and groups of delegations, 
and urged him to continue to consult widely in  order to work towards reducing the levels of 
frustration being felt by the most vulnerable.  The gr avity of this matter in the LDC constituencies 
could not be overemphasized and, as such, the LD Cs hoped that the resumed TRIPS Council in June 
would make greater strides in resolving the question of the amendment.  Members needed an early and permanent solution to this issue.  Members ha d again missed another deadline, but the LDCs were 
hopeful that, under the able guidance and tireless e fforts of the TRIPS Council Chair, Members would 
be able to adhere to the mandate given to them to find a sustainable, secure and predictable solution to 
this problem.  It was of great concern to the LDCs  that their peoples had access, as soon as possible, 
to affordable medicines that would help improve th eir lives and continue to contribute to the social 
and economic welfare of their respective countries. 
108. The representative of Uganda
 associated his delegation with the statements by Rwanda on 
behalf of the African Group, by Zambia on behalf of the LDCs, and the statement to be made by 
Benin on behalf of the ACP Group.  Uganda wished  to stress the importance of finding a permanent 
solution to the disturbing question of TRIPS and Pub lic Health.  While Members had been saying that 
a DDA  that did not take into consideration the n eeds and priorities of Africa was a contradiction and 
a tragedy, the seriousness of a failure to achieve a permanent solution to the issue at hand was beyond 
description.  There was no doubt that this would l eave Africa continually suffering for much longer, 
as millions continued to die of disease.  He recal led that the deadline for achieving a permanent 
solution  to the problems facing countries that had no or inadequate drug manufacturing capacity, so 
that they had access to affordable medicines, was supposed to have been achieved by 31 March 2005.  
This deadline had been missed.  Uganda invited Members to refer to the African Group's proposal 
which had been tabled in the hope of an amendm ent to paragraph 31(f) of the TRIPS Agreement.  
Uganda was disappointed that there had been no move ment by its development partners thus far, in 
favour of the most vulnerable group. His delegation looked forward to construc tive engagement with 
its development partners on the issue of TRIPS and Public Health in order to save the millions of 
African lives that were at stake.  He requested th at his delegation's statemen t at the 19 May meeting of 
the TNC be included in the records of the present meeting. 
109. The Chairman  assured the representative of Uganda that the statement his delegation had 
made at the 19 May meeting of the TNC was already on the records of that meeting which were 
contained in document TN/C/M/18.3 
110. The representative of Benin , on behalf of the ACP Group , said he had noted the statement by 
the Chairman of the TRIPS Council, and thanked him for his unstinting efforts in facilitating negotiations aimed at establishing on a permanent basis the system for using the flexibilities provided 
by the Decision of August 2003.  The Group encouraged him to step up those efforts further.  The 
ACP Group supported the statements by Rwanda on be half of the African Group and by Zambia on 
behalf of the LDCs.  The ACP Group underscore d the importance of the question of access to 
medicines for countries with insufficient or no manufact uring capacity in that sphere.  It recalled the 
                                                     
 
3 The statement by Uganda at the TNC meeting of 19 May, which is reflected in the records of that 
meeting in document TN/C/M/18, is incorporated by reference.  WT/GC/M/95 
Page 24  
 
 relevant provisions of paragraph 11 of the D ecision of August 2003 and the approach recommended 
regarding the procedure to be followed in order to permanently establish the system for using the 
flexibilities provided by this Decision, the prov isions of which applied provisionally until the 
adoption of a permanent solution.  Consequently, the ACP Group supported the proposal by the African Group concerning the amendment of Article 31(f) of the TRIPS Agreement.  The ACP Group 
called on Members to become more deeply and cl osely involved in these negotiations, so that a 
sustainable solution to this urgent and vital issu e could be found in the shortest possible time. 
111. The representative of Turkey
 said that in regard to the impl ementation of paragraph 11 of the 
August 2003 Decision, his delegati on was in favour of a technical amendment procedure that would 
not upset the balance between the rights and obliga tions of Members, as was the case in the present 
TRIPS Agreement.  As to the statement of a group of countries which had opted out of the system, he 
wished to remind Members that those statements had been made on a voluntary basis, and for that 
reason, the statement read out by the General Counc il Chairman should not be incorporated into the 
amendment, nor should it be reflected therein in any other manner. 
112. The representative of Brazil  said his delegation wished to encourage the TRIPS Council Chair 
in his efforts to arrive at a permanent solution to  this issue in the form of an amendment to the 
TRIPS Agreement.  He wished to flag an issue that he said had cr ept into the discussion lately, which 
was the addition by the Secretariat of an aster isk in document WT/L/540, which contained the 
Decision of August 2003.  The asterisk referred to a footnote regarding a statement made at the time 
by the Chairman.  While Brazil did not take issue w ith the statement that had been read out by the 
Chairman, and did not wish to call into question th e essence of that statement, his delegation wished 
to take this opportunity once again to state that it did not see a legal linkage between the Decision and 
the Chairman's statement.  Braz il believed that this understandi ng should guide Members in their 
efforts to reach a final solution in the form  of an amendment to the TRIPS Agreement. 
113. The representative of Botswana  associated his delegation with the statements by Rwanda on 
behalf of the African Group, by Benin on behalf of the ACP Group, by Zambia on behalf of the 
LDCs, and by other developing countries, particularly  Uganda.  Botswana fully shared the frustration 
arising from the lack of meaningful progress on this matter.  His delegation recalled that the Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health had actua lly been one of the highlights of the Doha 
Ministerial Conference in 2001.  This was one item which had also raised the hopes of millions of 
people, especially in the developing world, whose lives were at stake.  For people in Africa, the issue 
of TRIPS and Public Health, with particular referenc e to access to affordable medicines, was a moral 
issue of major significance, largel y because of the burden of disease experienced by most of Africa's 
countries.  The prevalence of HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria, to mention but a few, was a source of major concern to most African countries, and also militated against the accomplishment of millennium development goals.  Botswana theref ore urged Members to show commitment towards 
resolving this long outstanding issue.  It was important that the Augus t 2003 Decision was understood 
and taken for what it was – namely, a temporary solution.  It should not be confused with the 
statement by the Chairman of the TRIPS Council at the time the Decision was taken, nor should it be 
confused with the footnote to which reference had been made a number of times.  It was therefore 
important that Members move ahead and effect a dur able solution to this i ssue through an amendment 
to the TRIPS Agreement.  His delegation stood rea dy to support the TRIPS Council Chair's efforts to 
carry out consultations with a view to resolving this long outstanding issue. 
114. The representative of Kenya
 said that the TRIPS Council Chair's report did not paint a good 
picture of the progress Members had made on the im plementation of Paragraph 11 of the August 2003 
Decision on TRIPS and Public Health.  Sadly, and yet again, the TRIPS Council had failed to put a 
permanent solution in place regarding TRIPS and P ublic Health that would save millions of sick 
people in Africa, as had been alluded to by Botswa na.  Most of the time Kenya was consoled – when 
Members were at an impasse – that a temporary so lution was put in place, but the solution in the  WT/GC/M/95 
 Page 25 
 
 
 present case made access to life-savin g medicines more difficult for countries with insufficient or no 
manufacturing capacities, than for those who had ad equate capacities to produce locally.  For Kenya, 
a permanent solution to the problem identified in Pa ragraph 6 of the Decision would be to establish a 
capacity to produce life-saving pharmaceutical products  locally.  This could only be facilitated by 
having a permanent solution in the form of an amendment to the TRIPS Agreement without any 
further delay. 
115. The representative of Canada  joined other delegations in underscoring the importance of this 
issue.  However, Canada encouraged Members to keep  this issue in perspective, given that there was a 
waiver system in place and that Members were ta king action under this waiver.  Canada had passed 
legislation and regulations to implement the 2003 Decision, and this legislation and regulations had 
come into effect on 14 May 2005. 
116. The representative of India  expressed his country's concern that Members had had to extend 
yet again the deadline for completing this important  task.  However, India was encouraged by the 
efforts and commitment the TRIPS Council Chair had brought to bear on resolving this matter.  India remained committed to establishing an amendment to the TRIPS Agreement in order to give effect to 
the August 2003 Decision, taking care that it was the Decision – nothing more and nothing less – that 
became the basis of that amendmen t.  Regarding the asterisk in document WT/L/540, India shared the 
concern expressed by Brazil, and hoped that this ma tter would be resolved early, so that Members 
could move ahead with the amendment process. 
117. The representative of Jamaica
 said his delegation was grateful for the TRIPS Council Chair's 
report but did not welcome it, as Jamaica had hoped that a decision would have been taken by the 
General Council by now, particularly in  light of the timeframe that had been given for this to be done.  
Certainty and predictability in the area of TRIPS and Public Health were absolutely essential.  
Jamaica therefore shared the views of many that Me mbers had to move quickly to adopt a permanent 
solution.  Jamaica continued to believe that the August 2003 Decision should be the only basis for the 
amendment.  The amendment should not take the fo rm of a footnote, but should be a substantive 
change to the TRIPS Agreement.  Jamaica urged th e TRIPS Council Chair not only to continue, but to 
intensify his consultations in order for the TRIPS C ouncil to take a decision in June 2005 and to make 
a recommendation to the General Council for adoption in July. 
118. The representative of Switzerland  said his delegation was at a loss for words.  At this stage of 
the discussion, and after so much discussion, Members were discussing a number of formal issues, whereas the real way to solve the actual medical and other problems that had been mentioned so many 
times would be to ensure that the distribution of  medicines that were already available – and he 
stressed, already available – took place in an orde rly and fair way in the countries concerned.  The 
present kind of debate was for him somewhat surrealis tic and was not one which, in his view, brought 
much honour to the Members.  Switzerland wish ed to thank the TRIPS Council Chair for his 
commitment to finding a neutral solution to this matter.  His delegation wished to underline once 
again that a system – although some called it provisional or temporary – was in place, and that 
measures had been taken in order to provide the necessary medicines at affordable prices and in a 
most efficient manner.  As far as Switzerland was concerned, legislation had been introduced on the 
basis of the August 2003 Decision, and that legisla tion was now before the Parliament, in a process 
similar to that mentioned by Canada. 
119. He underlined that Members had a Decision onl y because there had been a statement by the 
General Council Chair at the time.  If there had be en no statement by the Chair, there would have 
been no Decision, and Members would not be in a position now to respond to the kind of crisis some countries were facing, and to respond to the mora l requirement that some Members were underlining 
with so much insistence at the present meeting.  The fact that this system and this legislation was in 
place was not the whole story.  The other part of the story was taking place down the line, where in WT/GC/M/95 
Page 26  
 
