RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/COMTD/M/78 
21 April 2010 
 
 (10-2078) 
Committee on Trade and Development 
Seventh-Eighth Session  
 
 
 
NOTE ON THE MEETING OF 18 MARCH 2010 
 
Chairman:  H.E. Shree B.C. Servansing (Mauritius) 
 
 
A. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA .........................................................................................................1  
B. OBSERVERS ............................................................................................................................... ...2 
(i) Request for attendance of ad hoc observers ...............................................................................2  
(ii) Further consideration of the requests for observer status by the League of Arab 
States, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the Gulf 
Organization for Industrial Consulting, the Organisation Internationale de la 
Francophonie, the Common Fund for Commodities, the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) and th e Groupe de la Banque Africaine de 
Développement.................................................................................................................. ..........2
 
C. NOTIFICATIONS UNDER THE ENABLING CLAUSE .........................................................................2  
- GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL (GCC) NOTIFICATION OF CUSTOMS UNION .................................3  
D. DECISION ON TRANSPARENCY FOR PREFERENTIAL TRADE ARRANGEMENTS ..............................3  
- GENERAL COUNCIL DECISION OF 14 DECEMBER 2006  (WT/L/672)................................................3  
- TRANSPARENCY MECHANISM FOR PREFERENTIAL TRADE ARRANGEMENTS – DRAFT   
PROPOSAL BY BRAZIL , CHINA , INDIA AND THE UNITED STATES (JOB(08)/103/REV.1) .................3  
E. REVIEW OF STEPS T AKEN TO PROVIDE DUTY -FREE AND QUOTA -FREE MARKET ACCESS 
TO LEAST -DEVELOPED COUNTRIES .............................................................................................4  
F. OTHER BUSINESS .........................................................................................................................5  
G. ELECTION OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE SUB -COMMITTEE ON LEAST -DEVELOPED 
COUNTRIES ............................................................................................................................... ...6 
H. ELECTION OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF TH E COMMITTEE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT ...............6  
 
  A. 
ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA  
1. The Chairman  said that the draft agenda for the 78th  Session of the Committee on Trade and 
Development (CTD) was contained in document WTO/AIR/3512 issued on 24 February 2010.  He 
drew Members' attention to agenda item C concer ning notifications under the Enabling Clause, and in 
particular the sub-item relating to the notifica tion of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Customs 
Union.  He said that he had been consulting with the concerned delegations on this matter, and that he 
would be asking his successor in the Chair to con tinue these consultations.  Therefore, while the 
sub-item appeared on the agenda for the present mee ting, he did not intend to open the floor for any 
discussion on it. WT/COMTD/M/78 
Page 2  
 
