RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE WT/GC/M/12
30July1996
ORGANIZATION(96-3026)
GENERAL COUNCIL
26June 1996
MINUTES OFMEETING
Held intheCentre William Rappard
on26June1996
Chairman: Mr.W.Rossier (Switzerland)
Subjects discussed: Page
1. Accession ofOman 1
- Communication from Oman 1
2. Georgia -Request forobserver status 3
3. Committee onBudget, Finance andAdministration 4
- Report oftheCommittee 4
4. Preparations forthe1996 Ministerial Conference 4
- Report bytheDirector-General 4
5. Other matters pending decision bytheGeneral Council 8
(a) Guidelines onobserver status forinternational intergovernmental
organizations 8
(b) Procedures forthecirculation anddistribution ofWTO documents 8
(c) Guidelines forarrangements onrelations withnon-governmental organizations
pursuant toArticle V:2oftheWTO Agreement 8
6. Observer status forinternational intergovernmental organizations 9
1. Accession ofOman
- Communication from Oman (WT/ACC/OMN/1)
TheChairman drew attention tothecommunication from Oman requesting accession tothe
WTO Agreement (WT/ACC/OMN/1).
Therepresentative ofOman, speaking asanobserver, saidthathiscountry hadenjoyed observer
status intheWTO foroverayearduring which ithadacquainted itselfwiththerulesandprocedures
oftheOrganization. HisGovernment 'srequest foraccession wasbased onthebelief thatthe
establishment oftheWTO hadushered inaneweraofglobal economic cooperation, leading toamore
openworld trading environment. Oman shared theviewthatastronger andclearer legalframework
fortheconduct ofworld tradewould strengthen theworld economy andleadtomore trade, investment,WT/GC/M/12
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employment andincome growth throughout theworld. Oman alsowelcomed theemergence ofthe
WTO asauniversal organization. Oman hadbeenonthecross-roads ofinternational tradeforcenturies
andhadalongtradition ofinvolvement ininternational trade. Ithadaliberal andopentrade regime,
subscribed totheaimsoftheWTO andbelieved intheprinciples ofthemultilateral trading system.
Byacceding totheWTO Agreement, Oman would work along withother nations instrengthening
themultilateral trading system. HisGovernment, which would besubmitting soonamemorandum
onitsforeign traderegime, wasprepared toengage inaccession negotiations andprovide allnecessary
information anddocumentation thatmight berequired byWTO Members. Oman believed itstrade
regime wasinmostpartsinconformity withtheprovisions oftheWTO Agreement. Itwasprepared
toassume obligations under allmultilateral agreements oftheWTO, andwascommitted topursuing
itsaccession inanexpeditious manner andlooked forward toearly membership intheWTO.
Therepresentatives ofPakistan, Kuwait, India, Egypt, Morocco, theUnited States, the
Philippines onbehalf oftheASEAN countries, Tunisia, Bahrain, Qatar, theEuropean Communities,
Japan andDjibouti welcomed Oman 'srequest foraccession. Therepresentatives ofPakistan, India,
Morocco andTunisia saidthatOman 'saccession would strengthen themultilateral trading system and
contribute tomaking theWTO auniversal organization. Therepresentatives ofPakistan, Kuwait,
India, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Bahrain, Qatar andDjibouti supported theestablishment ofaworking
party. Therepresentatives ofPakistan, India, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia andDjibouti saidtheywould
cooperate withOman andwork constructively withitduring itsaccession process. Therepresentatives
ofIndia, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Bahrain andQatar hoped thattheprocess ofOman 'saccession
would beconcluded asexpeditiously aspossible.
Therepresentative ofPakistan saidthatOman hadalready gone alongwayinintegrating
itseconomy intothemainstream oftheglobal economic system. Ithadasustained andhighGDP
growth over7percentfortheperiod 1980-1993 andanegative inflation rateoverthesame period.
Therepresentative ofKuwait saidthatOman played asignificant rôleattheregional aswell
asattheinternational levelandwasanimportant trade partner ofKuwait.
