. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  TN/CTD/17 
21 July 2006 
 
 (06-3500) 
Committee on Trade and Development 
Special Session  
 
 
 
SPECIAL SESSION OF THE COMMITTEE ON  
TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT 
 
Report by the Chairman, Ambassador Burhan Gafoor (Singapore),  
to the Trade Negotiations Committee  
   
I. STATUS OF WORK 
1. Since the last report to the Trade Ne gotiating Committee (TNC) on 28 April 2006 , the Special 
Session has held two formal meetings (1 June and 7 July 2006) and a number of informal plurilateral 
consultations .  In these meetings and consultations, I ha ve continued to focus the process on a 
text-based discussions of the 16 remaining Agreement-specific proposals (eight from Category I and eight from Category III), bearing in mind that th e Committee was mandated by the Ministers at 
Hong Kong to make clear recommendations for a decision on these proposals by December 2006.    
2. Overall, Members have made some progress on six of the sixteen remaining 
Agreement-specific proposals.  The formal and inform al consultations have led to revised texts on 
four of the proposals, three relating to Article  3.5 of the Agreement on Import Licensing and one 
proposal relating to Article XVIII of the GATT.  On two of the proposals relating to the SPS 
Agreement, informal discussions have continued on  the basis of alternative texts proposed by some 
Members.  While the revised language on these six proposals provides a basis for further discussions, 
it is clear that work on these proposals is far fro m complete and further progress will require Members 
to show greater flexibility.  As for the other ten proposals, the divergences are considerable and 
Members have not yet been able to prepare any re vised or alternative texts.  If there is to be 
convergence on these proposals, Members need to be flexible and the proponents have to reach out to 
other stakeholders to convince them of the merit of their proposals. 
3. In the discussions on the Agreement-specific propo sals, the LDCs have continued to stress the 
importance they attach to a quick and effectiv e implementation of the duty-free quota-free (DFQF) 
market access decision adopted in Annex F at Hong  Kong.  The LDCs have formally tabled two 
submissions in the Committee, one on rules of origin and the other on market access.
1  The paper on 
the rules of origin points to th e need for the DFQF decision to be  accompanied by a single set of 
simple rules of origin and makes reference to the LDCs' preferred criteria for conferring origin.  The 
paper on market access points to how the LDCs w ould like to see the DFQF market access decision 
implemented.  It urges Members, including devel oping country Members declaring themselves to be 
in a position to do so, to make their positions known as early as possible, on how they intend to implement the decision. In the preliminary discu ssions that have taken place, Members, while 
reiterating their commitment towards implementing the decision, have sought certain clarifications on 
the two papers.  Some Members have expressed the view that further work on the DFQF decision 
should be undertaken in the Regular Session of the CTD, and not in the Special Session.  However, 
                                                     
 
1 TN/CTD/W/30 and W/31 respectively. TN/CTD/17 
Page 2  
 
  the LDCs have maintained their position that furt her work to set out the means by which Members 
will implement this decision should be carried out in the Special Session of the CTD.  Given this 
divergence in views, I have urged Members, par ticularly the key stakeholders, to hold bilateral 
consultations amongst themselves.   
4. The cross-cutting issues were considered in the formal meeting held on 7 July 2006.  In the 
discussions that have been held, Members have ge nerally emphasised the importance of a Monitoring 
Mechanism.  While a number of elements have b een mentioned in the context of the cross-cutting 
issues, it is clear that the Monito ring Mechanism is viewed by many as an important step in the 
continuing review of the effectiveness and operati onalization of the S&D provisions.  Members have 
stressed the need to reach an understanding on the scope of the Mechanism and have agreed that 
further discussions on the Monitoring Mechanism take  place in informal meetings.  To facilitate these 
discussions, and at the request of Members, the Secretariat is preparing a compilation of all the earlier proposals made on the Monitoring Mechanism.  As Chairman, I intend to convene informal meetings 
to bring greater focus and precision to the discussion s on the Monitoring Mechanism.  However, if we 
are to make progress on this issue, Members themse lves need to clarify their thoughts and ideas as to 
what they expect from a Monitoring Mechanism.  
II. FUTURE WORK   
5. In the few months that remain from now till De cember, my intention would be to continue 
and intensify the text-based discussion with a vi ew to making clear recommendations on all the 
remaining Agreement-specific proposals.  The aim is to build convergence on as many proposals as 
possible, and construct a package of proposals that will bring this long-standing issue to a closure.  
The Special Session will continue to coordinate its efforts with those of other negotiating groups and 
WTO bodies to which the Category II proposals have been referred, to try and ensure that the 
December 2006 deadline for completing work on these proposals is met.  On the cross-cutting issues, 
I will continue and intensify informal consultati ons with a focus on the Monitoring Mechanism.   
 
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