 many cases, the real problem lay.  For Switzerland, there were two elements – the Decision itself and 
the statement of the Chair.  The two together form ed a whole.  They had both been mentioned and 
read out before the Decision had been taken, and th erefore it was not possible to split them.  It was on 
this basis that Switzerland had introduced its legisl ation.  In Switzerland's view, the matter of the 
asterisk was small talk.  During a recent consultation,  Switzerland had proposed to Brazil that if it did 
not agree with the asterisk, one could consider pu tting some other symbol, perhaps a "smiley", at the 
bottom of the page which might be an improvement. 
120. The representative of the United States
 said her delegation had participated in the 
consultations by the TRIPS Council Chair, and would continue to work with colleagues to develop the 
appropriate amendment language.  Ho wever, Members needed to rememb er that the solution currently 
in place, and in place since August 2003, was not a temporary solution.  There was no time-limit.  
There was no expiration of the solution.  Members sh ould be clear that the WTO had delivered on this 
topic.  Members were not talking now about changi ng the entirety of the agreement reached in 2003 – 
the text of the Decision and the Chair's statement – but merely the legal form. 
121. The representative of Norway  said that on 14 May 2004, his country had implemented the 
August 2003 Decision in its own legislation, whic h had entered into force on 1 June 2004.  He 
believed that Norway was the first country that had a fully operational system in place.  His 
delegation had taken note of the outcome of the most recent round of consultati ons that had not led to 
any concrete results on substance, but in whic h there had been agreement that Members would 
continue to work on this issue in the next TRI PS Council in June.  Norway supported this approach, 
and believed that getting this matter right was more  important than rushing into changes to the 
TRIPS Agreement.  Norway had also noted that new proposals were forthcoming, and looked forward 
to studying them in more detail.  His delegation ha d repeatedly stated that it saw the transformation of 
the August 2003 Decision into treaty language as pr imarily a technical exercise that should not 
involve changing the substance.  That being said, the examples of Norway and Canada, and probably 
also Switzerland, showed that nothing barred Memb ers from implementing the existing waiver into 
their legislation already now.  While Norway suppo rted taking the necessary time to get this matter 
right, it was equally important that the waiver w as fully operational and that nothing in the present 
process should bar any Member from implemen ting it in their national legislation. 
122. The representative of Brazil  said he could not remain silent as  a previous speaker had tried to 
make light of a serious Government  position taken by Brazil.  This was not a small issue – it was a big 
one.  One did not have to have great training in international law to know the meaning of things.  
When Members had negotiated the text in the Augus t 2003 Decision, the language in the Chairman's 
statement had not been included in the text because th ere had not been a consensus to include it in the 
text.  He did not believe he needed to remind everyone  of this.  He also did not want to re-open these 
very painful and difficult negotiations.  The solu tion that had been found at the time to accept a 
Chairman's statement had been taken after long, painstaking negotiations, and any student of basic 
international law knew that a legal text was one thi ng while a Chairman's statement was quite another.  
One could not mix the two, because to do so would be  to create a different legal reality than the one 
that currently existed.  This was a very important point for Brazil.  The asterisked footnote to the 2003 
Decision was not a small issue.  His delegation did not believe it appropriate to suggest replacing the 
asterisk with some other symbol such as a "smile y", because while some might be smiling, Brazil was 
not, and nor were the countries that were suffering from  disease and deprivation.  He implored all to 
be serious about this matter. 
123. The representative of Lesotho  fully subscribed to the concerns raised by Rwanda on behalf of 
the African Group and by Zambia on behalf of the LD Cs.  His delegation had ta ken note of the delays 
in the preparation of an amendment to the TRIPS Agreement, the import of which was the delay in 
accessing medicines for people who were hit hard  by the HIV pandemic.  Lesotho therefore  WT/GC/M/95 
 Page 27 
 
 
 recommended that the Chairman of the TRIPS Council continue his consultations.  It was urgent that 
Members find a permanent solution to this long-standing problem. 
124. The Chairman  said that, as the Chairman of the TRIPS Council had indicated, the latter would 
continue his consultations on this very important issue, would keep all informed, and would report to 
the next meeting of the General Council.  She enc ouraged all to engage in the TRIPS Council Chair's 
consultations and to find a way to resolve this issue as soon as possible. 
125. The General Council took note  of the statement by the Chairman of the TRIPS Council and of 
the other statements. 
8. Non-recognition of rights under Article XXIV:6 and Article XXVIII of the GATT 1994 
– Communication from Honduras and Guatemala (WT/GC/85) – Statement by the 
Chairman 
126. The Chairman  recalled that this matter had first been  raised by the delegations of Honduras 
and Guatemala at the Council meeting in December 2004 .  In the light of the views expressed at that 
meeting, and the requests for consultations by Honduras and Guatemala, her predecessor had held 
consultations on this matter and ha d reported on those consultations to  the February General Council 
meeting.  In view of the statements made at th e February Council, the Chair had proposed that he 
request his successor to take this matter up in consul tations with delegations be fore the next meeting, 
in order to find the best way forward, and that th e General Council revert to this matter at its next 
meeting.  In connection with consid eration of this matter at the presen t meeting, she drew attention to 
a recent communication from Honduras in WT/GC/90 an d Corr.1.  She also informed delegations that 
on 20 May, she had held consultations to provide a further opportunity for the Members concerned to 
seek clarifications, to the extent possible, and to see if she, as Chair, could facilitate a satisfactory 
resolution to the concerns raised.  She had invite d to these consultations all the delegations who had 
spoken at the December and Februa ry Council meetings, and had made  clear that the consultations 
were without prejudice to any Member's rights under the WTO. 
127. The consultations had once again produced a frank and interactive exchange that had helped 
to expand further on the specific concerns raised by Honduras and Guatemala at the December and 
February meetings of the Council, as well as the basis for the positions taken by the delegations 
concerned.  Honduras and Guatemal a had renewed their calls for the Community to examine the 
communications they had submitted to substant iate their case – including the most recent 
communication from Honduras in WT/GC/90 and Corr.1 – and both sides had indicated a readiness to explore the issues further in bilateral consultations.  Some delegations had also  raised concerns about 
the operation of their Article XXIV:6 and Article XXVIII processes with the EC – including the 
question of compensatory adjustment – which they believed were relevant to  the overall question of 
non-recognition of rights raised under this item.  It se emed clear from the consultations that the parties 
concerned continued to have str ong differences with regard to le vels of market shares and the 
resulting rights accruing under WTO provisions.  In this connection, some delegations had also 
suggested that the political aspects of this case –  which involved difficulties being faced by countries 
with small economies – should be considered, a nd that avenues beyond purely legal accommodation 
might be explored in this context, having regard to the spirit and intent of the WTO Agreement as 
well as the Doha Development Agenda.  Although the consultations had not produced any conclusive 
way forward, she had encouraged further discussi on among the interested parties with a view to 
reaching a mutually satisfactory resolution of the concerns that had been referred to the General 
Council.  She had also urged all Members to continue  to reflect on how they might move this matter 
forward. 
128. All representatives who spoke thanked the Chairman for her consultations and efforts to try to 
find a solution to this matter. WT/GC/M/95 
Page 28  
 
