RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE WT/COMTD/M/18
1December 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-5258)
Committee onTrade andDevelopment
Eighteenth Session
NOTE ONTHE MEETING OF17NOVEMBER 1997
Chairman: H.E. Mr.D.Baichoo (Mauritius)
A. Adoption oftheAgenda
1. TheCommittee onTrade andDevelopment adopted theagenda ascontained inWTO/AIR/714,
withunder "Other Business" twoitems: Electronic trade ingoods andservices, andproposed dates
fortheCommittee Meetings in1998.
B. WTO Technical Cooperation andTraining Activities astheyrelate toDeveloping Country
Members
(i) Implementation Modalities (WT/COMTD/W/29/Rev.1)
2. TheChairmansaidthathehadheldinformalconsultationsonthenotepreparedbytheSecretariat
onImplementation Modalities, which hadbeencirculated indocument WT/COMTD/W/29. This
document hadbeenrevised inlightofsuggestions made bydelegations andhadbeencirculated for
theCommittee onTrade andDevelopment 'sconsideration indocument WT/COMTD/W/29/Rev.1.
Heproposed thatthedocument beadopted bytheCommittee.
3. Therepresentative ofJapan saidthathisdelegation didnotwishtochange thecurrent text
ofthedocument butsuggested thatanaddition tothedocument bemade totheeffect thatanIntegrated
Framework forTrade-Related Technical Cooperation hadbeenendorsed bytheHigh-Level Meeting
onLeast-Developed Countries.
4. Therepresentative ofMorocco saidthattheIntegrated Framework forTrade-Related Technical
Cooperation should notbementioned intheImplementation Modalities asitwasnotmentioned inthe
Guidelines forTechnical Cooperation which wasthebasis fortheImplementation Modalities.
5. Therepresentative ofJapan agreed withtherepresentative ofMorocco andsaidhisdelegation
could accept thecurrent version ofthedocument.
6. TheCommittee adopted document WT/COMTD/W/29/Rev.1 onImplementation Modalities.
(ii) Manual onTechnical Cooperation andTraining
7. TheChairman saidthat,pursuant totheoutcome oftheCommittee onTrade andDevelopment 's
discussion atitslastmeeting, hehadheldinformal consultations todiscuss possible changes inthe
ManualonTechnicalCooperationandTraining(documentWT/COMTD/W/26/Rev.1).Thesuggestions
formodifications hadbeenincorporated inanewdocument which hadbeencirculated asRevision 2.WT/COMTD/M/18
Page2
Inaddition, anewBox3onpage9ofthedocument, entitled "Specific Activities forLeast-Developed
Countries", hadbeencirculated indocument WT/COMTD/W/26/Rev.2/Suppl.1 toreflect theoutcome
oftheHigh-Level Meeting forLeast-Developed Countries. Heproposed thatthedocument beadopted,
keeping inmind thattheManual would beupdated regularly.
8. Therepresentative ofMorocco saidthatinhisview thedocument wasstilltoolong. For
example, hesuggested deleting thesection onpage 20on"Cooperation withother International
Organizations", aswellasBox18.Once ithadbeenmentioned thatextra-budgetary resources existed
andthatsome Members participated intrustfunds itwasnotuseful tomention howmuch theyeach
provided. Those interested bythefigures could getthem from theBudget Committee. Thesection
on"Coordination ofTechnical Cooperation within theWTO" onpage9wastoolong. Box3,as
amended, needed tobeshortened aswell. Hesuggested thatacommunication specialist editthetext
oftheManual tomake iteasier toread.
9. Therepresentative oftheEuropean Communities saidthatitwould beuseful toinclude some
references totheHigh-Level Meeting intheManual. Herdelegation noted withpleasure thatBox3
hadbeenrevised toinclude areference totheIntegrated WTO/UNCTAD/ITC Technical Assistance
ProgrammeforSelectedLeast-DevelopedandOtherAfricanCountrieswhich,forthefourleast-developed
countriesincluded,wouldbesubsumedbytheIntegratedFrameworkendorsedattheHigh-LevelMeeting.
Other updates could bemade inasimilar vein, forinstance onpage17where regular courses for
developing countries werementioned. Shedidnotagree todelete thesection on"Cooperation with
other International Organizations", sinceherdelegation attached much importance tosuchcooperation
andpreferred tostrengthen thatpartofthedocument andinclude areference totheconclusions of
theHigh-Level Meeting. Inreferring topage24intheBoxrelating to"Coordination withOther
International Organizations" shesaidthatmost, rather thansome, activities called forcoordination
between international organizations.
10. Therepresentative ofKorea saidthathisdelegation wished tokeepBox18onpage22as
theinformation contained inthatBoxwasrelevant foractivities andforthesakeoftransparency,
providing information ontheresources available.
11. Therepresentative ofCanada welcomed further clarifications onhow theIntegrated
WTO/UNCTAD/ITCTechnicalAssistanceProgrammeforSelectedLeast-DevelopedandOtherAfrican
Countries would bereconciled withtheoutcome oftheHigh-Level Meeting inthecases ofcertain
countriesaddressedinbothprocesses.Astheoverallprogrammeofactivitieswasexpensivethequestion
arose ofavailable resources torespond toallrequests. Infollow-up totheHigh-Level Meeting itwas
alsoimportant todetermine whether therewasoverlap orduplication. Herdelegation wished toassure
thatthepreoccupations expressed attheHigh-Level Meeting werereflected inthedocument. Finally,
sheasked theSecretariat howitsawtheroleoftheCommittee onTrade andDevelopment inWTO 's
cooperation withUNCTAD andITCsoastoensure thateachorganization wasworking intheareas
where ithadacomparative advantage.
12. Therepresentative ofNorway referred totherevised version ofBox3andsaidthatitwould
beuseful tomake areference, under thesubtitle "High-level Meeting", tothefollow-up mechanism
interms ofUNDP 'sRound-Tables andtheWorld Bank'sConsultative Group Meetings. Hesuggested
making abriefreference tothethematic round-tables oncapacity-building andinvestment heldatthe
High-Level Meeting, inthemiddle ofthesecond paragraph ofthesamesection. Hisdelegation agreed
withtheEuropean Commission toinsert areference totheHigh-Level Meeting.
