RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/COMTD/M/46
24 November 2003
(03-6245)
Committee on Trade and Development
Forty-sixth Session
NOTE ON THE MEETING OF 16 AND 23 OCTOBER 2003
Chairperson:  H.E. Mr. Habib Mansour (Tunisia)
Subjects discussed:
A. A DOPTION OF THE AGENDA ........................................................................................................1
B. O BSERVERS ............................................................................................................................... ..2
(i) Request for attendance of ad hoc observers ...............................................................................2
(ii) Further Consideration of request for obs erver 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 laFrancophonie, and the Common Fund for Commodities ...........................................................2
C. T
ECHNICAL COOPERATION AND TRAINING ................................................................................2
(i) Report on the Implementation of the 2003 Technical Assistance Plan  (second quarter
report WT/COM TD/W/118)........................................................................................................2
(ii) Technical Assistance and Training Plan 2004  (WT/COMTD/W/119).......................................9D. N
OTIFICATION UNDER THE ENABLING CLAUSE ........................................................................30
- Notification from Ic eland (WT/COMTD/N/17).........................................................................30
E. D ECLINING TERMS OF TRADE FOR PRIMARY COMMODITIES , AND ITS IMPLICATION TO
TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT OF PRIMARY COMMODITY EXPORTING COUNTRIES
(WT/COMTD/W/113) ..............................................................................................................3 2
F. N OTIFICATION PROCEDURES FOR REGIONAL TRADE AGREEMENTS AMONG
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES ..........................................................................................................39
G. P ARAGRAPH 51 OF THE DOHA DECLARATION ON IDENTIFYING AND DEBATING
DEVELOPMENTAL ASPECTS OF THE NEGOTIATIONS , IN ORDER TO HELP ACHIEVE THE
OBJECTIVE OF HAVING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT APPROPRIATELY REFLECTED .............39
- Presentation by the Ma rket Access Division.............................................................................39
H. E LECTRONIC COMMERCE ..........................................................................................................46
I. O THER BUSINESS ......................................................................................................................46
A. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA
1. The Chairman said that the draft Agenda for the meeting was contained in Airgram
WTO/AIR/2166/Rev.1 of 7 October 2003.
2. The agenda was adopted.WT/COMTD/M/46
Page 2
B. OBSERVERS
(i) Request for attendance of ad hoc observers
3. The Chairman recalled that, at previous sessions of the CTD, Members had agreed to invite
the following intergovernmental organizations on an ad hoc, meeting-by-meeting basis:  the Arab
Maghreb Union (AMU);  the Economic Commun ity of West African States (ECOWAS);  the
Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO);  the Inter- Arab Investment Guarantee Corporation;  the
Islamic Development Bank (IDB);  the African Union (AU);  the Organisation of the Islamic
Conference (OIC);  the South Centre;  the South Pacific Forum;  the United Nations EnvironmentProgramme (UNEP);  the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU);  and the World
Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).  He therefore proposed that, in accordance with the CTD's
procedures, those organisations be invited to the next formal meeting of the Committee.
4. It was so agreed.
(ii) Further Consideration of request for obser ver 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, and the Common
Fund for Commodities
5. The Chairman said that, at previous meetings, the Committee had also had before it a number
of outstanding requests for observer status.  Those came from the League of Arab States, OPEC, the
Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting, the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie, and
from the Common Fund for Commodities.  The positions of delegations were well known and on the
record.  He proposed that, unless there had been any recent change in Members' positions, the
Committee would revert to those requests at its next formal meeting.
6. It was so agreed.
C. TECHNICAL COOPERATION AND TRAINING
(i) Report on the Implementation of the 2003 Technical Assistance Plan  (second quarter report
WT/COMTD/W/118)
7. The Chairman said that the first sub-item under agenda item C related to the implementation
of the 2003 Technical Assistance Plan (TA Plan), namely the consideration of the Second Quarter
Report contained in document WT/COMTD/W/118.  The report covered the period of 1 April to
30 June 2003.  At the 45th Session of the Committee, the Secretariat had presented to Members the
First Quarterly Report on the implementation of  the 2003 TA Plan (WT/COMTD/W/112).  The
Second Quarter Report was the first since the creation of the Institute for Training and Technical
Cooperation (ITTC) on 15 March 2003.  The report provided information on technical assistance (TA)
and training activities that had been carried out during the second quarter of 2003.  In response to a
request by Members, the Secretariat report also included the cost of each one of the activities that had
been carried out.  The implementation rate of activities had increased during the second quarter.
8. The representative of the European Communities said that paragraph 3 of the report stated
that "A qualitative assessment, as well as relevant data relating to all TRTA activities undertaken
since the fourth Ministerial Session held in Doha, is presented in the Report by the Director-General
under paragraph 41 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration (WT/MIN(03)/3)".  He said that it was
important for the qualitative assessment to be taken into account as well as an assessment by
developing countries themselves in terms of whether the assistance they had received responded to
their needs both from a quantitative and qualitative point of view.WT/COMTD/M/46
Page 3
9. The representative of Switzerland said that given that the report was a tool that would help
ensure an efficient 2004 TA Plan he would make his comments when discussing the draft 2004 TA
Plan.  The question was to what extent the report should include qualitative elements, benchmarking
and  whether there should be a real time evaluation.
10. The representative of the United States echoed the remarks made by the delegations of the
European Communities and Switzerland.  She said that the report would be helpful when considering
the financial elements of the delivery of the 2003 TA Plan and in terms of what the Secretariat was
attempting to deliver for 2004 with the same resources.  That gave Members a better sense to where
they stood with respect to the overall 2003 TA Plan and its implementation.  Members had received
an assessment for the first half of the year and she asked when they would receive the report on the
third quarter.  She asked what the Secretariat's plans were with respect to ensuring that it delivered the
remainder of activities that were feasible.  She was talking in terms of an assessment of how those
activities that had not been delivered as part of the 2002 TA Plan could be delivered or perhaps infinding an alternative way than had been anticipated to meet those needs.  There had been a lot of
reprogramming due to the SARS crisis and the Iraq i war.  She said that it would be helpful for
information on further implementation in 2003to be pr ovided orally or where figures were involved it
would be useful for delegations to receive that information in writing.
11. The representative of Mauritius said that he was speaking on behalf of his Government, but as
coordinator of the African Group wished to point out that the African Group had not yet met to
discuss the document.  However, he was certain th at it would do so and come up with substantive
reflections in due course.  A large number of the components of the TA Plan catered for the needs of
African countries.  He would deal with both the report on the implementation of the 2003 TA Plan
and the draft 2004 TA Plan together.  It was important that the TA Plan continued to be based on theprinciples and priorities laid down in the strate gy for the TA cooperation as enunciated in the Doha
Ministerial Declaration.  He noted that the Geneva-based trade policy courses would include a trade
policy course for French speaking officials.  That was important and useful because there were a large
number of Francophone African Member countries.  In paragraph 19 on page 5 that the Secretariat
had planned regional trade policy courses for Anglophone African Member countries to be held inNairobi, Kenya and that the venue for the course for Francophone African Member countries, was still
to be determined.  There were other programmes of interest to Africa such as the Joint Integrated
Technical Assistance Programme (JITAP) that was well underway and which in the initial stages had
been delivered to a number of African countries and which would probably be extended to other
African countries.  The African Group might wish to express its interest on the round table held inTanzania, Uganda and Gambia on the Integrated Framework (IF).  Among the regional seminars, the
Secretariat had continued to focus on the needs of African countries in terms of working towards the
needs of the Anglophone and Francophone countries.  That was an important component of the 2004
TA Plan.  His delegation was pleased to see that the regional seminars would cover the Uruguay
Round Agreements and WTO related topics.  He said that African countries were interested in the
national TA and training activities spelt out in paragraph 36 of page 9 which related mainly to
accessions and mainstreaming.  Mention was made of assisting Members in the services negotiationsan issue which needed emphasis as African countries were well behind in that process.
12. The representative of Japan said that at the Committee on Budget, Finance and
Administration (Committee on BFA), it had been stated that his delegation would urge the CTD to
examine and evaluate the TA activities that had been implemented before embarking on discussions
regarding the 2004 TA Plan.  His delegation sought clarification as to whether the TA activitiesplanned for the remaining part of 2003 would be fully implemented according to schedule.  He was
reiterating those points to make Members aware of them.  To avoid any misunderstanding, he would
explain that in more detail.  The intention was to caution against the hasty implementation of TA
activities.  Since there were only three months remaining in 2003, more attention needed to be paid to
the expenditure on the TA activities and that did not mean just adding the numbers of implementedactivities.  Thus, at the Committee on BFA, his delegation had indicated its reservation on any hastyWT/COMTD/M/46
Page 4
implementation of TA activities.  He expressed his delegation's appreciation to the Secretariat in
preparing the first draft of the 2004 TA Plan which incorporated the comments and inputs made by
both donor and beneficiary Members during its preparation process, and provided a good basis
towards finalizing the 2004 TA Plan.  He stressed the importance of reviewing the implemented plans
while embarking on discussions on the draft 2004 TA Plan and on the projected total amount of
expenditure.  While his delegation appreciated the Secretariat's report on the implementation of the2003 TA Plan as well as the Director-General's report on paragraph 41 of Doha Ministerial
Declaration (WT/MIN(3)/3) submitted at the Fifth Ministerial Meeting at Cancún, it believed that a
more qualitative analysis of the implemented plan was useful to embark on that exercise.  In other
words, his delegation would appreciate an elaboration on both the positive and negative points
experienced in the delivery of the TA activities.   Upon receipt of such detailed information, which
should provide examples of an efficient and effective implementation of the trade-related technical
assistance (TRTA) as well as areas where there was room for improvement, it would be useful toshare the experiences and make use of the lessons learned before enabling any justification for the
2004 TA Plan.  That feedback exercise would contribute to a more efficient and effective use of
human and financial resources.
13. The representative of Morocco said that Members needed to resume work on a good footing.
With respect to the Report on the Implementation of the 2003 TA Plan he said that his delegation was
surprised that there was no mention of the training foreseen in Morocco during the first quarter.  That
regional trade policy course had been excluded without his Government being consulted.  His
delegation was therefore faced with a fait accompli  and would revert to that question at a later stage.
The course had been geared towards twenty-five French-speaking countries. A group of Ambassadors
of the Francophone Member countries had met in July to discuss the question of the course beingpostponed and had decided to express their concerns to the Director-General.  Those Member
countries were surprised by the way the Secretariat had acted and hoped that the course would be
organised as soon as possible for the benefit of the Francophone Member countries.  Due to the fact
that that had happened before Cancún Ministerial Conference the troika had decided to wait and avoid
further complicating the Director-General's task.  Up until then, the Francophone Member countries,particularly Morocco who was meant to host the course, were surprised by the way in which the
Secretariat had behaved.  The Secretariat had decided to postpone the course and sent a letter, dated
15 March 2003, informing the Government of Morocco that the course would be held in Morocco but
that it had to be postponed until a later date.  He had spoken to the Secretariat who had promised that
the decision would be taken by common agreement.  However, that decision had been taken withoutagreement.  His delegation hoped that the Secretariat would be transparent and respect the
Francophone Member countries that had not been given due attention and whose right to benefit from
the course had been forgone.  The course had been replaced by a three week course for delegates in
Geneva in July 2003.  He said that his delegation could not approve the report and once conditions
permitted, the group of French speaking Ambassadors would meet with the Director-General to
ensure that such an incident did not happen again.
14. The representative of Senegal said that the report gave an indication of the large number of
activities that had been carried out during the second quarter of 2003.  He said that page 2 of the
Second Quarter Report made reference to the regional workshop on the Agreement on Agriculture
and on-going negotiations for West Africa which was to be held in Senegal and had been replaced by
a Conference on Commodities.  He was not certain whether that should have been included in the
report as the Conference on Commodities had not ended up taking place.
15. The representative of Cuba said that the report provided a good illustration of the
implementation of TA activities.  She expressed her delegation's appreciation for the two national
seminars that had been recently held in Cuba;  the first, on trade policy which took place in
April 2003, and the second on trade and investment held in July 2003.  She would make a number of
preliminary comments on the draft 2004 TA Plan (WT/COMTD/W/119).  Her delegation was pleasedto note that Member countries were being offered a wider range of TA activities based essentially onWT/COMTD/M/46
Page 5
their demands.  She was pleased to note as one of the draft 2004 TA Plan's key features, the
maintaining of geographical balance which was necessary when allocating activities.  However, she
asked why the Caribbean and Latin American Member countries would not benefit from the regional
trade policy courses on non-agricultural market acce ss (NAMA), or other activities related to rules of
origin and customs valuation.  It was important for those activities to be extended to Latin American
and Caribbean Members as they were directly related to the effective participation of those countriesin the negotiations.  Her delegation welcomed the workshops that had been designed for university
professors on WTO matters and the support programmes for doctoral studies amongst other activities
that were aimed at academia.  Those would contribute towards broadening the knowledge of the WTO
to other areas of society that were directly or indirectly involved in such matters.  Her delegation
wished to see activities related to trade, debt and finance, and trade and transfer of technology
included in the 2004 TA Plan.  Those could be jointly delivered in collaboration with other
organisations such as UNCTAD.  Those were areas of  interest to many developing countries and were
currently under examination in the WTO.  The fact that they were an integral part of the Doha
Development Agenda (DDA) would benefit the developing countries.
16. The representative of the United States said that she had neglected to raise a question that
might be helpful to Members. Her authorities had suggested that in the next quarterly report it would
be useful to have an indication of the number of participants involved in the different activities.  Thatwas something that would provide a sense of the number of people actually being reached in the
efforts of providing TA.
17. The representative of the Philippines said that he agreed with those delegations that had stated
the need for a qualitative analysis of the implementation of the 2003 TA Plan and that at the same
time there should be no hasty implementation of the 2004 TA Plan.  As a recipient of TA activities, heassured donor Members that as far as his Government was concerned, all the activities that had been
implemented in his country had been of a high quality.  Quality was difficult to quantify, but the mere
fact that the Philippines now possessed more Government officials that were aware of what the WTO
was all about, and of the different agreements his Government were party to, was a measure of the
quality of the TA that had been delivered.  He agreed with the representative of the United States thatit was important to receive information about the number of participants that had attended different
courses.
18. The representative of Nigeria said that his delegation supported the preliminary remarks made
by the representative of Mauritius on behalf of the African Group.  As a beneficiary of TA his
delegation agreed with the representative of the Philippines that the assistance delivered wassatisfactory.  His delegation had no objection to suggestions made by other delegations on the
assessment of TA and believed that Members needed to be consulted when the draft TA Plan was
being drawn up.  There needed to be a continuous evaluation not only in terms of assistance carried
out, but also in terms of an assessment by the recipients of that assistance.  That was part of what his
delegation wished to see included in future TA Plans. He hoped that his country would be considered
in the next phase of the JITAP programme.  Officials from Nigeria had benefited from the courses
carried out in Kenya and in Geneva and the officials who had attended those courses were becomingincreasingly involved in WTO activities.
19. The representative of Rwanda said that his delegation was aware that officials from Rwanda
had benefited from TA activities delivered in 2003, and particularly from the setting up of reference
centres and a workshop on the mechanism for policy reform; and would benefit from a trade seminar
to be held on 26 October 2003.  His Government had been a Member of the WTO since 1996, but itwas only in 2003 that officials from Rwanda had begun to benefit WTO's TA programmes.  His
delegation was pleased with the draft 2004 TA Plan and approved it.  The approach with which the
Plan had been put together was flexible and had taken Members' requests into account.  He hoped that
the activities to be delivered would be of high qu ality.  He agreed with what the representative of
Mauritius had said on behalf of the African Group.  With respect to the national seminars he askedWT/COMTD/M/46
Page 6
whether there could be flexibility to allow delegates from LDC missions in Geneva to participate in
national seminars.  Seminars at which the Secretariat presented the status of the negotiations in the
WTO would provide greater awareness and thus contribute to the integration of those countries into
the multilateral trading system.  Activities related to the IF were of great importance to his country
because his Government had devised a programme to reduce poverty which was one of the aims of
the IF.  Unfortunately, his Government had not yet fully integrated the trade dimension into itsproduction strategies.  An activity to assist his government to do so would add to his Government's
own efforts.
20. The representative of Canada said that the Director-General's report  (WT/MIN(03)/3) of
14 August 2003 on Paragraph 41 of the Doha Mini sterial Declaration was good and thorough.  Her
delegation had not had a chance to indicate that as it had only been presented at the General Council.
She said that the Second Quarter Report combined w ith the activities report and the inclusion of some
of the issues that had arisen, such as problems, issues and lessons learnt, were positive elements of thevarious training programmes.  All that information could probably be put together at the end of each
year in the form of a report that would demonstrate what had transpired and how the TA Plan had
been managed.  All the elements were present it was just a question of bringing them together.
21. The representative of Pakistan said that, like the representative of Canada, his delegation had
also noted that the Director-General's report on Pa ragraph 41 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration was
thorough.  He agreed with those delegations that had mentioned the need for a quality analysis of TA.
When analysing the TA Plans it was important to s ee whether there were some areas that were being
ignored.  It was also important to ascertain who would carry out that analysis.  He agreed with the
representative of the United States that it was importa nt to include in the report, information regarding
the number of participants in each of the course s.  With respect to the comment made by the
representative of Japan on the hasty implementation of activities, he asked whether that meant that
activities would continue to be delivered and a review carried out at the same time.
22. The Chairman underscored the importance that Members attached to TA and capacity
building which made Members aware of what they were negotiating.  The Director-General had
underlined that in his report on Paragraph 41 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration.  He alsounderscored the efforts the Secretariat continued to make towards the implementation of the 2003 TA
Plans.  He said that the implementation of a TA Plan within particular budget constraints required a
qualitative assessment in light of the needs and special characteristics of developing countries.  Such
an assessment was necessary to ensure effective fu ture planning.  Activities could continue to be
delivered while the assessment was being carried out.  He said that some delegations had expressedreservations with respect to approving the report and it remained to be seen how the Committee could
address some of the issues raised before the next meeting of the CTD.
23. The Secretariat said that it would respond to the comments made on the Second Quarter
Report on the Implementation of the 2003 TA Plan and would respond to those comments made on
the draft 2004 TA Plan when that item was taken up.  He said that a number of remarks had been
made on the need for a more qualitative analysis of the activities that had been delivered in 2003.  He
recalled that in response to that, it had been sugge sted to the Committee on previous occasions that,
for a qualitative analysis to be meaningful, it had to be based on a critical mass of activities.  That was
why the Technical Cooperation Audit submitted an annual report and that was why, particularly in
2003, the Director-General had made a report on Paragraph 41 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration
which contained a large number of qualitative assessments of the activities in the area of TA.  The
quarterly reports were more like monitoring reports which brought Members up to date on theactivities that had taken place in the previous quarter, mainly in terms of numbers.  However, the
Secretariat had agreed to draw Members' attention to any particular lessons learned, even if those
were more likely to emerge from the overall annual assessment.  It was clear that a number of the
remarks made were still valid in the Technical Cooperation Audit Report for 2002
(WT/COMTD/W/111) were still valid.WT/COMTD/M/46
Page 7
24. He continued by saying that the Second Quarter Report covered activities that had taken place
in that period, not activities that had not taken place.  For the bigger picture, it had to be noted that
336 activities had been carried out to date.  He assured Members that the Secretariat was working
hard towards the preparation of the regional trade policy courses.  The Secretariat regretted that it had
not been possible to hold a trade policy course for Francophone African Member countries in 2003.