 129. The representative of Honduras
 said that the General Council was again reverting to this item  
pursuant to the Procedures for Negotiations Under Article XXVIII, which had been adopted by the 
GATT Committee on Tariff Concessions on 10 Novemb er 1980.  As the General Council minutes 
indicated, at its meetings of 13 December 2004 and 16 February 2005, Honduras had given the 
membership an account of the steps it had taken in it s quest for recognition of its rights.  That quest 
had begun in June 2004, when in one of its communications Honduras had sought recognition of 
rights by the European Communities,  to which the EC's replies had been evasive and had not been 
substantiated.  In keeping with its positive approach to seeking solu tions that were satisfactory and 
fully consistent with WTO rules, on 24 February Honduras had circulated a document (WT/L/604) in 
which it had put a number of questions to the EC.  His delegation had received brief answers on some 
matters, and on others the EC had been silent.  The questions on which it had remained silent 
included, "Does the EC intend to recognize Hondur as's substantial supplying interest?  If it does not 
intend to recognize that interest, how will the EC fulfil its responsibility vis-à-vis  the General Council 
pursuant to the Procedures for Negotiations Under Ar ticle XXVIII?"  All of the foregoing had, as 
well, to be considered from a systemic standpoint and treated as a matter of concern to the entire 
membership.  Accordingly, and in view of the Comm ission's apparent lack of interest in recognizing 
the interests of a small country with a per capita income of US$704, Honduras had decided to inform 
Members, and particularly the member States of the European Communities, of the basis in law for its 
substantial supplying interest claim under Article X XVIII.  To that end, Honduras had requested the 
circulation of document WT/GC/90 and Corr.1 of 18 May. 
130. As Members would see from that document, H onduras's claim was based on paragraph 7 of 
Ad Article  XXVIII:1, on WTO precedent and on the Understanding on the Interpretation of 
Article XXVIII of the GATT 1994.  It was plain, from paragraph 7 of Ad Article XXVIII:1, that there 
was no precise definition of substantial supplying in terest, as the definition varied depending on the 
structure of the market and the particular fact s and circumstances associated with the supplying 
country.  That Article stipulated that a substan tial supplying interest included those Members which 
had, or in the absence of discriminatory quantit ative restrictions affecting their exports, could 
reasonably be expected to have, a significant share in  the market in question.  It was well known that 
the EC had greatly compounded banana access discr imination as from 1993.  Prior to that date, 
although six EC member States had applied discrim inatory banana access quotas or bans, six other 
countries had applied only tariffs or duty-free acces s to MFN banana suppliers, which had enabled 
Honduras to achieve a substantial presence in the pre-1993 EC market.  From 1993 to 1998, banana 
imports had been subject to a single and discriminat ory EC banana market.  He wished to point out 
that the WTO had noted this fact.  Furthermore, in 1999 the WTO had found the new EC-wide MFN and ACP quota allocations to be discriminatory. 
131. Honduras's communication explained that although the practice had been to use 10 per cent in 
determining what constituted a s ubstantial share, the Panel in European Communities – Regime for 
the Importation, Sale and Distribution of Bananas  had dealt with this matter, since it had explicitly 
rejected the use of 10 per cent as a minimum thr eshold, on the grounds that  a determination of 
substantial interest might well vary somewhat, base d on the structure of the market.  That Panel had 
cited paragraph 1 of the Understa nding on the Interpretation of Article XXVIII as an example of the 
foregoing and as envisaging recognition of a substantial supplier whose market share might "vary somewhat from 10 per cent".  Paragraph 1 of the Understanding on the Interp retation of Article 28 
also stated that special consideration must be given to the needs of small developing countries, such as 
Honduras, which relied heavily on exports of the produc ts subject to the tariff increase.  In the context 
of small developing-country considerations, the Panel in EC – Bananas III  had emphasized that a 
market-share percentage that varied somewhat from the 10 per cent guideline – i.e. Honduras's share 
between 1989 and 1991 – had to be equally consider ed substantial where the exporting Member was a 
small developing country that was heavily reliant on e xports of the product at issue, i.e. bananas, and 
the market modifying its tariff, i.e. the EC.  Honduras exactly matched the profile outlined by the 
Panel in EC - Bananas III , being a small developing country w ith a per capita income of US$704.   WT/GC/M/95 
 Page 29 
 
 
 Bananas were one of Honduras's most important co mmodities, and in recent years had generated over 
11,000 jobs and more than US$2,000 million annually in export revenue.  He also wished to point out 
that a GATT panel had already found that Honduras, together with other Latin American countries, 
were major suppliers of MFN bananas.  A WTO pa nel had subsequently established that those same 
countries, again including Honduras, had been leading suppliers of MFN bananas to the EC market in 
1994. 
132. Honduras's communication also showed the calcula tion Honduras had made in order to justify 
its substantial supplying interest , since it believed that membership ought to know the basis for its 
claim to this right and its reasons for asserting it.  He noted that the figures used in the calculation 
were those given by the EC.  Honduras again wished to place on record that it, along with the rest of 
the membership, was still awaiting a reply from the EC.  To disregard its substantial supplier rights 
would doubly penalize Honduras for years of EC acc ess discrimination, and economically reward the 
EC for that discrimination by allowing it to evade its Article XXVIII compensation obligations.  
Regarding the Article XXIV part of this item, he said that for many of Honduras's products, there had 
been no recognition of substantial interest, and where there had been such recognition, the EC had 
shown no sign of wishing to reconcile its compen sation obligations under the enlargement.  The 
deadline extension for Members to withdraw c oncessions from the EC under Article XXIV was to 
expire shortly, and his delegation therefore request ed a further extension so that it could properly 
assert Honduras's right.  Honduras urged the membership to consider its case from a systemic standpoint and to take into account Honduras's right  under Article XXVIII and its request for an 
extension of rights under Article XXIV.  His dele gation requested that this item be kept on the 
Council's agenda and that the Chairman pursue cons ultations with a view to finding a satisfactory 
solution to these issues. 
133. The representative of Guatemala
 requested Members to give consideration to the interests of 
Guatemala, a small economy whose rights continued to be nullified and impaired by the EC, in 
particular with respect to bananas.  Although this statement was centred on bananas, Guatemala 
reserved its negotiating rights regarding other products  on which it had previously stated its position, 
such as tuna, natural honey, green coffee, rum, vege tables, textile materials, and macadamia nuts.  He 
recalled that on 2 August 2004 the EC had notif ied Members in document G/SECRET/22 that it 
intended to modify concessions on item 08030019 (banan as), and had expressed its intention to enter 
into negotiations and consultati ons with the appropriate Member s under Article XXVIII with respect 
to this tariff line.  On the basis of the a bove, and in accordance with the provisions of GATT 
Articles XXIV and XXVII, their interpretative notes, the 1980 Guidelines and other legal instruments 
applicable to these negotiations, on 29 October 2004 Gu atemala, a Member with a substantial interest 
in bananas, communicated its claim of interest in wri ting to the EC and also informed the Secretariat.  
Guatemala had based its substantial interest on the following legal points:  First, paragraph 3 of the 
Understanding on the Interpretation of Article XXI V of the GATT 1994 provided that in determining 
substantial interest only trade on an MFN basis was to be taken into consideration.  Accordingly, 
Guatemala reminded the EC that in establishing "substantial interest" on the basis of the import 
statistics attached to its note, it could not take  into account trade under preferences.  Second, 
paragraph 7 of the interpretative notes to paragra ph 1 of Article XXVIII recognized that "substantial 
interest" was not capable of precise definition and, accordingly, might present difficulties for 
Members.  The same paragraph nonetheless stated that this expression was, however, intended to be 
construed to cover only those contracting parties which had – or in the absence of discriminatory 
quantitative restrictions affecting their exports coul d reasonably be expected to have – a significant 
share in the market of the contracting party seek ing to modify or withdraw the concession.  The 
foregoing meant that in the absence of the quantitative restrictions  applied under the Community's 
regime for bananas introduced under Commission Regul ation (EC) No. 404/93 of 1 July 1993, banana 
imports from Guatemala on an MFN basis duri ng the period 2000-2002 could reasonably have had a 
share of the European market significant enoug h for Guatemala to qualify as a Member with a 
substantial interest.  However, in spite of the legal arguments Guatemala had put forward to support WT/GC/M/95 
Page 30  
 
 its substantial interest in these negotiations, the EC had stated, with no basis in law, that Guatemala's 
claim of interest had not been accepted and that Gu atemala therefore had no substantial interest claim 
for participating in the negotiations under Articles XXIV and XXVIII regarding bananas. 
134. The conclusion reached by the EC was alarming for a number of reasons.  First, the EC had 
failed to provide any legal argument in support of its position.  It had merely stated the "practice" of 
its delegation in regard to GATT pr ovisions properly invoked by Guatemala.  In so doing, the EC had 
disregard the binding force of GATT rules, renderi ng them inoperative and inapplicable.  This not 
only nullified and impaired the rights of Guatem ala but also breached the rules governing the 
multilateral trading system and undermined the princi ple of treaty effectiveness.  Second, the EC had 
unexpectedly and conveniently ignored the fact that bananas were one of the top three export products 
and sources of employment in Guatemala.  Third, the EC had completely om itted the previous banana 
disputes.  He recalled that Guatemala had partic ipated in the three banana disputes initiated under 
GATT auspices and in the WTO.  For more than 10  years, Guatemala had invested countless human 
and financial resources in an attempt to "reme dy" the inconsistencies of the Regime for the 
Importation, Sale and Distribution of Bananas in th e European market.  The costs that Guatemala had 
incurred in connection with these proceedings should  be estimated not only in terms of the actions 
undertaken but also in terms of the time it had spent on this process.  At a time when the Doha Round 
negotiations were in full swing, Guatemala once again found itself compelled to engage human and 
financial resources in the recently initiated arbitrati on proceedings on the banana issue.  Despite the 
fact that Guatemala had based its negotiating right s on WTO rules, and that bananas were a vital 
commodity for the country's economy, and notwithst anding Guatemala's consistency over the past 
decade in defending its interests in regard to this product, the EC had merely affirmed, in a simple 
note, that Guatemala did "not have a substantia l interest" for participating in the negotiations 
regarding bananas undertaken by the EC.  As Member s would be able to attest, and as he himself had 
asserted at the beginning of his statement, Guatemala's rights under the WTO Agreements were yet again being nullified and impaired by the EC.  He wondered what solution the system offered for a 
small economy such as Guatemala, and invited Member s to give thought to this matter.  Meanwhile, 
and without prejudice to the rights of Guatemala unde r the WTO Agreements, he requested that this 
issue be kept on the General Council's agenda. 
 