Therepresentative ofIndia saidthatuniversal membership oftheWTO wastobeencouraged
tostrengthen themultilateral trading system provided thattheacceding country undertook allthe
responsibilitiesandobligationsthatmightariseoutofsuchaccession.Oman'saccessionwasofparticular
interest toIndiasinceOman wasafounding member oftheAssociation ofIndian Ocean Rimcountries,
adraftcharter forwhich hadbeenfinalized inMauritius inMay1996.
Therepresentative oftheUnited States saidthathisGovernment looked forward tobroadening
trade linkswithOman within theWTO framework, andthatWTO membership would provide Oman
greater scope fortradediversification. Adoption ofWTO disciplines would provide agoodframework
forfurther economic growth through trade. With itsrequest, Oman wasineffect signalling its
willingness toundertake WTO obligations, toenforce themincurrent andfuture operations ofitstrade
regime, andtomake commercially significant market access concessions andcommitments forboth
goods andservices.
TheChairman proposed thattheGeneral Council takenoteofthestatements andagree to
establish aworking party withthefollowing terms ofreference andcomposition:
Terms ofreference:
"Toexamine theapplication oftheGovernment oftheSultanate ofOman toaccede totheWTO
Agreement under Article XII,andtosubmit totheGeneral Council recommendations which mayinclude
adraftProtocol ofAccession."WT/GC/M/12
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Membership:
Membership would beopentoallWTO Members indicating theirwishtoserve ontheWorking
Party.
Chairmanship:
TheGeneral Council would authorize itsChairman todesignate theChairman oftheWorking
Party inconsultation withrepresentatives ofMembers andwiththerepresentative ofOman.
TheGeneral Council soagreed.
TheChairman invited therepresentative ofOman toconsult withtheSecretariat astofurther
procedures, inparticular regarding thebasic documentation tobeconsidered bytheWorking Party.
Therepresentative ofOman expressed gratitude torepresentatives fortheirsupport andasked
Members toassist hiscountry inconcluding itsaccession process assoonaspossible.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatement.
2. Georgia -Request forobserver status (WT/L/152)
TheChairman drew attention tothecommunication fromGeorgia requesting observer status
inWTO bodies (WT/L/152). Inthesame communication Georgia hadalsoindicated itsreadiness
toinitiate negotiations foraccession totheWTO Agreement andhadprovided adescription ofits
economy andforeign traderégime inaccordance withtheguidelines forobserver status forgovernments
intheWTO (WT/L/28, Annex 2).Heproposed thatGeorgia 'srequest begranted.
TheGeneral Council soagreed.
Therepresentative ofGeorgia, speaking asanobserver, saidthataftertherestoration ofhis
country 'sindependence andthebeginning ofitseconomic transformation, thenecessity toactin
accordance withGATT principles hadbecome anissue ofstrategic importance. InDecember 1994,
Georgia hadbeengranted observer status inGATT. Inconnection withtheestablishment oftheWTO,
Georgia haddecided toseekaccession totheWTO andinMay1996hadsubmitted totheSecretariat
amemorandum onitsforeign traderégime. Thisdecision hadbeenthelogical consequence ofGeorgia 's
economic reforms andofitsintegration intotheworld economy. These reforms, which established
thebasisforamarket economy inGeorgia thusmaking itcompatible withWTO principles andrules,
included: theabolishment ofcentralized planning ofproduction anddistribution; theliberalization
ofbread prices, which wasthelastgroup ofgoods whose prices wereregulated bytheGovernment;
theelimination ofstatemonopoly onforeign trade; theestablishment ofasingle market exchange
rate,withtheconvertibility ofnational currency --thelari--practically ensured incurrent operations;
andtheprivatization ofalarge number ofsmall, medium andlarge enterprises, andof47percent
ofcultivated land. Inflation haddeclined from over60percentpermonth in1994 toanaverage of
about 3percentpermonth atpresent; economic growth registered 2.3percentin1995 andwas
estimated byIMFandWorld Bank experts toincrease to8percentin1996. Consistent stepstowards
liberalization offoreign economic activities hadbeenundertaken. Thesystem ofquotas andlicences
hadbeenpracticallyabolished,andthecustomstariffwastheonlymeansofregulatingGeorgia'simports,
which complied withthebasic principle oftheWTO.WT/GC/M/12
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Accession totheWTO andstrict adherence toitsprinciples would beanimportant impulse
fortheacceleration ofGeorgia 'seconomic development. Inorder tohaveequal trade rights atthe
international level, Georgia hadrecently adopted lawsonentrepreneurship, protection offoreign
investments, reform ofthebanking system, andtheintroduction ofanewtaxsystem. Georgia 'sforeign
economic relations were based onmutual most-favoured-nation treatment withnearly allEuropean
andother countries. Trade withtherepublics oftheformer Soviet Union wasbased atpresent on
bilateral tradeagreements. Accession totheWTO would beanimportant event inGeorgia 'sgeopolitical
andgeoeconomic strategy andwould playaconsiderable roleinthefurther development ofitseconomic,
regional andintegration processes. Itwould alsobeanimportant benchmark fortheintensification
ofitsforeign economic relations andthestrengthening ofitsindependence. Hisdelegation would shortly
besubmittingtotheDirector-GeneralaformalcommunicationfromhisGovernmentrequestingaccession
totheWTO Agreement, andseeking consultations andnegotiations tothisend.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatement.