13. Therepresentative oftheUnited States considered themanual acceptable andstressed thatits
specific purpose should bekeptinmind. Some prudence wasrequired interms ofreflecting allaspects
ofthedecisions taken andthesuggestions made attheHigh-Level Meeting. Thedocument shouldWT/COMTD/M/18
Page3
reflect WTO Technical Cooperation. Onamore general point hisdelegation requested thatdocuments
beissued three-weeks prior toanyCommittee onTrade andDevelopment meeting.
14. Therepresentative ofMorocco recalled thatthepurpose oftheManual wastoinform officials
incapitals about modalities toutilize WTO technical assistance. TheCommittee onTrade and
Development should nottrytomake anypoints initortoreflect theoutcome oftheHigh-Level Meeting.
TheHigh-Level Meeting wasnotthatimportant forthepurpose oftheManual, other thanthatitwas
ahistorical fact. Inthatlight, mostofthecomments seemed irrelevant. Aconcise, short document
wasneeded onWTO technical cooperation.
15. TherepresentativeofSwitzerlandcautionedthatthetextofthedocumentshouldnotbenegotiated
inevery detail. Hesuggested thattheManual could haveseveral versions according toitsuse.For
example, thedocument asitwascould beconsidered asthefullversion, ashorter version could be
distributed asaleaflet, andtherecould beathirdversion ontheInternet withseveral levels tobeopened
upaccording tothedepth ofinformation sought.
16. Therepresentative oftheInternational Trade Centre (ITC) explained thatITC'sobjective
inproducing itsmanual ontechnical cooperation hadbeentoproduce ashort document toexplain
toitsclients andpartners what theITCwasallabout asdistinct from anannual report where ITC
reported atlength onwhat hadhappened throughout theyear. Theobjective hadbeentospellout
inasbrief, asclear, andasbusiness-like amanner aspossible whatITC'sareas ofspecialization were,
howtogoabout requesting assistance from ITC, howITCworked withitspartners andITC'sown
approach totechnical assistance.
17. Therepresentative ofMorocco saidthathisdelegation hadalsorequested UNCTAD toproduce
amanual ontechnical cooperation. There wasmerit instreamlining theformat ofthethree Manuals.
18. TheChairman noted thatalmost alldelegations hadagreed thatthedocument wasuseful. While
some delegations hadmentioned thatthedocument waslengthy andshould beshortened andmade
more reader-friendly, other delegates hadmentioned theneedforupdating, taking intoconsideration
various suggestions thathadbeenmade andformaintaining certain sections. Itwasimportant tokeep
inmind thepurpose oftheManual andhetookitthatthedocument could beadopted, taking into
consideration thepossibility toupdate itregularly.
19. TheSecretariat saidthatifdelegations would wantadescription ofthecomparative advantages
oftheWTO andotherinstitutions, thiscould ofcourse beprepared. Asregards therelationship between
theIntegrated WTO/UNCTAD/ITC Technical Assistance Programme forSelected Least-Developed
andOther African Countries andtheIntegrated Framework onTrade Related Technical Assistance,
endorsed attheHigh-Level Meeting, thiswasexplained inSupplement 1totheManual. Itstated that
theAfrica Programme would besubsumed intothefollow-up oftheHigh-Level Meeting asfarasthe
least-developed countries were concerned.
20. TheSecretariat continued byexplaining thattheIntegrated WTO/UNCTAD/ITC Technical
Assistance Programme forSelected Least-Developed andOther African Countries wasaprogramme
foreight countries outofwhich fourwereleast-developed andfourdeveloping countries. When the
Integrated Framework forTrade Related Technical Assistance fortheleast-developed countries had
beendrawn up,ithadbeenagreed tosubsume theformer programme intothelatter, butonlywith
respect totheleast-developed countries, asthere wasnouseinhaving twoprogrammes inparallel
forthesame countries.WT/COMTD/M/18
Page4
21. TheCommittee tooknoteofthestatements made, requested theSecretariat tocome forward
withanamended version oftheManual totakeintoaccount thesuggestions made, andagreed torevert
tothisissue atitsnextmeeting.
(iii) Three Year PlanforTechnical Cooperation: 1998 -2000
22. TheChairman recalled thattheSecretariat hadprepared theThree Year Planfortechnical
cooperation activities for1998 -2000, contained indocument WT/COMTD/W/32 witharevision
circulated shortly before themeeting indocument WT/COMTD/W/32/Rev.1 toincorporate additional
activities deriving from thefollow-up totheHigh-Level Meeting ontheLeast-Developed Countries
andtoinclude inmore precise terms theirestimated financial implications.
23. TheSecretariat introduced thedocument bysaying thatithadbeenprepared pursuant tothe
Guidelines forTechnical Cooperation adopted bytheCommittee onTrade andDevelopment lastyear.
Revision 1affected thefigures quoted inparagraph 13andincorporated intoAnnex 1Aanumber of
newactivities asfollow-up totheHigh-Level Meeting andcertain revisions onsources offunding.
Theshort timeavailable since theHigh-Level Meeting hadmade itpossible tocirculate document
WT/COMTD/W/32/Rev.1 onlyinenglish forthemeeting. French andspanish versions would be
circulated assoonaspossible. AsMembers might recall, thepresent planwasonlythesecond triennial
planprepared under theCommittee 'sprocedures, andthefirstonethatwasactually presented tothe
Committee prior totheinitiation ofanannual programme. The1997 -1999 planhadbeenpresented
inMay1997, andanaddendum on1997 activities hadbeenprovided totheCommittee lastAugust.
Hementioned thisonlytohighlight theverydynamic nature oftechnical cooperation activities and
theneedfortheSecretariat toalways beready torespond inaflexible manner torequests fortechnical
cooperation activities which itreceived onacontinuous basis.
24. TheSecretariat further saidthatsome changes hadbeenmade inthepresentation oftheThree
YearPlan, bothinformandinsubstance. These changes endeavoured torespond tocomments made
byMembers ontheprevious planandtoimprove thedocument andtheplanning process describing
thebroad framework within which activities were designed andplanned. Thus, document
WT/COMTD/W/32/Rev.1containedanintroductorysection(paragraphs1through17)whichillustrated
some ofthelessons learned through theexperience oftheprevious plan, anddescribed theprocess
ofpreparation ofthedocument, detailed itsstructure, provided some preliminary rough budgetary
estimates, andsummarized, along broad lines, theglobal objective oftheSecretariat 'stechnical
cooperation activities. Thatobjective wasalways evolving.