135. The representative of Costa Rica
 supported the efforts of Honduras and Guatemala to ensure 
that their interests as suppliers with a substantia l trading interest be recognized in these negotiations, 
and urged the Community to recognize these rights wh ich, in all legitimacy, these delegations were 
requesting to be recognized. 
136. The representative of Brazil  said that, as on previous occasions, Brazil fully supported the 
case made by Honduras and Guatemala on this ques tion, and urged the Community to exercise 
flexibility in this regard. 
137. The representative of Panama  supported the statements by Honduras and Guatemala.  Panama 
was concerned by the approach adopted by the Comm unity in the light of the legitimate rights of 
some developing countries in the modification of the tariff applicable for bananas.  None of the countries having claimed interest in this matter had received a compensatory adjustment concomitant with the modification proposed by the Community .  Panama supported Honduras's request that the 
timeframe under Article XXVIII:3 be extended, in view of the fact that none of the countries involved 
had been able to reach any type of understanding with the Community. 
138. The representative Colombia
 said that, as on previous occasions, Colombia urged the 
Community to grant the request made by Guatemala and Honduras.  WT/GC/M/95 
 Page 31 
 
 
 139. The representative of Argentina  said that in addition to the subs tantive concerns raised on this 
matter there were also systemic concerns, and his delegation wished to see the Chairman continue her 
consultations.  In addition, the Community needed to show more willingness to resolve this matter.  
Argentina was open to any suggestions for future consultations on this subject. 
140. The representative of Ecuador  said that, as it had stated on previous occasions and in the 
course of the consultations, Ecuador fully supporte d the requests by Honduras and Guatemala.  This 
matter involved systemic issues as well as th e requests by Honduras and Guatemala that the 
Community recognize their rights as substantial s uppliers, which would make it possible for these 
countries to satisfy their aspirations.  Ecuador hope d that through the Chairman's consultations and 
bilateral contacts a satisfactory solution could be found. 
141. The representative of El Salvador  said his delegation hoped and urged that through the 
Chairman's good offices, the matter brought to the Council by Honduras and Guatemala would be 
resolved, because this was a matter of systemic impo rtance, as stated by Argentina and Ecuador.  The 
Chairman could count on Ecuador's support in th is matter, and his delegation hoped that the 
consultations would bear fruit. 
142. The representative of Mexico  said that Mexico had a considerable systemic interest in this 
matter.  This issue needed to be  resolved, as it could set a precedent.  Honduras and Guatemala had a 
good argument in this matter, which should be settled in their favour.  Mexico supported the 
Chairman's consultations and would support her in any way it could. 
143. The representative of Uruguay said that a lthough Uruguay was not a banana exporter, it 
nevertheless wished to echo the concerns expres sed by Honduras and Guatemala.  Uruguay also noted 
the systemic concerns referred to by Argentina a nd others.  Uruguay had no direct interest in the 
product at stake, but rather an interest in the syst em, and this should move all Members to work for a 
prompt, balanced and fair solution.  The product at issue now was bananas, but in future it could be 
any other product that might be of particular inte rest to a particular Member.  Thus, Uruguay joined 
its voice in the appeal that the consu ltations – which it supported – continue. 
144. The representative of Nicaragua  echoed the statement by Uruguay.  Behind the product at 
issue were concerns of systemic interest, and th e procedure established by the rules needed to be 
followed.  His delegation would join in any effort  to ensure that all interests were respected.  
Nicaragua had participated actively in previous pr oceedings regarding bananas.  While it was outside 
this particular dispute, his delegation wished to  note that this was a long-standing dispute that 
deserved to be given the appropriate importance. 
145. The representative of th e European Communities  thanked Honduras for its recent submission 
in WT/GC/90 and Corr.1 setting out its arguments for its  claim of substantial supplying interest.  As 
he had stated at the December and February Ge neral Council meetings, the Community attached the 
utmost importance to the WTO Agreements, and thereb y also to ensuring that Members were able to 
exercise their rights and obligations.  The questi on of rights under Articles XXIV:6 and XXVIII was 
no different.  The Community had based itself on WTO law and well established practice when 
recognizing and rejecting claims.  The Community could not  change or add to the WTO rules for establishing and according supplying rights.  One of the difficulties in the current discussion was that 
Members were dealing with questions of legal interpretation, which th e General Council was not 
particularly well equipped to deal with.  On the other hand, however, the Community obviously 
recognized the right of any Member to bring difficult issues, including legal ones, to the General 
Council.  Both Honduras and Guatemala, as well as other delegations, had underlined that, in fact, 
Members were dealing with systemic issues, and this  was what made the solution so difficult, because 
normally one did not solve systemic issues on an ad hoc  basis, but rather in a systemic way.  Some 
delegations – even Honduras in paragraph 4 of it s recent submission – had suggested that the WT/GC/M/95 
Page 32  
 
 Community should, in this particular case, make a special effort and unilaterally grant negotiating 
rights to small vulnerable developing countries with a high dependency on specific products, even if 
they did not meet long-established WTO rules and prac tice for this purpose.  Pe rhaps there was a case 
for reviewing GATT/WTO rules in this area.  Howeve r, in the Community's view, this should be done 
– as it was a systemic issue – in the appropriate WTO forum, and not on an ad hoc basis, but in a way 
that all Members could subscribe and agree to a pply in all comparable cases.  The Community was 
quite willing to engage itself in this direction.  In the meantime, however, the Community could do 
what it had done with any other Member who had ha d difficulties or had wished to have consultations 
– namely, to meet with those Members who believed that the Community's examination was mistaken, and to look further into the matter on the basis of solid documentation, applying the 
principles for establishing supplying rights as they we re laid down in the rules.  The Community had 
discussed bilaterally with Honduras and Guatemala on 11 February, in particular with respect to their 
claims for supplying rights for bananas, and his delega tion had hoped that this had clarified this issue.  
Apparently that had not been the case.  The Co mmunity remained ready to discuss any additional 
documentation that Guatemala and Honduras might wish to present in support of their claims.  
Members had to find a way through these difficulties, but as this matter involved a systemic issue, his 
delegation did not believe it would be possible to do this on an ad hoc basis. 
146. The representative of Honduras
 said he believed the Community's statement tended to 
diminish the importance of the issue under discussion.  Honduras agreed that this matter did bring in a 
legal point of view.  However, Honduras was bringing this matter to the General Council because this 
was the highest body of the organization, and in pursuance of the provisions of the Guidelines adopted 
in 1980.  However, all his delega tion had received thus far as a response was "no".  Honduras had 
provided a justification for its claims for all Me mbers to see, and it was requesting all Members to 
consider this matter from a systemic point of view.  As regards the Community's reference to  paragraph 4 of document WT/GC/90 concerning special  consideration to be given to the needs of 
small countries, Honduras was not making anything up.  Rather, it was referring to the precedents that 
existed in the organization.  Honduras was not aski ng for any favours, but rather that a right be 
established and recognized – a right that Honduras had.  It had included paragra ph 4 in its submission 
simply to illustrate its case more clearly, so that it might get a better response from the Community.  A country such as Honduras needed a formal response, and not evasive or negative ones. 
147. The General Council took note
 of the statements and agreed  to revert to this matter at its next 
meeting, and that the Chair would hold further consultations in the m eantime with the aim of moving 
this matter forward. 
9. Appointment of the next Director-General – Statement by the Chairman 
148. The Chairman  recalled that in keeping with the Proc edures for the Appointment of Directors-
General adopted in December 2002 (WT/L/509), the pro cess for the appointment of the next Director-
General had been started on 1 December 2004 with a notification from the General Council Chair to 
the membership.  Following the close of the one- month nomination period on 31 December 2004, the 
four candidates nominated had been invited to meet with Members at a formal General Council 
meeting held on 26 January 2005 (WT/GC/M/91).  In k eeping with the Procedures, they had also been 
allowed a three-month period, i.e. until 31 Marc h, to make themselves known to Members and to 
engage in discussions on the pertinent issues facing  the organization.  Subsequently, following an 
informal meeting of Heads of Delegation on 31 Ma rch at which she had announced arrangements for 
the further process, as well as the start of the cons ultation process stipulated in the Procedures, she 
and her colleagues in this exercise – Amb. Glenne  (Norway), Chair of the Dispute Settlement Body, 
and Amb. Stephenson (Canada), Chair of the Trade Policy Review Body, acting as Facilitators – had 
conducted three successive rounds of consulta tions with Members starting on 4 April.  WT/GC/M/95 
 Page 33 
 