3. Committee onBudget, Finance andAdministration
- Report oftheCommittee (WT/BFA/24)
Mr.Yokota (Japan), Chairman oftheCommittee, introducing theCommittee 'sreport in
WT/BFA/24,saidthattheCommitteehadexaminedvariousadministrativeup-datesandprogressreports,
anoralreport oftheWorking Group ontheselection oftheexternal auditor, thefinalposition ofthe
1995 budget, acommunication fromSwitzerland onTrust Funds, andanoralprogress report onthe
recruitment process. With regard totheWorking Group fortheexternal auditor, theCommittee had
beeninformed oftheprogress made. After having examined thevarious offers interms oftheirvalue-
for-moneyauditingexperiences,theproposedcostsinvolved,andthedurationproposedforaccomplishing
theauditing task,theWorking Group hadbeenabletonarrow itsconsideration essentially totwooffers.
Itwould elaborate afinalrecommendation which would besubmitted totheCommittee atitsmeeting
on27June. Withrespect tothefinalposition ofthe1995budget ascontained indocument WT/BFA/23,
thenetresult ofthe1995 Surplus Account hadbeenanaccumulated deficit ofSwF6million which
hadbeen entirely metbyatransfer from theWorking Capital Fund, after which anamount of
SwF400,000 remained intheFund. Onthedebit side,theprovision forcontributions inarrears had
hadtobeincreased bySwF12.6million, primarily asaresult ofanoutstanding contribution ofamajor
contributor attheendoftheyear. Therecommendation withregard totransfers among sections was
tobefound inparagraph 11ofthereport. Astothecommunication fromSwitzerland ontheoverhead
costs andmanagement ofTrust Funds ingeneral, themain points discussed hadbeentheneedfor
transparency withregard toextra-budgetary activities intheWTO; theneedforarough estimate of
thepartofwork carried outannually bythevarious Divisions ontechnical assistance activities under
theregular budget; theneedtoinstitutionalize thepractice ofextra-budgetary financing; andtherôle
oftheCommittee intheadministration ofTrust Funds tobeclarified. These points would bere-
examined attheCommittee 'smeeting on27June.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatement, approved theBudget Committee 'sspecific
recommendation inparagraph 11ofitsreport inWT/BFA/24, andadopted thereport.
4. Preparations forthe1996 Ministerial Conference
- Report bytheDirector-General
TheDirector-General saidthatsince hisfirstreport totheGeneral Council on16April, two
fullmeetings ofHeads ofDelegations andsixinformal consultations onspecific issues hadbeenheld,
atwhich thefocus hadbeenmainly onwhatmight constitute thework programme oftheWTO. HeWT/GC/M/12
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recalled thatoneofthemainpurposes oftheinformal meetings wastotakeupanddiscuss issues that
delegations wished toseeaddressed atSingapore, butwhich werenotbeing dealtwithin thenormal
machinery oftheWTO. Thusfar,15non-papers covering thefollowing nineissues hadbeenreceived:
built-in agenda; regionalism; possible elements ofaWTO work programme oninvestment; WTO
rulesinaglobalizing economy; government procurement; labour standards; World Trade Summit
in1998; textiles andclothing; andthereview ofimplementation ofUruguay Round Agreements.