A three week short trade policy course had been held in Geneva for the same Members that wouldhave attended the regional trade policy course and a briefing was planned for the partner resource
persons that the Secretariat would be working with for the regional trade policy course for
Francophone African Member in 2004.  The briefing would take place in November 2003 for
30 resource persons from regional academic institutions who would be sharing experiences in WTO
training.  With respect to the question raised by the representative of Senegal on the Conference on
Commodities, the Secretariat said that it was still trying to obtain information on the holding of that
conference.  The Secretariat would further look into the request made by the representative of theUnited States to include the number of participants in the reports.  That information was usually
available but the Secretariat was not certain whether that was always the case.  The Secretariat would
attempt to obtain that information and pass it on to Members.  With respect to the remark made by the
representative of Canada of bringing all the information together to create one report, the Secretariat
said it would need to reflect on  how to respond to that.  There were a large number of reports issued
on TA and it was sometimes difficult to follow all of them.
25. The representative of Morocco said that his delegation was not satisfied with the Secretariat's
response to its concerns.  The Government of Morocco, as designated host of the regional trade policy
course had the right to be informed of the decision to cancel it and the right to be notified of the
alternatives that would be offered in its place.  He was surprised to hear that there would be a briefingof experts on that issue.  The Secretariat was not being transparent, and as host to that course his
Government wished to be informed of the Secretariat's intentions.  His Government had a legal
obligation to share such information with other concerned Member countries.  However, the
Secretariat continued to implement a strategy and plan in a non-transparent way.  That practice
needed to end as it carried risks.  His delegation wished to see that information was shared.  Thecourse had been successful and his delegation had hoped to contribute to the thought process of the
Secretariat.  His delegation was not pleased with the way the Secretariat had managed the issue.  It
was a question of principle and management style.  Whether the course was organised in Morocco or
elsewhere was not the point;  the Secretariat needed to respect the principle of transparency,
consultation and informing Members.
26. The representative of Canada said that she had asked how Members could transmit the
recommendations in the TA audit to the TA Plans.  There was a missing link there.  The audit
contained good recommendations on what needed to be done to improve TA.  Then there was a report
on the implementation of the 2003 TA Plan and there was also the draft 2004 TA Plan.  The missing
link was how to get the recommendations from the au dit taken on board in future activities.  There
was also a need for a review to ensure that the recommendations in the audit were met.  That was
what delegations meant when they were talking about quality and ongoing evaluation.  All theelements were present, but the final piece was missing.
27. The representative of Pakistan said that his delegation endorsed what the representative of
Canada had said.
28. The representative of the European Communities said that Members had referred to the
qualitative assessment and the report of the Director-General of 14 August 2003.  He asked whether
the Secretariat planned to provide a more qualitative assessment of the different activities, not only on
a general basis but also on an individual course basis because that was something that would be part
of the discussions on the 2004 TA Plan.WT/COMTD/M/46
Page 8
29. The Chairman said that the Secretariat would need to revise the report while taking into
account Members' comments.  He said that the representative of Canada had raised a problem of
approach and methodology.  That would be useful  when planning future TA Plans and in the
assessments that would follow.  The Secretariat would have to find a solution to the issue raised by
the representative of Morocco.  He said that there were two ways of approving the report.  One was
for the Secretariat to revise the report, send it to Members for comments and providing there were noobjections or recommendations for any amendments, it could then it would be approved.  The second
alternative was for the report to be approved at the next meeting of the CTD.
30. The representative of the Philippines said that her delegation understood that the report on the
implementation of the 2003 TA Plan was an information report.  Members had been informed on the
activities that had been implemented and had requested that the report be improved, for example by
having the number of participants of activities reflected in the next quarterly report as suggested by
the representative of the United States.
31. The representative of Morocco said that there was no rush to finish the documents.  His
delegation preferred that a revised version of the report be made available for the next meeting.  It was
true that the report was for information purposes, but the substantive issues raised had to be settled
before Members could approve the report.
32. The representative of the European Communities said that his delegation was in favour of
approving a revised report at the next meeting.  By then, a Third Quarter Report would perhaps also
be available which might include a qualitative assessment and incorporate other suggestions that had
been made.
33. The representative of Switzerland said that he agreed with what the representative of the
European Communities had just said.  There was no need to make major changes to the Second
Quarter Report and the Third Quarter Report could take up some of the issues that Members had
raised.  A larger issue had been mentioned by the representative of Canada and others which was not
strictly related to the quarterly reports.  That was the question of on what basis to make a decision on
a yearly TA programme.  He believed that the decision to a large extent had to be based on the
evaluation of previous activities carried out.  The Technical Cooperation Audit Report for 2002(WT/COMTD/W/111) and further indications of the implementation of activities in 2003 could be
included in the analysis and in the design of the 2004 TA Plan.  That would enable Members not only
to make use of the experiences of the previous year for planning future TA Plans but to also have
accumulated experience.  That was a larger question that could probably not be addressed by the
quarterly reports.  Members might therefore need to consider ways of putting the analysis and thelessons of the past and together with the planning of a TA Plan.  He suggested that the Secretariat
consider how to bring those accumulated elements together into the planning exercise and how the
planning exercise could respond to the questions raised and recommendations made in the
accumulated audits of earlier periods.
34. The representative of Canada said that she fully agreed with what had been said by the
delegations of the European Communities and Switzerland.
35. The representative of Mauritius said that his delegation was comfortable with the report being
taken up at a future meeting for approval.  That was because it was important to the African Member
countries and as he had mentioned earlier, the African Group might wish to share its views on the
report.  He said that he was not certain when the next meeting of the CTD would be held and did not
see the urgency in having the report revised before November.  However, the African Group would
attempt to provide their views as soon as possible, provided they were given an indication of when itwould be issued.WT/COMTD/M/46
Page 9
36. The representative of Argentina said that the Second Quarterly Report should be taken note of
by Members and the Secretariat should take note of the comments made and revise the Report
accordingly.
37. The Chairman said that the Second Quarterly Report had been issued for information
purposes and needed to meet with Members' satisfaction.  It was not to be adopted or approved but
should reflect Members' concerns.  He suggested that the Secretariat be asked to revise the SecondQuarterly Report taking into account Members' observations and that the Third Quarterly Report take
into account the questions raised by delegations on the methodology, quality and financial
assessments.
38. It was so agreed.
(ii) Technical Assistance and Training Plan 2004  (WT/COMTD/W/119)
39. The Chairman said that the second part of item C related to the draft Technical Assistance and
Training Plan 2004  (WT/COMTD/W/119).
40. The Secretariat said that the presentation would focus mainly on the approach that had been
followed and the design of the 2004 TA Plan.  The Secretariat recalled that in preparation of the draft
2004 TA Plan, separate meetings had been held with representatives of regional groupings, with the
donor community, as well as with many beneficiary countries.  In preparing the draft 2004 TA Plan,
the Secretariat had endeavoured to take into account as much as possible all the feedback that it had
received.  It should therefore not contain any surprises in relation to its content.  The 2004 TA Planfollowed a different approach from the past plans in  several respects.  First, it was quality-oriented,
aiming at building long-term, i.e. sustainable, human and institutional capacity in Members, especially
in the LDC Members, and shifted away from a purely quantitative approach.  Second, it established
clear objectives for each type of "product", whether the activity took place in Geneva or in the
regions.  Third, it covered all the issues of the Agreements and the DDA.  Fourth, it was flexible,
allowing the Secretariat to respond to Members needs in a targeted way and at the right time.  Fifth, it
proposed a new range of "products", in particular with regard to activities designed to enhance thecapacity of academic institutions to backstop policy-making.  Sixth, it continued to put a premium on
activities undertaken in cooperation with partner institutions.  Finally it did not entail any increase in
resources in relation to the 2003 TA Plan.  The Secretariat had provided a comprehensive listing of all
the activities that it could undertake, called the "products".  Those included, among others, activities
as diverse as the trade policy courses, regional seminars, national seminars, university programmesand trade policy clinics.  That gave a clear picture of the coverage of the Plan, as well as the
complementarity of the different elements in the programme, providing both general and more
specific training and assistance.
41. The secretariat went on to say that it had planned what was could be planned while
maintaining the necessary degree of flexibility, particularly but not exclusively, in relation to nationalactivities.  While some emphasis was put on a regional approach covering all WTO related topics, that
did not reduce the importance that was attached to national activities and the specificity that those
engendered.  The number of national seminars to be undertaken was likely to be approximately the
same as for 2003, with the main difference being that they were not enumerated at the outset in the
draft 2004 TA Plan.  Instead, they were left to be generated through ongoing consultations withbeneficiaries, who could draw attention to their needs at any time.  By following such a flexible
approach, the Secretariat could more adequately respond to the needs that might arise during the year,
in accordance with the criteria that were enumerated in paragraph 37 of the draft 2004 TA Plan.
However, should a Member country wish to list its priorities early, it could do so.  He stressed that the
Secretariat was ready to undertake the same number of national activities in 2004 as in 2003 and hadbudgeted accordingly.  The Secretariat had put emphasis on partnership arrangements and encouragedWT/COMTD/M/46
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and invited other international agencies, regional institutions and donors to join in the Secretariat's
activities.  The Secretariat gave examples of the WTO's partnerships with UNCTAD, ITC, the Arab
Monetary Fund and others.  In order to achieve such partnership agreements, those organisations had
been contacted and the Secretariat was already receiving positive feedback on those organisations'
participation in WTO activities.  Such partnership arrangements were also likely to have beneficial
financial effects, as in many instances partners would share in the cost of the activities.  He said thatthe Secretariat would be pursuing its partnership arrangements in the JITAP and the IF.  The annex to
the Plan contained just fewer than 150 planned activities.  That was the core programme.  The
national activities would be added to that, which, if past experience was any guide, would total
250 activities.  That brought the total number of activities to approximately 400, which was more or
less the limit that the Secretariat was able to undertake, given its human capacity constraints.  It was
only slightly less than what was planned for 2003, but the aim had been to be more focused, more
quality-oriented and more geared towards longer term capacity building, which had been of concernto Members.  Also, Members would find a number  of innovations in the draft 2004 TA Plan, in
particular in the integrated approach to partners hip arrangements with the academic community.  He
said that the Director of the Administration and General Services Division would present the financial
aspects of the 2004 TA Plan in more detail.  He concluded by saying that the Secretariat was not
seeking more money than in the past, but that it was convinced that the beneficiaries would get morevalue for money.
42. The Chairman drew Members attention to the situation as of 15 May 2003 of the Doha
Development Agenda Global Trust Fund (DDAGTF) contained in document Job(03)/97.
43. The Secretariat said that it would provide an overview of the Secretariat's cost estimates for
WTO's TA and training activities in 2004.  The Secretariat hoped that those figures, taken together
with the details contained in the draft 2004 TA Plan would provide Members with the basic
information they needed.  The results of the discussions in the CTD would be taken into consideration
by the Committee on BFA later in the year when it would make recommendations to the General
Council on the WTO regular budget for 2004 and 2005, and on a target amount for the DDAGTF in
2004.  The cost estimates to be presented would be fully adjusted to reflect the results of Members'discussions and the Secretariat would report back to the Committee on BFA accordingly.  Document
Job(03)/198 which had been circulated to Members followed the structure of the draft 2004 TA Plan.
Globally, the costing arrived at for the 2004 activi ties was approximately SwF 29.6 million.  The total
comprised of first;  an estimated overall cost of SwF 36,198,343, second;  the reductions in cost to
WTO due to cost sharing arrangements of SwF 6,585,743 and third;  a net total for the WTO ofSwF 29,612,600.  For national activities, the Secretariat had based its estimates on a total volume of
approximately 250 activities, which was more or less the same as that estimated to be reached in
2003.  A provision for twenty WTO Reference Centres had also been included.  In 2004, the
Secretariat proposed to fully finance 13 L posts out of the DDAGTF.  He reminded Members that
19 L posts were created in 2002 to give the Secretariat additional human resources needed to
implement the DDA.  In 2003, it had been initially agreed that such posts would all be financed out of
the Programme Support Fund.  When making that proposal to Members in 2002, it was made clearthat that solution would no longer be available in 2004, obliging the Secretariat to find a different
source of funding for the L posts.  The posts that were to be financed out of the DDAGTF were those
directly associated with the delivery of TA or training.  The remaining six L posts played more of an
internal support role in the implementation of the Plan and would continue to be financed out of the
Programme Support Fund in 2004.  The cost-sharing hypothesis on which the estimates were based on
was ambitious (SwF 6.6 million).  That amount needed to be considered as a maximum figure.  As far
as the "bottom line" was concerned, the Secretariat hoped that Members would maintain in the regular
budgets of 2004 and 2005, an envelope for TA and training fairly similar in size to what had been
approved for 2003 i.e. SwF 5.6 million.  The estimation was consequently that all of the activities in
the draft 2004 TA Plan, taken together, would involve a cost to the WTO over and above the regularbudget available for TA and training of about SwF 24 million.  That amount would have to be
financed out of the DDAGTF.  He stressed that that was identical to what had been asked of donorsWT/COMTD/M/46
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for 2003.  The Secretariat said that if Members took into account the probable balance of the funds at
the end of 2003 and the pledges that had already been made by some donor countries, then the
Secretariat would require funds between SwF 14.5 and SwF 17.5 million for 2004 for the DDAGTF.
He concluded by saying that any adjustment to the 2004 TA Plan which might result from discussions
in the CTD would influence the cost estimates just presented.
44. The representative of Morocco said that the draft 2004 TA Plan, which differed from those of
previous years in its form, structure and content, prompted a number of remarks from his delegation.
The first had to do with consultations.  The Secretariat had mentioned in its presentation that the draft
2004 TA Plan had been prepared in consultation with the representatives of regional groups.  He said
that Morocco had been the coordinator of the African Group until the previous week and that his
delegation had not been involved in any preparatory consultations for the draft 2004 TA Plan.  The
Ambassador had been contacted by the Secretariat by telephone to discuss the question of TA.  That
was ten days ago when the draft 2003 TA Plan had already been circulated.  A colleague from themission of Morocco had discussed that with the Secretariat but his delegation had unfortunately not
been satisfied with the explanations given.  His delegation had been contacted in its own capacity and
not as the coordinator of the African Group.  He agreed with the representative of Mauritius that the
African group had not yet discussed documents Second Quarterly Report and the draft 2004 TA Plan.
Nevertheless, his delegation was pleased that the regional structure of the TA planned for 2004encompassed the Arab and Middle Eastern countries.  In view of the specificities and special needs of
that region, that initiative was welcome and he hoped that those Members would continue to
constitute a fully fledged region in future WTO TA programmes.  His delegation was also pleased that
the Secretariat, through its draft 2004 TA Plan, was seeking to extend and strengthen its network of
cooperation and partnerships with academics and researchers.  That would enable the LDCs anddeveloping countries to develop their own capacity.  However, such an initiative should not exclude
higher training institutions that dealt with trade issues in general, and with the multilateral trading
system in particular.  Those specialized institutes, which in Morocco were independent and had access
to greater financial resources than universities for example, were better equipped to absorb and
develop the capital of knowledge that would result from a partnership with the WTO.  He hoped thatthe different activities listed in paragraph 65 of the draft 2004 TA Plan would not duplicate each other
and that the necessary steps would be taken to ensure that they remained complementary.  His
delegation welcomed the outreach programme for parliaments and civil society.  It was an activity
that would help those two groups develop a more in-depth understanding of the multilateral trading
system.
45. He continued by saying that the approach of preparing the draft 2004 TA Plan had been
different from the past.  That approach had given rise to serious problems for his delegation which
would have liked to have an objective and exhaustive evaluation of the TA and capacity building
delivered in the past two years.  His delegation also requested explanations on the abandoning of
previous practice.  He wished to pose some questions because his delegation had not been convinced
by the enumeration of some of the activities in the draft 2004 TA Plan.  He referred to paragraph 6 of
page 2 containing the key features of the draft 2004 TA Plan that had an influence on the newapproach of the TA Plan, the first being that the Plan would be based on quality.  That implied that the
previous approach had not been based on quality, and if that was the case that was something that
needed to be recognised.  The second feature was product-oriented.  He asked whether that meant that
the modules presented in the two previous TA Plans were not appropriate and if that was the case that
needed to be underlined.  However, if that was not the case it had to be acknowledged.  The thirdfeature was based on obtaining results and he asked whether that meant that the results of the previous
TA Plans did not meet the expectations of the beneficiaries.  The fourth feature was that the Plan
would be geographically balanced. His delegation agreed with that because the 2004 TA Plan would
provide for a greater coverage among the various regions.  The fifth feature meant that the Plan would
be broader and deeper in scope.  He asked whether that related to the countries or the results.  Therewas confusion there because the subjects covered in the past two TA Plans did not correspond to the
themes of the DDA.  The sixth feature referred to the Plan as being simple and flexible.  He askedWT/COMTD/M/46
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whether that implied that the previous Plans had not been simple and flexible.  The final feature
related to building and strengthening strategic partnerships.  His delegation had doubts about that
because until then there were no real partnerships between the beneficiaries and the Secretariat
because those activities had continued to be prepared without the effective participation of the
countries concerned.  The needs and concerns of African countries should to be taken into account.
The needs of his Government were not the same as those of other countries in Africa.  Each country
possessed its own economic level had its own human resource constraints and problems with
institutions and universities.  The strategic partnerships should be real action plans with all countries
concerned involved in their conceptualisation and all the countries would be requested to establish a
common understanding either in small meetings or in the Secretariat with the different regional
groups.  So that some countries, particularly the LDCs with great needs could be involved in the
negotiations and better defend their interests.  His delegation noted that national activities would no
longer be planned annually in advance, and that  Members' requests would be studied and, where
applicable, approved as and when they were made.  Although flexibility was cited in justification of
that change, his delegation had serious reservations regarding that approach.  That new approach
would go against the principle of transparency which was advocated by all WTO Members and which
needed to be applied by the Secretariat.  The new approach would, on the one hand give the
Secretariat discretionary power, and on the other hand become the consecration of the discriminatorypractice of first come first served without any control on the part of Member states.  The precedent of
the regional trade policy course that was supposed to have been held in Morocco but which was
cancelled without consulting the Moroccan delegation gave an example of the difficulties that could
be encountered if the decision was exclusively in the hands of the Secretariat.  Members would then
find themselves in a situation where decisions would be taken without their participation.  For allthose reasons his delegation would not be able to adopt the draft 2004 TA Plan.
46. He went on to say that with respect to the regional trade policy courses, four of which would
be organized in 2004, his delegation was surprised to note that the venue of the course for
Francophone African Member countries was yet to be determined.  Although the 2002 course was
held in Casablanca, the second one, planned for 2003, had not yet taken place in Rabat for reasonsrelating to the choice by WTO officials.  The sharing of responsibilities for the actual course
management and for the training partnerships had made it impossible to organize the course at a time
when the preparations for the Cancún Ministerial Conference were underway.  His delegation had
been faced with a fait accompli , and was never consulted about the postponement.  His delegation had
merely been informed, in a letter dated 15 March 2003, of the Secretariat's decision and promised thatthe necessary action would be taken to ensure better preparation in the future.  Both his Mission and
his authorities in Rabat interpreted that to mean that the course had been postponed until 2004 and in
other words that it would still be held in Morocco.  While expressing its reservations about that
course, his delegation still hoped that the course would be organized in Morocco as agreed.  As in the
past, his delegation was willing to fully cooperate with the Secretariat to ensure optimal conditions for
a successful course in Morocco in 2004, in keeping with the hope of several Francophone African
Member countries.