 
 149. In accordance with the process outlined on 31 March and the 2002 Procedures, she and the 
Facilitators had reported back to the membership at  informal Heads of Delegation meetings at each 
successive stage of the consultation process.  Her st atements at each of these informal HODs meetings 
– on 31 March, 14 and 29 April, and 13 May – had been circulated to Members in documents JOB(05)/49, 56, 69 and 81, respectively.  Pursuant  to paragraph 19 of the 2002 Procedures, she had 
announced to Members at the informal HODs meeting on 13 May, the recommendation of the 
Facilitators and herself that, at the present Ge neral Council meeting, Members appoint Mr. Pascal 
Lamy as the next Director-General of the WTO followi ng the expiry of Dr. Supachai's term of office 
on 31 August 2005. 
150. Accordingly, she recommended formally that the General Council agree to appoint Mr. Lamy 
as the next Director-General of the WTO for a peri od of four years as from 1 September 2005.  She 
was certain that she spoke for all delegations in  warmly welcoming Mr. Lamy's appointment, and 
wishing him well as he prepared to take up his post.   With these words, she proposed that the General 
Council take the decision on the appointment of Mr. Pascal Lamy as the next Director-General. 
151. The General Council so agreed
. 
152. The Chairman  said she wished once again to congratulate Members for the honourable 
manner in which they had all carried out their r esponsibilities.  The General Council of 2005 would be 
remembered for, among other things, having successfu lly appointed a Director-General within the 
prescribed time and in a most dignified manner.  Members had turned the corner and proved the 
sceptics wrong.  Together they had laid a solid and firm foundation for the future, and for that 
Members should all be very proud.  Finally, she wish ed to thank her partners in the process and her 
friends, the Chairs of the DSB and the TPRB.  She could not have wished for a better team. 
153. The representative of France  expressed his delegation's deep gratitude to each delegation, and 
particularly to the Chairman.  He had learned a grea t deal over the past weeks about this organization, 
and considered that, despite its youth, the WTO had shown remarkable maturity.  The debates in the 
General Council had a quality and dign ity about them, with both a touch of conviviality and a certain 
sense of humour.  He expressed admiration for the extraordinary way the ap pointment process had 
been conducted.  As Uruguay had stated at the H ODs meeting on 13 May, the success of this process 
would not have been possible without the devotion, the intelligence, the rigour and the authority that 
the Chairman and her Facilitators had shown.  Th ey had worked untiringly for weeks and, as they 
conducted the process, they had struck the right bala nce between the principle of transparency and the 
needs of confidentiality.  It had been in this bala nce that it had been possible to build an atmosphere 
of confidence among the Members, and between the Me mbers, the Chairman, and the Facilitators, and 
this climate of confidence had been a key elem ent in the success of the entire process that was 
drawing to a close at the present meeting.  He also  wished to express gratitude and pay tribute to the 
other candidates and their representatives.  Mr. Se ixas Corrêa, Mr. Pérez del Castillo and Minister 
Cuttaree were all outstanding pe rsonalities, recognized as such throughout the world for their 
commitment and their abilities.  For his delegation, the competition had been even tougher in view of 
the fact that the four candidates for the post of Di rector-General were all of extremely high calibre 
and, for once at least, all of them had been French-s peaking and, he believed, even Francophiles.  He 
also wished to thank these three individuals as we ll as their representatives in Geneva for having 
agreed to play the game with mutual respect and dignity, which they had shown and which had 
marked each stage of the appointment process. 
154. His Government's gratitude also went to th e member States of the European Union, who 
through their unanimous support had made Mr. Lamy  more than just a candidate from France, but 
rather the candidate of each and every one of the me mber States.  He also wished to thank all other 
Members who had supported Mr. La my from the beginning of the process.  Through the unanimous 
appointment at the present meeting, Mr. Lamy was no longer France's candidate.  He was no longer WT/GC/M/95 
Page 34  
 
 the representative of a region or of a particular inte rest.  He would, as from 1 September, be at the 
service of all Members and ensure the collective success of everything Members undertook.  Paying 
tribute to Dr. Supachai, he said his delegation was aware of the efforts the latter had made throughout 
the past three years to consolidate and develop the organization, and knew that he would continue his 
untiring efforts towards the succ ess of the Doha Round until his l ast day in office.  All would 
welcome the fact that the UN Secretary-General had selected Dr. Supachai to head UNCTAD as of 
1 September, for which his delegation congratulated  Dr. Supachai.  This high responsibility would 
give Dr. Supachai an opportunity to extend his outst anding action in the service of an open, coherent 
and fair multilateral system, and the latter's WTO experience would undou btedly help and open 
further the channels of coopera tion between the two institutions. 
155. In concluding, he said he knew Mr. Lamy ve ry well, and had known him for more than 
25 years.  They had gone through a few crises togeth er, particularly in Europe, and he was convinced 
that Mr. Lamy – who was a fair man, a hard wo rker and one who worked for the common will – 
would be a good Director-General.  Mr. Lamy had a great deal of experience, and had unfailingly 
supported multilateralism and world solidarity.  Mr. La my would be coming to the WTO thanks to the 
confidence Members had shown in him. 
156. The representatives of Rwanda (for the African Group)
, Tunisia (for the Arab Group) , Japan , 
Argentina (for GRULAC) , Benin (for the ACP Group) , Korea , Senegal , Pakistan , Singapore (for the 
ASEAN Members) , Chinese Taipei , Kyrgyz Republic , Mauritania , Croatia (for the CEFTA-plus 
countries4) commended and thanked the Chairman and the Facilitators for their exemplary efforts 
in leading Members through a successful process to  select and appoint the next Director-General, 
paid tribute to the three other candidates – all of whom they considered were of an extremely high 
caliber – paid tribute to the current Director-General, and extended congratulations to Mr. Lamy on his appointment and wished him all success in his endeavors. 
157. The representative of the European Communities
 said he very much welcomed the fact that 
the WTO membership had appointed Mr. Lamy by c onsensus as the next Director-General.  He was 
sure that the latter would be a Director-General for all the Members and that the organization would 
be in very capable hands.  He was equally sure th at Mr. Lamy would do his utmost to steer the DDA 
towards a successful conclusion no later than 2006.  However, the main purpose of his statement was 
not to congratulate Pascal Lamy – which he had al ready done – but to congratulate the WTO as an 
organization.  The selection of the next Director-Gen eral had been unique in many ways.  In the first 
place, there had been had four very capable candida tes, each and everyone of whom had had both the 
profile and the credentials for the top WTO job.  He wished to pay tribute to Mr. Seixas Corrêa, 
Mr. Pérez del Castillo and Minister Cuttaree for the dignified way they had campaigned and had 
adhered without any reservations to the Procedures  agreed in December 2002.  It had by no means 
been self-evident at the outset that this would be the case.  In the second place, the appointment of the next Director-General had been a genuine selection process by the Members, unique by its nature and 
by the way the selection process had been steered.  Othe r international organizations could take this as 
an example.  In the third place, and most importantly, Members had had the good fortune and foresight to appoint Ambassador Mohamed as the General Council Chair a nd Ambassadors Glenne 
and Stephenson as Facilitators.  These individuals coll ectively had done an extraordinary job.  They 
had kept to the script of the December 2002 Proce dures, and had ensured that the membership as a 
whole, as well as the candidates, remained faithful to it.  Shepherding such a diverse membership 
towards consensus had been a major achievement, and on  behalf of the EU he wished to pay tribute to 
these individuals.  The WTO as an organization had ev ery reason to be grateful to them.  He believed 
that Mr. Lamy would be grateful as well, not only for his appointment, but above all for what he had learned listening to delegations  during the selection process. 
                                                     
 
4 Bulgaria, Croatia, Former Yugoslav Re public of Macedonia and Romania.  WT/GC/M/95 
 Page 35 
 
 
 158. The representative of Rwanda , on behalf of the African Group , said that the Chairman and the 
Facilitators had conducted the selection process in a transparent manner, guided by Procedures agreed 
in 2002.  The African Group wished Mr. Lamy ev ery success, and was ready to work closely and 
constructively with him when he assumed his post.   The African Group also wished to commend the 
tireless efforts of the outgoing Director-General, and were confident that the latter's commitment and 
his wise leadership would help to achieve a positiv e "first approximation", which would serve as a 
good basis for the new Director-Gen eral in reaching a positive and balanced outcome at the Hong 
Kong Ministerial. 
159. Speaking on behalf of Rwanda , she said her delegation wished to warmly congratulate the 
Chairman for her exceptional leadership and for the integrity and neutrality with which she had 
carried Members through the appointment process.  The Chairman had yet again made the African 
Group – who had proposed her as Chairman – partic ularly proud.  The mission that Members had 
entrusted to her and to the Facilitators had been far from easy.  However, the Chairman had led it 
fantastically well, with exemplary professionalism, authority, rigour and flawless confidentiality.  
Finally, her delegation also wished to pay tr ibute to the candidates from Mauritius, Brazil and 
Uruguay for their relentless commitment to multilate ralism which they had all had the opportunity to 
demonstrate.  Rwanda would always give full recognition to them. 
160. The representative of Tunisia , on behalf of the Arab Group , expressed satisfaction with the 
decision just taken.  The Arab Group fully suppor ted this decision and was ready to work with 
Mr. Lamy very closely and in a constructive fashion.  During his term, Mr. Lamy would have to take up several challenges, among which was the conclu sion of the DDA.  The Arab Group was convinced 
that he was fully competent and would play a key role in successfully conclu ding this work.  These 
were fully confident that Mr. Lamy would make al l efforts to place the development dimension at the 
very heart of all results achieved in the negotiations. 
161. The representative of Japan
 expressed his delegation's satisfaction at Mr. Lamy's 
appointment.  Japan hoped that the next Director-Gen eral would bring the following elements to the 
negotiations:  leadership, ambition, momentum and yiel ds, as suggested by the letters of his surname.  
He believed Japan was not the only delegation wh ich considered that the Chairman and her 
Facilitators deserved a standing ovation, and suggested that delegations do so. 
162. As suggested by Japan, delegations rose in  a standing ovation to the Chair and the 
Facilitators. 
163. The representative of Argentina , on behalf of GRULAC , expressed sincere appreciation for 
the manner in which the Chairman and her coll eagues had conducted the consultations for the 
appointment of a new Director-General, which was unquestionably an important event in the 
institutional development of the organization.  Th e outcome of this process clearly showed that 
consensus was one of the mainstays of the WTO, and under the Chairman's leadership, Members had 
been able to provide a worthy demonstration of what  this meant.  GRULAC also wished to thank Mr. 
Seixas Corrêa, Minister Cuttaree, and Mr. Pére z del Castillo for the sense of dedication and 
responsibility that had surrounded their respec tive candidacies.  GRULAC was certain that 
Mr. Lamy's track record and temperament provided him with the necessary skills to preside efficiently 
over the development of a fairer and more equita ble multilateral trading system within the economic 
globalization process.  The latter's experience in trade negotiations not only provided him with a 
broad understanding of the subject matter, but also  placed him in a unique position to understand the 
differing interests and viewpoints represented in this organization, and in particular the needs of the 
developing countries.  GRULAC assured him of its commitment in facing the challenges that lay ahead. WT/GC/M/95 
Page 36  
 