Thenon-paper concerning thereview ofimplementation ofWTO Agreements hadbeenreferred
totheofficial bodies oftheWTO. Thenon-paper ontheWorld Trade Summit hadbeendiscussed
atthe17Junemeeting andithadbeendecided thatthissubject should betaken upatanappropriate
laterstage. Thenon-papers onTextiles andClothing hadbeenintroduced atthesame meeting. The
proponents ofoneofthenon-papers ontextiles hadstated thattheywould beseeking consultations
inanappropriate forum induecourse. Astotheothernon-papers, afirstseries ofinformal consultations
oneachhadbeenheld. Each timeonehadtriedtomake more precise theaction sought atSingapore
oneachofthese issues andtodetermine what should bepresented toMinisters andinwhat form.
Herecalled thathehadsubmitted alistofquestions withrespect totheaction thatmight berequired
atSingapore, andhadsuggested thatoneseewhether theproposals called forspecific decisions to
beagreed byMinisters orapolitical statement inaMinisterial Declaration. Thesixinformal
consultations onspecific issues hadhelped inunderstanding better thenature oftheissues andtherelated
proposals. Some non-papers, suchasonthebuilt-in agenda andregionalism, hadbeenreferred to
theregular WTO bodies. Another round ofinformal consultations would beheldfrom 9to11July
onsome oftheother issues, andpossibly afirstdiscussion ofother non-papers tobesubmitted before
then. Bytheendofthese consultations, hehoped tobeabletodetermine whatmight betheaction
sought ineachcase. Taking intoaccount theconsultations inJuly,itwashisintention, when hereported
totheGeneral Council on18July, tooutline howheintended toproceed intheautumn.
Therepresentative ofAustralia saidhisdelegation didnotregard thediscussion ontherange
ofissues inAustralia 'snon-paper onthebuilt-in agenda ascompleted intheHeads-of-Delegations
process. Itexpected tobeabletoraisesome additional issues relating tothisnon-paper attheJuly
meetings oftheHeads-of-Delegations. Inmaking thiscomment, Australia wasconscious ofthe
arrangements worked outfortheHeads-of-Delegations process todealwiththose issues thatwerenot
being dealtwithbyexisting WTO bodies.
Therepresentative ofKorea saidthathisdelegation wanted tohaveabetter picture ofthe
preparatory process. Henoted thatissues relating tothebuilt-in agenda andregionalism hadbeen
referred toexisting WTO bodies, andhoped thatinpreparing anyoutlines andformats prior tothe
Julymeeting oftheGeneral Council, theDirector-General would review theworkoftheseWTO bodies
andinclude these issues asappropriate intheHeads-of-Delegations process.
Therepresentative ofMorocco saidthattheDirector-General 'sreport hadbeenveryclear.
Theexisting WTO bodies were doing thework mandated tothem andwould report onthematters
theydealtwith, while theprocess under theDirector-General would alsocontinue atthesame time.
Hedidnotseewhythere hadtobeabackandforth between thetwoprocesses. Ifanymatter had
tobedealtwithatahorizontal level, thiscould bedoneintheHeads-of-Delegations process. Asregards
Australia 'sstatement onthebuilt-in agenda, Morocco would bewilling toexamine anyfurther
clarifications tobeprovided.
TherepresentativeofMexicosaidthathisdelegationsharedtheviewsexpressedbytheDirector-
General inhisreport, inparticular onthemethod ofwork. Itwasappropriate thatallissues forwhich
apermanent body within theregular WTO machinery existed should bedealtwithbythose bodies,
andthatdiscussion onissues forwhich nosuchbody existed atpresent should becarried forward in
theHeads-of-Delegations process. Hisdelegation appreciated theguidelines suggested bytheDirector-WT/GC/M/12
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General attheinformal meeting on10Juneregarding theaction thatmight betaken atSingapore on
eachissue under discussion.