25. TheSecretariat continued bysaying thatthedocument indicated thebroad linesofaction for
theSecretariat 'stechnical cooperation activities ondifferent WTO subjects for1998and1999which,
for1998, hadbeencomplemented withthedetailed listofactivities inAnnex 1.Inresponse tocomments
bydelegations, Annex 1hadbeensplitintothree categories: 1Acontained activities fullyorganized
andfinanced bytheWTO; 1Blisted activities organized jointly withother organizations, oractivities
organized byother organizations inwhich theWTO hadamajor role;and1Ccontained activities to
which theWTO hadbeeninvited toparticipate byothers. Fortheyear2000, abriefstatement was
made, indicating likely future priorities. Many delegations hadresponded toaninvitation bythe
Secretariat tosendinrequests fortechnical cooperation activities by15October 1997. Itwasclear
thatthistarget datedidnotprejudge thepresentation ofrequests atafuture time, northecontinuous
efforts torespond tothem, aswasthecustomary practice. Among thedelegations thathadresponded
totheinvitation wereBangladesh, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Guatemala, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Korea,
Moldova, Mongolia, Pakistan, Qatar, andregional organizations suchastheForum Secretariat for
thePacific Island Countries andtheCommonwealth Secretariat. Where theserequests hadbeenprecise
enough, some concrete activities hadbeenincluded inAnnex 1;inother cases, further consultations
withthedelegations concerned were needed todefine theconcrete activities tobeundertaken. TheWT/COMTD/M/18
Page5
planalsoincorporated programmes being developed withtheWorld Bank andregional development
banks suchastheAsian Development Bank, theIslamic Development Bank andtheInter-American
Development Bank.
26. TheSecretariat viewed theThree YearPlanasitsmainprogramming instrument, which would
facilitate boththetaskoftheSecretariat andthatoftheCommittee inrelation totechnical cooperation
activities. Ithadalready proven tobeauseful toolintheSecretariat 'sowninternal process forthe
management oftechnical cooperation activities. Withassistance fromMembers, theSecretariat would
continue toimprove itanddevelop itintoits'main programming tool. Forthese purposes, the
Secretariat wasintheprocess ofdesigning animproved databasewhich would include amission
management system. Heexpected thisdatabasetobeready inafewmonths. Inthatmanner, the
Secretariat expected tocontinue providing itsMembers withthebesttechnical cooperation services
possible.
27. TheChairmanhighlightedafewitemsmentioned.First,theflexibilitywithwhichtheSecretariat
responded toneeds fortechnical cooperation. Second, thatchanges hadbeenmade tothedocument
inresponse tocomments byMembers ontheprevious Plan. Third, theformat hadalsobeenchanged
asaresult ofcomments byMembers. Last, thatpreliminary rough budget estimates wereimportant.
Inthatrespect hehadconsulted theSecretariat prior totheMeeting andithadbecome clear thata
wordabout financial implications wascalled for.Paragraph 13ofdocument WT/COMTD/W/32/Rev.1
contained preliminary estimates onthebasis ofrough calculations, asstated therein. These estimates
included those related totheagreed follow-up totheHigh-Level Meeting fortheLeast-Developed
Countries. Whereas theWTO Trust Fund fortechnical cooperation would haveasubstantive balance
attheendofthisyear, andanewcontribution hadbeenannounced attheHigh-Level Meeting itself,
itwasclearthattheutilization ofthese funds hadtobestaggered, asaminimum, overthenexttwo
years -1998and1999 -andthatnotallofthemcould beexclusively usedfortheHigh-Level Meeting
follow-up. Inthatcontext, theSecretariat 'spreliminary estimate ofthepossible shortfall in1998 for
High-LevelMeetingfollow-uppurposes,asmentionedinparagraph14,wasintheorderofapproximately
SwF1million. Moreover, theestimates intheThree YearPlandidnotinclude thefinancial implications
ofactivities thatmight havetobeundertaken inrelation totheleast-developed countries which had
notbeenthesubject ofRound Tables during theHigh-Level Meeting, andwhere needs assessments
andother activities atthenational levelmight berequired. Hewasnotsuggesting toinitiate adebate
onthatissueatthecurrent Committee onTrade andDevelopment meeting, butonlytoflagthepoint
tostress theneedforconsultations, inanappropriate framework, between theSecretariat andthe
delegations mainly concerned.
28. Therepresentative oftheEuropean Communities welcomed paragraph 13which gaveadetailed
ideaofthebudget situation. Sheasked theSecretariat whether itwould befeasible toaddyetanother
column tothetables inthedocument which would indicate, inapreliminary way, thecostofthe
individual programmes mentioned.
29. Therepresentative ofGuatemala saidthatthedocument reflected theobjectives andtheneeds
fortechnical cooperation within theWTO while maintaining theflexibility required tofaceanevolution
ofneeds andtobestachieve theobjectives. Anewformat hadbeenputbefore delegations which
facilitated theorganization ofactivities. Theincreased number ofrequests fortechnical cooperation
showed thegrowing interest ofdeveloping Members tointegrate intothemultilateral trading system
andconstituted arecognition ofthebenefit thatthose countries derived from thatsystem. Her
government hadgiven priority tointegrate itseconomy intothemultilateral trading system andrecently
decided tostrengthen thenecessary structures fordealing withthematters within theremit oftheWTO.
Thisincluded thesetting upofamission totheWTO which would become operational in1998. Within
theeffort toaccelerate theadaptation ofGuatemala 'spolicies, rulesandregulations toWTO standards
technical cooperation wasindispensable, including jointinter-organizational cooperation. ShehopedWT/COMTD/M/18
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thathercountry 'sefforts would meet withthenecessary feed-back sothathercountry could more
effectively contribute tostrengthening themultilateral trading system. Herdelegation wasoftheview
thatthenational seminar requested inAnnex 1A,item17bythegovernment ofGuatemala would have
agreat impact asitwould permit hercountry todefine anational programme.