 164. The representative of Zambia
, on behalf of the LDCs , said that there had been four fine and 
experienced candidates for the post of Director-General, any one of whom would have been a good Head for the organization because th ey had the necessary qualifications.  While they congratulated 
and wished Mr. Lamy great success,  t h e  L D C s  continued to pledge their unflinching and 
constructive support for the efforts of the out-going  Director General in working towards a first 
approximation in July.  The road to Hong Kong had thus far not been an easy one, but the LDCs were 
confident that the tireless efforts of Dr. Supach ai would be augmented by the positive commitment, 
frequently expressed, of the incoming Director-Gen eral in delivering a meaningful Development 
Round for developing countries, and in particular  for the LDCs.  There was no doubt that the success 
of the Round would be measured by how the deve loping countries would be integrated into the 
multilateral trading system.  The LDCs would not be  found wanting in coope rating with the incoming 
Director-General for th e success of the Round. 
165. The representative of Benin
, on behalf of the ACP Group , said that as the Chairman had said, 
the assessment carried out by her and her Facilitators had highlighted that Mr. Lamy enjoyed the 
highest preference among Members to become Dire ctor-General of the WTO.  The ACP Group was 
very pleased that the appointment process had come to  a happy close.  This was a procedure in which 
the ACP Group had taken an active part, because beyond being a mere exercise of expression of preferences, the Group had also presented a candidate  for this post.  The ACP Group would of course 
offer its full support to the next Director-General as it had done to the current Director-General, so as 
to ensure the conclusion, as soon as possible, of th e negotiations launched in Doha with concrete and 
substantive results that took into account the inter ests of the ACP countries and that indeed conferred 
on the Doha Round the name of the Development Round. 
166. The representative of Korea
 said that the selection process had gone smoothly and had 
finished well in time, which testified amply to  the Chairman and the Facilitators' dedication, 
management, skill and leadership.  All four candidat es had been outstanding in terms of capability and 
integrity, and his delegation had been moved by the dignified manner in which they had conducted 
their campaigns.  The entire membership should be  praised as well.  In the face of a difficult and 
potentially divisive task, Members had been able to work together and to build consensus in a 
relatively short time.  Korea hoped that this spirit of  cooperation and mutual trust would persist in the 
joint undertaking to achieve a successful outcome at  the Hong Kong Ministerial.  His delegation was 
sure that Mr. Lamy, with his knowledge, experience  and stature in international trade, would be a 
strong and successful guardian for the WTO and the multilateral trading system, and would lead the 
Members to an ambitious and balanced c onclusion of the Doha Development Round. 
167. The representative of Senegal  expressed his delegation's satisfaction with the way the 
appointment process had been conducted.  His dele gation supported the statements by Rwanda on 
behalf of the African Group, by Zambia on behalf of the LDCs, and by Benin on behalf of the ACP 
countries.  In accordance with the procedures adopt ed in 2002, the appointment process had been 
conducted in a calm and totally transparent manner,  thus fulfilling the prerequisites for building 
consensus around the next Director-General.  Such  an outcome had been possible primarily because 
of the high level of qualifications of the candi dates, all of whom had the necessary capacities and 
stature for the post.  This result was also owed to the constructive attitude of Members whose only 
concern had been to select someone who, in th e present circumstances, could secure the broadest 
possible support, thus enabling the WTO, at this cr itical stage in the negotiations, to bend its energies 
to the task of laying the groundwork for the success of the forthcoming Hong Kong Ministerial, and 
beyond that important event, to realizing the ambitions  of the Doha Round.  At the conclusion of the 
last round of consultations, Members had expresse d their preference for Mr. Lamy, who needed no 
introduction.  His delegation welcomed the Genera l Council's decision to appoint Mr. Lamy as the 
next Director-General.  The latter's professional b ackground and extensive grasp of multilateral trade 
and development issues predisposed him to make a distinguished contribution to the future progress  WT/GC/M/95 
 Page 37 
 
 
 of the WTO.  Senegal assured him of its readines s to cooperate constructively in ensuring that the 
goals set for the organization were attained. 
168. The representative of Pakistan  said his delegation wished to commend the three other 
excellent candidates who had c onducted a very dignified campai gn and had fully supported the 
selection process and thus the future of this organi zation.  Mr. Lamy brought excellent credentials to 
this very important job.  Not only did he have a very good overall, extraordinary vision, but he was 
also fully aware of the substance of the issues Memb ers were dealing with.  Pakistan also wished to 
pay tribute to Dr. Supachai and his staff for the way they had supported the process and had stayed 
very neutral, unlike what he heard had happened in the past. 
169. The representative of Singapore , on behalf of the ASEAN Members , said that the Chairman 
and her Facilitators had set a very high standard and a very good precedent for the future.  The three 
other candidates had acted in a dignified and states manlike manner, and this had been the key to the 
success of the process.  They had made a huge contribution to the multilateral trading system.  The ASEAN Members had every confidence that Mr. Lamy  would provide leadership and vision to the 
WTO and to the Doha Round of negotiations, and looked forward to work ing closely with him. 
170. The representative of Costa Rica
 requested that the statement by his delegation at the informal 
meeting of Heads of Delegation on 13 May be included  in full in the records of the present meeting.5 
171. The representative of the Kyrgyz Republic  said that international trade was a strong tool for 
poverty reduction, and his delega tion had no doubt that in the hands of Mr. Lamy it would serve 
equally the interests of all Members in achi eving the goal of sustainable development. 
172. The representative of Mauritania  supported the statements made on behalf of the African 
group, the ACP Group and the LDCs.  His delegation was very pleased to see Mr. Lamy appointed as 
the next Director-General.  At the same time, the th ree other candidates needed to be congratulated for 
the dignified, outstanding and honourable way in which they had conducted themselves throughout 
this process.  Mr. Lamy brought long and broad expe rience in trade to the WTO.  This was very 
useful experience, and would undoubtedly be benefi cial for the WTO, in particular at the present 
juncture when participants were involved in an ambitious round of trade negotiations that offered 
hope, in particular for developing countries.  Mauritania was certain that through his widely 
recognized qualities, Mr. Lamy would be able to make a significant contribution to the success of 
these negotiations, and would also contribute to ma king the multilateral trading system fairer and 
more equitable. 
173. The representative of Croatia , on behalf of the CEFTA-plus countries ,6 commended Members 
at the outset for having agreed in 2002 on the effe ctive and transparent selection process that the 
Chairman and her two Facilitators had so successfully conducted.  Their thanks  extended also to the 
three other candidates who had entered the race fo r this position together with Mr. Lamy.  The 
CEFTA-plus countries regarded these individuals as  highly competent and experienced candidates 
who possessed all the necessary qualifications to successfully fill this demanding post.  They 
welcomed the decision to appoint Mr. Lamy as Dir ector-General for the next  four years, and were 
confident that the latter would lead the organizatio n skilfully and successfully through this difficult 
and highly sensitive period, when Members would be attempting to conclude the Doha negotiations.  
They wished to reiterate their readiness to s upport his efforts actively and constructively. 
174. The Chairman  said that before concluding this item she wished to request the Permanent 
Representative of Canada to convey to fo rmer Canadian Permanent Representative 
                                                      
5 Reproduced in the Annex. 
6 Bulgaria, Croatia, Former Yugoslav Re public of Macedonia and Romania. WT/GC/M/95 
Page 38  
 
 Ambassador Marchi the appreciation of all Members.  Ambassador Marchi, as Chairman of the 
General Council in 2002, had helped develop the Pr ocedures that had been used for the selection and 
appointment of the next Director-General.  She wi shed to convey to Ambassador Marchi that the 
procedures did in fact work, and that Members were very grateful that he had developed them in the 
manner that he had. 
175. The General Council took note
 of the statements. 
10. Albania – Request for a waiver to extend the staging period of implementation for a 
number of products (G/C/W/504 and Add.1, G/C/W/507 and Corr.1) 
176. The Chairman  drew attention to the request from Alba nia for a waiver to extend the staging 
period of implementation for a number of produc ts, and to the draft Decision in documents 
G/C/W/507 and Corr.1.  This matter had been consid ered by the Council for Trade in Goods at its 
meeting on 11 March.  In the absence of the Chairman of the Council for Trade in Goods, she reported, on his request and behalf, that the Goods Council on 11 March had approved the draft 
Decision in documents G/C/W/507 and Corr.1., and had recommended that this draft Decision be 
forwarded to the General Council for adoption.  In the light of the Goods Council's consideration and 
action on this matter, she proposed that, in accordance with the Decisi on-Making Procedures under 
Articles IX and XII of the WTO Agreement ag reed in November 1995 (WT/L/93), the General 
Council adopt the draft Decision in documents G/C/W/507 and Corr.1. 
177. The General Council so agreed
.7 
11. Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration 
(a) Report of the Committee on its meetings of  October, November and December 2004 
(WT/BFA/76) 
178. The Chairman  drew attention to the report of the Committee on its meetings of October, 
November and December 2004 in document WT/BFA/76. 
179. Mr. Postma (Netherlands), Chairman of the Committee on Budget, Finance and 
Administration , said that the report in WT/BFA/76 cove ring the meetings held from October to 
December 2004 should be read in conjunction w ith document WT/BFA/75, which contained the 
relevant recommendations for the same series of  meetings.  Those recommendations had been 
presented to and approved by the Ge neral Council on 13 December 2004.  In view of the fact that the 
General Council in December had heard details of  the discussions which had taken place in the 
Committee in the period from October through D ecember 2004, this narrative report was presented 
for the information of the General Council. 
180. The General Council took note  of the statement and adopted  the Budget Committee's report in 
document WT/BFA/76. 
(b) Report of the Committee on its meeting of March 2005 (WT/BFA/77) 
181. The Chairman  drew attention to the report of the Committee on its meeting of March 2005 in 
document WT/BFA/77. 
                                                      