Therepresentative ofthePhilippines, speaking onbehalf oftheASEAN countries, asked when
thetwoprocesses would merge intoone,andwhether there would beanyinstructions totheexisting
WTO bodies onthebuilt-in agenda issues thattheyshould address. Shenoted thatanumber ofmatters
inthebuilt-in agenda hadnospecific deadlines, andwondered whether therelevant WTO bodies should
discuss theseandmake recommendations thereon totheGeneral Council, orwhether theseissues should
besubject toconsultations under theHeads-of-Delegations process.
Therepresentative oftheEuropean Communities saidthatitwasuptotheDirector-General
todecide howhewanted tocontinue theprocess andthattheCommunity wascounting ontheDirector-
General toplayacentral role. There should benoduplication ofwork, andissues being dealtwith
inthenormal machinery oftheWTO should notalsobediscussed intheinformal Heads-of-Delegations
process. Henoted thatthebuilt-in agenda involved commitments undertaken atMarrakesh, andthat
thenature ofthese commitments andtheestablished timetables werenotbeing challenged. Ifnoone
wastherefore questioning thesubstance orthetime-table oftheprogramme ofwork, whatwasthere
tobediscussed intheHeads-of-Delegations process onthisissue? TheCommunity would prefer to
spend timediscussing subjects thatmight bring anewimpetus anddynamism totheOrganization.
Therepresentative ofNewZealand saidthatconsideration ofthebuilt-in agenda inexisting
WTO bodies needed tobesupplemented byretaining theability intheHeads-of-Delegations process
tolookbroadly atarange ofissues covered bythebuilt-in agenda. Thisoverview intheHeads-of-
Delegations wasveryimportant andwould notdetract from theoverall process.
Therepresentative ofSingapore saidthatasrepresentative ofthehostcountry forthe
Conference, hewasappreciative oftheprocess being conducted bytheDirector-General andofthe
focus being putontheagenda. Heinformed representatives thathiscountry 'sMinister forTrade and
Industry would beinGeneva thefollowing week toobtain afirst-hand impression ofthestatus ofthe
preparations fortheConference.
Therepresentative ofCanada saidthathelooked forward bothtotheconsultations tobeheld
bytheDirector-General inJulyandtothemeeting oftheGeneral Council thesame month. Thelatter
would allow alltotakestock ofthestateofwork inthepreparations fortheConference bothinthe
regular WTO bodies andintheHeads-of-Delegations process. Itwasclearthatacertain amount of
work would havetobedoneintheautumn, andCanada, liketheCommunity, foresaw averyactive
rolefortheDirector-General inthisregard. Hebelieved thattheutility oftheprocess agreed earlier
intheyearhadbeenablydemonstrated.
Therepresentative ofAustralia saidheagreed withtheCommunity bothontheimportant role
theDirector-General would havetoplayintheautumn andontheclear timetables andobligations
thatweresetoutinthebuilt-in agenda. Hisdelegation suggested keeping thebuilt-in agenda issues
before theHeads-of-Delegations process because oftheoverall horizontal importance ofgiving the
rightpolitical profile inSingapore tothefurther negotiations foreshadowed therein asanimportant
partoftheforward-looking work oftheWTO, andtostress theimportance ofthepreparatory work
being undertaken inarange ofareas inthebuilt-in agenda. Australia would revert inJulytoanarea
thatwaslacking inthefuture negotiations foreseen inthebuilt-in agenda, namely further negotiations
onindustrial tariffs.
Therepresentative ofArgentina saidthatallhadbeenworking ontheunderstanding thatissues
falling within thepurview ofexisting WTO bodies should beentrusted tothem, andthatallother issues
thatwerehorizontal innature orofaspecific typenotincluded intheprogramme ofworkoftheexistingWT/GC/M/12
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bodies should beexamined intheHeads-of-Delegations process. Asregards thebuilt-in agenda, this
included commitments anddeadlines relating toasetofAgreements concluded atMarrakesh. Hehoped
thattheconcerns expressed didnotrefer tothenon-paper circulated byCanada oninvestment. As
allknew, thiswasatopicincluded inthebuilt-in agenda. However, likemany ofthetopics included
therein, preparatory work wasrequired before aspecific course could besuggested toMinisters at
theforthcoming orasubsequent Conference. Asregards thetwoparallel processes under way,these
would havetobebrought together attheGeneral Council meeting scheduled for7November, atwhich
timeonewould beabletojudge whether thepackage being proposed forSingapore wasbalanced and
tookaccount oftheinterests ofall.