47. The representative of Switzerland said that he wished to take as a reference for the 2004 TA
Plan, four elements which were recommendations that had come out of the Technical Cooperation
Audit Report for 2002.  The first was that more operational goals should be set for different
programmes, including benchmarks and indicators.  Second, that support strategies be developed
which would guide different programmes and would en sure a better impact.  Support strategies in the
sense that even short-term programmes and workshops should be linked into a longer chain of
activities and be part of longer term capacity building.  Third, that demand analysis be better
developed and fourth, that in any type of traini ng, the question of the selection methods should be
more thorough and build on the institutional goals in developing countries.  Traces of all those
recommendations could be found in the draft 2004 TA Plan which was generally pleasing.  Forinstance, there was stronger emphasis on regional activities and maintaining the importance of
regional trade policy courses both in Geneva and in the regions.  The first question he had relating toWT/COMTD/M/46
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the regional courses was how the Secretariat envisaged the transfer to the regions, for example to
regional academic institutions, because what Members had seen in the 2002 TA Plan was that the
general courses would be taught by regional professors or regional academic institutions and that the
WTO related courses would be taught by WTO experts.  That transfer of responsibility when
everything was going to be held in the regions wa s a challenge.  It was interesting that there were
regional experts attending seminars in Geneva.  Associating those experts with training activities inGeneva was a step in the right direction.  His next comment related to demand and he said that he
shared some of the views expressed by the representative of Morocco but not necessarily his
conclusion.  When considering demand and supply it was clear that Members had to differentiate.
The question of demand with respect to the regional trade policy courses was how the participants
were going to be selected, how the contents of the courses was going to be influenced in terms of their
knowledge and the priorities being set as a function of the detected insufficiencies.  It was clear that
the Governments as partners had an important role to play. That might also mean demand in the sensethat for certain activities the choice of the specific  sectoral or problem-oriented activities that were
part of the training and the workshops was what was at stake.  The next element of demand related to
national activities and he believed that their demand was being determined in a different way.  It was
a good suggestion to identify that type of demand through trade policy reviews, the IF process and
analytical studies being carried out, JITAP, existing capacity building efforts and through discussionswith partners in the beneficiary countries.  What n eeded to be clear was that what was being discussed
had to be a reflected, analysed and justified demand and not wishes by partners in developing
countries or donors.
48. He went on to say that his delegation had always opposed, like many others, the notion of ad
hoc activities and activities that were not part of longer term capacity building strategies.  The draft2004 TA Plan went in the opposite direction in anticipating a higher amount of national activities that
were ad hoc .  He reminded Members that when discussing the draft 2003 TA Plan one point that had
been made was that no more than 5 per cent of the activities should be ad hoc .  His impression was
that the Secretariat had departed from that original idea and was defining demand for national
activities that was based on dialogues with the beneficiaries, their short-term needs and their short-term deficits.  It was a rather operational demand in respect to negotiations and the next events in the
WTO.  It was related to trade policy clinics which were another way to consider that.  That had also
been mentioned in the context of the extended discussions and seminars that had been held with
countries in the trade policy review mechanism.  Ther e were in fact three instruments that were being
projected, trade policy reviews, trade policy clinics and ad hoc  national activities as a way of
interacting with countries and providing beneficiaries with operational support as WTO Members
having obligations and rights and having problems in dealing with those obligations and actively
participating in negotiating processes.  If that was the concept, then his delegation had no problem
with those activities being ad hoc .  However, ad hoc  then meant that the Secretariat intervened with
the beneficiaries in a focused way using different instruments to establish a more policy-related and
practical dialogue on their Membership issues and their role in the negotiations.  That would be a way
of identifying the demand of such activities, which could not be planned ahead of time.  It would notsimply be wishes from countries but it would re flect a good analytical and policy related dialogue
with the countries.
49. He concluded by discussing what was already implicit in the discussions on the Second
Quarterly Report which related to the function of monitoring and evaluation in respect to the 2004 TA
Plan.  He said that in the Second Quarterly Report it was not clear what the function of the monitoringunit of the Audit was.  What his delegation knew from the past was that the Secretariat had employed
the typical training tools to consider process monitoring, to consider whether the courses were
satisfactory to the participants and to consider whether the trainees were achieving the expected
results.  There were people attending courses on a sample basis making observations and that was
something that would then be reflected in the audit report.  The real question was whether theSecretariat was attempting to go beyond that.  There were two ways to do that, one was to associate
clear qualified objectives with the different courses and training goals and to find a way to evaluateWT/COMTD/M/46
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how those objectives were met each time a course took place.  There would thus be results at the end
on certain indicators and benchmarks which could be reflected in the reports.  Another way was to
consider impact.  He asked whether that was something the Secretariat planned, and whether it in
some cases would try to follow up on what happened to the participants to courses in previous years,
whether they were the same people who were anticipa ted to be in certain positions, whether they were
utilising the knowledge they had acquired in their functions.  He asked if the Secretariat used whatthat indicated in terms of improving courses.  Su ch impact analysis was difficult but necessary.  In
that respect he asked the Secretariat what methods it was using with respect to planning for future
years and also with respect to previous programmes.  That was not an easy task because there was a
cost element associated to it.  It was a question of numbers and the intensity of the effort of the
evaluation.  His delegation attached great importance to the evaluation.  Because training efforts were
elusive and costly it was important to be efficient and to provide quality to the beneficiary countries.
That effort had to be stepped up to ensure that the large sums of money being earmarked for thispurpose were well spent.
50. The representative of the European Communities said that he agreed with what the
representative of Switzerland had said but would limit his comments to the more general and
fundamental issues underlying the draft 2004 TA Plan, and would leave other comments on the Plan
for later.  He said that although the Secretariat was to be thanked for its efforts in drawing up the draft2004 TA Plan, his delegation had the impression that the Plan was based on the pre-Cancún situation.
The Cancún outcome required a re-assessment of TA priorities.  It could not be business as usual.  He
said that his delegation had not been consulted during the drafting of the Plan and was only consulted
after the Plan had already been drawn up.  First, Members needed to reconsider the scope of future
TA since it was not clear what the scope of the DDA would be in future, given the rejection by manyMembers of key subjects in the DDA Work Programme, the almost certain delay of negotiations, and
the general uncertainty that now prevailed.  It was, for example, premature at that point to assume that
there would be TA needs related to some or all of the Singapore issues.  Second, as Cancún had
revealed, there were problems in understanding issues and there were limitations when it came to
negotiations.  TA was therefore even more necessary than ever before, at least for those issues thatwould continue to be part of the DDA Work Prog ramme.  Third, one of the immediate results of
Cancún was that the European Communities would be critically considering the functioning of the
WTO and the case for possible institutional improvements within it.  That would include the scope,
organisation, resources necessary for, and funding of within a broader review of the role, funding and
organisation of the Secretariat.  Fourth, and linked to the question of WTO reform was therelationship between the future TA activities of the WTO and the contribution in that field of other
international organisations, in other words the interface between coherence and development aid.
Members' definition of this interface and the allotment of specified roles based on competencies
would have immediate implications for the scope, nature and management of future WTO TA.  In
view of that, his delegation was of the opinion that the 2004 TA Plan should focus first and foremost
on the WTO's core activities, that was the implementation of existing agreements, and when the DDA
had been re-launched, on TA for those subjects that would be part of the negotiating agenda and thework programme.
51. He continued by saying that the 2004 TA Plan had taken a different approach as compared to
the 2003 TA Plan.  In that respect the Plan confirmed what was stated in paragraph 21 of the
Technical Cooperation Audit Report for 2002 (WT/COMTD/W/111 of 28 March 2003) that "The
plan lives and dies from one year to the next.  Therefore, the cumulative benefits of the current TAsfor the beneficiaries are more the result of coincidence than systematically thought out efforts."  The
draft 2004 TA Plan read like a catalogue from which developing countries could choose what they
desired.  It provided an overview of what the WTO Secretariat would actually do in the area of TA
and training without being specific on the content of the courses.  The text and the tables in the annex
of he Plan were also not fully compatible.  Also the cost estimates as presented in documentJOB(03)/198 of 10 October 2003 did not follow the same set-up as the description of the Plan in
pages 2 to 21.  That inconsistency made it difficult to get a comprehensive and clear insight on whatWT/COMTD/M/46
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was actually being proposed and at what cost .  Commenting on the design and the costing of the Plan,
he said that output was now measured in terms of the number of "participant days" but costing was
general and not transparent.  Cost per participant per day was a useful criterion for judging the mix of
activities, those held regionally, nationally and in Geneva.  It seemed that activities in Geneva
remained extraordinarily expensive (over SwF 2000 per participant day).  There was also no insight as
to the cost of national activities because national activities were only designed in a general way.  Hesaid that the establishment of the Plan was clearly based on what the WTO could offer, and was
therefore to a large extent supply driven.  Most of the "products" had been available in 2002 as well.
In 2002, donors and recipient developing countries had insisted on a needs based approach.  The
question was how had the Secretariat determined that what it could offer was what the developing
country Members needed.  He said that it was striking to see that the list in paragraph 6 failed to
mention any customer-oriented criteria.  He said that the 2004 TA Plan focused almost exclusively on
training and capacity building related to training.  At the national level technical workshops wereforeseen, but no TA was foreseen for the actual implementation and application of existing WTO
Agreements.  From the financial note his delegation understood that less than 10 per cent of the
budget would be devoted to national activities.  Also the way in which national activities would be
agreed on was not clearly defined.  The four criteria included in paragraph 37 of the draft 2004 TA
Plan also left a number of doubts.  For instance, the first of the criteria was not consistent with whatwas stated elsewhere in the document on the capacity of countries to be able define their own
priorities and individual needs.  Therefore, in his delegation’s view, the dilemma of matching needs
with what was on offer in terms of regional, national and Geneva-based activities could be overcome
if the WTO Secretariat clearly identified the target group for the different courses.  The proposed
candidates could then be assessed on the basis of their CV's and a better selection could be made.That would at least provide some check on the level and relevance of the training for individual
participants, and would prevent "course hoppers" attending as many courses as possible.
52. In addition, he said that his delegation was opposed to using the DDAGTF for activities
related to the IF, the trade policy reviews and for attending, among others, international meetings and
conferences.  His delegation felt that those activities should be funded from the regular budget.  Hisdelegation disagreed that JITAP and the IF were products similar to the other training courses in the
Plan.  He said that the crucial issue of the needs of developing countries had not been addressed.  The
key task of the WTO Secretariat should be to address that issue and to base in the 2004 TA Plan on a
strategy to get that off the ground.  Other non-priority activities needed to be dropped to make that
possible.  As had been mentioned by the representative of Switzerland, feedback from trade policyreviews, JITAP, the IF and similar exercises carried out in of the different Committees should be used
to engage with the developing countries in defining their needs.  He was pleased to note that the
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade and the Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary had
carried out surveys of developing country needs.  The results of those surveys should be taken into
account.  It was also important to assist and focus the TA Plan more on assisting developing countries
with mainstreaming trade into their national policies.   Thus, there still remained an important issue
that was not being well addressed and the Cancún experience had given some further ideas on that.Finally with respect to monitoring, he said that it was stated in the Plan that the achievement of the
"desired outcome of the products" was an important objective of the activities.  However, this could
only be assessed when the desired outcome was clearly specified up front.  He said that it was also
important to introduce some kind of verification of the accrued knowledge and understanding both at
the beginning and at the end of a course so as to measure the impact of the activity.  The EuropeanCommunities had done that in the four  week DDA training  course that it had organised in April.  That
had been systematically done at the beginning, during and end of all the subject areas and was a
valuable exercise that would help define the c ontent for the next course.  With respect to the
evaluation of the TA Plan, he said that it was important that apart from the Secretariat carrying out the
evaluation, there was also an independent outside evaluator to assess the achievement of theobjectives of the Plan.WT/COMTD/M/46
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53. The representative of Barbados said that report on the implementation of the 2003 TA Plan
(WT/COMTD/W/118) gave her delegation confidence in the Secretariat and especially in the Institute
for Training and Technical Cooperation and in its delivery and implementation of the 2003 TA Plan.
She said that her delegation supported the draft 2004 TA Plan which was a good basis for the 2004
TA programme.  She said that when considering the key features of the 2004 TA Plan her delegation
felt that the orientation which had been chosen was pertinent.  It was good that the Secretariat hadestablished priorities which were based on an assessment of countries needs and realities.  In that
context, her delegation welcomed the fact that the 2004 TA Plan took into account the needs of LDCs,
small and vulnerable economies and non resident WTO Members.  An impressive range of products
had been envisaged and in that context her delegation was pleased to see that a regional trade policy
course would be held in the Caribbean.  With respect to the TA and training activities envisaged at a
national level, her delegation noted the emphasis being placed on the complementarity of national
activities with regional activities and trade policy courses.  Her delegation also noted that flexibilityand specificity were highlighted as key guidelines to the conduct of national activities.  Her delegation
was willing to see how that new approach to the delivery of TA would work in practice.  With the
introduction of new products such as the trade policy clinics, her delegation was confident that there
would be no sidelining of national activities in the 2004 TA Plan and in that regard her delegation
welcomed the Secretariat's affirmation that the WTO was ready to undertake the same number ofnational activities in 2004 as was being undertaken in 2003.  With respect to the Geneva-based
support activities, she highlighted the importance and benefits of "Geneva Week" for non-residents.
She was pleased to note that that activity had been retained for the 2004 TA Plan.  With respect to the
partnerships for training and capacity building, her delegation had indicated in the past and still
considered that to be an important initiative and urged the WTO to continue to develop institutionallinks with academic bodies in Member states, especially in developing countries.  Her delegation felt
that those partnerships for training and capacity building were a good example of sustainable capacity
building and that it was clearly an investment in the beneficiary countries national capabilities.  Her
delegation was therefore pleased to see that there was an attempt to accelerate work on that initiative
and hoped to see tangible results from that project during the course of 2004.  Another related activitythat her delegation felt had significant potential was the distance learning and information technology
initiative and her delegation hoped that progress would also be made in that area in 2004.  With
respect to the trainee programmes and internships, she emphasised the importance that her delegation
attached to those programmes as a significant channel of enhancing national capacity both in capital
as well as in missions in Geneva.  Internships were particularly important for countries such as hersthat had limited human resources.
54. She drew Members attention to part IV of the draft 2004 TA Plan which dealt with the
establishment by the WTO of partnerships through Memoranda of Understanding and other
arrangements.  In the Caribbean region there was evidence of positive synergies which had been
generated by such partnerships and her delegation looked forward to continued and enhanced positive
results from such arrangements in the future.  On the issue of funding, what she had said demonstrated
the extent to which TRTA and capacity building were important to developing country Members.  Herdelegation was therefore confident that the developed country trading partners who were the principle
donors, were fully aware of the importance placed by developing countries on the ability of the WTO
to deliver substantial and effective TRTA.  The WTO continued to be a viable institution in which her
delegation placed its trust. The Doha Work Programme which possessed many different components
both of a negotiating and non negotiating nature, remained important to Barbados and it was theWTO's responsibility to assist developing countries with regard to both the regular work of the
institution as well as the Doha Work Programme mandated by Ministers.  She therefore urged that the
financing required to implement the 2004 TA Plan be provided in full in an effective and useful
manner.
55. The representative of Venezuela said that her delegation welcomed the improvements to the
TA Plan which had an improved form and structure and made room for Member countries' requests
and took into account her delegation's request of introducing greater flexibility in the Plan.  HerWT/COMTD/M/46
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delegation believed that to be an important element.  Her delegation was also pleased to see that the
interests and needs of beneficiaries were taken into account.  TA had to go beyond the implementation
of the WTO Agreements and needed to take into a ccount institutional capacity building in beneficiary
countries.  Her delegation particularly favoured the role given to academic activities and in that
context she said that priority should be given to universities and training centres in developing
countries.  During consultations on the TA Plan her delegation had noted the importance ofconsidering not only the universities in developed countries, but also those in developing countries
because not all their nationals had an opportunity to study in those universities.  She said that
cooperation with other agencies should continue considering Members needs and she hoped there
would be closer cooperation with  UNCTAD which her delegation was pleased to note had signed a
Memorandum of Understanding with the WTO.   Sh e said that her delegation also favoured the
initiatives for distance-learning and hoped that in the future those initiatives would not replace the
attendance-based training courses.  She however voiced her delegation’s concern over the fact that atrade policy course had not been planned for the Latin American Region.  Nevertheless, her
delegation was pleased to note that one such course would be held in the Caribbean Region.  With
respect to paragraph 34 of the 2004 TA Plan, she said that her delegation believed that there should be
a revaluation of activities in light of the outcome of the Cancún Ministerial Conference.  Some
activities would need to be reformulated taking into consideration the needs of developing countries.Her delegation appreciated the information provided in paragraph 65 of the draft 2004 TA Plan and
reiterated the importance that her delegation attach ed to the training of academics as well as the
support programme for doctoral studies.  Her delegation believed that UNCTAD could assist in that
area.  Details on start dates;  coverage;  and number of participants should be indicated to make the
courses clearer.  She agreed with the comments made by the representative of the EuropeanCommunities with respect to obtaining information on participants' level of knowledge, something her
delegation had always believed to be desirable and had never understood the explanations as to why
that had not been done in the past.  The United Nations Institute for Research and Training had
specific models on how to assess participants and the WTO needed to take that into account in the
future.  She said that she agreed with the representative of Barbados that the draft 2004 TA Plan was agood basis for the 2004 TA programme.
56. The representative of Tunisia said that his remarks would focus on the features of the draft
2004 TA Plan and on the activities listed therein.  He assured the Secretariat of his delegation's full
cooperation and availability in the ongoing consultations with regional groups, with a view to making
any necessary improvements to the initial draft of the 2004 TA Plan.  With respect to the key featuresof the 2004 TA Plan, beginning from paragraph 6, he said that Tunisia was pleased to see that the Plan
had been drafted in a balanced fashion, since broadly the same number of activities had been
scheduled for each region.  He hoped that this balance was maintained at the level of national
activities too.  The idea of giving countries the opportunity to consider their own priority needs and
put forward their requests at any time they felt appropriate during the year, was interesting.
Nevertheless, it was necessary to ensure that a number of conditions were taken into account.  Firstly,
the Secretariat should ensure a fair implementation of activities that benefited developing countries.Secondly, the Secretariat should ensure the necessary transparency in the implementation of such
activities by publishing periodic reports on the requests received from Members and on the
cooperation activities that were to be allocated.  Elements should be incorporated into the revised plan
that would take into account some of the concerns expressed by the delegation of Morocco.  As
regards the products contained in the draft 2004 TA Plan, his delegation supported the Secretariat'sinitiative aimed at extending TA activities to the academic sector.  His delegation was confident that
that new initiative would lead to the establishment of a network of national trainers in the multilateral
trading system, so as to ensure sustainable strengthening of the capacity to understand the multilateral
trading system.  His delegation welcomed the initiative introduced by the Secretariat in 2002, of
assigning a resource person to assist the regional groups in their coordination activities which wasstated in the second bullet point of paragraph 76 of the Plan.  As coordinator of the Arab Group, his
delegation hoped that that facility would be extended to the Arab Group, as it was to other regional
groups.  Furthermore, his delegation noted that the table on regional activities on page 27 of the PlanWT/COMTD/M/46
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did not include any trade policy courses for the Arab and Middle Eastern countries.  He advised the
Secretariat to include a regional trade policy course for those countries so as to ensure a geographical
balance;  that was a key feature of the 2004 TA Plan.
57. He went on to say that the draft 2004 TA Plan cited the JITAP programme as one of the
"products" provided by the WTO.  The contribution made by the WTO in conjunction with UNCTAD
and the ITC, in ensuring the smooth running of th e programme, should not be underestimated.  The
programme was presently in its second phase and should benefit eight new African countries in
addition to the eight countries that were already cove red in the first phase.  Tunisia, the country where
JITAP now originated, took a special interest in the programme.  His delegation hoped that the JITAP
programme would achieve the anticipated objectives, in particular improvement in the supply side
capacity of beneficiary countries and in the market knowledge of exporting enterprises, so that those
firms were able to export and derive benefits from the business opportunities that were likely to arise
within the framework of the ongoing negotiations.