7 The Decision was subsequently ci rculated in document WT/L/610.  
  WT/GC/M/95 
 Page 39 
 
 
 182. Mr. Postma (Netherlands), Chairman of the Committee on Budget, Finance and 
Administration , said that the first item of business at the March meeting had been the election of the 
new Chairperson of the Committee.  The Committee had been presented with and had taken note of 
the customary administrative updates covering, first , the cash situation and out standing contributions 
from Members and Observers, and second , the status of extra-budgetary funds.   In the context of the 
report on extra-budgetary funds, the Committee ha d urged Members to communicate with their 
capitals so that sufficient funds would be received by the end of March in order to meet the terms of 
reference of the DDA Global Trust Fund.  In the report on  Human Resources , the Committee had 
been informed on various human resource matters , including the fact that a Junior Professional 
Programme was under consideration.  Finally, the WTO Pension Plan Report  had reminded the 
Committee that the term of office of the Mana gement Board would expire on 7 July 2005. 
183. With respect to the new Annexe building for the WTO, the Secretariat had given an oral 
report on the history of the project, adding that the "Golden Eye" project had been selected after an international competition.  Once a general contract or had been selected on the basis of a competitive 
bidding process, construction was expected to comme nce in the spring of 2006 and was scheduled for 
completion in 2008.  The Committee had also been in formed of developments with regard to the 
WTO Security Enhancement Programme, including the f act that the terms of reference for the Central 
Security and Safety Post had been completed and that  the target completion date of the project was the 
end of June.  Furthermore, a Contracts Committee  would select the most appropriate bid for the 
outsourcing contract of security, with an antic ipated implementation date of 1 August 2005. 
184. Regarding inactive Members and those Members who were in arrears in their contributions to 
the WTO budget – following the recommendation of th e Preparatory Committee of the WTO on the 
issue of Members in Category IV of the administrative measures – the Committee had reviewed the list prepared by the Secretariat of Members which had accumulated, as at 28 February 2005, three or more years of arrears up to and including the financial year 2004 (WT/BFA/W/126).  In the course of discussions in the Committee, it ha d been agreed that the list of Members in Category IV should 
include information regarding the length of time each  Member had been in this specific category.  It 
had also been agreed that the Co mmittee Chair would undertake bilatera l contacts, either orally or in 
writing, with Members in this category, and in pa rticular with non-LDC Members, with a view to 
encouraging the payment of arrears in contribut ions to the WTO budget.  Before announcing the 
Committee's recommendation in this regard, he indicated that, since the meeting of the Committee in March, Paraguay, Peru and Tanzania had made pa yments and were no longer in Category IV of the 
administrative measures.  Therefore, he would omit these countries from the list in the Committee's 
recommendation, which read as follows:  "Conseque ntly, in accordance with paragraph 7(b) of 
document PC/7, L/7578, the Committee recommends to the General Council that the following 
Members, under Category IV of the administrative measures since the year indicated, be urged to 
liquidate their arrears in their contributions to the budget of the WTO: 
 
"Antigua and Barbuda (1995) 
Burundi (1995) Central African Republic (1995) 
Chad (1995) 
Congo (1995) Côte d'Ivoire (2005) 
Democratic Republic of the Congo (1995) 
Djibouti (1995) 
Dominica (2004) 
Dominican Republic (1995) Gabon (2005) 
Gambia (1995) Guinea (1995) 
Guinea Bissau (1995) Malawi (2000) 
Mauritania (1995) 
Níger (1995) Nigeria (2005) 
Rwanda (1995) 
Sierra Leone (1995) 
Solomon Islands (2003) 
Suriname (1995) Togo (1995) 
Zambia (1995)" 
 WT/GC/M/95 
Page 40  
 
 185. Regarding the financing of travel expenses of  LDC delegates to th e Hong Kong Ministerial 
Conference, the Committee had recalled that it was cu stomary to facilitate the participation of LDC 
delegates at Ministerial Conferences through the establis hment of a trust fund for this purpose.  In this 
respect, he drew attention to the Committee's reco mmendation that "the Gene ral Council that it urge 
interested donors to indicate to the Secretariat as  soon as possible the level of financial support they 
are prepared to provide."  Finally, the Committee had agreed with the approach outlined by the 
Secretariat with respect to the audit of the first ye ar of the biennial budget.  In closing, he drew 
attention to paragraphs 17 and 20 of document WT/BFA/77, which required decisions by the General 
Council. 
186. The representative of Zambia
 noted that from 1995 to the present, Zambia had not made any 
payment to the WTO.  He had been Zambia's repr esentative to the WTO for two years, and Zambia's 
first payment to the WTO had been made during his te nure, and covered a period of five years.  Thus, 
although Zambia was still in arrears,  he assured Members that the rema inder of its dues would be paid 
sometime in 2005. 
187. The General Council took note  of the statements, approved  the specific recommendations in 
paragraphs 17 and 20 of the Budget Comm ittee's report in WT/BFA/77, and adopted  the report. 
12. Sixth Session of the Ministerial Conference - Administrative matters 
(a) Attendance of observers from governments and in ternational intergovernmental organizations 
– Statement by the Chairman 
188. The Chairman , addressing the attendance of Govern ment observers, recalled that 38 
Governments had participated as observers at th e Cancún Ministerial Conference in accordance with 
the Guidelines contained in Annex 2 of the Genera l Council's Rules of Procedure (WT/L/161).  A list 
of these Governments was set out in document WT/MIN(03)/INF/5/Rev.1.  Of these 38 Governments, two had since acceded to the WTO, namely Camb odia and Nepal, and were no longer observers.  
Also, following the accession proceedings that had b een initiated for the Governments of Iran, Iraq, 
Montenegro and Serbia, these Governments had ob server status in the General Council and would 
therefore be invited to attend the Ministerial C onference as observers in keeping with the agreed 
Guidelines.  Furthermore, six Governments had at  their request previously been granted observer 
status only at Ministerial Conferences:  Comoros,  Cook Islands, Eritrea, Liberia, Niue and San 
Marino.  She proposed that these Governments al so be invited to the Hong Kong Ministerial 
Conference as observers.  Requests from any other G overnments for observer status – either at the 
General Council or at the Ministerial Conference – would be considered on their merits in accordance 
with the Guidelines when they were rece ived.  None had so far been submitted. 
189. She invited the General Council to take note of her statement, and also take note that, in 
keeping with the agreed Guidelines, the Government s invited to the Cancún Ministerial Conference as 
observers would be invited to the Hong Kong Mini sterial Conference in that capacity, with the 
modifications she had mentioned. 
190. The General Council so agreed
. 
191. With regard to International Intergovernment al Organization (IGO) observers, she recalled 
that the Guidelines for Observer Status for IGOs  in Annex 3 of the General Council's Rules of 
Procedure (WT/L/161) provided that "In addition to  organizations that request, and are granted, 
observer status, other organizations may attend mee tings of the Ministerial Conference, the General 
Council or subsidiary bodies on the specific invita tion of the Ministerial Conference, the General 
Council or subsidiary body concerned, as the case ma y be."  The Guidelines also went on to say that if 
for any two-year period after the grant of observer st atus, there had been no attendance by an observer  WT/GC/M/95 
 Page 41 
 
 
 organization at a Ministerial Conference, such status shall cease.  She recalled that prior to each of the 
past sessions of the Ministerial Conference, th e General Council had agreed to invite IGOs as 
observers to the Ministerial Conference on the basis of the following elements:  
 (i) First, that organizations that were  observers to the General Council would be 
automatically invited; 
 
 (ii) Second, that organizations that were ob servers to subsidiary bodies would be invited 
if they requested to attend;  and 
  (iii) Third, that consultations would be held  to determine which ot her organizations that 
were not observers to the WTO, and who requested attendance at the Ministerial 
Conference, should be invited.   
 192. A list of the IGOs that had been invited to attend the Cancún Ministerial Conference on the 
basis of these elements was set out in document WT/MIN(03)/INF/5/Rev.1.  She proposed, in keeping 
with the agreed Guidelines, that these organizations also be invited to the Ministerial Conference in 
Hong Kong as observers.  Requests from any other IGOs  that were not already observers at Cancún, 
and who were currently neither observers in the General Council nor in other WTO bodies, would be 
considered on their merits in accordance with the Guidelines.  She proposed that the General Council 
take note of her statement and agree to  follow the procedure she had outlined. 
193. The General Council so agreed
. 
194. The Chairman  then informed delegations that a reque st for observer status at the Hong Kong 
Ministerial Conference had been received from the League of Arab States, which currently did not have observer status in any WTO body.  Members wishing to consult the communication sent by this 
organization were invited to contact the External Relati ons Division of the Secretariat.  With regard to 
this request, she proposed that Members proceed in exactly the same way that they had in the past 
with regard to requests from IGOs for observer st atus at Ministerial Conferences who were neither 
observers in the General Council nor in other WT O bodies.  Accordingly, she proposed that, unless 
any objection was received by the Secretariat from any Member by 15 June 2005, the League of Arab States be granted observer status to the Hong Kong Mi nisterial Conference.  As  in the past, she would 
inform the General Council at its next meeting of th e status of this request.  Delegations would have 
an opportunity at that meeting to engage in a discu ssion on this request if an objection were received 
from any delegation by the deadline of 15 June. 
195. The General Council took note
 of the statement and so agreed .  
(b) Attendance of non-governmental organiza tions – Statement by the Chairman 
196. The Chairman  recalled that in preparing for the previ ous Ministerial Conferences, the General 
Council had agreed on the following procedure regard ing registration and attendance of NGOs at the 
Conference: 
 (i) NGOs would be allowed to attend only the Plenary Sessions of the Conference 
(without the right to speak); 
 (ii) applications from NGOs to be registered would be accepted on the basis of Article V, 
paragraph 2 of the WTO Agreement, i.e. NGOs "concerned with matters related to 
those of the WTO"; and 
 