30. Therepresentative ofBangladesh saidthathisdelegations comments related todocument
WT/COMTD/W/32ashisdelegationhadnothadsufficienttimetoconsiderRevision1.ofthedocument.
Paragraph 5ofdocument WT/COMTD/W/32 gaveanencouraging picture asitshowed asharp rise
inthenumber oftechnical cooperation activities undertaken. Fourcategories ofconsumers oftechnical
cooperation wereidentified; LDCs, developing countries, transition economies andacceding countries.
Hisdelegation would appreciate receiving information about thedistribution ofactivities among those
fourcategories. Paragraph 7mentioned increasing trends towards activities attheregional level; in
thiscontext hisdelegation wished toknow howmuch oftheavailable resources wenttoeachregion.
Hisdelegation urged theSecretariat togivedelegations more lead-time inthefuture toconsider
documents asdelegations needed toconsult capitals. Paragraph 16provided theglobal objectives and
mentioned thepriority placed byMembers tointegrate theLDCs intothemultilateral trading system
aswellastheHigh-Level Meeting. However, when theactivities inAnnex 1Awere counted, only
sixteen oftheninety-two activities related totheHigh-Level Meeting, afigure that,inhisview, did
notreflect averyhighlevelofattention toLDCs. Although hedidnotdenythatLDCs wereinvolved
inother activities aswell, sixteen outofninety-two wasnotaveryencouraging figure. In1B,only
oneactivity outofsixteen emanated from theLDC needs. Hisdelegation alsofeltthatinformation
technology wasanimportant issuewhere more resources should beinvested thancould beunderstood
fromthepoorattentionithadbeengiveninthedocument.Thedocumentstatedthattechnicalcooperation
wasdemand driven. Hisdelegation questioned whether itwasreally demand-driven when thetable
already waslaidoutforthree years withtimes, schedules, venues andsubjects already inplace. Until
theconsumers werefullyintegrated inthepreparation ofthismenu, theclaim ofdemand-driven did
notstand onsolidground. However, herealized thedifficulties involved andwasconvinced thatat
leastGeneva-based delegations could bemore actively involved. Last, regarding themanagement of
theprocess, therehadbeeninformation gapsbetween missions, capitals andtheWTO andhisdelegation
found itself mid-stream between thetwo,notknowing whateither onewasdoing. Hewasconvinced
thatitwould bepossible tofindawell-functioning institutional system ofcommunication between these
three entities.
31. Therepresentative ofSwitzerland saidthatthenewdocument wasaclearimprovement over
thefirstThree Year Plan. Hisdelegation particularly appreciated theinformation given inthe
introductory paragraphs. Paragraph 6to13mentioned, ingeneral terms andindifferent places, that
theSecretariat wasputunder alotofpressure from theincreased demand fortechnical assistance.
Hisdelegation wasoftheview thatnoparticular activity should hinder theregular work ofthe
Secretariat. Ifthatshould bethecasehisdelegation expected theSecretariat toreport suchproblems
totheCommittee onTrade andDevelopment ortotherelevant bodyoftheWTO. Given theshortage
ofresources, itmight beimportant toprioritize theactivities atsome stage. TheSecretariat could
forexample givepriority tothose activities which corresponded mostnarrowly totheobjectives and
principles stated intheGuidelines forTechnical Cooperation. Concerning paragraph 13,henoted that
several trust-funds werementioned while inhisdelegation 'sunderstanding there wasonlyoneWTO
trust-fund fortechnical cooperation activities which hadbeenestablished under paragraph bofthe
Decision oftheGeneral Council of18July1996 andwhich hadfollowed therules contained inthat
Decision. Those rules were essential forensuring transparency andefficiency ofWTO technical
cooperation activities. Withrespect tothe1998 activities, hesaidthatitwould beuseful toexplicitly
enumerate those activities which related toevery section ofactivities. Itwould behelpful torelate
every particular activity tothesection inthemain part. Forexample, section 1.1ontheAgreement
onAgriculture, initsthirdparagraph stated that"TheAnnex shows, inparticular, tworegional seminars
ontheAgreement onAgriculture...". Itwould beuseful ifthese tworegional seminars referred toWT/COMTD/M/18
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would bementioned bynumber. With respect toAnnex 1hesaidthatthepaper could beimproved
upon along thelines suggested byother delegations. First, section 4.1(d) oftheImplementation
Modalities stated that"...the Three-Year Planshallindicate forevery proposed activity ...(iv)the
executing unitandhuman resource utilisation...". Hisdelegation suggested thatanindication ofthe
human resource utilization begiven, aswellasthefinancial implications inaseparate column. Another
useful improvement would betohaveamoredetailed description oftheproject inconnection tocolumn
two,containing thedescription andmode ofdelivery foreachactivity. Thiswould beparticularly
appreciated bythesponsoring bodies incapitals inorder todetermine theirpriorities.
32. TheSecretariat saidthatitwould respond totherequests foradditional information inthenext
revision ofthedocument. Hesaidthatthesharp expansion oftechnical cooperation activities affected
notonlytheTechnical Cooperation Division, butalsotheoperational divisions. After reviewing the
latest plan,anumber ofoperational division directors feltthatthesetofactivities programmed for1998
wentbeyond thecapacity oftheresources available. They hadpointed outthatthesame staffwere
usedfordispute settlement, andthatifthere wereanincrease indispute settlement cases itwould not
bepossible togiveallthetechnical assistance requested. TheSecretariat wastherefore considering
engaging consultants inalimited number ofcases where itcould beassured thattheywere ableto
dothejob. Headded thatinthepastsixmonths three oftheninestaffmembers intheTechnical
Cooperation andTraining Division hadbeenlocked upinpreparing several versions oftheThree Year
Planandother work related todocuments which hadbeenasked forbytheCommittee onTrade and
Development. Themore details delegations asked for,themore timehisstaffwould havetospend
onpreparing documents instead ofbeing inthefieldandactually delivering technical assistance. He
requested delegations tobearthisinmind when requesting greater detail. Thisapplied forexample
totherequest forincluding financial information. TheSecretariat wascurrently notcertain ofthe
venue forvarious regional activities andtheamount spent oneachactivity depended, among other
things, onthevenue. Also, exchange ratesvaried every dayanditwastherefore difficult togiveexact
financial requirements foreachspecific activity. Hesuggested thatdelegations contact theSecretariat
directly iftheywishtohaveanindication ofthefinancial requirement ofaparticular project.