58. The representative of India said that a range of products had been proposed in the draft 2004
TA Plan to address the complexity of both geographic and substantive needs.  Even though there had
been some preliminary contacts made with his delegation, they would have preferred a more
structured process of consultations.  His delegation also welcomed the emphasis on a regional
approach to TA, both because trade issues increasingly possessed a regional dimension and alsobecause of the networking opportunities and sustained capacity building possibilities that this would
provide.  His delegation noted that a venue for Asia had yet to be chosen and he suggested that India
be considered in that respect.  He requested more details of the responsibilities that the host would
need to take.  His delegation welcomed the proposed regional seminars, but said that his delegation
would like, in the inventory of possible themes mentioned in paragraph 34 of the draft 2004 TA Plan,the inclusion of Trade and Development;  an area of critical interest to all developing countries.  With
respect to the national activities, his delegation noted the proposed criteria but as mentioned by other
delegations, there was a need for greater clarification on the selection process.  He was not certain
what could be done in that aspect but said that perhaps this was something that the CTD or the CTD
Chair could do.  He highlighted the need for assistance relating to the trade policy clinics andassistance in the trade policy review mechanism, to be demand driven. While that was recognised in
the Plan as a whole there was a greater need to underline the necessity of the content of those courses
to be demand driven rather than having any aspects that might suggest a prescriptive approach from
the part of the Secretariat.  With respect to the proposed activities under the outreach programme,
Members needed to realise that outreach was a distinct activity and was different from TA.  He wasnot certain whether those activities should be accorded the same priority as had been suggested.  It
was perhaps something that should be left to the countries in terms of their own perceived needs under
the national activities umbrella.  As a preliminary reaction to what had been said by the representative
of the European Communities in relation to the emphasis of training assistance on existing
agreements, he said that whatever else Ministers might or might not have agreed on at the Cancún
Ministerial Conference, they did reaffirm their commitment to the DDA and flowing from that
mandate training assistance would need to cover both the implementation of existing agreements aswell as the capacity of developing countries to participate and deliver towards meaningful agreements
arising form the DDA.
59. The representative of Mauritius said that both the report on the implementation of the 2003
TA Plan (WT/COMTD/W/118) and the 2004 TA Plan (WT/COMTD/W/119) were related in the
sense that the comments made on the 2003 TA Plan were useful inputs for the 2004 TA Plan.  It wasin that respect that he had mentioned that African Member countries should provide their comments
on the two documents.  It was important to consider how to take that issue forward in the sense of the
challenging work of the Doha Work Programme ahead of Members.  Many delegations had expressed
their views on some of the shortcomings of the present and past TA Plans.  He shared the perspective
of Morocco but as a group, Members needed to work together to find ways of addressing those issues.As he had stated earlier, there were a number of elements in the draft 2004 TA Plan which were ofWT/COMTD/M/46
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interest to the African Group.  He had given his vi ews on the inclusion in the 2004 TA Plan of the
regional trade policy courses to be held in Kenya and the other one for which the venue was yet to be
confirmed.  The 2004 TA Plan was work that served a purpose and in the past TA Plan had been
prepared on a needs basis and he hoped that this would remain a guiding principle of the process.  His
delegation, like that of Barbados had confidence in the Secretariat and the job it was doing.  Although
there were commendable positive elements in the draft 2004 TA Plan, there were still certain areasthat could be improved upon.  He gave the example of the trade policy review mechanism which was
an institution in the architecture of the WTO.  As an institution it catered for all Members and in the
context of the preamble of the WTO agreement, the draft 2004 TA Plan should include something on
the role played by the trade policy review mechanism.  It was not just providing capacity building to
developing countries but the whole process of appreciation that the trade policy review mechanism
brought for the Membership as a whole in defending the multilateral trading system in the way that
Members applied the principles of the WTO rules was the basic aim.  That was why TA wasimportant not only in helping the developing countries and the LDCs to implement the WTO
Agreements but at the same time defending the system as a whole.  For those involved in outsourcing
that would give a full picture of what the WTO TA was doing.  There were a number of other
elements that were important.  With respect to the assistance for coordinators, he said that his
delegation had received a letter from the Secretariat offering an extension of that assistance which wasmuch appreciated.  He felt that that would assist the African Group in discharging its responsibilities.
60. The representative of Chile said that her delegation supported the new approach of the draft
2004 TA Plan in terms of objectives and products.  She said that the regional trade policy courses
were the most important products on offer as they generated long-lasting strategic associations and
were thereby well suited to providing long-term cap acity building.  In that context, her Government
had sent a note to the Secretariat offering the assistance of the University of Chile as host for a
regional trade policy course in the Latin American region.  The draft 2004 TA Plan did not include
any regional trade policy course for the Latin American region.  However, it was important for the
countries in that region for a course to be held  there.  She said that knowledge about the WTO
Agreements should get permanent and broad-based dissemination.  That was particularly important asmany Latin American Governments had begun bilateral and regional initiatives.
61. The representative of Australia said that it was important that Members did not overplay the
need to completely review or revise the existing  arrangements for TRTA immediately following the
Cancún Ministerial Conference.  The draft 2004 TA Plan clearly referred to the need to review
elements of the proposed work programme after the meeting of senior officials scheduled for15 December 2003.  That caveat was sufficient for the current situation.  All Members were likely to
agree that TA was an important part of WTO's work under the DDA and that it was time to continue
its full delivery and develop mechanisms of appropriate accountability.  She said that the point made
earlier by the representative of India had been well taken.  She said that she would make her
comments on a chapter-by-chapter basis although there would be some overlapping themes.  Amongst
those overlapping themes was the need for strong mechanisms for monitoring and accountability.  She
wished to add her delegation's voice to many of the comments already made by both donor andrecipients of TA.  The list of key features in Chapter II on the "Key Features of the Technical
Assistance and Training Plan 2004" was impressive.  The important point was to ensure that an
explanation was given of how those key features  would be delivered, how the delivery would be
measured, and how the key features would be fact ored into the product linkages and evaluation
process which her delegation hoped would feed into subsequent planning processes.
62. She went on to say that her delegation, like others, would be grateful for some supplementary
information in Chapter III on national activities and the possibility to request ad-hoc activities
throughout the year.  There was a delicate balancing act between the flexibility to address urgent
needs as they arose, and the need to ensure transparency, geographical equity and to maintain clear
oversight of product delivery.  It was therefore important to engage in the details of how that balancewould be achieved.  She noted the reference in paragraph 85 to the use of money from the GlobalWT/COMTD/M/46
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Trust Fund for WTO Secretariat attendance at international meetings and conferences.  The paragraph
made some useful points regarding the need for WTO Secretariat attendance, but it was not clear
whether there were any explicit criteria to ensure the development impact of that attendance.  That
paragraph therefore needed some further clarification.  In Chapter III her delegation also wished to
see a reference to the Pacific region in addition to Asia in the fourth bullet point of paragraph 19.
With respect to Chapter IV she said that her dele gation supported the Secretariat's move to increase
partnerships but wished more details on the content of the Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs)
signed and the efforts that would be made to ensu re delivery of quality activities, including through
maintaining appropriate levels of supervision and involvement in the development of course content.
Her delegation had been disappointed to find that there was only a brief reference to outsourcing, an
issue on which the CTD had produced some good work.  A reference could well be made to the
desirability and practicality of outsourcing in the delivery of any activity contained in the 2004 TA
Plan which might realistically move Members towards meeting the objectives outlined in thepreviously discussed Secretariat note on outsourcing .  Some useful comments had been made by other
delegations on monitoring and evaluation under the previous agenda item and with respect to
Chapter V.  Her delegation fully agreed with the concern expressed by the representative of Canada
and the helpful proposal on a possible way forward.  The representative of Switzerland had also
clearly articulated concerns which her delegation shared about both the need for and the purpose ofmonitoring and evaluation.  The 2004 TA Plan should, at the least, include an outline or at least a
reference to indicators that would be used for monitoring and evaluation.  The 2004 TA Plan should
also, for transparency purposes, include an indication of the method used to ensure the selection of
appropriate candidates for the training courses, as that was critical for achieving sustainable impacts.
63. The representative of Japan said that his delegation in general considered the content of the
draft 2004 TA Plan as good and pledged to fully cooperate with the Secretariat to make it an effective
one.  His delegation wished to continue to carefully examine the financial aspects of WTO TA.  In
that context and with regard to item 6 of JOB(03)/198 he asked for a justification in terms of
workload for the cost of the 13 L-posts mentioned.
64. The representative of Cuba said that there should be a natural continuation of both the draft
2004 TA Plan and the Second Quarterly Report on the TA implementation of the 2003 TA Plan.  Her
delegation considered the draft 2004 TA Plan to be a good platform for WTO TA and training under
the DDA.  As other delegations had said with regard to fundamental guidelines, it was key that the
draft 2004 TA Plan be based on needs expressed through requests made by the beneficiaries and that a
geographical balance be respected for the activities.  The draft 2004 TA Plan could be improved incertain areas by considering the views expressed by delegations and she requested the Secretariat to
take the concerns expressed into account.  Other specialized institutions should be involved in the
implementation of the draft 2004 TA Plan such as in the areas of trade and finance and trade and
transfer of technology.  The draft 2004 TA Plan was preliminary and could be adjusted as needs arose,
but it provided a good basis from which to start.  Related to both the draft 2004 TA Plan and the
Second Quarterly Report on the implementation of the 2003 TA Plan, she said that it might be more
constructive to take her delegation's concerns into account when planning for the future.  She notedthat her Government had not been invited to participate in the training activities of the DDA planned
for the Latin American and Caribbean region in the second quarter of 2003.  She was not asking for a
public explanation from the Secretariat but said that she wished to state that that practice would set an
unacceptable precedent in the delivery of TA provided by the WTO.  Her Government wished to
reiterate that a Government that accepted to host any WTO TA activity had to guarantee thepossibility for all WTO Members to participate in it, and had to abstain from any bilaterally or
multilaterally applied discriminatory practices.
65. The representative of Norway said that her delegation was generally pleased with the targets
as presented in part I and II, and particularly with the priority put on the LDCs in paragraph 2, the
importance of having a quality-oriented approach as mentioned in the first bullet-point in paragraph 6,the focus on more result-oriented activities which would leave a sustainable trace, and betterWT/COMTD/M/46
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coordination with other agencies and partners.  The draft 2004 TA Plan also provided a good
overview of the various types of activities on offer.  Nevertheless, her delegation saw scope for
improvement with regard to the fo rmat of the draft 2004 TA Plan and its use as a strategic tool.  She
said that it was difficult to understand how the stated LDC priority and geographical balance would be
followed-up in practice.  Her delegation also considered it useful to have a TA Plan targeted to each
Member's TA and capacity building needs.  However, she was aware that an annual plan would be ofan ad hoc  nature and not specific enough with regard to the implementation in specific Member
countries.  The Secretariat might therefore, as an internal planning tool, consider making a
comprehensive overview of different Members' needs as they were perceived by the Secretariat and as
defined by the Members themselves.  Such an overview would have to be established in close
cooperation with Members in order to ensure a demand-driven approach to the WTO TA Plan.
66. The representative of Malaysia said that the draft 2004 TA Plan was a good basis for further
work.  She said that her Government wished to host a regional trade policy course in Asia.  As her
delegation had mentioned at earlier meetings, it was important to ensure a fair distribution of
geographical locations for regional seminars.  Her delegation was pleased with the statement made by
the Secretariat that national activities for 2004, although not enumerated in the draft 2004 TA Plan,
could be discussed with the Secretariat on an ad hoc  basis.  She asked how it would be ensured that a
Member was allocated the courses it requested.  Consultations with the Secretariat would ensure thatthe courses met Members' needs.  It would be useful to ensure the incorporation of some of the key
features emphasised in paragraph 6 such as the practical, quality-oriented approach to the courses
enhancing the understanding of the WTO.  Her delegation supported the draft 2004 TA Plan as long
as it gave due attention to national seminars and courses.
67. The representative of Paraguay said that the objectives were well defined in the draft 2004 TA
Plan and that the products on offer were aimed at t ackling the needs identified by Members.  Some of
the 19 products were good initiatives to ensure that developing countries received the TA they needed
to meet their objectives.  However, there were some  shortcomings with the basic characteristics of the
draft 2004 TA Plan.  Despite the fact that Members had been told that the draft 2004 TA Plan would
meet the priority needs of WTO TA and deal with the specific requests made by the beneficiaries ofWTO TA, his delegation felt that the draft 2004 TA Plan focused on the products, effects and results
rather than on the critical needs of developing countries.  What was needed to ensure product
transparency were procedures that ensured a clear definition of the criteria used for choosing the
developing country beneficiaries of the TA on offer.  That, in turn, was linked to national and regional
activities.  His delegation wished to see such elements reflected in order to improve the good workthat the Secretariat had provided Members with.  Like other delegations from his region he noted the
absence of regional trade policy courses in the Latin American Region.  As coordinator for the
GRULAC Group, his delegation, during the review of  the results of the Regional Trade Policy Course
held in Casablanca, had flagged the need to have that type of course in the Latin American region.
That was linked to the importance of strategic alliances such as that with the ANDEAN integration
programme of the Inter-American Development Bank.  It was also important to have a clear link to
regional universities.  Finally, a well-functioning follow-up and assessment mechanism of WTO TAhad to be put in place which would enable Members to ensure an efficient, high-quality management
of each TA Plan as envisaged by the Secretariat.
68. The representative of Egypt said that, in the preparation of the draft TA Plans for 2002 and
2003 Members had been consulted about the areas of interest in which they wished to receive TA.
However, his delegation had not been consulted in the preparation of the draft 2004 TA Plan and heasked if such consultations would be carried out for the regional workshops so that Members received
the type of TA they required.  The Annex to the draft 2004 TA Plan containing the list of activities
had a section (xii) on Trade and Environment which listed a workshop for francophone African
Members but no such course was listed for Anglophone African Members.  He asked what would
happen if some Anglophone African members felt that they needed such a course.  He would continuehis comments chapter by chapter.  With respect to paragraphs 16 and 17 on page 5 on regional tradeWT/COMTD/M/46
Page 22
policy courses he said that it was mentioned that some of the lecturers would be from the region and
asked on what basis they would be selected and if a roster of lecturers existed.  He remembered that
Members had been asked to identify potential lecturers that the Secretariat may have recourse to.  He
asked if all lecturers identified would get the possibility to participate or if a core list of chosen
lecturers existed.  His delegation wished to see a copy of that list annexed to the draft 2004 TA Plan,
if such a list existed.  With respect to the section on national TA and training activities on page 9 hesaid that a pragmatic approach to enhance the transp arency process would be to set a deadline for the
submission of requests and that the Secretariat then compile such requests and identify which areas
were and which were not accepted.  The CTD would then get the opportunity to discuss the approach
taken by the Secretariat.
69. He continued by saying that, in the fourth bullet of paragraph 50 of section (h) on
"Specialised Courses" of the draft 2004 TA Plan, there was a mention of a Specialized Course for
English speaking officials with the topic to be determined.  His delegation suggested that thatspecialized course be on agriculture, and more specifically on notifications of the implementation of
Members' obligations under the current agreement, and in the framework of the ongoing negotiations.
The fourth bullet of section (k) on "Geneva-based Support" mentioned briefing sessions through
video-conferencing.  It would be useful for Members to obtain information about the briefing sessions
held in 2003, the Members who benefited from that activity and the briefing sessions planned for2004 and to have that information annexed.  Section (l) on "Partnerships for Training and Capacity
Building:  An Integrated Approach" mentioned that the WTO Secretariat was "engaged in a process of
developing partnerships between the WTO Secretariat and the trade policy related academic
community in Member countries".  It would be useful for Members to get a list of the academies with
which the WTO Secretariat had developed such partnerships or the ones with which the Secretariatwas in the process of developing such partnerships.  With respect to section (i) "Regional Trade
Policy Courses" of paragraph 65 he said that his delegation supported the plea made by the
representative of Tunisia for a trade-policy cour se for Arab and Middle-Eastern WTO Members.
There was also a section (ii) in the same paragraph on "Workshops for university professors on WTO
matters" and his delegation believed that that was an interesting and useful exercise.  However, fiveworking days might be more adequate for that acti vity than the three days suggested.  The Geneva-
based missions would be interested in having contacts  with the visiting professors in order to consider
how to enhance WTO-related programmes at national universities.  Section (iii) on the "Support
programme for doctoral studies" was also interesting and his delegation wished to see the estimated
cost of that activity and information about whether that cost would finance the stay in Geneva forthose students.  He also asked if the costs would be sponsored by the DDAGTF or by the universities
to which the doctoral students belonged and if it was possible for the diplomats residing in Geneva
who undertook doctoral studies to have recourse to that system.  His delegation wished to see further
elaboration of the "computer-based training modul es (CBTs) on WTO Agreements/Issues" mentioned
in paragraph 67.  A module had been developed by WIPO and the United Nations Institute for
Training and Research (UNITAR) which involved online distance learning with a tutor that had
permanent contact with their students.  The exams were taken on-line and the studies led to acertificate for the students.  That was a more interesting and rewarding system for the students.
Paragraph 72 mentioned that the Secretariat envisaged to undertake some 25 missions for the
establishment of 15 and upgrading of 10 Reference Centres, to be financed through the DDAGTF, and
he asked for a list of those Reference Centres.  His delegation supported the plea made by the
representative of Tunisia for having an intern assist the coordinator of the African Group in thecontext of the "Trainee programmes and Internships" mentioned in paragraph 76 of the draft 2004 TA
Plan.  He said that his delegation shared the views expressed by the representative of India with
respect to section (r) entitled "Outreach Programme for parliaments and Civil Society".  Such
activities could not be considered as TA activities.  They should be considered  as national activities.
His delegation shared the view expressed by the representative of the European Communities andother delegations with respect to section (s) on "Attendance at international meetings, conferences,
workshops, seminars and symposia" that such activities should not be funded from the DDAGTF as
they could not be described as TA activities.  As the figure of 80-100 such meetings attended by theWT/COMTD/M/46
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Secretariat seemed high and in order for Members to get a better understanding of such activities he
requested an Annex to the 2004 TA Plan containing a list of the meetings attended by the Secretariat.
The representative of the European Communities had raised the issue of whether the programmed
activities effectively responded to the new post-Cancún situation.  A regional workshop on
competition policy had been planned as well as one on trade and investment and his delegation was
not certain whether those activities should be retained.  The Secretariat needed to keep in mind thatthere was a probability that those issues might be dropped from the WTO's work.  Such activities
should therefore not be planned for early 2004 but rather towards the end of the year as there might
not be a need for such workshops.
70. The representative of Pakistan said that the draft 2004 TA Plan was comprehensive.  His
delegation supported its key features presented and believed that it would enable the WTO Secretariat
to pursue its TA programme in a coherent and effective manner.  He expressed his delegation's
appreciation to the Secretariat for having consulted with his delegation prior to the circulation of thedraft 2004 TA Plan.  With regard to the continued implementation of WTO TA activities his
delegation believed that there was no reason to say that business was not as usual in the WTO.  There
might have been some problems at the Cancún Ministerial Conference, however, that did not imply
that ongoing work in various WTO bodies should come to a halt, it was rather business as usual and
his delegation was pleased to meet to discuss future training as practical assistance to developingcountries.  In the history of international organizations there were different periods, but they should
not produce adverse feelings.  Difficult times should rather focus Members' attention on the need to
work with more vigour and a clear sense of direction.  His delegation was of the view that there had
not been any decision at the Cancún Ministerial Conf erence which implied that any work had to stop.
Moreover, if Members wished the DDA to be implemented in its true letter and spirit, they needed toengage in a positive and constructive way to fu lfil the DDA mandate.  With respect to the outreach
programme his delegation supported the Secretariat's efforts to undertake outreach programmes for
parliamentarians and the civil society.  Such programmes helped in meeting the objectives of fostering
greater public understanding and to inform participants about the multilateral trading system.  Such
programmes helped dispel many misunderstandings about the concept and working of the multilateraltrading system.  Finally, he reiterated his delegation's support for the draft 2004 TA Plan as a whole.
