WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
TN/CTD/27 
17 November 2011  
 
(11-5972) 
Committee on Trade and Development 
Special Session  
 
 
 
SPECIAL SESSION OF THE COMMITTEE ON 
TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT 
 
Report by the Chairman, Ambassador Shahid Bashir (Pakistan) 
to the General Council 
 
 
I. INTRODUCTION  
This Report, on the current status of work in the Special Session of the Committee on Trade 
and Development (Special Session), is prepared under  my own responsibility, and attempts to capture 
the progress made since the last WTO Ministerial Conference (MC7). 
 In pursuance of the Doha Work Progra mme on Special and Differential Treatment
1, the 
developing countries and the least-developed countries (LDCs) had tabled a total of 
88 Agreement-specific proposals in the Special Sessi on.  Thirty-eight of these proposals were referred 
to other negotiating groups and WTO bodies for cons ideration (Category II proposals).  Of the 
proposals remaining for consideration in the Speci al Session, Members reached, an in-principle, 
agreement on draft decisions for  28 proposals in Cancún but which are yet to be formally adopted.2   
 Prior to the Hong Kong Ministerial, the A frican Group also proposed to negotiate a 
Monitoring Mechanism (MM) for effective monitoring of special and differential treatment (S&D) 
provisions.  At the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference adopted five additional decisions in favour of 
the LDCs
3 on the Agreement-specific proposals.  
 Ministers at Hong Kong also instructed the Special Session to expeditiously complete the 
review of all the outstanding Agreement-specific pr oposals and report to the General Council, with 
clear recommendations for a decision.  With respect  to the 38 Category II proposals, the Special 
Session was instructed to continue to coordinate its ef forts with relevant bodies to ensure that work on 
those proposals was concluded and recommendations for a decision made to the General Council.  
Ministers at Hong Kong  also mandated the Special Session to resume work on all outstanding issues, 
including on the MM.
4   
 
II. STATUS OF WORK 
During the year 2011, the Special Session held three formal meetings (13 January, 22 March 
and 20 July 2011).5  Besides, a large number of informal small-group and plurila teral consultations 
were also held.  We witnessed intensive negotia tions and engagement up to Easter, followed by 
                                                      
1 Paragraph 44 of WT/MIN(01)/DEC/1. 
2 Annex C of JOB(03)/150/Rev.2. 
3 Annex F of WT/MIN(05)/DEC. 
4 Para 38 of WT/MIN(05)/DEC. 
5 TN/CTD/M/43, TN/CTD/M /44 and TN/CTD/M/45. TN/CTD/27 
Page 2  
 
  circulation of documents in all areas of the D oha Development Agenda (DDA) on 21 April 2011.  
Thereafter, negotiations gradually went into imp asse.  I must acknowledge that Members showed 
continuous and positive engagement  even during this period, and we witnessed considerable progress 
in our work that enabled Members to  achieve convergence in many areas.  
 Agreement-specific Proposals 
 
The Special Session continued with its work on  the six Agreement-specific proposals, namely 
one proposal on Article 10.2 of the Agreemen t on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS 
Agreement), two proposals on Article 10.3 of the SPS Agreement and three proposals on Article 3.5 
of the Agreement on Import Licensing. This work h as been carried out on the basis of the last 
language circulated in May 2010.  While discu ssion on these proposals has proceeded in a positive 
and constructive spirit, Members remain far fro m developing any common understanding and so far it 
has not been possible to bridge the gaps in the di vergent positions that Member s continue to express.  
Some Members have expressed the view that the text falls short of accurately reflecting earlier 
discussions on these proposals.  For them, the areas of divergence extend beyond the bracketed text 
and more work is required to develop convergence even  on other parts of the text.  On the other hand, 
some other Members feel that the draft text on  these proposals accurately captures the progress that 
had been achieved during and before 2010.  They hold the view that the text in its current form, with 
the exception of a few brackets, is fairly stabilized and that any attempt to reopen it could be a step 
backward.  Those positions  remain unresolved.  
 
 As for the 28 proposals annexed to the Draft Cancún Ministerial Declaration, Members initially had a shared understanding that the dr aft decisions were agreed, in principle, on 
ad referendum basis, even though they were ne ver formally adopted.  After April 2011, Members 
expressed concerns relating to the relevance of some of the draft decisions.  After the Ministerial, I 
intend to continue to devel op convergence on these proposals.  
 