Therepresentative ofHong Kong saidthattheapproach ofdividing work between existing
WTO bodies andtheinformal Heads-of-Delegations process wasundoubtedly therightoneandshould
beadhered to.Itwasdifficult todevelop guidelines toindicate precisely howmuch ofwhich subject
should bedealtwithinwhich way. Thiswasthetimetoconcentrate onsubstance andnotontheformat
forfuture discussions. Hong Kong hadconfidence intheChairman, inconsultation withtheDirector-
General andother interested delegations, towork onthegreyareas anddevise awayofproceeding
without duplication sothatallcould discuss substance.
Therepresentative ofIndia saidhisdelegation didnotbelieve thatoneofthenon-papers on
thesubject ofinvestment wascovered bythebuilt-in agenda.
TheChairman saidthatthesituation from theorganizational standpoint wasvery clear and
thattheGeneral Council haddecided onthetypes ofissues thatwould beexamined intheinformal
Heads-of-Delegations process. Also, practical organizational arrangements hadbeenagreed to,under
which allsubsidiary bodies would present reports onthematters under theirresponsibility totheir
immediately superior bodies, which would themselves report totheGeneral Council atitsmeeting
scheduled for7November. Atthatmeeting, theinformal consultations process would merge with
theformal process under theGeneral Council, andthefullpicture would become clear. The
Chairpersons ofthedifferent subsidiary bodies should beaware ofthedeadlines andofthemechanism
thathadbeensetup,andhadtheresponsibility tocover allthetopics entrusted tothose bodies. Time
wasscarce, andtheorganizational arrangements should notconstantly bechanged. Oneshould try
toavoid giving asignal todelegations andtotheChairpersons ofthedifferent bodies thattheir
responsibilities withregard tothesubjects entrusted tothemweresomehow notall-encompassing, and
thatifdifficulties arose some other body withgreater political power would dealwiththesituation.
Atthesame time, itwasclear thatthere should beflexibility intheprocess. Asforthegreyareas,
henoted thatthere wasprovision forclose cooperation andcoordination between himself andthe
Director-General, inthecourse ofwhich suchissues could betaken up.Headded that,ifitwere
necessary, theGeneral Council could takeanydecision required toavoid duplication inthepreparatory
process.
Therepresentative ofJapan saidthatheagreed withtheChairman 'ssumming-up. While the
latter hadreferred toconsultations between theDirector-General andhimself which could dealwith
theduplication ofwork, Japan believed thatonehadtobewatchful bothforloopholes andomissions
aswellasduplication.
Therepresentative ofNorway saidthatdebates suchasthepresent onetended todetract from
substance andfocus instead onquestions offorum. However, theywere sometimes useful because
theyreflected national priorities onmatters ofsubstance. Insuchcases, however, delegations should
havethecourage torefertotheirinterventions asthose onsubstance andnotonprocedure. Members
should notattack theWTO system andexpress disappointment ifthesystem didnotfullytakecare
oftheirsubstantive national interests.WT/GC/M/12
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Therepresentative ofthePhilippines, speaking onbehalf oftheASEAN countries, saidthat
herdelegation hadsimply wanted toknow when thetwoprocesses would merge, andhadnowbeen
given ananswer bytheChairman, namely 7November.
TheDirector-General saidheagreed fullywiththeChairman 'sstatement. Therulesthathad
beenestablished would notbechanged, andallwould dotheirbest,andingood faith, toimplement
theirresponsibilities. Theprocess wascertainly notablind onewhose results would onlybereviewed
on7November; indeed, hewascertain thattheprocess would bereviewed several times before then.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatements.