71. The representative of Costa Rica said that his delegation believed that positive efforts had
been made in the area of TA since the Doha Ministerial Conference.  The outcome was tangible and
his Government had taken advantage of the regional  activities organized in the Latin American region
and activities carried out in Geneva.  It was important to keep in mind that improving of technicalcooperation and training was an ongoing process.  It was therefore important to learn from the
implementation of previous TA plans, and that was reflected in the draft 2004 TA Plan insofar as it
aimed to promote better coherence in the TRTA the WTO provided.  His delegation welcomed the
change of emphasis towards building sustainable capacity in the beneficiary countries such as Costa
Rica.  In terms of the products on offer he noted that the regional trade policy courses had been
positive and his delegation agreed that they should be extended to other regions.  In that context it was
strange that no regional trade policy course was scheduled for the Latin American region.  Hewelcomed the relationships the WTO aimed at creating with local universities which would make the
cooperation more long-lasting.  His delegation was also in favour of the initiative to provide more
flexibility to individual Members in deciding nationa l activities.  However, much remained to be done
for the draft 2004 TA Plan to become successful.  Recipient Members would also have to participate
in and assist the process by identifying their needs and priorities.  In conclusion, he believed that theinnovations presented in the draft 2004 TA Plan were important and necessary and that Members
were on the right track.
72. The representative of Senegal said that TA was an important subject to all WTO Members.
He thanked all Members that had contributed to making the delivery of WTO TA possible such as the
international organizations and the donors.  His delegation welcomed that the draft 2004 TA Plan hadbeen circulated sufficiently in advance allowing Members to suggest necessary improvements.  HeWT/COMTD/M/46
Page 24
appreciated the new products mentioned in the draft 2004 TA Plan and supported the strengthened
partnerships with local universities in developing countries.  That approach should contribute to the
dissemination of knowledge about the WTO and a more sustainable delivery of TA in developing
countries.   His delegation had also noted that the concept of flexibility was more marked in the draft
2004 TA Plan.  However, that also raised a number of questions.  In the past two years Members had
received requests from the Secretariat to communicate th eir TA needs.  He noted that there had been a
change of approach as indicated in the sixth bullet  point of paragraph 6 which stated that the 2004 TA
Plan should be simple and flexible and that "It plans what is plannable (core activities, whether in
Geneva or for regions) and leaves room to address priority needs and to accommodate specific
requests from beneficiaries".  He asked how the Secretariat intended to deal with Members' requests
for TA in the future.  He asked what the envisaged time frame was for Members to submit their TA
requests and whether those requests would be subs equently disseminated.  He agreed with the
representative of Tunisia that a certain geographical balance had to be ensured in terms of theactivities delivered.  As the regional trade policy course for Francophone African countries had been
the subject of discussion he said that his delegation believed that it would be useful for all
Francophone African countries to benefit from such a course on a regular basis.  The Anglophone
African countries were already one year ahead of the Francophone African countries in terms of the
number of regional trade policy courses held.  That situation had to be remedied quickly in order forthe regional trade policy course for the Francophone African countries to be held.
73. The representative of Rwanda said that his delegation appreciated the new approach outlined
in sections II and III of the draft 2004 TA Plan.  That approach was worth developing as it moved
away from the traditional means of TA delivery, which could be described as "off the shelf"
assistance, to give priority to the real needs of the beneficiaries.  He underlined the complementaritybetween national and regional seminars and the training courses which permitted participants to be a
part of the actual professional environments of their studies such as the negotiation environment.  It
was also important that workshops be held to train university professors from developing countries
who in turn would train students from their regions.  However, a number of delegations had found a
number of important insufficiencies in the draft 2004 TA Plan.  The aim was for the CTD to assist toimprove it.  The draft 2004 TA Plan was nevertheless a solid basis for providing sustainable training.
His delegation agreed with the comments made with respect to the necessity of verifying the level of
knowledge of the participants in any training course, both before and after their participation in the
course, in order to judge the quality of the training given and ensure that there was value-added.
Anyone who had taken part in WTO training was aware to what extent simulation exercises were
useful, and he suggested that simulation exercises be part of all courses.  It was important for
developing country officials to be able to feel what it was like to negotiate trade policy matters.  It
also enabled participants to use everything they had learned and for the teachers to see to what extent
the trainees had assimilated the content of the course.  His delegation welcomed that there would be a
regional balance in the delivery of WTO TA and that priority attention would by given to the LDCs.
In that context he thanked the Secretariat and the other agencies for the extension of the IF, which
permitted the integration of trade into the development strategies of developing countries.  Hesupported the idea of having the requests by the beneficiaries published at regular intervals as well as
the activities undertaken by the Secretariat in response to those requests.  That was important for
transparency reasons.
74. The representative of the United States said that her delegation realized that it had been
difficult for the Secretariat to compile the draft 2004 TA Plan in light of its recent efforts to speed up
the delivery of the 2003 TA Plan.  Her delegation believed that Members were moving in the right
direction with the draft 2004 TA Plan.  Her delegation appreciated the more strategic approach, the
focus on creating a sustainable result, sustainable programming, and the desire to try to improve the
quality.  The key features identified were the right ones.  However, like other delegations, her
delegation wished to see more detail on how the key features related to the programme of activitiesput together in the draft 2004 TA Plan.  She asked what that connection was, how the Secretariat
intended to achieve that and how quality was going to be ensured.  Her delegation was attracted by theWT/COMTD/M/46
Page 25
efforts made to cooperate with academic institutions, whether through the regional trade policy
courses or through the doctoral study programmes.  That was one way in which the WTO might
succeed in delivering TA with a long-term impact.  However, while it was understandable that all
developing country Governments desired a programme immediately, she cautioned that the WTO
Secretariat had to learn from experience with that innovative approach before such cooperation could
be expanded.  While such cooperation was a step in the right direction, she did not believe that allrequests for such activities could be met in 2004.  She said that her delegation believed that there was
a value in laying out the products that existed and how the programme should be composed in its core
elements and only thereafter have a dialogue with the different recipients regarding their additional
priorities.  That mechanism might avoid some of the duplication experienced in the past.  It also
allowed beneficiaries to understand where they could benefit from regional programmes and other
activities and where the gaps were in terms of their own needs.  Her delegation had also had concerns
about the extensive degree of ad hoc activities in the past.  It was therefore important to find the rightbalance between programmed and ad hoc activities as well as to ensure that, in developing bilateral
programmes, there was sufficient transparency to ensure the balance that Members wished to see and
sufficient transparency to allow donors to ensure that they could complement ongoing activities.  A
continuously updated list of projects agreed as suggested by the representative of Tunisia would be
useful.  It was not possible to agree on every activity by a particular date if the aim of the draft 2004TA Plan was to allow sufficient flexibility for Members to make requests throughout the year to meet
particular needs.  That would undo the flexibility the Secretariat had aimed to build into the draft 2004
TA Plan.  Though she understood what the Secretariat was trying to accomplish as well as the
concerns expressed by some delegations, she said that Members were moving in the right direction.
75. She continued by saying that her delegation was pleased to see the attempt made at better
coordination with other agencies.  Her Government, as a bilateral donor, wished to be a part of that.
The Secretariat should aim to keep the active coordination by building on the successes achieved
in 2002.  With regard to the link to the JITAP and the IF processes she said that her delegation agreed
with others that those were not programmes in the same sense as other projects.  It should
nevertheless be kept in mind that the overarching processes were integrated.  It would therefore beuseful to define more clearly where there were cross linkages between those programmes and how the
priority given to LDCs and small economies would be met, over and above the JITAP and the IF.  Her
delegation continued to be interested in the idea of outsourcing and how it would be used.  She
understood that the Secretariat would be taking so me steps in the near future but requested more
clarity on that as well as on the trade policy clinics.  It was still difficult for Members to understand inwhat circumstances the trade policy clinics would be used as distinct from a national programme.  Her
Government requested more information than that contained in the document circulated
(WT/COMTD/W/117) on what the trade policy clinics were and how they would be used.  She noted
the trade policy clinic pilot project undertaken but asked for further elaboration of that experience.
76. With respect to monitoring and evaluation, she said that her delegation had noted that the
Secretariat had changed the entire structure of the draft 2004 TA Plan and asked what implications
that would have on how the Secretariat planned to  monitor and evaluate the activities.  It was
important for Members to understand that.  A number of comments had been made on ways to check
knowledge and she suggested that it might be useful to follow through on those.  It was clear that it
was useful with interactive, practical training leading to practical knowledge.  She requested more
information on how the draft 2004 TA Plan would build  on courses offered in previous years in terms
of the level of sophistication.  Officials should not be retrained on the same thing.  They should moveup the skills chain.  She therefore requested more clarity regarding which course was geared towards
what level.  If one official for example had attended an introductory course on the customs valuation
agreement it was important to ensure that any additi onal course offered to that official would provide
additional knowledge.  She asked if the Secretariat was re-teaching the same course for a similar set
of introductory candidates.  Information about which course which officials had attended would helpMembers identify which group of officials each course should target.  With regard to the question of
consultation she acknowledged that there had been some attempted outreach as the Secretariat hadWT/COMTD/M/46
Page 26
tried to brief Members on the evolution of its thinking and to inform Members of how it had been
treating the concerns.  Her delegation would nevertheless welcome a more interactive dialogue along
the way, and other delegations seemed to have similar wishes in light of the comments made during
the meeting.  It would therefore be useful to ho ld informal discussions among donors, recipients and
the Secretariat staff as there were a number of policy issues that had been raised in the past that were
still outstanding, a number of questions that had been raised in the debate during that meeting, and anumber of other issues that came out of some assessments of the needs following the Cancún
Ministerial Conference.
77. The representative of Mexico said that TA, when properly delivered, could be an effective
tool for development.  The increased cooperation with local universities was an important aspect of
the draft 2004 TA Plan.  Even more importantly was for the Secretariat to integrate Members' requests
into the TA Plans.  That was what had contributed to the success of previous TA delivered.
78. The representative of Indonesia said that his delegation could accept the draft 2004 TA Plan
as the basis for further discussions.  His Government was pleased with the participation of its officials
in regional TA programmes.  Concerning the planned TA activities in the Asian region he said that his
delegation had already expressed at previous meetings its concerns with the distribution of venues for
regional seminars and workshops.  His Government also expected the WTO to invite more
participants from WTO Members from the region when it organized regional activities, including theregional trade policy course to be organized in the Asian region.  His delegation fully agreed with the
suggestions made by the representatives of India, Venezuela and Pakistan and was ready to work
closely with the Secretariat to ensure a more meaningful outcome of WTO TA activities for the
recipient Members.  The new products presented in the draft 2004 TA Plan were welcome in order to
ensure a better delivery.  He asked, with respect to paragraph 65 on "Activities geared towardsbuilding partnerships for Training and Capacity Building", for private consultations with the
Secretariat on the pilot support programme for doctoral studies, bearing in mind that some other
international organizations like UNCTAD were also in volved in similar activities.  That information
would then be transmitted  back to his Government for their views.
79. The representative of Kenya said that the draft 2004 TA Plan was a good basis for further
work.  Her delegation was particularly pleased to see the enhanced regional approach.  In that context,
she welcomed the continuation and expansion of the regional trade policy courses.  She also noted the
different approach used in the draft 2004 TA Plan, in particular the flexibility given to the choice of
national TA activities.  That approach was objective and she hoped that the Secretariat would be able
to respond effectively to the specific needs of the recipient countries when they so requested.
80. The Secretariat said that the number of interventions and the care with which the draft 2004
TA Plan had been examined, as reflected in those interventions, was encouraging.  The Secretariat
thanked all delegations that had spoken for their contributions to the debate.  There had been a
number of detailed comments and questions and he would respond to those in a grouped manner.  The
remarks made regarding consultations clearly indicated that consultations had been held in the process
of developing the draft 2004 TA Plan.  The Secretariat had consulted all regional groups and the
donor community and had endeavoured to take any comments made during those consultations intoaccount.  The Secretariat would also consult Members when preparing the revision of the draft 2004
TA Plan to ensure that the Secretariat had understood every aspect of the concerns expressed.  The
draft 2004 TA Plan presented a two-pronged approach to TA.  There were on the one hand activities
which were going to be held and which covered all WTO Agreements and all issues emanating from
the DDA.  The question of whether some of those issues should no longer be dealt with was one onwhich the Secretariat would need guidance from Members.  However, all DDA issues were covered
by the draft 2004 TA Plan and it was not in the Secretariat's remit to remove any of them.  Some
Members had mentioned that in one region or the other one subject or the other had not been dealt
with.  That was because it had emerged from the consultations that certain subjects had been dealt
with recently in certain regions as part of the 2003 TA Plan.WT/COMTD/M/46
Page 27
81. He continued by saying that Members would have noted that one of the important features of
the 2004 TA Plan was flexibility.  That flexibil ity applied not only to national activities.  The
Secretariat was prepared to hear from any regional grouping that felt that a subject not covered in their
region should be covered, and would attempt to accommodate any such wish.  On the other hand,
there were the unplanned activities.  That was when the flexibility really came into play.  He was
pleased to hear that there was general support for that approach.  Flexibility was particularlyimportant in relation to the national activities, but not exclusively.  Many Members were concerned
with how that flexibility would be applied in practi ce.  Some had suggested that a deadline be set for
Members to request what they wanted.  Others had said that that might defeat the very objective of
flexibility.  What he believed would happen wa s that Members, beginning immediately, would
identify their priorities which had not been adequately taken care of in the planned activities of the
draft 2004 TA Plan and communicate those to the Secretariat.  It was important to bear in mind, when
considering an even distribution of activities, that not all Members demanded an equal number ofnational activities.  For example, out of the 49 LDCs, only 30 had requested activities.  The
Secretariat could not impose itself on Members that did not request national activities.  The
Secretariat was nevertheless ready to speak to any Member at any time.  That was why the Institute
for Technical Cooperation and Training had designated regional desk officers who were Members'
privileged interlocutors.  It was them Members should approach with their demands.  Members alsohad to bear in mind, and the Secretariat would attempt to ensure, that the phenomenon of "first-come
first-served" would not disserve the Members.  The Secretariat could report regularly to Members on
the activities carried out for Members to see that the equality of treatment had been maintained.  He
emphasised that in relation to national activities, and because the Secretariat's capacity to deliver was
limited, the draft 2004 TA Plan emphasized the need for the requesting Members to carefullyprioritise what they requested.  If Governments realized that they had made incorrect choices, it would
be difficult for the Secretariat to compensate for that at the end of the year.  A number of the products
were considered under the umbrella of national activities, one of which was the trade policy clinics.
A document had been issued on the trade policy clinics.
1  The Secretariat had undertaken a pilot trade
policy clinic in Sierra Leone which had been successful.  It had basically been a needs assessmentmission conducted in collaboration with the ITC, UNCTAD, UNIDO and UNDP.  Those agencies had
been able to come back from their mission with a clear programme of how the needs of Sierra Leone
were going to be approached as the country had just emerged from national strife.  The trade policy
clinic was a diagnostic tool which did not, in itself, provide TA.
82. He went on to speak about the regional trade policy courses, as they had elicited great
interest.  That was understandable as the experience with the University of Nairobi had led the
Secretariat to believe that regional trade policy courses had the potential to provide sustainable and
regionally owned capacity enhancement.  However, it was also a question of the capacity of the
Secretariat to carry out such activities.  The regional trade policy courses had begun in Africa as it
was the region where the needs were the greatest.  The programme would be continued with two
courses every year in Africa.  A venue had been determined for the course for Anglophone African
trade officials and the Secretariat was in the process of considering a venue for the trade policy coursefor Francophone African trade officials.  Two additional regional trade policy courses were foreseen
for 2004 in the Asia/Pacific region and in the Caribbean region.  Four regional trade policy courses
together with four courses at the Geneva headquarters was the most that the Secretariat could offer.  It
had to be borne in mind that the organisation of a regional trade policy course was more complicated
than the organization of such a course in Geneva.  The Secretariat envisaged the extension of theregional trade policy courses to the Latin American and to the Middle Eastern and Arab Regions in
2005.  Other regions that would be concerned were the Eastern European/Central Asian region.  The
Secretariat would have to work with Members to consider how the demands could be best met in an
equitable way in light of the limited resources available.
                                                     
1 WT/COMTD/W/117WT/COMTD/M/46
Page 28
83. Some Members had referred to a discrepancy between the features the Secretariat had listed
its intentions, and the activities themselves.  They had asked how the Secretariat had factored in the
lessons learned, drawn to the Secretariat's attention by the TA Audit, and how the Secretariat could
know whether its activities had enhanced the capacity of the participants.  The Secretariat had
attempted to incorporate some of the reflections that had been made in the 2002 TA Audit Report into
the draft 2004 TA Plan.  The 2002 TA Audit Report suggested a redirection of emphasis towardsmore sustainable capacity building and that was what the Secretariat had tried to do.  However, the
feedback received from Members indicated that the Secretariat could not ignore the more traditional
activities such as the subject-based seminars and short trade policy courses as there was a demand for
those as well.  The Secretariat had tried to respond to comments in the TA Audit Report by integrating
all training and technical cooperation activities in one division and thereby attempting to ensure that
there was a clear complementarity between the activities in Geneva and the training carried out in the
regions which earlier had been carried out by two separate divisions.  Third, the Audit report hadreferred to the need for clear objectives.  The draft 2004 TA Plan openly stated the objectives to be
achieved by each product on offer.  To have clearly stated objectives at the outset would make it
easier for the TA Audit as well as the self-evaluation process to analyze the success of each product.
It would also be desirable to state the objectives of each individual activity.  However, the stating of
objectives for individual activities might not get as much attention as it should as many activities wererepeated.  The needs-assessments was another issue mentioned in the TA Audit and on which
Members had commented.  He said that the draft 2004 TA Plan was based on the feedback from
Members.  The content of the regional activities was based on what Members had said that they
wished to have, and would cover all WTO Agreements and DDA issues.  The real needs-assessment
aspect was going to be covered by the national activities for which each Member could request acontent that was tailored to its needs.  The Secret ariat attempted to incorporate any lessons learned as
it proceeded with the implementation of the TA Plans.   However, those lessons often related to details
of practical arrangements such as logistics which would be fastidious to explain in detail.
84. He went on to say that remarks had been made regarding how the Secretariat incorporated
development issues and mainstreaming issues into the draft 2004 TA Plan.  The Secretariat believedthat was done in relation to each subject.  The developmental aspects related to the topic of a seminar
and of special importance to a particular beneficiary were built into that  seminar by the resource
person organizing that seminar.  Regarding the selection of participants and the assessment of what
they learned the selection of participants was a feature of some of the products but not all at them.  It
was essentially a feature of the activities offered in Geneva and the regional trade policy courses.  Forother products such as national and regional seminars the Secretariat had considered the possibility,
with the available resources and time-constraints, of  engaging in a full-fledged selection process, and
had come to the conclusion that it did not have the capability to do that.  In addition, many
beneficiaries had said that it was their prerogativ e to select the participants to the national and
regional seminars.  In that respect, Members would need to guide the Secretariat on how to proceed.
The Secretariat would need additional resources if it was asked to select the participants.  It also had
to be considered whether that would lead to a significantly better result.  The Secretariat was awarethat so called "course hoppers" existed.  However, as long as the Secretariat did not have Members'
authority to refuse participants, assuming the Secretariat knew who the participants would be before
the beginning of a seminar, some course hoppers would continue to attend WTO activities.
85. Turning to the question of assessment he said that there were systems of assessment for the
longer activities.  The participants of the regional trade policy courses for example were required toproduce a substantial term paper during their training.  That term paper was presented to the other
participants at the end of the course and there was a kind of tacit peer assessment.  There was no
marking system and he was not certain that it would be acceptable for the Secretariat to engage in
such an exercise.  The Secretariat could, at the end of each course, point out the participants who had
benefited most and those who had benefited less, but as long as there were no grounds for refusingentry into a course, the Secretariat could not do mu ch with that information.  The case studies and
simulation exercises that the Secretariat attempted to build in to the regional and national activitiesWT/COMTD/M/46
Page 29
also provided a good opportunity for the resource people to assess whether the participants had
benefited from an activity to the desired extent.  Regarding the international symposia, seminars and
conferences that Secretariat staff attended, he said that every one of those that the Secretariat attended
had a TA component to it.  The Secretariat would otherwise not attend.  The Secretariat refused
attendance at far more conferences than it attended as many did not clearly comprise a TA
component.  The Secretariat had for example received a number of invitations to attend regionalministerial and high level officials meetings which were designed to help in the preparations of the
Cancún Ministerial Conference.  The Secretariat had concluded that it was desirable to be represented
at those conferences in order to assist the regional groups with expertise knowledge.