On the Category II proposals, the relevant Chai rs have, as in the past, reported that there has 
not been much progress in negotiations  on these proposals.  This is larg ely due to the fact that the 
issues raised in most of the proposals form an in tegral part of the on-going work in the respective 
negotiating bodies.  On my part, after the MC8, I shall continue coordinating with the respective 
Chairpersons so as to see how best to  expedite progress on these proposals.  
Monitoring Mechanism  
 
Since MC7, it has been difficult to make substantive progress in negotiations on the 
Mechanism.  An important breakthrough in inform al consultations of the small group of Ambassadors 
attempted to capture the middle ground on the elemen ts of the MM.  The small group of Ambassadors 
proposed informal "guiding principles" to help  take the process forward.  After intensive 
consultations, my predecessor, circulated a fourth revision (Rev.4) of his non-paper on 16 December 2010 on the MM.  At the 43
rd Special Session held on 13 January 2011, the membership 
agreed to negotiate the elements of the MM on the basis of the Chair's revised non-paper. 
 
 In the small-group consultations that ensu ed thereafter, Members engaged on Rev.4 and 
tabled additional textual proposals.  These proposals continue to be discussed.  Based on a general 
agreement among Members to rearrang e the elements of Rev.4 in a mo re coherent and logical format, 
so as to facilitate a structured discussion and th erefore convergence, I issued an Addendum to Rev.4 
of the non-paper on 17 February 2011.  In this Addendum, different paragraphs of the Mechanism 
were placed under the headings of Scope, Functions/Terms of Reference, Operations and Reappraisal.  
The Addendum also contained a Preamble. With the consent of the Members, all consultations 
thereafter were based on this Addendum.    TN/CTD/27 
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   Although nothing is agreed until everything is agreed, there appears to be convergence on the 
following elements of the Mechanism:  
(a) Scope:  Although at one stage some Members felt that the scope  of the Mechanism 
should be restricted to the covered Agreemen ts only, others preferred the inclusion of 
Ministerial and General Council Decisions to the scope of the Mechanism.  This 
divergence has now been bridged and Memb ers broadly agree that "the Mechanism 
will apply to all S&D provisions cont ained in multilaterally agreed WTO 
Agreements, Ministerial and General Council Decisions". 
(b) Functions:  The divergence in this section had been mainly on the issue, whether the 
Mechanism was meant to be an exercise in 'transparency', overseeing the 
implementation of S&D provisions, or a permanent negotiating forum on S&D 
provisions, even after the conclusion of the DDA.  There now appears to be a compromise on these positions and Members feel that though the MM will not be a negotiating body, it will also not be precluded from making recommendations or 
proposals for initiating negotiations in othe r WTO bodies.  Besides, the Mechanism 
will complement, and not replace, other rele vant Mechanisms in different bodies of 
the WTO.  
(c) Operations:  Another area where there appears to be convergence is on the operation 
of the Mechanism in dedicated sessions of  the CTD;  meetings of which will be 
convened periodically and which will follo w the same rules of procedure as the 
Regular Session of the CTD.  These dedicat ed sessions will be Member-driven and its 
work will be based on inputs and submissions by Members, as well as on reports received from other WTO bodies.  Prior to  each such session, the WTO Secretariat 
will compile a factual background document based on inputs and submissions received from Members and other WTO bodi es, detailing information relating to 
operation, utilization and implem entation of the S&D provisions. 
(d) Reappraisal:  There is also a general agre ement that the Mechanism will be reviewed 
three years after its entry into force, and thereafter as deemed necessary.  
 Negotiations on the MM have not yet concluded.  Members continue to have divergent views 
on the language of the Preamble, on which the African Group and the EU have tabled proposals which are still being discussed by Members.  In a ddition, Members continue to hold divergent views 
on the issue of the review procedure and any recommendations made under this Mechanism not 
prejudging the legal nature of S&D provisions nor  affecting Members' rights and obligations under 
the WTO Agreements.  These and other remaining issues remain under active consideration of the 
Special Session.  Future Work  
 
In line with the mandate contained in paragra ph 44 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration and 
paragraph 37 of the Hong Kong Ministerial Declarati on, I intend to continue text-based discussions on 
the Agreement-specific proposals as well as on the Mech anism.  My objective is to try and conclude 
this work as soon as possible.   
 
  
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