 (iii) a deadline would be established for the re gistration of NGOs that wished to attend the 
Conference. WT/GC/M/95 
Page 42  
 
  
197. In order to take care of the requests from NGOs to attend the Sixth Ministerial Conference,  
she proposed that Members adopt similar criteria to  those which had been adopted by the General 
Council for the five previous Ministerial Conferen ces held in Singapore, Ge neva, Seattle, Doha and 
Cancún.  Following this practice, NGOs that wished  to attend the Sixth Ministerial Conference would 
be requested to supply, in detail, all the necessar y information indicating how they were concerned 
with matters related to those of the WTO.  The large and growing number of NGOs with WTO-
related activities had made the registration pro cedure for WTO Ministerial Conferences more and 
more burdensome.  In order to facilitate the re gistration process for NGOs and the WTO Secretariat – 
and following similar arrangements agreed by the General Council for Cancún – she proposed that the 
detailed presentation of activities be waived for tho se NGOs who were duly registered for at least two 
previous Ministerial Conferences, and that registra tion for them be granted automatically.  NGOs that 
qualified for this waiver would still be obliged to o fficially request registration and would be subject 
to all other procedures and deadlines that applied to  NGOs requesting to attend the Sixth Ministerial 
Conference. 
198. Concerning deadlines, she suggested that all NGOs be invited to submit their requests for 
registration not later than 29 July 2005.  Registra tion forms would be available by 31 August to all 
NGOs that fulfilled the registration criteria.  Th e registration forms should be duly completed by 
30 September.  Based on the information provided, the Secretariat would process a list of registered 
NGOs.  She proposed that in line with past practi ce, this list be circulated to all Members for 
information during the course of October.  Confirma tion of registration would then be sent to the 
NGOs as from mid-October.  She proposed that Members agree to follow the procedure she had 
outlined in order to allow suffici ent time for the NGOs to be info rmed and to make the necessary 
arrangements for their attendance at the Sixth Ministerial Conference. 
199. The General Council so agreed
. 
(c) Election of officers for the Sixth Session – Statement by the Chairman 
200. The Chairman  recalled that Ministers at Cancún had requested the General Council to hold 
consultations with a view to determining the presidi ng officers – i.e. the Chairperson and three Vice-
Chairpersons – of the Ministerial Conference who would hold office until the end of the Sixth Session.  In keeping with customary practice, the General Council would elect a representative of the 
host Government – in this case, Hong Kong, China – to chair the Conference.  With regard to the 
election of the three Vice-Chairpersons of the Conf erence, she proposed that she hold consultations on 
this matter, and that the General Council revert to it  at its next meeting, in order that the full slate 
could be agreed at the same time. 
201. The General Council so agreed
. 
13. WTO Pension Plan Management Board - Election of Chairman, members and 
alternates - Proposal by the Chairman (WT/GC/W/544) 
202. The Chairman  recalled that Article 4 of the Regulations of the WTO Pension Plan 
(WT/L/282) provide for the establishment of a Management Board comprising, inter alia , a 
Chairman, four members and four alternates elected by the General Council.  The term of office of the 
current membership of the Management Board expire d in July 2005.  Following the consultations held 
on this matter, she proposed that the General Council agree to the election of the following 
candidates, whose names had been submitted to Members in document WT/GC/W/544, to serve in 
these positions on the Board for a three-year term: 
  WT/GC/M/95 
 Page 43 
 
 
  Chairman: Mrs. Esra Demir (Turkey) 
  Members: Mr. Andrew Johnston (United Kingdom)    Mr. Nicholas Niggli (Switzerland)    Ms Rachel Shub (United States) 
   Mr. Pornvit Sila-On (Thailand) 
  Alternates: Mr. Breno Hermann (Brazil)    Mr. Dirk Kranen (Germany)    Mr. Jean-Marc Mignon (France) 
   Mr. Antoine Ruvebana (Rwanda) 
 203. The General Council agreed
 to the election of the above individuals to the Management 
Board of the WTO Pension Plan for a three-year term. 
14. Chairmanships of the Working Parties on A ccession of Serbia and of Montenegro  
204. The Chairman , speaking under "Other Business", informed the General Council that 
following consultations with Members and the aut horities of Serbia and of Montenegro, and in 
accordance with usual WTO practice, the fo llowing nominations had been proposed: 
 - Mr. Roux (Belgium) as Chairman of the Working Party on the Accession of Serbia;  
and 
 
 - Mr. Gosnar (Slovenia) as Chairman of  the Working Party on the Accession of 
Montenegro. 
 205. The General Council took note
 of this information. WT/GC/M/95 
Page 44  
 
 ANNEX 
 
Appointment of the Next Director-General
 
Statement by Costa Rica at Informal Meeting of Heads of Delegation on 13 May  
 
 The representative of Costa Rica  said that the Chairman, on behalf of the three officials to 
whom Members had entrusted the selection process, had provided Members an assessment and a recommendation following the third and final round of consultations.  The Chairman had informed 
Members of the preferences expressed in favour of  each of the two candidates in the final round – 
information that was important for the process, the ultimate goal of which was to identify the 
candidate around whom a consensus could be built, acco rding to the procedures that had been agreed.  
However, the Chairman's report had not included what his delegation felt was the most important 
element to identify the candidate around whom a c onsensus could be built.  She had not informed 
Members of the reservations, concerns or other i ndications which some dele gations might have made 
known, with respect to their difficulties in joining th e consensus.  The absence of that information was 
very serious, and Costa Rica wondered why this in formation had been omitted.  Perhaps there had 
been a change to the rule of c onsensus in the WTO.  He wondered if it was possible to achieve a 
consensus without actually having that consensu s.  His delegation believed not.  Perhaps the 
information had been omitted because it was felt th at delegations who had spoken to the Chairman 
and the Facilitators under the confidentiality of the consultations would not dare to do the same in 
public.  Certainly, the fear of pressure or reprisal could have led to some de legations not speaking out 
in public.  It could be that consensus had been recommended in favour of a particular candidate, even 
though it was known that some delega tions had expressed difficulties, in order to put the entire weight 
of the process on the shoulders of those delegations.  Perhaps the fact that the delegations who had 
expressed concern had a history of supporting the multilateral trade system without having used the consensus rule to block major decisions in the WT O, had played against them when assessing whether 
or not their concerns should be made public.  The omission could have occurred simply because one 
was thinking, with the best of intent, of the speed  of the process which could avoid major or greater 
problems and difficulties.  Whatever the reasons for this serious omission in information given to the 
membership, it was something Members would never know, because no matter what was said now, it would not be enough and would not correct the erro r.  Therefore, his delegation was not asking for 
any explanations. 
 
 However, his delegation wished to say that r espect for the right of each and every Member in 
taking decisions was more important than the conten t of the decision itself, quite aside from the size 
of the country.  Were Members to believe or practic e the contrary, it would be very serious and would 
endanger the entire system.  It was, had been, and wo uld continue to be an ongoing goal of Costa Rica 
to defend and preserve the integrity of the multila teral trading system and its objectives of moving 
towards trade opening that would enable all to achie ve greater levels of development.  It was Costa 
Rica's objective now, therefore, to defend the rule of  consensus and to ensure its strict respect in 
future, because it was a fundamental part of the system .  It was his delegation's goal to ensure that the 
current selection process did not constitute a precedent that would give Members a weakened rule of 
consensus.  This was necessary in order to ensure that the interests of all 148 Members were always 
taken into account.  Having said that, and with a view to ensuring that this principle maintained its full 
worth within the WTO, he had recommended to hi s Government that it join the consensus proposed 
by the Chairman and the two Facilitators.  He th anked the Government of Uruguay for having made 
available to the WTO one of its most brilliant i ndividuals – and one who was most committed to the 
WTO and its objectives – Mr. Pérez del Castillo.  He also wished to thank the Permanent 
Representative of Uruguay for his efforts and for havi ng ensured that all could work together with 
someone they knew in Latin America and who em bodied the values of Uruguay.  His delegation 
further wished to thank Mr. Pérez del Castillo for his thirty years of excellent work in trade, for his 
achievements on behalf of the Members, and for his very serious and respectful participation in this 
process.  Mr. Pérez del Castillo would leave as a hero, and had honoured Members with his  WT/GC/M/95 
 Page 45 
 
 
 participation in the process.  Costa Rica also wi shed to congratulate Mr. Lamy and to extend its 
sincere wishes for success in runnin g this organization.  Costa Rica had made great efforts and placed 
great hope in the principles and negotiations of the WTO.  Finally, his delegation wished to thank the 
Chairman and the Facilitators for the work they had done.  
__________