86. With respect to outsourcing, he said that th e Secretariat was in the process of communicating
with all Members inviting them to submit names of individuals and institutions with which the
Secretariat could cooperate.  If Members had not already received such an invitation, they would
shortly receive one along with explanations of how to propose candidates.  The process was open, thatwas why all Members would be invited to make suggestions.  The Secretariat welcomed suitable
candidates from every region and every country from which, inter alia  co-teaching partners for the
regional trade policy courses were chosen.  The selection process had shown the importance of
choosing a good local institutional partner.  The institution had to have a network of relations with
academic personnel who spoke the right language in the region.  That institution was the one theSecretariat, in the first instance, counted on to put it in touch with regionally based resource people
who were able to work with the WTO on the regional trade policy courses.  Institutions without such
networks or with networks in the wrong places would not be able to participate as main partner
institutions for a regional trade policy course.  The Secretariat also knew suitable local people.  The
outsourcing roster would be another way of identify ing such people.  He assumed that, in most cases,
the Secretariat would have a list of more resource people from the regions than it could usefully
employ to co-teach, but he nevertheless welcomed all suggestions in that regard.
87. Another representative of the Secretariat said that the Secretariat had undertaken a lot of
initial work to include regional trade policy courses for the Caribbean and the Asia and Pacific region
in the 2004 TA Plan.  Similar preparatory work had begun for the Latin American region.  A meetingwith academics from the Latin American region was scheduled which would pave the way for future
cooperation.  The Secretariat was aiming to extend the regional trade policy courses to all regions.
However, the regional trade policy courses required careful preparations and exploratory contacts
with academics and universities in Latin America were underway.  It was key for the quality of the
regional trade policy courses that the Secretariat establish contacts and ensure the training of trainers.The capacity issue was also fundamental.  The Secretariat did not have the capacity to run more than
eight trade-policy courses a year (four in Geneva and four in the regions).  A regional trade policy
course would be held in the Latin American region in 2005.  Members should keep in mind that the
two regional trade policy courses held in Africa had not even been included in the draft 2003 TA Plan.
The Secretariat would do as much as it could, with its existing capacity, to undertake regional trade
policy courses.  The regional trade policy courses had in just one year grown to become a centrepiece
in WTO's technical cooperation activities.  The fact that certain activities were not mentioned in thedraft 2004 TA Plan did not necessarily mean that they would not be undertaken.  The PhD mentor
programme was also going to be extended to all WTO Members.  It would not be for the exclusive
benefit of developing countries.  One third of the students would be from developed countries and two
thirds from developing countries. It would be open to all universities with PhD students in trade-
related policy matters.  The students would be brought to the WTO, they would receive a smallstipend, some space would be created for them in the library and they would be assigned appropriate
mentors.  That programme was at an advanced stage of preparation.
88. A third representative of the Secretariat said that, with respect to the question posed by the
representative of Japan, the decision to engage a certain number of new staff on L-posts had been
taken in 2002 immediately following the approval of the DDA in light of the lack of resources ofcertain WTO divisions to fulfil the mandate given in their particular area of competence.  TheWT/COMTD/M/46
Page 30
19 L-posts were directly connected with the implementation of the mandate from the DDA.  The staff
on the L-posts enjoyed the same benefits as regular WTO Secretariat staff.  However, as the L-posts
were financed through extra-budgetary resources, th e staff on the L-posts had yearly contracts which
could be renewed to a duration of five years in the current circumstances.  The list of the L-posts had
been communicated to the Committee on BFA.  The Secretariat could issue such as list again, if so
requested.  The costs of the L-posts had been calculated on the basis of the benefits enjoyed by thepeople currently employed on those posts.  The costs were calculated on the basis of the grade at
which the post had been created with the same benefits as a regular post at that level.  Three L-posts
were currently vacant.  The representative of the European Communities had also asked about the
daily cost per person for participants of TA activities.  In order to produce the cost estimates, the
Secretariat had used the same methodology as it had used for the previous two yearly TA Plans.  That
methodology was based on the costs for a sample of completed activities.  The rather comprehensive
sample represented 40 per cent of the total cost of the TA activities undertaken until mid August2003.  The results obtained showed quite divergent costs depending on the venue and the type of
activity.  The Secretariat had therefore defined several standard costs:  for national activities, for
regional activities, for training activities and for Geneva-based activities.  The national activities were
those which only involved a cost to the WTO for the travel of Secretariat staff.  Regional activities
were those for which the WTO financed both the travel of the Secretariat staff as well as the travel forother participants from the region.  Training activities constituted a sub-set of the regional activities
when the duration of the activity exceeded ten days, as the travel costs then were distributed over a
larger number of days which significantly reduced the average daily cost.  Finally, activities held in
Geneva were self explanatory.   The estimated cost per person and day was Sw F 1700 for national
activities, Sw F 1100 for regional activities, Sw F 5 00 for training courses and Sw F 2300 for Geneva-
based activities at WTO headquarters.  The Secretariat had based the estimated cost for the planned
activities on those figures and on the duration and number of participants indicated for each activity.
89. The Chairman said that the draft 2004 TA Plan had given rise to a number of questions and
sometimes harsh, but useful, comments.  It had also given rise to useful suggestions which the
Secretariat should keep in mind in order to better meet Members' needs.  TA and training was afundamental component for the organization.  He suggested that the Secretariat revise the draft 2004
TA Plan in light of the comments made.
90. It was so agreed.
D. NOTIFICATION UNDER THE ENABLING CLAUSE
- Notification from Iceland (WT/COMTD/N/17)
91. The Chairman said that the Committee had before it a notification under the Enabling Clause
by the Government of Iceland regarding an initiative taken by the Government of Iceland to improve
market access for products originating in the LDCs contained in WT/COMTD/N/17.
92. The representative of Iceland said that he was pleased to introduce the notification from
Iceland, on duty-free and quota-free market access fo r imports from LDC to the Icelandic market.  As
stated in the notification, the Ministry of Finance in Iceland had issued Regulation No. 119/2002, on
29 January 2002, implementing a law, passed by the Icelandic Parliament on 15 May 2001, grantingunilateral duty-free and quota-free market access for imports in essentially all products originating in
the LDCs.  The tariff preferences in the re gulation applied to products falling within;
• HS Chapter 25-97, except for a few products in Annex 1 to the Regulation;
• Processed agricultural products, provided they fell within headings listed in Annex 2 to the
Regulation;
• Fish and other marine products, provided that th ey fell within headings listed in Annex 3 to
the Regulation.WT/COMTD/M/46
Page 31
93. Enclosed with the Regulation was a list of working or processing required to be carried out on
non-originating materials for the product manufactured to obtain originating status.  The list only
applied to products originating in the LDCs listed in Annexes 1 to 3.  Furthermore, he drew Members'
attention to the fact that the applied rate of duty for many products in chapters 1-24 was zero,
especially for products of export interest to developing countries.  The initiative had been made inresponse to a call made by the former WTO Director-General for Members to take market access
initiatives in favour of LDCs and further to a statement made by the delegation of Iceland in a
meeting of the WTO General Council in May 2000.  The initiative reflected the principles of the
Generalized System of Preferences (GSP).  The Government of Iceland had taken the initiative in
order to support international efforts to improve market access opportunities for the LDCs.  His
Government recognized that the barriers to certai n products originating in the LDCs were one of the
critical impediments to economic development and poverty alleviation in the world's poorest
countries.  He said that he was confident that the treatment covered all products of importance to
LDCs in the Icelandic market.
94. The representative of Switzerland asked whether, for categories 1-24, the zero tariff was
applied exclusively to quantities included in the quota or whether the notification also included the
same products above of the quota.  He asked whether products outside the quota would receive zerotariff treatment as well or whether a distinction would be made for products inside and outside the
quota.
95. The representative of Senegal said that he would limit himself to general observations as his
delegation had not had the time to study the notification and given that it was only at present available
in English.  He thanked the Government of Iceland for having taken the initiative to improve marketaccess in favour of the LDCs.  He said that his Government was grateful that priority had been put on
further integrating the LDCs into the multilateral trading system.  It was clear from the documents
studied by the Sub-Committee on LDCs that LDC expor ts were still marginalised in global trade.  It
was therefore encouraging to see that initiatives we re being taken to enable LDCs to increase their
exports.  He said that the objective of duty-free market access for all products originating in the LDChad not yet been achieved in Iceland.  However, the Government of Iceland had taken an important
step in the right direction and he hoped that that e ffort would be pursued.  He reiterated the need for a
mechanism to evaluate the use of preferences granted in order to evaluate their utility and their
possible weaknesses.  The utilisation rates would be particularly important in that respect.  Such
information would enable Members to turn the preferences into beneficial tools of real value andwould permit the LDCs to maximize their use of the opportunities offered.  Finally, he pointed out
that Senegal was not included in the list of the LDC beneficiaries in the Notification by the
Government of Iceland.  He said that that was perh aps due to the fact that, when the legislation was
passed, Senegal had not yet become an LDC.  In principle he did not think that that would cause a
problem, but it was nevertheless something that he wished to raise.
96. The representative of Paraguay said that Members were currently engaged in a debate on the
interpretation of special and differential treatment with respect to the Enabling Clause.  His delegation
did not believe that the Enabling Clause envisaged the treatment of quotas.  The administration of
quotas was something that was covered by Article 13 of the GATT while the Enabling Clause was an
extension of Article 1 of the GATT 1994.  That was an important element which needed to be taken
into account when implementing any preference scheme.  His delegation was upholding that view in a
panel in the Dispute Settlement Body which was due to meet in the coming weeks.  He said that hisdelegation's view was that the administration of quotas was not covered by the Enabling Clause and
that that was something that needed to be corrected.
97. The representative of Iceland said that the representative of Senegal was correct in saying that
Senegal had not been included in the list of beneficiaries because it had only been given LDC status
after the Government of Iceland had passed the legislation.  He said that the Government of IcelandWT/COMTD/M/46
Page 32
was in the process of preparing an amendment to the present legislation with a view to include
Senegal in the list of beneficiaries.  He said that he would revert to the question raised by the
representative of Switzerland at the next meeting.
98. The Chairman suggested that the Committee keep  the item on the agenda for its next meeting
in order for the representative of Iceland to respond to some of the questions raised.  However, as the
notification concerned improved market access for LDCs, he suggested that it be referred to the Sub-Committee on LDCs for substantive consideration and reporting back according to the reporting
procedures agreed to at the 32
nd Session of the CTD.
99. It was so agreed.
100. The Chairman said that, before concluding the item, he wished to draw Members' attention to
a letter related to the reporting by the Sub-Committee on LDCs.  At the request of the CTD at its 44th
Session, the Sub-Committee on LDCs had considered the initiative by the Government of Canada for
the LDCs.  He said that, following the consideration, the Chairman of the Sub-Committee,Ambassador Molander, had sent a letter which stated that, during its 33
rd Session, the Sub-Committee
on LDCs had welcomed the initiative taken by the Government of Canada.  That letter was available
in the room.  The Sub-Committee had also appreciated the improvement in the rules-of-origin
regulations for textiles and apparel products.  The Chairman of the Sub-Committee had indicated that,
for further information, the discussion in its entirety was available in the report of the 33rd Session of
the Sub-Committee contained in document WT/COMTD/LDC/M/33.
E. DECLINING TERMS OF TRADE FOR PRIMARY COMMODITIES , AND ITS IMPLICATION TO TRADE
AND DEVELOPMENT OF PRIMARY COMMODITY EXPORTING COUNTRIES
(WT/COMTD/W/113)
101. The Chairman said that said that the item re lating to declining terms of trade for primary
commodities, and its implication to the trade and development of primary commodity exporting
countries had been discussed at the last meeting upon the request by some African primary
commodity exporting countries.  The delegations of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda had submitted a
paper on the issue contained in document WT/COMTD/W/113.  The delegation of Kenya had, when
introducing the document, highlighted the declinin g terms of trade for primary commodities and its
effects on the trade and development of primary commodity exporting countries and had suggested
that the WTO take action.  The Committee had taken note of the document and the statements made
and as requested by the Committee the Chairman said that he had held informal consultations on
3 July 2003 after which the delegations of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda had suggested that the issue
of declining terms of trade for primary commodities be included in the Cancún MinisterialDeclaration or any document issued from that Co nference.  They had, in that context, submitted
document WT/GC/W/508 of 22 July 2003 to the General Council.  During the informal consultations
of the CTD, Members had agreed that the Committee revert to the issue at its 46
th Regular Session.
102. The representative of Kenya said that she wished to begin by thanking the Chairman, on
behalf of her delegation and the delegations of Tanzania and Uganda, for the efforts he had made in
pursuance of the request made by them to get a paragraph on commodity issues included in the
Cancún Ministerial text.  Her delegation considered that the failure of the Cancún MinisterialConference should not in any way lead to the po stponement of the analytical and research-oriented
work which the Committee should undertake to ensure that in the current negotiations, solutions were
found to the problems that the commodity exporting countries encountered as a result of declining
commodity prices.  Towards that end, she said that  she wished to make the following suggestions for
consideration and appropriate decisions at that or future meetings.  First, the sponsors of the paperwished to propose that the Committee commence an examination of the problems that primary
exporting countries encountered, on the basis of the elements that had been identified in the non-
paper.  She further proposed that the Secretariat be asked to prepare the background documentationWT/COMTD/M/46
Page 33
for that exercise including an inventory of documents  and reports that could provide a useful basis for
discussion.  That would help Members avoid dup licating what had already been done by other
organizations.  In that context, it was important to note that useful work for addressing those problems
was being done not only by the concerned international commodity organizations but also by other
organizations like UNCTAD and the World Bank.  UNCTAD for instance, had recently arranged for a
meeting of eminent experts to examine the problems faced by coffee exporting countries.  The WorldBank had issued a study entitled "The State of Sustainable Coffee:  A Study of Twelve Major
Markets" which surveyed the demand and consumption trends in eleven European markets and Japan.
In addition, it appeared from the recent annual report of the WTO, that the Economic Research and
Statistics Division of the Secretariat was engaged, as a part of its ongoing work, in examining some of
the issues that had implications for the developmen t of trade in primary commodities.  To begin such
discussions the CTD could hold a special session during which substantive discussions could be held
on the issues identified in the non-paper.  However,  in order for substantive discussions to take place
it would be necessary to ensure that the required background documentation was available to
delegations well in advance of the proposed special session of the Committee.  She proposed that the
representatives of the World Bank, IMF and UNCTAD, and if possible the representatives of
international commodity organizations, be invited to that special session.
103. She went on to suggest that the Committee decide to transmit the non-paper, which her and
other delegations had submitted, for consideration by the following bodies:  the Special Session of the
Committee on Agriculture when it resumed its work, the Negotiating Group on Market Access when
it resumed its work, the Working Group on Trade, Debt and Finance and the Working Group on
Trade, Transfer and Technology.  Those bodies should be requested to commence an examination of
the issues and problems identified in the non-paper, which fell within their respective mandates.  Shefurther suggested that the CTD should remain res ponsible for overseeing that progress was made by
those bodies in finalizing concrete solutions during the course of the negotiations to the problems
which the primary exporting countries faced as a result of declining commodity prices.  The
Committee should, towards that end request the other bodies to send continuous reports on their
respective discussions for review and assessment.
104. The representative of Cuba said that at the last session when the initial proposal had been
made by the delegations of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, her delegation had not been prepared to
make any comment with respect to whether what was proposed could be implemented in the CTD.
However, her Government had considered the issue and felt that it merited attention and her
delegation therefore supported the proposals made in the third part of the document regarding theneed to broaden the WTO's attention to primary comm odities.  That issue should  be dealt with in the
CTD.
105. The representative of the United States said that her Government had had an opportunity to
carefully review the paper submitted by the delegations of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda and had
strong reservations regarding the direction of the paper.  The paper anticipated stabilizing commodity
prices through supply management and other actions such as reducing production for example by
cutting trees, buying buffer stocks or destroying them, forming internationa l commodity agreements,
and banning exports based on quality criteria.  Her Government thought that that was going in the
wrong direction.  As her delegation had stated at the July 2003 meeting of the General Council, it was
her delegation's view that prices and the terms of trade for commodities were functions of markets.
The WTO was devoted to the ideas of competition and free trade.  Her delegation therefore did not
see the merit in contemplating arrangements that might restrict competition.  Where sucharrangements had been tried in the past, they had not been successful.  As such agreements had
become unworkable, Members had moved on in other directions.  The goals of the WTO were to
work towards trade liberalization, not trade restriction.  Commodity arrangements to restrict
production and manage markets were contrary to the goals of the WTO.  Her delegation had also
noted that the paper focused on a narrow set of commodities.  Other Members could rightly argue thatthe prices of a broad range of agricultural and non-agricultural commodities had, at some point,WT/COMTD/M/46
Page 34
experienced volatility and decline.  She asked whether it would be prudent to consider supply-
management for any or all commodities or products that had experienced substantial price volatility at
one point in time.  Commodity prices that were low for a period would often reverse.  She noted for
instance that cotton prices were at a record high  in 2003.  Her delegation did not wish to contemplate
price stabilization schemes, particularly considering previous efforts at plurilateral agreements such as
those in dairy and meat.  Her delegation was thus, at that point, unable to agree to the specificproposals that had been put forward by the delegation of Kenya on how to proceed, although her
delegation understood and the concerns expressed.  Also, there was no ongoing process in the
negotiating groups on which to build at that point.  It was therefore inappropriate to forward any work
to the negotiating groups whose work had been suspended.  More fundamentally, her delegation was
not convinced that that was a particularly productive way of proceeding.
106. The representative of  Canada said that her delegation had similar reservations as those
expressed by the representative of the United States about the particular approaches proposed in the
paper presented by the delegations of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.  Notwithstanding that, her
delegation did believe that it did contain some i ssues which were worth consideration in the CTD.
Her delegation supported the idea of an inventory of documents.  That was an important first step as a
large number of documents existed on the topic.  The Committee should however not decide
immediately to hold a special session until it had considered the issue further as well as what wasbeing done elsewhere.  A session would be organi zed at UNCTAD the following day to consider the
"Report of the Meeting of Eminent Persons on Commodity Issues".
2  A large session was planned
between UNCTAD and the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) for later in
2003.  With respect to the transfer of documents to other WTO bodies she said that her delegation
considered it pointless to refer documents to bodies which were not operating at that time.
107. The representative of Australia said that her delegation was sympathetic to the message
behind the paper submitted by the delegations of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda on the serious
problems that low commodity prices were causing and the implications for development.  It was for
that reason that her Government continued to be a strong proponent of further international trade
reform through the agricultural negotiations of the DDA.  There was little doubt that a fairer andmarket-oriented agricultural trading system would provide significant benefits to all Members, and to
developing countries in particular.  She noted that the paper mentioned many issues that should be
discussed in the agricultural negotiations.  Her delegation was therefore prepared to consider the paper
in further detail.  However, her delegation also shared some of the concerns that had been voiced by
the delegation of Canada such as where in the WTO the issue should best be raised and that Membersneeded to be mindful of what the WTO could and could not do.  The suggestion made by the
representative of Kenya for an inventory of documents was an important first step that should be
considered as a way forward.