  2. The representative of Egypt
 thanked the Chairman for the in formal consultations that had 
been held on the GCC Customs Union notification.   His delegation looked forward to further 
consultations by the new CTD Chairman on this matter, which had systemic implications for 
developing countries.  He said that any progress or out come of the consultations  should be reported at 
the next CTD meeting under the agenda item in question. 
3. The Chairman  said that this was the intention. 
4. The representative of India  supported the statement by Egypt.   He said that his delegation 
would have preferred it if the Chairman ha d made his comments on the GCC Customs Union 
notification under the agenda item in question, rather than at the beginning of the meeting. 
5. The Chairman  said that he wished to add a matter under "Other Business" concerning the 
periodic update of the Secretariat paper on th e Developmental Aspects of the Doha Round of 
Negotiations.   He proposed that the agenda item relating to "Other Business" be considered before the 
agenda items relating to the elections of the Chai rpersons of the Sub-Committee on LDCs and of the 
CTD.  
6. The agenda was adopted  as amended. 
B. OBSERVERS  
(i) Request for attendance of ad hoc observers 
7. The Chairman  recalled that, at previous sessions of the CTD, Members had agreed to invite a 
number of intergovernmental organizations on an ad  hoc, meeting-by-meeting basis.  These included 
the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU), the Economic Co mmunity of West African States (ECOWAS), the 
Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), the Inte r-Arab Investment Guarantee Corporation, the 
Islamic Development Bank (IDB), the African Union (AU), the Organization of the Islamic 
Conference (OIC), the South Centre, the Pacific Islands Forum, the United Nations Environment 
Programme (UNEP), the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) and the World 
Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).  He said th at, following the decision taken at the previous 
meeting of the Committee, the organizations had be en invited to the present meeting.  He proposed 
that the organizations be invited to the next formal meeting of the CTD. 
8. It was so agreed . 
(ii) Further consideration of the requests for observer status by the League of Arab States, the 
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting, the Organisation Int ernationale de la Francophonie, the Common 
Fund for Commodities, the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) 
and the Groupe de la Banque Africaine de Développement 
9. The Chairman
 said that at previous meetings, the Committee had had before it a number of 
requests for observer status.  He said that if there was no change in positions to extend observer status 
to any of those applicants, then the Committee would take note and would revert to those requests at 
the next meeting. 
10. It was so agreed . 
C. NOTIFICATIONS UNDER THE ENABLING CLAUSE  
11. The Chairman  said that he wished to provide Members with an update on the regional trade 
agreements (RTAs) notified under the Enabling Clau se that were to be considered in the CTD's  WT/COMTD/M/78 
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  Dedicated Sessions on RTAs.  He firstly informed Members that two notifications under the Enabling 
Clause had been made in 2010.  The notificati on of the India-MERCOSUR Agreement had been 
circulated in document WT/COMTD/N/31, while the notification of the India-Afghanistan Agreement 
had been circulated in document WT/COMTD/N/32.  It was envisaged that the two agreements could 
be considered in a Dedicated Session of the CTD in early 2011, though this rema ined to be confirmed. 
As for the Chile-India Agreement – which was notified in 2009 – he said that it would be considered 
at the CTD's 4th Dedicated Session in June 2010.  Members had been informed earlier in the year by 
fax that the Factual Presentation on the Chile-Indi a Agreement had been circulated in document 
WT/COMTD/RTA/4/1.  
12. He next turned to the three RTAs involving non-WTO Members that had previously been 
notified under the Enabling Clause.  With regard  to the Pacific Island Countries Trade Agreement 
(PICTA), he recalled that he had informed Members at the last CTD meeting that – in line with the 
procedures being followed in the Committee on Regional Trade Agreements (CRTA) – the 
consideration of the Agreement would need to wait  until all the parties had ratified it.  As for the 
South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA), he said that the Secretariat was waiting for 
confirmation that Afghanistan's membership in SAFTA had been ratified by all the parties concerned.  
Once this information was confirmed, and depend ing on data availability, the Secretariat would 
schedule the consideration of SAFTA accordingly.  Finally, he informed the Committee that no data 
had yet been received on the India-Bhutan Agreemen t.  Since the consideration of this Agreement 
would need to wait until all the requested data had been submitted to the Secretariat, he urged the 
concerned parties to provide the data as soon as possible. 
 - GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL (GCC) NOTIFICATION OF CUSTOMS UNION  
13. No discussion took place under this sub-item.  
D. DECISION ON TRANSPARENCY FOR PREFERENTIAL TRADE ARRANGEMENTS  
 - GENERAL COUNCIL DECISION OF 14 DECEMBER 2006  (WT/L/672) 
 - TRANSPARENCY MECHANISM FOR PREF ERENTIAL TRADE ARRANGEMENTS – DRAFT 
  PROPOSAL BY BRAZIL , CHINA , INDIA AND THE UNITED STATES (JOB(08)/103/REV.1)   
14. The Chairman  said that the 14 December 2006 Gene ral Council Decision on "Transparency 
for Preferential Trade Arrangements" – contai ned in document WT/L/672 – invited the CTD to 
consider transparency for preferential arrangement s under paragraph 2 of the Enabling Clause – other 
than RTAs – and report back within six months fo r appropriate action by th e General Council.  The 
Council had since extended the deadline to its July 2010 meeting.   
15. He recalled that the proponents of a Transpar ency Mechanism (TM) for Preferential Trade 
Arrangements (PTAs) – Brazil, China, India and th e US – had briefly introduced their revised draft 
proposal at the last CTD meeting.  On th e basis of the revision – circulated in 
document JOB(08)/103/Rev.1 – he informed the Co mmittee that he had continued his informal 
consultations in the small-group format, which ha d been very constructive.  He expressed his 
appreciation to the delegations that had participat ed in these consultations, and in particular the 
proponents for the significant efforts they had ma de – and continued to make – to address the 
concerns and specific drafting suggestions of de legations.  His assessment, on the basis of the 
discussions that had taken place in the consultations , was that important progress had been made in 
efforts to iron out the remaining outstanding issues.   He said that he had requested the proponents to 
continue to work with other delega tions and with the Secretariat in order to come up with a text that 
could be considered by the CTD.  He would al so be providing his successor in the Chair a full 
briefing on the state of play of the negotiations.  He concluded by expressing hope that the CTD could WT/COMTD/M/78 
Page 4  
 