33. TheSecretariat further saidthatregarding theallocation ofresources toLDCs, thelatest budget
showed thattheallocation toLDCs wasSwF1.9million outofatotalofSwF4.8million, which gave
amore accurate picture oftheactivities focused onLDCs. Itwasnotaccurate togobythenumber
ofactivities since forexample twoitems forLDCs were special training programmes thathadbeen
introduced fortheLDCs, onefortheFrench-speaking andonefortheEnglish-speaking countries.
Those programmes werenotjusttwoprogrammes liketheother onesastheyrelated to40countries.
Intensive training would begiven toofficials from these countries andaconsiderable amount ofthe
Secretariat 'sfinancial andpersonnel resources would beabsorbed bythose programmes. Should one
stillwishtocount theactivities, therightfigure ofactivities relating toLDCs would amount to25out
of94.Inresponse tothequestion ofwhether theactivities were being truly demand-driven in
establishing athreeyearplan,herecalled thatthethreeyearplanwasarequirement fromtheCommittee
onTrade andDevelopment. Inplanning thecurrent Three YearPlan, theSecretariat hadbeenguided
bythetypeofrequests itreceived from Members. Thespecific programmes were established just
before thebeginning ofeachyearandwerealmost entirely demand-driven. Demand-driven meant that
theSecretariat would notimpose aprogramme onthecountry concerned. Ifinaregion there was
ademand fromfourtofivecountries, regional activities would beplanned without waiting forarequest
fromallothers inthatregion. Theactivity would thenbeproposed anditwould beuptoeachcountry
toparticipate ornot.Demand-driven hadtobegiven arealistic meaning.
34. TheCommittee tooknoteoftheThree YearPlan1998-2000forWTO technical cooperation
activities andofthestatements made.WT/COMTD/M/18
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35. Therepresentative ofSwitzerland recalled thattheGuidelines forTechnical Cooperation,
section 4(a)stated thatthe"Three Year Plan adjusted onanannual basis, including budgetary
implications, tobeapproved bytheCommittee onTrade andDevelopment andtobesubmitted tothe
appropriate bodies ofWTO, according toagreed procedures anddecisions oftheGeneral Council".
Hewasaware ofthefactthattheBudget Committee andtheGeneral Council hadalready approved
thebudget for1998. There wasthusnopoint insetting upaprocedure atthisstage. However, his
delegation requested thatinsubsequent years theCommittee haveitsdiscussions onthisitematan
earlydateforadoption andsubsequent submission totheBudget Committee andother relevant Bodies.
36. TheSecretariat saidthattheGuidelines envisaged approval oftheThree YearPlan. However,
inearlier discussions oftheThree YearPlanintheCommittee onTrade andDevelopment, several
delegations hadexpressed apreference fortaking noterather thanapproving it,astheyfeltthatan
approval ofexpenditure intheCommittee onTrade andDevelopment would imply certain budgetary
commitments. Moreover, theThree YearPlanhadbeenturned intoarolling plan. Acertain amount
ofinformation onwhatwasgoing tobeincluded inthetechnical cooperation activities in1998 was
available atthepresent stage. However, hehoped thatmany more requests weregoing tobereceived,
andunfortunately, some requests which hadalready beenmade might betaken outforvarious reasons.
TheSecretariat therefore feltthatthebestwaytoproceed wasfortheCommittee toreview theThree
YearPlanappropriately revised insuccessive meetings, although notinevery meeting, andtakenote
ofitateachstage. Thislineofprocedure seemed tohavebeenconfirmed byearlier Committee meetings.
37. Therepresentative ofSwitzerland saidthatifitwasanissue ofprinciple, which meant that
bytaking notetheCommittee onTrade andDevelopment hadsomehow sanctioned theprocedure of
taking noteregularly oftheThree Year Plan, thenhisdelegation hadtoreserve itsposition forthe
moment. There wasalsoaquestion ofcredibility involved. ItwastheroleoftheCommittee tojudge
firstthecontent oftheactivities intheThree YearPlan, subject towhich theBudget Committee would
thenbeasked toapprove budgetary appropriations. EveniftheThree YearPlanonlycontained estimates
andpredictions about projects andcontained ameasure ofuncertainty, aprocedure ensuring credibility
ofWTO activities wascalled for.Hisdelegation could therefore notaccept theprocedure totakenote
oftheThree Year Planasaregular procedure.
38. Therepresentative ofMorocco noted thatother organizations likeUNCTAD didnotadopt,
buttooknote,oftheirtechnical cooperation plans. Thiswasdonetoavoid creating sensitivities among
governments asregards thelevelofassistance received orearmarked. Hesuggested thatWTO continue
itspractice oftaking noteofitsThree Year Plans forTechnical Cooperation.
39. Therepresentative ofSwitzerland clarified thatithadnotbeenhisdelegation 'sintention to
adopt thecurrent Three Year Plan, butrather toagree onaprocedure forsubsequent Plans inline
withtheGuidelines forTechnical Cooperation. Iftherewasasubstantial disagreement among Members,
hisdelegation suggested thatinformal consultations beheldtoresolve theissue.
40. TheCommittee agreed torevert tothisissue atalaterstage.
C. Review oftheapplication ofspecial provisions inthemultilateral trading agreements andrelated
Ministerial decisions infavour ofdeveloping country members, inparticular. least-developed
country members
41. TheChairman saidthatfollowing statements made atthemeetings oftheCommittee onTrade
andDevelopment earlier intheyearandfollowing hisinformal consultations withdelegations, ithad
beendecided attheCommittee 'sSeptember Meeting toinclude thisitemontheagenda ofitsnext
meeting. TheSecretariat hadprepared aNote asbackground forthediscussion, which hadbeenWT/COMTD/M/18
Page9
circulated indocument WT/COMTD/W/33. Thedocument contained acompilation ofinformation
provided bytheSecretariat ontheimplementation oftheUruguay Round results during 1997.