108. The representative of the European Communities said that his delegation was not in a position
to agree to the proposals that had been made by the representative of Kenya.  Nevertheless, his
delegation nevertheless recognized that there were issues in connection with trade and commodities
that might merit further discussion and analysis within the framework of the CTD.  His delegation hadno objection to pursuing such work in the coming  months.  However, the CTD had to be clear about
the scope and objectives of any discussions it envisaged, as well as how discussions in the WTO, and
in the CTD specifically, could provide added value to efforts made by other international
organizations, some of which had already been me ntioned such as UNCTAD, the World Bank and the
IMF.  For that reason, the CTD needed to reflect on how to proceed.  In doing so, the Committeeneeded to address questions relating to the focus of the discussions.  His delegation joined other
delegations in expressing reservations against reintroducing market management instruments which
had been attempted in the past and not been successful.  It was more a question of competitiveness,
diversification and of how to develop downstream industries building on commodity strengths.  What
                                                     
2 Issued as United Nations General Assembly document A/58/401 on 2 October 2003.WT/COMTD/M/46
Page 35
would be interesting was to treat questions such as encouraging investment an diversification down
the production chain.  Members had to be certain about the focus they wished to give the discussion in
the CTD and what contribution they believed the CTD could make.  Further clarification was needed
to identify which commodities the Committee was to  consider.  Some commodities had in the past
experienced declining terms of trade.  That could have had a negative impact on export earnings of
particular developing countries.  The situation was however not identical in each individual market.Members therefore needed to decide whether they were to consider agricultural or mineral
commodities, food-related commodities or non food-related commodities, tropical products or non
tropical products or whether the commodities should be considered on a case-by-case basis or at a
general level and whether the proponents had in mind something more limited in mind in terms of the
scope of the discussion.  The outcome of the Cancún Ministerial Conference had not provided
Members with any additional political guidance on how to handle the issue in the future.  He said that,
in his view, that meant that the CTD, at that moment, had to proceed on the basis of its own resourcesrather than in cooperation with other WTO bodies.  The CTD nevertheless had to be conscious about
what was being done by other organizations in that field and what would fall within the scope of the
WTO negotiating groups on agricultural and industrial products when those were reactivated.
109. The representative of Switzerland said that the problem raised by the delegations of Kenya,
Tanzania and Uganda was an essential problem for developing countries and for the world economy.
The CTD should not consider the problem of short-term price fluctuations, although it was true that
prices for some products had increased in the previous months, but consider the long-term structural
problem of declining revenue for developing countries.  He said that he did not believe that it made
sense to talk about substance and Members' own convictions regarding the solutions before Members
had agreed that the problem was important enough for the trading system and developing countriesand for the WTO to become a forum for such discussions.  His delegation believed that the WTO was
such a forum as some of the issues were part of the negotiating agenda.  He believed that the CTD
could follow the consensus reached in the draft Cancún Ministerial Declaration as that paragraph had
not given rise to any problems.  Members could therefore assume that there was a consensus for the
CTD to continue to consider the issue.  When cons idering how to deal with the issue it was clear that
some of the proposals made by the representative of Kenya were too far reaching.  The Secretariat
should continue its work on the issue and should make an inventory and try to find focus which could
be presented to the CTD for discussion.  The focus had to be restricted in terms of the types of
commodities treated as well as to the types of instruments that the WTO could consider.  However,
that did not exclude the CTD from discussing instruments which would have to be dealt withelsewhere.  The CTD should nevertheless not refer the issue to other WTO bodies which at that time
did not have any mandate to continue their work.  The issue was part of the DDA and Members
should use the time available to take a step forward.
Resumed Meeting on 23 October
110. The Chairman said that the meeting had been suspended on item E of the Agenda.  The
delegation of Kenya had then made a number of sugge stions to the Committee, for it to review the
problems that primary exporting countries encountered and asked the Secretariat to elaborate
background documentation, including an inventory of documents and reports prepared by other
organizations.  The delegation of Kenya had further proposed the organization of a special session of
the CTD to consider the questions mentioned in their paper and during which the Committee could
decide to transmit the paper to other WTO bodies.  In response to the suggestions made by thedelegation of Kenya, some Members had expressed their reservation regarding the transmission of the
document to other WTO bodies in light of the fact that, among other reasons, the work of those bodies
had been suspended.  Some members however did express an interest in having the Committee
request the Secretariat to draw up an inventory of documents and reports which could be useful for a
discussion in the CTD in order to avoid duplicat ion of work undertaken by other organizations.WT/COMTD/M/46
Page 36
111. The representative of Nigeria said that his delegation supported the request made by the
representative of Kenya and believed that a background document by the Secretariat could do justice
to the topic and bring out some of the salient issues mentioned and some of the reservations made by
other delegations.  His delegation also supported the idea of convening a special session of the CTD
with a view to consider the transmission of the issue to other WTO bodies.
112. The Chairman asked for Members' views on the proposals to convene a special session of the
CTD and to refer the issue to other WTO bodies.
113. The representative of India said that Members needed to recognise the seriousness of the
long-term decline in commodity prices which had been flagged by the representative of Kenya.  It
also had to be recognized that the subject was a legitimate concern of the WTO, and of the CTD
within the WTO.  The mandate of the WTO in that regard was explicit in Articles XXXVI
and XXXVIII of GATT 1994.  In addition, the terms of reference of the CTD left no doubt that what
the Committee was considering was well within the ambit of the subjects that the CTD was supposed
to deal with.  In terms of how progress could be made, his delegation believed that there was a need
for more analytical work by the Secretariat.  A first step in that direction could be the preparation of
an inventory of research papers and other documentat ion that had been prepared by other international
organizations.  He said that it would also be useful for the Secretariat to liaise more actively with
other organisations such as UNCTAD and FAO whic h were working on the subject.  His delegation
also supported the idea of a special session of the CTD, but the timing was a matter that could be
discussed depending on the progress the Committee could make and the background material the
Secretariat could prepare.
114. The representative of Japan said that, having acknowledged the concerns of developing
countries, in particular the countries dependent on a few export commodities, his delegation wished to
continue discussions on the matter.  However, his delegation believed that there was still a wide gap
between the proponents and the other members on how to  proceed with future work on the issue.  He
said that his delegation therefore expressed its reservation against the establishment of a special
session based on the proposals put forward by the representative of Kenya which still contained some
controversial points as mentioned by the delegations  of the United States, Canada and the European
Communities.  It would nevertheless be useful to compile documentation related to the matter for
Members to get a clearer picture of the situation and consider options for future work.  His delegation
therefore supported the ideas mentioned by the representative of Kenya to ask the Secretariat to make
such a compilation for the further discussion.  His delegation considered that such an exercise would
be helpful before embarking on a substantial discussion on the proposals contained in the non paper.As suggested by several delegations at the last session of the Committee, it could continue the
discussions in an informal setting.
115. The representative of Cuba reiterated her delegation's support for the proposal made by the
representative of Kenya and stressed the relevance of the CTD considering those proposals.  Her
delegation supported the proposal for a special session dedicated to trade and commodities.  That was
an issue which had been left outside of the multilateral negotiating agenda and it was an important
subject for a large number of Members who had seen a constant decline of their share in world tradeover the past years due to their structural dependence and the drop in commodity prices for reasons
that were known to all.  Her delegation also sup ported the proposals for an inventory to be prepared
by the Secretariat and the referral of the paper by the delegations of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda to
other WTO bodies.  She also highlighted the importance of cooperating with other organizations that
had already undertaken analysis on commodities such as UNCTAD.
116. The representative of Kenya thanked other delegations for their views and comments on the
proposal made by her delegation.  She said that her delegation wished to respond to and possibly
clarify some of the issues and concerns raised.  Regarding the legal basis for work in the WTO, and
particularly work in the CTD on the stabilization of commodity prices, she said that, as was pointedWT/COMTD/M/46
Page 37
out in paragraph 33 of her delegation's paper, Article XXXVIII of Part IV of the GATT specifically
encouraged Members inter alia  to negotiate and adopt international arrangements providing inter alia
"measures to attain stable, equitable and remunerative prices for exports of primary commodities."
That provision further provided that such arrangements provide for collaboration in matters of trade
and development with UN bodies such as UNCTAD and other international financial institutions.
That was a view that was shared by many Members given the inclusion of the paragraph oncommodities in the draft Cancún Ministerial Declaration.  That was a paragraph on which there
seemed to be consensus.  The main responsibility for overseeing the implementation of the provisions
of Part IV of the GATT rested with the CTD.  The CTD therefore had a clear mandate to discuss and
agree on the measures that could be taken at the international level for the stabilization of prices for
primary commodities.  In undertaking such work the CTD could further request other WTO bodies,
including negotiating groups, to examine the issues falling under their respective mandates and report
back to the CTD on the progress made and the results achieved in their deliberations.  Her delegationagreed that, under ordinary circumstances, it would be desirable for prices to be determined by free
market forces.  Economic theory however recognized that Governments had a legitimate obligation to
intervene where there was market failure.  Such market failure could occur when there was imbalance
between demand and supply which was responsible for price volatility.  Such situations had in the
past made it necessary for interested countries to enter into arrangements for supply management bynegotiating commodity agreements in which both consuming and producing countries participated, or
in the alternative, by negotiating agreements or arrangements in which only producing countries
participated.  Her delegation agreed that past experience had shown that commodity agreements had
not been successful in stabilizing prices of commodities.  The economic clauses which authorized
international commodity organizations like those of coffee, cocoa and sugar to intervene in the market
had been suspended.  While there could be many reasons for the failure of those commodity
agreements, most importing processing industries in developed countries continued to benefit from
the low prices and their governments had not genera lly been enthusiastic about allowing the buffer
stocks in agencies to enter into the market with a view to averting or controlling declines in prices.
As the non-paper explained in paragraph 22, the approach of developed countries on that issueappeared to be undergoing a change.  It could currently be argued that there was an increasing
willingness on the part of developed countries to intervene in the market to control production on a
mutually advantageous basis in industrial raw materials which they produced such as steel,
aluminium, and some industrial chemicals.  Informal agreements to control the production of
aluminium appeared to exist at present amongst major aluminium producing countries.  With regardsto steel, she said that negotiations for the control of production through, inter alia , the acceptance of
an enhanced discipline for the use of subsidies with a view to reducing structural oversupply were
underway in the OECD.  In the developing wo rld, the serious problem posed to trade and
development as a result of declining prices had made producing countries give serious consideration
to arrangements for supply management among producing countries.  The UNCTAD Report of the
Meeting of Eminent Persons on Commodity Issues noted the positive results that Malaysia and other
rubber producing countries had been able to achieve following the adoption of an agreement forsupply management.  She said that she briefly wish ed to comment on the point made relating to the
consistency of price stabilization measures which might involve restrictions on imports and exports
with the overall objective of the WTO of promoting free trade through the elimination of barriers to
trade.  In her delegation's view, the objective of the WTO was to promote trade liberalization subject
to the condition that it promoted development and assisted poor countries in alleviating poverty in linewith the preamble to the Marrakesh Agreement.  Measures taken to ensure that farmers producing
primary commodities secured prices at remunerative rates in order to improve their living standards
was therefore fully consistent with the objectives of the GATT and the WTO.  That was specifically
recognized in Part IV of the GATT which contained provisions relating to the role of trade in
promoting development.
117. She continued by saying that concern had been raised that the paper confined itself to a
narrow range of commodities to which specific reference had been made.  The non-paper dealt with
coffee, cocoa and sugar as those were some of  the main commodities which African countriesWT/COMTD/M/46
Page 38
produced and exported.  However, the non-paper dealt in general terms with problems faced in trade
in other commodities. Her delegation expected that requests for discussions on other products would
be held in due course as the CTD commenced its discussions with interested producing countries.  In
conclusion, she said that her delegation believed that at that meeting Members should take a decision
on the way forward in terms of how the CTD should deal with the issue of commodities  Her
delegation proposed that, as a starting point, the CTD request the Secretariat to prepare an inventoryor bibliography of relevant documents, including a compilation of relevant work carried out by the
WTO and other relevant organizations.  That work would facilitate a substantial discussion in the
CTD to identify long term solutions, as envisaged in the non-paper.  It was in that regard that her
delegation suggested that the CTD should hold a spec ial forum.  Her delegation was not aiming at the
creation of a negotiating body but proposed a one day special forum for such discussions.  In order to
provide sufficient time for the preparation of background documentation, her delegation suggested
that the special forum be held after the forthcoming CTD meeting in November 2003, or perhaps earlyin 2004.
118. The representative of Rwanda said that his delegation supported the suggestions made by the
representative of Kenya on the issue of commodities which was vital to developing country
economies.  The representative of Kenya had listed some commodities for which their prices had
tragically declined.  He mentioned the case of coffee which was important to producers in Rwanda.More than half of the export earnings of the Rwandan economy depended on the export of coffee.
Coffee prices had declined and continued to do so.  The question had been raised during the
50
th Session of the Trade and Development Board of UNCTAD and it would soon be discussed by the
United Nations in New York.  As the representative of Switzerland had mentioned, the WTO could
not ignore that important issue.  He said that the proposals made by the representative of Kenya wereplausible and warranted discussion.  It was therefore important that there was a forum within the
WTO to discuss the question.  Members could then take decisions on how to treat the issue.
119. The representative of Benin said that his de legation associated itself with the intervention
made by the representative of Kenya.  The questio n of declining commodity prices was crucial for
developing countries and for African countries in particular as most of those countries were producersand net exporters of one or more commodities.  The evolution of the world economy and Africa's
share in world trade showed that urgent action had to be taken.  The proposals contained in the paper
by the delegations of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda were wise, reflected the realities in the field and
merited careful consideration for appropriate and sustainable solutions to be found.
120. The representative of Indonesia said that his delegation supported the proposals made by the
delegations of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda as well as the suggestion of having the issue discussed at
a special forum.  The reason why his delegation supported consideration of the issue of declining
commodity prices in developing countries was what the authors had mentioned in paragraph 3 of their
paper.  He agreed with the observations made by other international organisations that some
developing countries who were heavily dependent on primary commodities were becoming poorer
and poorer and had become characterised as "heavily indebted poor countries" (HIPCs).  The reasons
behind the decline in the prices of primary commodities had been explained in the paper.  If the CTD,or other WTO bodies, focused a discussion on the issue, Members would be able to find solutions to
the problem of falling commodity prices.  Developing countries should not have to depend
exclusively on international loans.  That would make even more countries heavily indebted.  He said
that he agreed with the observations that had been made by other Members that the declining prices of
primary commodities should be seriously considered at the next meeting of the CTD.  Developingcountries would no longer depend on international loans if that problem could be resolved.
121. The Chairman said that there seemed to be consensus about the importance of the issue.
However, there were still differences of opinion regarding the approach to be taken to remedy the
situation, particularly regarding the proposal to convene a one day special forum to discuss the issue
as well as its transmission to other WTO bodies.  He suggested that the Committee take note of theWT/COMTD/M/46
Page 39
statements made and requested the Secretariat to draw up an inventory of documents on the issue and
work already done by other international organizations in other to assist Members' consideration of
the issue.  He further suggested that the Secretaria t prepare that document for the next meeting of the
Committee and that the item be kept on the agenda.  He would, in the meantime, undertake informal
consultations on how to proceed.
122. The representative of the United States said  that her delegation was prepared to join a
consensus on the preparation of an inventory of documents and reports on the topic of trends in
commodity prices.  However, her delegation believed that that literature review should be a balanced
compilation of materials that focused on trade-related aspects of commodity trends.  The Secretariat
should be instructed to gather objective analysis from research institutions not directly affiliated with
Member Governments and the focus of the literature should be consistent with the trade-liberalizing
aspect of the WTO mission.
123. The representative of Kenya said that, while his delegation took note of the intervention by
the representative of the United States, his delegation believed that the WTO Secretariat should not be
restricted from searching for information.  A compilation of the largest possible range of documents
would assist Members in making informed decisions.
124. The Chairman asked if Members could agree to his proposals.
125. It was so agreed.
F. NOTIFICATION PROCEDURES FOR REGIONAL TRADE AGREEMENTS AMONG DEVELOPING
COUNTRIES
126. The Chairman said that there had not been any new submission regarding the notification
procedures for regional trade agreements among developing countries.  However, he reminded
Members that the Secretariat had been asked to prepare a legal note on the notification requirementsfor regional trade agreements.  That note, which had been circulated as
document WT/COMTD/W/114 had been considered at the 45
th Session of the Committee where
Members had decided to revert to the matter at its next meeting.
127. There were no interventions by delegations.
G. PARAGRAPH 51 OF THE DOHA DECLARATION ON IDENTIFYING AND DEBATING
DEVELOPMENTAL ASPECTS OF THE NEGOTIATIONS , IN ORDER TO HELP ACHIEVE THE
OBJECTIVE OF HAVING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT APPROPRIATELY REFLECTED
- Presentation by the Market Access Division
128. The Chairman said that the item relating to paragraph 51 on sustainable development of the
Doha Ministerial Declaration was a standing item on the agenda of the Committee.  The CTD had,
during its 44th Session, decided to invite Secretariat staff to inform the Committee about the work
carried out in their respective areas of compet ence.  The Committee had also decided to invite
somebody to speak about the developmental aspects of the negotiations on non-agricultural market
access, following the presentation of the agricultural negotiations.
129. The Secretariat said that it was pleased at being invited to make a presentation to the CTD on
developmental issues in the non-agricultural market access (NAMA) negotiations.  The Negotiating
Group on Market Access (NGMA) had held intense negoti ations during several months in the  lead up
to the Cancún Ministerial Conference, and developmental issues had constituted a large part of those
negotiations and discussions.  The Secretariat had prepared a paper outlining the developmental issuesWT/COMTD/M/46
Page 40
of the NAMA negotiations which was available to Members in the room.  The paper was based on the
Chairman's draft texts on elements for modalities (TN/MA/W/35 and Rev. 1) as those texts reflected
the proposed modalities being considered by the Group. She said that she intended to give Members a
short overview of that paper, highlighting the main developmental issues and how they had been
addressed within the Group.
130. She continued by saying that the NGMA had been established by the TNC at its meeting of
1 February 2002. The Doha Ministerial Mandate provided that the negotiations aim to reduce or as
appropriate eliminate tariffs, including the reduction or elimination of tariff peaks, high tariffs, and
tariff escalation, as well as non-tariff barriers, in particular on products of export interest to
developing countries.  It also provided that the ne gotiations fully take into account the special needs
and interests of developing and LDC participants, including through less than full reciprocity in
reduction commitments.  The modalities to be agreed would include appropriate studies and capacity-
building measures to assist LDCs to participate effectively in the negotiations.  The NegotiatingGroup had started its formal meetings in August 2002 and a target date of 31 May 2003 had been set
by the Group for reaching agreement on modalities.  In preparation for that, the Chairman had issued
his paper on "Draft Elements of Modalities for Negotiations on Non-Agricultural Products"
(TN/MA/W/35) on 16 May 2003, but the Group had not reached agreement by the target date.  The
Chairman had circulated a revised draft (TN/MA/W/35/Rev.1) in August 2003.  The three substantiveelements contained in the Draft Elements text were (a) tariffs;  (b) non-tariff measures;  and
(c) appropriate studies and capacity building.  The proposed modalities also included additional
provisions to take account of special and differential treatment for developing countries and LDCs.
The general feedback from the Group was that the Chairman's draft text contained all the elements
needed for reaching agreement on modalities, while there still needed to be further work or refinementon many of the issues.
