WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
WT/MIN(11)/INF/9 
7 December 2011 
 (11-6366) 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
Eighth Session Geneva, 15 - 17 December 2011  
 
  
ARRANGEMENTS FOR CONFERENCE SESSIONS  
AND OVERALL PROGRAMME  
 
 
 The Officers of the Eighth Session of the Ministerial Conference are as follows: 
 
 Chairman:   H.E. Mr. Olusegun Olutoyin Aganga (Nigeria)  Vice-Chairs:  H.E. Mr. Johann Schneider-Ammann (Switzerland) 
  H.E. Mr. Mustapa Mohamed (Malaysia) 
  H.E. Mr. Stephen Cadiz (Trinidad and Tobago). 
  The Conference will be opened at 3 p.m. on Thursday 15 December.  Following addresses by the Ministerial Conference Chairman, the Director-G eneral and the Chairman of the General Council, 
the Chairman will propose the adoption of the Agenda.
1  He will then open the floor for the first 
speakers in the Plenary Session, starting with the hosts/Chairs of previous WTO Ministerial 
Conferences in chronological order, in keeping w ith established practice.  Seating in the Opening 
Session will be indicated by chair bands.   
(a) Plenary Session (Room 2) 
 As at past Ministerial Conferences, the Plenary will provide an opportunity for Ministers to 
make prepared statements in accordance with th e List of Speakers which was opened for inscription 
on 24 November.  The Plenary Session will be open to the media and a limited representation from NGOs.  
 Interventions in the Plenary Session are limite d to 3 minutes per speaker.  A so-called traffic 
light system will be in operation to facilitate adhere nce to the allotted time period.  Longer statements 
can be submitted to the WTO Secretariat
2.  In this respect, delegations are requested to transmit 
statements to the Secretariat, in advance of deliver y of the statement by the Minister, via e-mail to the 
following address:  MC8Statements@wto.org . 
 
 (b) Accessions (Room 2) 
The Ministerial Conference will take up the A ccessions of the Russian Federation, of Samoa 
and of Montenegro under Item 2 of the Agenda (Action by Ministers).  These three Accessions will be 
taken up in separate sessions according to the order indicated below in the Overall Programme.  The 
normal Plenary and Working Sessions w ill be suspended during the Accessions. 
 
                                                      
1 Contained in WT/MIN(11)W/1. 
2 See WT/MIN(11)/INF/5. WT/MIN(11)/INF/9 
Page 2  
 
   A fax is being sent out to delegations c oncerning these Accessions.  Because of time 
constraints, only a very limited number of stat ements will be possible under each Accession, and the 
understanding of delegations in th is respect will be appreciated. 
  As in the Plenary Session, interventions ar e limited to 3 minutes per speaker.  The same 
traffic light system will be in operation to facilitate  adherence to the allotted time period.  Delegations 
are also requested to transmit stat ements to the Secretariat in advance of delivery of the statement by 
the Minister to the same e-mail address indicated above.   
(c) Working Sessions (Room 1) 
 In parallel to the Plenary Session, Working S essions will take place on 16 and 17 December.  
Taking into account the timing of the Accessions , the programme provides for three Working 
Sessions.  The Working Sessions will be aimed at providing an interactive forum for Ministers, giving them a platform for discussion under three broad themes, as follows: 
 
o Importance of the Multilateral Trading System and the WTO 
o Trade and Development 
o Doha Development Agenda 
  Given the unequal lengths of the Working Sessi ons, every effort will be made to ensure 
equitable treatment of the three themes.  The th ree themes will be taken up sequentially in the 
Working Sessions.   In the Working Sessions, interventions will al so be limited to 3 minutes per speaker.  A 
timing system will be in operation to facilitate adhe rence to the allotted time period.  It should be 
noted that there will be no pre-inscription of speaker s.  Participation in the Working Sessions will be 
limited to Members and Observer Governments only,  on the basis of Head of Delegation plus 3. 
  (d) Closing Session 
 The Closing Session will take place on Saturday  17 December, from approximately 7.30 p.m. 
to 8.30 p.m. 
  WT/MIN(11)/INF/9 
 Page 3 
 
 
  OVERALL PROGRAMME 
 Below is a preliminary overview of the programme for the Ministerial Conference.  
  
Programme for the Ministerial Conference 
 
 Formal Sessions Informal Sessions 
Thursday 
15 December Opening Session 
followed by  Plenary Session 
3 - 6 p.m.    
Friday 
16 December  Plenary Session 
9 a.m. - 1 p.m. 
 
Plenary Session 
2 - 3 p.m. 
 
Accession of the Russian 
Federation 
3.30 - 6 p.m. 
 Working Session I 
9 a.m. - 1 p.m. 
  
 
Saturday 
17 December Plenary Session 
9 - 11.30 a.m.  
Accession of Samoa 
12 - 1.30 p.m. 
 
Accession of Montenegro 
2.30 - 4 p.m. 
 
Plenary Session 
4.30 - 6.30 p.m. 
 
Closing Session 
7.30 - 8.30 p.m. 
 Working Session II 
9 - 11.30 a.m.  
    
 
 
Working Session III 
4.30 - 6.30 p.m. 
 
 Delegations are advised that meetings will begi n on time.  In this regard, delegations are 
strongly encouraged to allow adequate time for tr affic-related delays and security screening at the 
CICG in advance of the scheduled meetings.  
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