  agree to the PTAs TM very soon, and in particular  before July 2010, when the CTD Chair would next 
report to the General Council on this matter. 
16. The representative of the Dominican Republic
 said that her delegation found the proposed 
PTAs TM to have a higher level of requirements and obligations than the TM for RTAs.  This implied 
an extra burden for countries with notification obl igations, especially developing countries.  For 
example, unlike the RTAs TM, she noted that the draft proposal on the PTAs TM had provisions for a 
series of continuous reports .  Another example related to the numbe r of deadlines to be observed.  She 
made reference in this regard to the requirement to notify a PTA no later than three months after the 
arrangement had entered into force, as well as the da te of 30 June to notify any changes affecting the 
implementation of a PTA.  Her delegation sought an  explanation as to whether the introduction of 
such specific dates was due to the nature of PTAs, particularly since the provisions in the RTAs TM 
were more flexible.  More generally, she inquired why there was a need for such a high level of 
requirements, which in some c ases appeared to go beyond the mandate of the WTO.  While all 
Members were in favour of transparency, she obser ved that there was a need to achieve a balance 
between the need for transparency in PTAs and th e burden that would be imposed on many countries 
from the implementation of the PTAs TM.  The resour ces needed for the preparation of complete lists 
of all preferential benefits for each partner at the ta riff-line level, within specified time-limits, was an 
example.  She added that there was insufficient clarity on which parties or Members would be required to make notifications under the PTAs TM.  Addressing such issues would smooth the way 
for the adoption of the draft proposal. 
17. The representative of India
 thanked the Dominican Republic for the comments and requested 
that they be provided in writing to the proponents.   He said that the proponents would give these 
comments their highest consideration when finalizing the text of their proposal.  
18. The representative of St. Lucia, on behalf of the ACP Group , said that many of the concerns 
raised by the ACP Group had been ta ken on board by the proponents in 
document JOB(08)/103/Rev.1.  A few issues remained  to be settled, and the ACP Group intended to 
continue its consultations  with the proponents.  
19. The Chairman  said that one of the considerations guiding the discussions in the small-group 
consultations was that the PTAs TM should im pose as little burden as possible on Members, as well 
as on the Secretariat.  He invited Members that  had specific comments on the proponents' revised 
draft proposal to join the informal consultati ons.  Since the ACP Group and the group of small, 
vulnerable economies (SVEs) were already represented in the consultations, for the sake of efficiency, 
he invited delegations in these groups to subm it their comments to their group representatives. 
20. The Committee took note  of all interventions. 
E. REVIEW OF STEPS T AKEN TO PROVIDE DUTY -FREE AND QUOTA -FREE MARKET ACCESS TO 
LEAST -DEVELOPED COUNTRIES  
21. The Chairman  said that an item concerning the Hong Kong Decision on duty-free and 
quota-free (DFQF) market access for LDCs had been on the CTD's agenda since early 2006.  Under 
this item, delegations had provided information on the steps they we re taking, or had already taken, to 
provide DFQF market access to LDCs.  Written co mmunications by some Members had also been 
considered.  He recalled that the CTD had to date  undertaken four of its mandated annual reviews of 
the implementation of the Hong Kong Decision.   
22. The representative of Brazil  recalled the announcement concerning DFQF market access 
made by the Minister of External Relations of Br azil at the Seventh WTO Ministerial Conference.  In 
particular, in line with the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration, the Minister had announced Brazil's 
decision to grant, by mid-2010, DFQF market acces s for products from LDCs covering 80 per cent of  WT/COMTD/M/78 
 Page 5 
 