131. The Secretariat went on to say that developmental issues had been, and continued to be, a
major part of the NAMA negotiations.  The subs tantial number of submissions from developing
countries and LDCs indicated the level of engagement that existed among developing countries with
regard to the NAMA negotiations, especially with regard to the need for special and differential
treatment and less than full reciprocity, even though there might be differences between individual
proposals on how best to provide those elements.  The Chairman's proposed formula, applied on a
line-by-line basis, would take fully into account the special needs and interests of developing and
LDC participants.  Firstly, by using the participants' own tariff average as a core element of the
formula, participants with relatively higher tariff averages (developing countries) would have lowerreductions.  Secondly, for unbound items, reductions would start from rates of twice the 2001 MFN
applied rates.  The other main element of the form ula, coefficient B, would have an impact on the
magnitude of the tariff cuts and so represented the level of ambition regarding the tariff reduction
through that modality.  The level of "B" was still to be determined by the Group.  In addition, the draft
modalities proposed that, essentially, 12 countries having low binding coverage (less than 35 per cent)
would be exempted from making reductions via the formula.  Instead their commitment would be to
bind 100 per cent of tariff lines at an average level not exceeding the overall average of bound tariffsof developing countries (27.5 per cent).  The sectoral tariff component was another key element to
achieving the objective of the elimination of tariffs, in particular on products of export interest to
developing countries.  The Chairman's Draft proposed sectors where developing countries had
significant exports and where real possibilities existed to increase those exports through liberalization
of other markets.  It would be up to the participants to specifically identify the product coverage ineach sector and to finally agree on which sectors would be selected.  The proposal was that sectoral
elimination would start from the bound rates after fu ll implementation of current concessions, or in
the case of unbound items, from the MFN applied rates in 2001.  The elimination would then take
place in three phases of equal length, but at different rates for developed and developing countries.
Developed countries (and others who so wished) would eliminate tariffs at the end of the first phasewhile developing countries could do so at the end of the third phase.  The main issue for developing
countries was how to define participation in such an approach; whether  participation would beWT/COMTD/M/46
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mandatory or whether it could be undertaken on a voluntary basis, depending on each country's level
of development.  Discussions on that issue had pointed towards developing countries harmonizing
tariffs instead of eliminating them, in order to gi ve full meaning to the concept of less than full
reciprocity (LFR).  The draft elements for modali ties provided additional provisions for developing
countries and LDCs, on top of the flexibility provided in the formula.  Those provisions proposed
that:
• Developing-country participants would have longer implementation periods for tariff
reductions and up to [5] per cent of tariff lines could remain unbound or not be subject to theformula cuts, provided they did not exceed [5] per cent of the total value of a Member's
imports.  That flexibility should not be taken in more than 1 per cent of tariff lines and not
exceeding 1% of Members' imports for one HS chapter, to avoid sheltering a whole sector
from tariff reductions.
• LDCs would not have to undertake reduction commitments but they would be expected to
substantially increase their level of binding commitments
• Developed countries and other participants who so decided, would grant on an autonomous
basis duty-free and quota-free market access for non-agricultural products originating from
LDCs by a certain date to be agreed.
132. She further said that newly acceded Members would have special provisions for tariff
reduction in order to take into account their extensive market-access commitments undertaken as part
of their accession and the fact that staged tariff reductions were still being implemented in many
cases.  The proposed measures were:  a higher coefficient in the formula;  a longer implementation
period;  or a "grace period", for tariff reductions.  With regard to supplementary modalities such as
request/offer, zero for zero, additional sectoral elimination and sectoral harmonization which had been
raised in the Group, she said that it was proposed that those should be kept open pending agreement
on core modalities.  Developed countries and other participants who so wished had been asked to
consider the elimination of low tariffs.  Non tariff barriers (NTBs) were recognised as an integral part
of the NAMA negotiations and it was proposed that the NGMA maintain overall responsibility for
addressing NTBs as part of the mandate in th e Doha Ministerial Declaration.  The proposed NTB
elements for modalities focused on first identifying and examining the various types of NTBs and, as
a next step, aiming to categorise them into NTBs which (a) would be dealt with by the NGMA and
(b) those which would be referred to other bodies and Negotiating Groups within the WTO, as
appropriate under the Doha Ministerial Declaration.  For reasons of transparency, information on the
progress of NTBs in other bodies and Negotiating groups should be reported to the NGMA.  Thespecial and differential treatment elements of the NTB section reflected many of the concerns raised
by developing countries.  There was no concrete language or proposal at that time due to the fact that
the types of NTBs to be addressed and the modalities to do so still needed to be determined.
Participants that had not submitted notifications of NTBs were encouraged to do so.  She reminded
Members that the target date was 31 October 2003 and that there was a new format for the exercise.
133. She continued by saying that the issue of "erosion of preferences" and "high tariff revenue
dependency" in the modalities had been highly debated in the Group and there had been a significant
divergence on how they should be addressed, whether they should be taken up by other international
organizations, such as the World Bank and the IMF for example or whether they should be dealt with
in the NAMA negotiations. While those issues had not been addressed in the Chair's "Draft Elements
of Modalities", they had been taken up in the draft Cancún Ministerial texts.  The modalities provided
for appropriate studies and capacity building measures to assist LDCs to participate effectively in thenegotiations.  A number of such initiatives, in a broader sense, had already been undertaken, and that
work would continue.  For example, the NGMA held a Market Access Seminar on 29-31 May 2002,
covering modalities for negotiations, special and differential treatment, the art of negotiating, and theWT/COMTD/M/46
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use of databases for negotiations.  The WTO Secretariat had also prepared a number of background
papers and other materials relevant to the negotiations.  In addition, a number of TA missions had
been carried out as part of the WTO Annual TA Plans for 2002 and 2003.  While it would be up to
participants to initiate proposals, the Secretariat would continue to initiate such activities when it
undertook work relating to the NGMA.  In conclusion the Secretariat said that within the NGMA,
developmental issues were linked to the level of ambition sought by participants from the overallnegotiations and to the NAMA negotiations, in particular.  The Chair's "Draft Elements for
Modalities" contained elements of less than full reciprocity and special and differential treatment as
required in the mandate, to take into account developing countries and LDCs' special needs and levels
of development.  Refinement of those elements would advance as participants got closer to an
agreement on modalities.
134. The representative of the United States said that, in the document the Secretariat had provided
there was a sentence stating that "There was general consensus for the technical elements of the
formula but the treatment of unbound items resulted in a difference of views."  She said that she was
uncertain whether that referred to the overall formula itself or not.  She did not believe that there
necessarily was a general consensus.  Members we re still struggling to find the general consensus.
That might simply be a question of drafting but Members had certainly not agreed on all the elements
of the formula as laid out in document TN/MA/W/35.  There was still a fair amount of work do bedone.  There had, during the discussions, been consideration of providing additional treatment for
those countries eligible for IDA funding.  There were a number of different proposals on the table for
how that might be done.  She understood that it had not been included in the document circulated by
the Secretariat as that document related to document TN/MA/W/35 which did not contain that.
However, for the information of the Membership, th at was an issue that was still being debated and
whereby a number of other developing countries which were not LDCs, but which had serious
revenue, income and developmental constraints would get special treatment.
135. The representative of Canada said that the document was useful in providing an overview of
the developmental elements of the discussion.  She said that as she did not normally attend the
meetings of the NGMA she wondered whether in regular meetings of the NGMA there werediscussions about TA needs.  She asked if the NGMA itself did decide what needed to be included in
the types of seminars or what needed to be provided in terms of TA for regional groups.
136. The representative of Kenya said that he wished to hear from the Secretariat how growth and
development in developing countries such as Kenya would be stimulated by the formula approach, the
sectoral tariff approach and the additional provisions for developing countries and LDCs.  Withoutknowledge about the value of coefficient B, it wa s difficult to know how growth and development
would be affected by the formula.  He noted that, under the formula approach, the binding of tariffs
seemed to be considered as special and differential treatment.  He was not certain that the binding of
tariffs was to be considered as special and differential treatment.  Exempting some countries from the
formula approach was nevertheless a good special and differential treatment.  The Secretariat had
mentioned the deadline for the submission of notifications on NTBs.  However, given that the work of
the negotiating groups had been suspended he asked whether the deadline was still applicable.  FewMembers had followed the discussions in that particular group and not many Members had submitted
notifications because of the technical nature of the report that was supposed to be submitted.  He
further requested more information about the issue of exemptions for IDA-only countries as had been
mentioned by the representative of the United States and asked whether that was something that the
NGMA would bring into future discussions.
137. The Secretariat said that that there had been discussions on TA in the NGMA.  However, the
NGMA did not agree on terms of reference for TA or anything of that kind.  It was rather a general
discussion of Members' needs.  What the NGMA had done was to arrange for informal TA meetings
over lunchtime to explain all the technical elements of the modalities.  Regarding the deadline for
submitting notifications on NTBs the Secretariat said that it was a target date in order to facilitateWT/COMTD/M/46
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future work and advance work on NTBs.  Members first had to identify NTBs, then examine and
categorize them.  That would require much time.  The Secretariat therefore encouraged Members to
try to submit notifications on NTBs by 31 October 2003 and reminded them that a fax with that
requirement had been sent to Members on 9 September 2003 which showed a link to the Cancún
Ministerial Conference but the decision had been taken at the last meeting of the NGMA in
August 2003.  With respect to the question posed by the representative of Kenya regarding how tariffreductions would benefit Kenya she said that that was an assessment that every member had to make
for itself.
138. The representative of Senegal said that it was important for the Committee to consider the
mandate it had been given in paragraph 51 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration.  He considered that
the contribution made by the Secretariat in the document provided on the NAMA negotiations was
descriptive, but he was uncertain of whether that was what the Secretariat had been requested to do.
The document painted a picture of the current status of the NAMA negotiations.  However, in theCTD Members had to consider how the ongoing negotiations could contribute to sustainable
development.  Following the mandate given to  the Committee on Trade and Environment, that
Committee was expected to consider all environmental aspects of the negotiations.  The discussions of
sustainable development in the CTD had to go beyond the environmental aspects.  If Ministers had
asked the CTD to consider the issue, it was because they wished the CTD to consider sustainabledevelopment from the developmental angle.  The representative of Kenya had raised the important
issue of possible revenue losses for developing countries following the negotiations.  The work of the
CTD should consider such issues.  The Committee should focus on a few elements which would show
what implications the NAMA negotiations might have on sustainable development.  That should show
the capacity of developing countries to respond to their developmental needs in terms of revenue andwith respect to revenue losses and the adjustments th ey would be required to make a response to tariff
reforms.  The issue of preferences and their erosion was also an important one for some developing
countries.  It was up to the CTD to consider what implications the NAMA negotiations could have on
sustainable development.
139. The Chairman said that the objective of inviting the Secretariat to the CTD was for it to
inform the Committee about the developmental aspects of the ongoing negotiations in other WTO
bodies.  The Secretariat could only inform Members about the content of the negotiations.  It was then
for Members to consider the implications of the negotiations on sustainable development.
140. The representative of Canada said that the representative of the United States had made a
point which she had seconded regarding the question of IDA-only treatment to which the Secretariat
had not responded.  Her delegation wished to hear a few words on that idea and whether it could be
included in the future.
141. The Secretariat said that there had been a proposal for exempting IDA-only countries from
reduction commitments proposed by the delegations of the United States, the European Communities,
and Norway.  It was to be discussed in the NGMA.  It was for Members to consider whether or not
they could build on that proposal.
142. The Chairman asked on what subject Members wished to hear a presentation at the following
meeting.
143. The representative of India suggested that the next presentation be on the developmental
aspect of the services negotiations.
144. The representatives of Pakistan supported the request made by the representative of India.
145. The representative of Tunisia supported the request made by the representative of India,
keeping in mind the comments made by the representative of Senegal.WT/COMTD/M/46
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146. The representative of Kenya supported the request made by the representative of India and
requested the Secretariat to indicate, during its presentations, how the issues discussed in other WTO
bodies would impact on development rather than provide a summary of the negotiations.  The CTD
was supposed to treat the issue of what impact the negotiations would have on development.
147. The representative of Canada said that, although she agreed with the representative of Kenya
that the CTD ultimately tried to consider the developmental impact of the WTO, that was not
something the Secretariat could be requested to do.  The role of the presentations by the Secretariat
was to portray what was happening.
148. The representative of Pakistan said that the representative of Kenya did not seem to have
proposed a judgment call by the Secretariat.  The CTD was dealing with development issues and a
brief summary did not add much value to the work of the Committee.  The agenda item related to
developmental aspects of the negotiations and that was what Members were interested in.  The
NAMA, agricultural, services and other negotiations were important from a developmentalperspective.  His delegation's interest was in the impact the negotiations would have on development.
He said that he understood the apprehension of the representative of Canada and would himself not
wish the Secretariat to make value judgements.  However, an objective analysis would be beneficial
for the CTD.
149. The representative of Senegal said that the Secretariat should remain neutral to the
negotiations.  However, that did not prevent it from going beyond the descriptive aspects and attempt
to explore different lines of thought by showing how different aspects of the negotiations were linked
to sustainable development.  Developing countries had certain constraints and the discussions of
sustainable development should bring something new.  The discussions in the CTD were not intended
to deal with development in general as had been done in the past.  It would be useful for Members toreceive documents related to sustainable development, not necessarily prepared by the Secretariat, to
stimulate the discussions.  Documents containing analyses by other international organizations on the
link between sustainable development and the ongoing negotiations could be made available to the
members of the CTD.
150. The representative of Switzerland said that his delegation had sympathy with both sides of the
argument.  The Secretariat's role was not to consider the impact of specific negotiating modalities.
There was unfortunately an absence of such considerations in the negotiations as a whole.  On the
other hand, if such discussions could not take place in the CTD, the question was why Members
should listen to factual reports by the Secretariat.  Such information could easily be read elsewhere.  A
solution might be for the statement by the Secretaria t to be distributed before the meeting of the CTD
so that the time available at the meeting could be  used for comments by delegations regarding the
developmental impacts of the modalities discussed in the negotiations.  The Committee might thereby
contribute positively to the negotiations which took place elsewhere.
151. The representative of the United States said that her delegation found itself in a similar
position as that of the delegation of Switzerland.  It was unfair for the CTD to request experts in the
areas of work of other WTO bodies to provide the CTD with elements which were outside the
purview of the body they worked with.  It was how ever relevant, after having heard the summary of
what was happening in other bodies, that the CTD identified particular issues raised that it considered
needed further examination.  The CTD could then request more work on a particular issue.  The CTD
would nevertheless have to prioritize the issues as so many issues related to development.  It was
difficult for the Secretariat, at a stage where Members were negotiating modalities without attaching
numbers to those modalities, to give any assessment of what the outcome would be.  The modalitieswere a means to an end but the objectives had to be defined.  However, the objectives had not been
defined in the agricultural and NAMA negotiations in an agreed manner with a specific agreement on
the approach.  Members therefore had to be cautions and consider where work by the CTD could add
value and what workload the Committee could reasonably undertake.WT/COMTD/M/46
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152. The representative of Canada thanked all delegations which had followed up on her remarks.
The Committee could pick up on what had been said by the representatives of Senegal, Pakistan,
Switzerland and the United States.  What the Committee should consider was how to make better use
of the time it had during its meetings.  The suggestions made by the representative of Switzerland
were useful in that respect.  The CTD might also consider inviting the research staff of the Secretariat
to be present if Members had questions or wished further research to be carried out.  The invitedspeaker from the Secretariat might not be able to respond to the wider aspects of sustainable
development but there might be others who could contribute with the wider picture such as the
environmental side of the issue which the CTD did not bring in to any large extent.
153. The representative of Mauritius asked the Secretariat to express its views on the proposal
made by the representative of India.
154. The representative of the European Communities said that his delegation had been interested
in a proper discussion as foreseen under paragraph 51 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration on the
developmental and environmental aspects of the negotiations.  His delegation had attempted to
promote such a discussion some time ago and was pleased to see some signs of willingness on the part
of other Members to hold such a debate, even if Members currently were talking more process than
substance.  His delegation's experience of the discussions in the Committee on Trade and
Environment had been disappointing as other delegations had been reluctant to engage in a debate.Similarly, the discussions in the CTD on agricu lture and NAMA had been low key and Members had
not debated the developmental aspects of South-South liberalisation which was an issue which had
been identified as being important, including re search carried out by the WTO Secretariat and
circulated before the Cancún Ministerial Conference.  While he was pleased that other delegations
seemed more inclined to debate various aspects of the negotiations, all the CTD could do was toconsider how it could fulfil the mandate given to it under paragraph 51 of the Doha Ministerial
Declaration.  The CTD could not substitute itself for a negotiating group and certainly not for a
negotiating group whose work was suspended at that time.  His delegation nevertheless supported the
idea mentioned by the representative of Switzerland that when the Committee prepared future
discussions under paragraph 51 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration the Secretariat be asked toprovide a factual background sufficiently in advance for delegations to get time to reflect on elements
they wished to bring to the debate.  That wo uld give the Committee a better chance to hold an
exchange of views on the substance of the matter and a continuing debate rather than a one off
exchange.  The Committee might at some future stage even consider a general discussion of the entire
negotiations, although it first had to proceed step by step and not be more ambitious than theMembership as a whole.  He considered the discussion held at that meeting to be promising for a more
substantive debate in the CTD in the future of the developmental aspects of the negotiations.  The job
of the Secretariat was to present Members with factual elements of what was being negotiated.  It was
for Members to speculate on what the results might be in light of their own analysis of their respective
interests that they would bring to the negotiating process when it resumed.
155. The representative of Kenya said that when he had suggested that the CTD should consider
the developmental impact of the negotiations he had meant that it should be done in light of the
mandate given in paragraph 51 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration.  The CTD should not consider
that paragraph in isolation but in light of the entire Doha Ministerial Declaration.  Paragraph 2 for
example placed development at the core of the WTO's activities which meant that developmental
aspects had to be born in mind whatever was done in the Organization.  It was in that spirit that he had
suggested that Members needed to reorient themselv es for the CTD to be able to provide an input to
the other WTO bodies.  He did not mean that the S ecretariat should provide its own views.  However,
the analysis should be based on what Members had contributed to the discussions.  The idea was to
enhance the operation of the CTD and to ensure that it fulfilled the mandate in paragraph 51 of the
Doha Ministerial Declaration.WT/COMTD/M/46
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156. The Chairman suggested that the Secretariat be asked to make a presentation on the
developmental aspects of the negotiations in services at the next meeting of the CTD.  That
presentation should be as objective as possible but cover aspects of the negotiations which were
linked to development and sustainable development.  He further suggested that the Secretariat provide
Members with a written version of the presentation in advance of the meeting, if possible.
157. It was so agreed.
H. ELECTRONIC COMMERCE
158. The Chairman said that paragraph 34 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration requested the
General Council to consider the most appropriate institutional arrangements for handling the Work
Programme on e-commerce and to report on further progress to the Fifth Session of the Ministerial
Conference.  The Committee had therefore, at its last session, asked the Secretariat to prepare a brief,
factual report summarizing the work the CTD had carried out with respect to e-commerce since the
Doha Ministerial Conference including references to relevant parts of the minutes of the meetings atwhich the issue had been discussed and reference to the reports of the seminars.  From that report,
which the Committee had adopted on a non-objection basis, and which had been circulated as
document WT/COMTD/47, it was clear that Members ha d not recently made any specific proposal for
how to proceed with the issue of e-commerce in the CTD.  He asked if Members had any suggestions
for how the Committee should take the issue forward.
159. There were no interventions by Members on this agenda item.
160. The Chairman reminded Members of the importance of e-commerce and new information and
communication technologies for the prosperity of humanity.  Preparations were ongoing for the first
phase of the World Summit on the Information Society which would be held in Geneva on 10-12
December 2003 and the second phase which would be held in Tunis on 16-18 November 2005.Among the themes for that Summit was the application of information and communication
technologies for trade and development.   A high-level regional meeting had been organized in June
2003 in Tunis at which almost all African countries had participated.  That meeting had resulted in the
adoption of an action plan for how information and communication technologies could be used by
developing countries for the development of international trade.  He suggested that it might be usefulfor the Committee to be informed about the content of that action plan which highlighted how efforts
could be made to use electronic commerce.  He suggested that that document be made available to
Members at the next meeting.
161. It was so agreed
.
I. OTHER BUSINESS
There were no interventions under the item on "Other business".
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