Information received atalaterstage, suchasthatrelated toGATS, would becirculated inanaddendum
tothisdocument. Thedebate should allow theCommittee toevaluate towhat extent andhowthe
different provisions wereapplied orusedbydeveloping countries since theCommittee 'sreview last
year. Healsowished toencourage delegations toprovide theCommittee withinformation astotheir
experience withtheimplementation ofprovisions sincesome oftheprovisions infavour ofLDCs were
triggered onlyifspecific requests were made.
42. Therepresentative ofPakistan noted thattheCommittee onTrade andDevelopment wasthe
forum todeliberate uponalltheaspects oftheissue andthatItems three andfouroftheCommittee 's
terms ofreference wererelevant forthatpurpose. Specifically, ItemfouroftheCommittee 'sterms
ofreference mandated theCommittee toconsider anyquestion thatmight arise withregard tothe
application ofspecial provisions inthemultilateral trading agreements andrelated ministerial decisions
infavour ofdeveloping countries andtoreport totheGeneral Council forappropriate action. The
experienceofdevelopingcountriesinthemultilateraltradingagreementsandrelatedministerialdecisions
inthepasttwoyears hadraised certain questions which hadtobediscussed intheCommittee.
43. Therepresentative ofPakistan continued andsaidthat,foraproper perspective itwasimportant
tonotethatspecial anddifferential treatment fordeveloping countries constituted anintegral partof
Members 'contractual obligations. PartIVofGATT 1947hadbeennegotiated inrecognition ofspecial
conditions andneeds fordeveloping countries inviewoftheirlevelofdevelopment. PartIVwasstill
relevant asithadbeenincorporated intoGATT 1994 byinference. Many other specific provisions
forspecial anddifferential treatment ofdeveloping countries were alsoincluded indifferent WTO
Agreements under theUruguay Round. Itshould alsobenoted thatthese provisions aimed atcreating
abalance asdeveloping countries hadaccepted wider andmore strenuous obligations inmany areas
during theUruguay Round. Itwastherefore imperative thattheprovisions forspecial anddifferential
treatment ofdeveloping countries, asembodied inWTO Agreements, werefullyimplemented sothat
thebalance ofrights andobligations would bemaintained.
44. Therepresentative ofPakistan went ontosaythattheinformation contained indocument
WT/COMTD/W/33 needed tobesupplemented inseveral areas and,inaddition, certain questions
needed tobeaddressed. Those concerned some ofhisdelegation 'sspecific concerns. First, the
Secretariat notdidnotprovide information withregard toalltheprovisions infavour ofdeveloping
countries inthemultilateral agreements andministerial decisions. Acomplete compilation ofallthe
provisions hadbeenprepared indocument WT/COMTD/W/510 inNovember 1994. Acomparison
ofthepresent document withthe1994compilation showed thatalmost halftheprovisions hadnotbeen
reported upon. Second, eveninthepresent document, many provisions hadbeenmentioned without
anyinformation regarding theirimplementation. Some oftheseprovisions wereArticles 10:1and10:2
andAnnex B,paragraph 2oftheSPSAgreement, Articles 12:2, 12:3, 12:5, 12:6, 12:9oftheTBT
Agreement, Annex III,paragraph 5oftheAgreement onCustoms Valuation, Articles 1:2and3:5(j)
oftheAgreement onImport Licensing Procedures, Articles 27:7, 27:8, 27:9and27:15 oftheAgreement
onSubsidies andCountervailing Measures, Articles 66:2oftheTRIPS Agreement, etc.Third, there
wasanumber ofprovisions inthepresent document where theinformation given inthecolumn for
implementation wasnotcomplete. Most oftheresponses onprovisions inthedispute settlement
understanding fellintothatcategory. Itwas,forthose reasons, difficult toobtain acomplete and
satisfactory understanding ofthestatus oftheimplementation anduseofspecial provisions infavour
ofdeveloping countries.
45. Therepresentative ofPakistan further saidthataftercareful reading ofthedocument, his
impression wasthatmostoftheprovisions wereyettobeproperly operationalized. Keeping inmind
theimportance oftheissuefordeveloping countries andthemandate oftheCommittee onTrade andWT/COMTD/M/18
Page10
Development inthisregard, hisdelegation suggested thattheCommittee should arrange foranin-depth
consideration oftheissue inorder toensure thatalltheprovisions infavour ofdeveloping countries
wereimplemented. Tofacilitate suchaconsideration bytheCommittee hisdelegation requested the
Secretariat toupdate thedocument WT/COMTD/W/33 byseeking fullandcomplete information
regarding alltheprovisions infavour ofdeveloping countries fromtherelevant divisions oftheWTO.
These could alsoprovide, where appropriate, thereasons fornon-implementation. Thatinformation
would helptheCommittee inidentifying clearly theprovisions thathadnotbeenoperationalized so
far,and,atleastinsome cases, thereasons forsuchnon-implementation. Hisdelegation proposed
thattheinformation should becollected before thenextmeeting oftheCommittee andthattheitem
beplaced ontheAgenda oftheCommittee 'snextmeeting. TheCommittee would thenbeinaposition
toholdin-depth discussions andreport totheGeneral Council forappropriate action. Hisdelegation
would, foritspart,beworking toidentify some important provisions thatneeded tobeoperationalized
andmight present, inaninformal paper, suggestions onways tooperationalize those provisions.
46. Therepresentative ofEgypt saidthathisdelegation supported thegistoftheintervention made
bytherepresentative ofPakistan. Hisdelegation attached greatimportance totheissueofspecial and
differential treatment fordeveloping countries. Itwasanintegral partofthebalance ofrights and
obligations invarious Agreements. Herealized thatitwassometimes difficult fortheSecretariat to
evaluate andpronounce itself ontheeffectiveness oftheimplementation ofvarious provisions. His
delegation wasaware ofthefactthatsome oftheprovisions wereofageneral nature andneeded to
bemade operational. Itwasworking onsome specific ideas inthatrespect which ithoped topresent
totheCommittee onTrade andDevelopment shortly. Hesuggested keeping theitemontheAgenda.
andreiterated thatproper implementation ofthespecial anddifferential treatment todeveloping countries
would sendapositive signal forfuture anticipated negotiations onthebuilt-in agenda. Ifdeveloping
countries feltthatthose provisions werebeing faithfully implemented, itwould facilitate theirapproach
tofuture negotiations.