 
  all tariff lines.  The concessions would increase in  successive instalments until 100 per cent of tariff 
lines were covered.  The implementation of the DFQF scheme was currently under discussion within 
the ambit of an inter-Ministerial working gro up, which would establish the parameters for the 
application of the scheme.  Topics under discussion included the legal instrument for the adoption of the scheme, applicable rules of origin, and a tec hnical assistance mechanism for the LDCs wishing to 
benefit from the scheme.  The working group would continue to meet on a regular basis and the 
outcome of its work would be announced in the co ming months.  He said that this update had also 
been provided to Members at the last meeting of the Sub-Committee on LDCs. 
23. The representative of India
 said that his country was the first developing country to announce 
a comprehensive scheme under the DFQF mandate to provide zero-duty and preferential market 
access for all LDCs.  In particular, the Duty Fr ee Tariff Preference (DFTP) Scheme for LDCs was 
announced by the Indian Prime Minister on the occasion of the India-Africa Forum Summit of African Heads of States and Governments and th eir official representatives in New Delhi in 
April 2008.  India had taken the utmost care to en sure that the DFTP Scheme was not a mere token 
measure, but provided effective and substantial mark et access to products of export interest to LDCs.  
Given India's large market and the demand for pr oducts of interest to LDCs, his delegation was 
confident that the DFTP Scheme would play a key role  in ensuring that the share of LDCs in India's 
imports grew at an accelerated pace.  The Scheme was comprehensive, simple and non-reciprocal.  It 
provided preferential market access on tariff lines that  comprised 92.5 per cent of the global exports 
of all LDCs.  Products of immediate interest to  LDCs which were covered under the DFTP Scheme 
included cotton, cocoa, aluminium ores, copper ores,  cashew nuts, cane-sugar, ready-made garments, 
fish fillets and non-industrial diamonds.  Only 6 per cent of lines were in the exclusion list of the 
Scheme.   
24. The Scheme was open to all 49 LDCs, includi ng 33 African LDCs.  It was procedurally 
simple to operate and required indi vidual LDCs to submit a letter of intent and the list of agencies 
authorized to issue certificates of origin.   To date, 21 LDCs had submitte d letters of intent but only 
14 had provided the details of the agencies which would be responsible for issuing certificates of 
origin, as required under the Scheme.  The Scheme  was fully operational for these 14 LDCs.  His 
delegation urged the remaining LDCs to finalize thei r internal processes and to intimate to India their 
willingness to benefit from India's substantial market access opening to the LDCs.  He said that India 
would carry out more outreach activities in order to disseminate the benefits of the Scheme for LDCs. 
India was also ready to dovetail this Scheme with  other technical assistance activities that India 
provided to LDCs. 
25. The representative of Bangladesh
 emphasized the importance of the Hong Kong Decision for 
LDCs.  He called on all Members to honour at the earliest the commitments that they had made at the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference.   
26. The Committee took note
 of all interventions. 
F. OTHER BUSINESS  
27. The Chairman  said that he wanted to raise a matter concerning the Secretariat paper on the 
Developmental Aspects of the Doha Round of Nego tiations.  He recalled that the paper was being 
periodically updated in the context of the Commi ttee's discussions on para graph 51 of the Doha 
Declaration, and that Members had recognized its va lue.  While the agenda item in question was no 
longer appearing on the agenda of each CTD meeting,  he pointed out that the Secretariat paper had 
not been updated since May 2007.  Since a num ber of developments had taken place in the 
negotiations since then, he believed that it would be u seful if the Secretariat were to update the paper.  
He hoped that this was agreeable to Members. WT/COMTD/M/78 
Page 6  
 
  28. The representative of the United States
 thanked the Chairman for bringing this matter to 
Members' attention.  She said that her delegation n eeded some time to consider the proposal by the 
Chairman.   
29. The Chairman  suggested that the US delegation remain  in touch with the Secretariat on this 
matter. 
G. ELECTION OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE SUB -COMMITTEE ON LEAST -DEVELOPED COUNTRIES  
30. The Chairman  said that he had been informed that consultations had led to the proposal for 
Ambassador Jean Feyder of Luxembourg to serve fo r another year as Chairman of the Sub-Committee 
on LDCs.  He asked whether this was acceptable to Members. 
31. It was so agreed . 
32. The Chairman  said that it was a great pleasure for him to welcome Ambassador Feyder to 
serve for another year as the Chairman of the S ub-Committee on LDCs.  Ambassador Feyder had vast 
experience in development issues.  He was long responsible for developm ent cooperation in his 
country, and this experience was valuable for the work of the Sub-Committee on LDCs.  The 
numerous posts he had occupied in his career incl uded Permanent Representa tive of Luxembourg to 
the European Union and Permanent Representati ve of Luxembourg to the United Nations in 
New York.  He currently served as Ambassador a nd Permanent Representative of Luxembourg to the 
United Nations Office, the International Organizations and the WTO in Geneva.  
H. ELECTION OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF TH E COMMITTEE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT  
33. The Chairman  said that the General Council at its meeting on 22 February had announced the 
new Chairpersons for 2010.  He was pleased to inform the Committee that H.E. Mr. Erwidodo of 
Indonesia, Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Repr esentative in charge of WTO matters, had been 
chosen as the new Chairman of the CTD. 
34. The Committee elected  Ambassador Erwidodo as Chairman of the CTD. 
35. The outgoing Chairman  said that Ambassador Erwidodo had been in his current position since 
October 2008.  His previous position was Director-G eneral of the Trade Research and Development 
Agency at the Ministry of Trade.  While in th is position, he also served as Vice-Chairman of the 
National Tariff Team and the Vice-Chairman of th e Negotiating Team on Agriculture in the National 
Team for International Trade Negotiations.  He was formerly Director of the Centre for Social and 
Economic Research on Forestry and Estate Crops at the Ministry of Forestry and Estate Crops, and 
Deputy Director for Research at the Centre for Agro-Socioeconomic Research in the Ministry of 
Agriculture.  
36. The incoming Chairman  thanked Members for having placed their trust in him to chair the 
CTD.  He also thanked the outgoing Chairman for hi s work over the last three years.  He emphasized 
the importance of the CTD as the focal point for the consideration and coordination of work on 
development in the WTO.  He assured Members of his intention to continue to give a high profile to 
the work of the Committee, which included the work  of the CTD in Regular Session, the work on Aid 
for Trade, and the work of the CTD's Dedicated Sessions on Small Economies and on RTAs. 
37. The meeting was adjourned . 
 
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