5. Other matters pending decision bytheGeneral Council
(a) Guidelines onobserver status forinternational intergovernmental organizations
(PC/IPL/W/14)
(b) Procedures forthecirculation anddistribution ofWTO documents
(c) Guidelines forarrangements onrelations withnon-governmental organizations pursuant
toArticle V:2oftheWTO Agreement
(a) Guidelines onobserver status forinternational intergovernmental organizations
(PC/IPL/W/14)
TheChairman recalled thattheguidelines onobserver status forinternational intergovernmental
organizations intheWTO contained inPC/IPL/W/14 hadbeentransmitted totheGeneral Council
bythePreparatory Committee fortheWTO asabasis forfuture work. Asdelegations wereaware,
agreement onthese guidelines hadbeenawaiting agreement ontheparticipation oforganizations as
observers intheDSB. Asdelegations were alsoaware, anessential aspect ofthiswould bethe
arrangementsforcooperationbetweentheWTOandtheIMFandtheWorldBank.TheDirector-General
hadmade aproposal forthesearrangements onwhich informal consultations under theGeneral Council
werebeing undertaken. Itappeared therefore thattheguidelines onobserver status could notyetbe
finalized.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatement.
(b) Procedures forthecirculation anddistribution ofWTO documents
and
(c) Guidelines forarrangements onrelations withnon-governmental organizations pursuant
toArticle V:2oftheWTO Agreement
TheChairman recalled thatthequestion ofprocedures forthecirculation andderestriction
ofWTO documents hadbeensubject toinformal consultations foroverayearandahalf. Inspite
ofconsultations heldrecently, therewasstillnoconsensus withregard toprocedures forthecirculation
andderestriction ofpanel reports. Therefore, hewasstillnotinaposition tosubmit adraftdecision
onthismatter forconsideration bytheGeneral Council. Herecalled thattheapproval oftheproposed
guidelines forarrangements onrelations withnon-governmental organizations hadbeen linked to
agreement onderestriction procedures.
Therepresentative ofMexico saidhisdelegation believed thatsub-items (b)and(c)should
bedealtwithseparately. Mexico wascurrently involved inaseries ofconsultations tofindasolution
tothequestion ofderestriction ofpanel reports. Nevertheless, Mexico believed thatthere should be
nolinkbetween thematters insub-items (b)and(c).Foritspart,Mexico would beabletoaccept
theguidelines onnon-governmental organizations atanytime.WT/GC/M/12
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Therepresentative ofColombia endorsed Mexico 'sstatement. From theveryoutset, Colombia
andother countries oftheLatin American andCaribbean Group (GRULAC) hadsupported theneed
toseparate these twoissues. Their countries would beabletoagree totheguidelines fornon-
governmental organizations separately. Asregards derestriction procedures, heurged theChairman
totrytoensure thatconsultations onthismatter ledtoarapid solution. Thismatter should notcontinue
tobeontheagenda bythetimeoftheMinisterial Conference.
Therepresentative ofPerusaidhefullyendorsed thestatements byMexico andColombia.
Therepresentative ofSingapore saidthatthequestion ofderestriction procedures wasaserious
matter, andthetimehadcome todealwithit.Otherwise, therewould beimplications fortheMinisterial
Conference withregard totheparticipation ofnon-governmental organizations. Hisdelegation endorsed
theprevious speakers 'statements.
TheChairman saidthattheprevious statements would betaken intoconsideration inthefurther
consultations tobeheldonthese matters. Every effort should bemade toresolve these issues before
theMinisterial Conference. While thepolitical importance attached tothequestion ofderestriction
procedures should notbeunderestimated, oneshould notgivethismore importance thanitdeserved
either. Itwasnecessary toputthisissue intherightperspective, andnotallow ittohaveanegative
anddisproportionate impact onthepreparations fortheMinisterial Conference. Hecalled onall
delegations, andinparticular thosedirectly concerned, toshow areasonable attitude intheconsultations
thatheintended tocallshortly.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatements.
6. Observer status forinternational intergovernmental organizations
TheChairman, speaking under "Other Business", recalled that,inaccordance withtheadhoc
arrangementsforobserverstatusforinternationalintergovernmentalorganizationsapprovedataninformal
meeting ofHeads ofDelegations on16March 19951,andasagreed attheGeneral Council meeting
on16April 1996, thefollowing organizations hadbeeninvited asobservers tothepresent meeting:
United Nations, UNCTAD, IMF, World Bank, FAO, WIPO andOECD. Itwashisunderstanding
that,pending agreement onguidelines forobserver status forinternational organizations, theabove
organizations would alsobeinvited tothenextmeeting.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthisinformation.
1SeeWT/GC/M/3, item3.