RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  TN/CTD/M/38 
17 December 2009 
 
 (09-6590) 
Committee on Trade and Development 
Thirty-Eighth Special Session  
 
 
 
NOTE ON THE MEETING OF 14 DECEMBER 2009 
 
Chairman:  Ambassador Thawat chai Sophastienphong (Thailand) 
  
A.
 ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA .........................................................................................................1  
B. REPORTING ON WORK UNDERTAKE N OVER THE PAST FEW MONTHS ...........................................1  
C. SPECIAL AND DIFFERENTIAL TREATMENT PR OVISIONS IN THE WTO AGREEMENTS AND 
DECISIONS JOB (09)/94 ..................................................................................................................2  
D. OTHER BUSINESS .........................................................................................................................3  
 
 A. 
ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA  
1. The draft agenda for the meeting as cont ained in Airgram WTO/AIR/3483/Rev.1 of 
7 December 2009 was adopted.   
B. REPORTING ON WORK UNDERTAKE N OVER THE PAST FEW MONTHS  
2. The Chairman  said that, since he had last reported to  Members in October 2009, he had held a 
number of small group meetings at which Member s had continued to work on the Monitoring 
Mechanism.  As a result of the progress made in the small group meetings, he had been able to revise 
his non-paper.  This non-paper, dated 3 November , which was made available for Members at the 
back of the room, provided the basis on whic h discussions on the Monitoring Mechanism would 
continue.   
3. He went on to briefly inform Members of the st atus of work on the Monitoring Mechanism.  
He recalled that it had been agreed that the Preamble  would only be addressed once the other elements 
of the Mechanism had fallen into place.  As a r esult, discussions had focused on the structure, scope 
and functions of the Mechanism.  On the Structure  of the Mechanism, discussions had progressed but 
differences still existed with respect to the sequenci ng of the monitoring process.  In this regard, 
alternative language had been put forward for consideration.   
4. With respect to the Scope , Members had not yet agreed whether the Mechanism should 
monitor only special and differential treatment (S&D ) provisions in the WTO Agreements or whether 
it should also monitor S&D contained in the Genera l Council and Ministerial Decisions.  In addition, 
since clarifications were sought with respect to th e status of Annex C of the draft Cancún Ministerial 
text, it was not yet clear whether it would fall under the scope of the Mechanism.   
5. Finally, on the Functions , the small group was in the process of building on the different 
elements that might constitute the Secretariat Repor t which would be used as part of the monitoring 
exercise.  He concluded by saying that while progress had been slow, he was pleased that Members TN/CTD/M/38 
Page 2  
 
  had remained positively engaged in the discussions  and had been putting forward ideas and language 
which would hopefully enable him to  further refine his non-paper. 
6. The representative of China
 recalled that at the 7th Ministerial Meeting, Members had 
reiterated, almost unanimously, the need to mainta in the development dimension of the Doha Round 
and resolved to ensuring that the development agenda  be realized through the conclusion of the Doha 
Round.  One way to ensure a development Round was through the operationalisation of S&D across 
the negotiations and in any final agreement.  She not ed that despite the effort s made by the Chairman 
to take the issue forward, differences remained  and progress was slow.  Nonetheless, her delegation 
appreciated the efforts made by the Chair and Members on the Monitoring Mechanism, and even 
though marginal, Members had been able to ma ke some progress in terms of enabling a better 
understanding of Members' positions  and narrowing existing differen ces.  Her delegation had, from 
the outset, participated actively in the discussions  on the Monitoring Mechanism and supported the 
proposal tabled by Argentina, Brazil, Egypt, India, Malaysia and Pakistan on the Monitoring Mechanism.  Her delegation believed that a tran sparent and simple mechanism would facilitate 
regular monitoring of the implementation of S&D provisions and their improvement.  That was not 
only in line with the WTO mandate and the Doha  Development Agenda but it would also help 
developing countries further integrate into the Mu ltilateral Trading System as well as help them 
benefit from it.  While welcoming the Chair's revised non-paper, she acknowledged that a lot 
remained to be done and in this respect, calle d upon developed country Members to exercise 
flexibility and be constructive in the negotiations in  order to honour their commitment made at Doha. 
C. 
SPECIAL AND DIFFERENTIAL TREATMENT PROVISIONS IN THE WTO AGREEMENTS AND 
DECISIONS JOB (09)/94  
7. The Chairman  recalled that at the last formal meeting, the delegation of the United States had 
proposed some amendments to the document on "S pecial and Differential Treatment Provisions in 
WTO Agreements and Decisions".  Subsequently, the proposed amendments were forwarded to all 
Members for comments before incorporation into a revised document.  Only a few delegations had 
commented on the proposed amendments, with some stating that they were not yet in a position to 
agree to the inclusion of the proposed amendments in a revised document.  As a result, the document 
had not yet been revised.   
8. The representative of Egypt  said that the amendments proposed by the delegation of the 
United States were still being considered in capita l and would be forwarded on to the Secretariat once 
finalized. 
9. The representative of China  said that the document was useful and informative and would 
play an important role in monitoring the im plementation of S&D provisions and facilitating the 
discussions on the Monitoring Mechanism.  He made reference to the decision taken by the General 
Council on 20 May 2009 (WT/L/759) to extend th e waiver until 30 June 2019, for developing 
countries to provide preferential tariff treatment to products from least-developed countries.  He 
suggested that the decision, which was curre ntly mentioned in the comment column under 
Section VII:E of the paper, be incorporated as a separate decision. 
10. The Chairman  stated that the document would remain on the agenda of the next meeting.  He 
informed Members that he had submitted his re port to the General Council and that it would be 
distributed as document TN/CTD/24.  As with his p ast reports, the report was factual and highlighted 
the work that had been  carried out in 2009.  TN/CTD/M/38 
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  D. OTHER BUSINESS  
11. Since no matter was raised under "Other Business", the Chairman  communicated the tentative 
meeting dates for early 2010.  These included sma ll group meetings scheduled for 9 and 23 February, 
as well as on 11 March.  This would be followed by a formal meeting to be held on 19 March to brief 
the wider Membership on the status and progress of work 
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