47. Therepresentative ofIndia saidthathisdelegation fullysupported thestatement made bythe
representative ofPakistan. Since document WT/COMTD/W/33 wasrather incomplete hesuggested
thatitbecompleted incorporating allpoints made bythedelegation ofPakistan. Only afewofthe
special anddifferential provisions infavour ofdeveloping countries hadbeenimplemented. Hestressed
theneedfortheimplementation ofthose provisions andstrongly supported thatthedocument beupdated
andpresented totheCommittee onTrade andDevelopment atitsnextMeeting.
48. Therepresentative ofMorocco saidthathisdelegation supported theintervention made by
therepresentative ofPakistan. According toitsmandate, theCommittee onTrade andDevelopment
wastheappropriate body fordiscussing special anddifferential measures infavour ofdeveloping
countries. Thespecial anddifferential measures infavour ofdeveloping countries constituted the
development dimension ofinternational trade andwere anintegral partoftheobligations thatWTO
Members hadcommitted themselves tointheGATT 47,theGATT 94,andintheWTO Agreements.
TheCommittee should examine theimplementation ofthose provisions and,withthehelpofthe
Secretariat, examine whattheproblems were; firstforthedeveloped countries toimplement certain
provisions, andsecond fordeveloping countries asregards provisions thathadnotbeenused. The
Committee should particularly examine thedifficulties ofnon-implementation inorder toarrive atthe
implementation ofalargepartoftheprovisions which wereofgreatimportance todeveloping countries.
Thedocument wasasteptowards fullapplication ofallspecial anddifferential provisions infavour
ofdeveloping countries. TheItemshould remain ontheagenda oftheCommittee. Itwasonlyin
thatwaythatdeveloping countries could beencouraged toparticipate fullyinanequal manner inthe
international trading system.
49. Therepresentative oftheUnited States noted thatdocument WT/COMTD/W/33 needed to
beupdated interms oftheinformation provided. However, thedatathatwasavailable generally showedWT/COMTD/M/18
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thattheprovisions withrespect todeveloping countries wereontrack which wasanencouraging sign
interms oftheobligations thatallMembers hadtaken. Hisdelegation looked forward todiscussions
regarding specific measures. Interms ofobligations bydeveloped countries hisdelegation wasofthe
viewthatonemeasure thatshould betaken intoaccount interms ofthespecial treatment developed
countries provided todeveloping countries wasthegrowth inexports ofdeveloping countries since
theUruguay Round. Developing countries ingeneral, excluding anumber ofleast-developed countries,
hadimproved theirexports andthatwasrelated tothecommitments intheUruguay Round. Healso
noted thatpartoftheprogress ofthemany provisions infavour ofdeveloping countries hadbeenthat
theyallowed thosecountries tomodify regimes andimplement trade-creating liberalizing policies during
thetransition periods thatwereprovided. Thiswould benefit developing countries inthelonger term.
Thoseparticularprovisionscouldalwaysbeseenasadouble-edgedsword,butnonetheless,hisdelegation
wasoftheopinion thattheprocess washealthy anddeserved thesortofreview thathadbeeninitially
suggested bytherepresentative ofPakistan.
50. Therepresentative ofMyanmar, speaking onbehalf ofASEAN, saidthatdocument
WT/COMTD/W/33 updated information onabout halfoftheAgreements andDecisions. Hisdelegation
therefore supported therequest made bytherepresentative ofPakistan andother developing countries
toupdate comprehensive information regarding theimplementation ofallspecial provisions relating
todeveloping countries intheUruguay Round Agreements, legalinstruments andministerial decisions.
Regarding theprovisions which hadnotyetbeenoperationalized, astheydidnotprovide foraction
perse,hisdelegation suggested thattheyshould befurther explored bytheCommittee onTrade and
Developmentatasubsequentmeetingandthatappropriateactionshouldbetakenforfullimplementation.
51. Therepresentative oftheEuropean Communities saidthatherdelegation wascommitted to
thebetter integration oftheleast-developed countries intotheworld trading system. TheHigh-Level
Meeting wasnotaone-off event butastarting point ofaprocess andherdelegation intended tobuild
upon it.However, special efforts directed towards theleast-developed countries should notallow
Memberstoneglectalltheotherdevelopingcountriesandthespecificcommitmentsthathadbeenentered
intointhatregard, andwhich hadbeenincluded intheconclusions oftheUruguay Round. Theregular
monitoring oftheimplementation ofthespecial provisions infavour ofdeveloping countries was
necessary tokeepthefocus andtoputpressure ontheirimplementation. Document WT/COMTD/W/33
showed thattheCommittee onTrade andDevelopment wasontherighttrack. Herdelegation welcomed
theannouncement bythedelegation ofPakistan thatitwould present aninformal paper onways to
operationalize certain provisions. Thedebate onthese matters could beusedasanoccasion tocapture
useful hintsonwhattheactual concerns ofdeveloping countries weresothatdelegations could work
together inaconstructive spirit.
52. Therepresentative ofCanada requested thatachange bemade onpage17inthetextreferring
toCanada. Thetextshould read: ...,Canada, inthecontext ofthesimplification ofitstariff, intends
toaccelerateto1998,mostofitsUruguayRoundTariffreductioncurrentlyscheduledforimplementation
on1January 1999.
53. TheCommittee tooknoteofthestatements made, requested theSecretariat toupdate document
WT/COMTD/W/33 inlinewithsuggestions made bydelegations andagreed torevert tothisitemat
itsnextmeeting.
D. Annual Report for1997
54. TheChairman saidthatattheCommittee onTrade andDevelopment 'slastmeeting, hehad
noted thattheGeneral Council would undertake anannual overview ofWTO activities atitslastmeeting
oftheyear,scheduled for10December. Forthepurpose ofthisoverview, theGeneral Council wouldWT/COMTD/M/18
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needtheCommittee 'sAnnual Report for1997. TheformthattheReport should takewasindicated
intheGeneral Council 'sDecision onReporting Procedures indocument WT/L/105. Itshould bebrief,
factual innature andprovide anindication oftheactions anddecisions taken bytheCommittee
during 1997. TheSecretariat hadprepared adraftReport along those lines, circulated indocument
WT/COMTD/W/34, which wasbefore theCommittee foritsconsideration andadoption. Thecurrent
meeting 'sdiscussion should, ofcourse, alsobereflected intheReport. Inorder toavoid meeting again,
andinconformity withthewishofmany delegations toreduce thenumber ofmeetings, hewould ask
theCommittee afterthediscussion tomandate theSecretariat tocomplete theReport, taking intoaccount
thecurrent discussion.
55. After some discussion inwhich several delegations suggested thattheReport beasfactual as
possible, theChairman noted thatthere wasagreement todelete certain linesinparagraphs 7and4
andthatareference tofollow-up activities should beadded toparagraphs 7and13.Heprosed that
theCommittee onTrade andDevelopment adopt theReport onthatbasis andrequest theSecretariat
toamend andcomplete theReport taking intoaccount theCommittee 'sdiscussion.
56. TheCommittee soagreed1.
E. Review ofParticipation ofDeveloping Country Members intheMultilateral Trading System
57. TheChairman saidthatatitsMeeting inSeptember, theCommittee onTrade andDevelopment
hadhadapreliminary discussion ontheitem, based onaNoteprepared bytheSecretariat (document
WT/COMTD/W/31). Atthatmeeting, delegations hadexpressed thewishthatthesubject become a
standing itemontheagenda oftheCommittee. Theviewhadalsobeenexpressed thattheintention
ofafurther discussion onthisitemintheCommittee should notbetorevise thedocument asthepurpose
ofthedocument hadonlybeentoprovide elements fordelegations toreact to.
58. Therepresentative ofEgypt saidthattheissue ofthereview ofparticipation ofdeveloping
country members inthemultilateral trading system wasanissueofimportance todeveloping countries.
Hisdelegation wasoftheviewthatconsideration ofthisissuecould bedoneinamuch more effective
way. Theterms ofreference oftheCommittee onTrade andDevelopment indicated thattheCommittee
should keepunder review theparticipation ofdeveloping country Members inthemultilateral trading
system andconsider measures andinitiatives toassist developing country Members, inparticular the
least-developed country Members, intheexpansion oftheirtrade andinvestment opportunities. He
wasoftheviewthatthewayinwhich theissue hadbeendealt withcould bestrengthened inorder
tosatisfy theterms ofreference. Hehoped thatthiswould beachieved when considering theitem
during thecoming yearasitwastoolatefortheapproach tobeadopted forthecurrent year. Hethen
turned tothedocument itselfandsaidthathisdelegation welcomed areference todeveloping countries
withsuccessful trade performances. However, thishadtobeputintoitscontext ashadbeendone
inparagraph twowhich indicated that,in1996, thetrade share ofdeveloping countries had,forthe
firsttime, risenabove its1985 level. Thatwasthecontext inwhich thediscussion should takeplace
anditshowed thatmuch remained tobedone. Thetradeperformance ofAfrican andtheMiddle Eastern
countries three years aftertheentry intoforce oftheWTO Agreements remained disappointing. As
wasmentioned inparagraph 8,theshare ofworld exports accounted forbydeveloping countries in
Africa andintheMiddle Easthaddeclined overthepastdecade. Paragraph 8onlyindicated thatthere
hadbeenadecline, without further analysing itsreasons. Hisdelegation considered itnecessary to
analyze whythetradeshare ofthese developing countries hadbeendeclining. Thedifficulties should
1TheCommitteeonTradeandDevelopment'sAnnualReportwassubsequentlycirculatedindocument
WT/COMTD/13.WT/COMTD/M/18
Page13
beidentified andanalyzed inorder toassist those countries todesign andimplement thenecessary
measures. Thekindofassistance required tohelpthose countries enhance theirtrade performance
wastobeanalyzed aswell. Amore detailed analysis, onalessaggregated level, should beundertaken
withregard totheissue. Whether theanalysis should belimited totradeingoods orwhether itshould
alsoinclude trade inservices wasanother issue toconsider. Consideration ofthisitemshould help
developing countries address issues relating totheirshare ofworld trade andtheirparticipation inthe
multilateral trading system. Heproposed thattheSecretariat prepare anoutline ofastudy forthe
Committee toassess andtoindicate itsdesired direction. Theinclusion oftrade inservices wasone
oftheelements hisdelegation waswilling toconsider. Ananalysis oftheparticipation ofdeveloping
countries inworld trade would require something more elaborate thantheeight pages provided in
document WT/COMTD/W/31. Some conclusion were called for,especially indicating areas where
technical assistance wasneeded.
59. TheCommittee tooknoteofthestatement made andagreed torevert tothisitematalater
stage.
F. Other Business
(i) Electronic Trade
60. Therepresentative ofEgypt saidthattheinternational community waswitnessing recent
developments oftheInternet andthetechnology associated withitthatprovided newopportunities
fortheexpansion oftrade inbothgoods andservices indeveloped anddeveloping countries alike.
There wasnodoubt thatelectronic tradewould increase significantly intheyears tocome. Anumber
ofinternational organizations hadstarted toaddress issues related toelectronic tradeinanactive manner,
likeUNCTAD, andUNCITRAL. WTO wasintheprocess ofcreating atradedatabase andcooperated
withtheWorld Bank inaproject related toinformation technology. Furthermore, theHigh-Level
Meeting forLeast-Developed Countries hadaddressed theissueoftheuseofInformation Technology
asameans toenhance exports from LDCs. Itwould therefore beappropriate todiscuss theissue of
electronic-trade ingoods andservices intheCommittee onTrade andDevelopment andhisdelegation
intended topresent aninformal paper totheCommittee. Hesuggested thatanitembeadded tothe
agenda ofthenextCommittee meeting relating toelectronic trade ingoods andservices.
(ii) Proposed dates fortheCommittee meetings in1998
61. TheChairman proposed thefollowing tentative dates fortheCommittee onTrade and
Development 'smeetings in1998: 9March, 22June, 21September and16November 1998.
62. Therepresentative ofMorocco saidthathisdelegation hadnoproblem inaccepting thesedates
onatentative basis, buturged theSecretariat toconsult withother trade-related organizations, such
asUNCTAD, withaviewtoavoiding situations where more thanonemeeting tookplace atthesame
time.
63. TheCommittee tooknoteofthestatements made.