WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATION
RESTRICTED
WT/COMTD/SE/M/16
2 November 2006
(06-5269)
Committee on Trade and Development
Sixteenth Dedicated Session
NOTE ON THE MEETING OF 29 SEPTEMBER 2006
Chairman: Mr. Faizel Ismail (South Africa)
A.
ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA ........................................................................................................ 1
B.
DRAFT REPORT TO THE GENERAL COUNCIL ON MEASURES TO ASSIST SMALL
ECONOMIES IN MEETING THEIR OBLIGATIONS UNDER THE AGREEMENTS ON SPS
MEASURES, TBT AND TRIPS ..................................................................................................... 1
C.
PARAGRAPH 41 OF THE HONG KONG MINISTERIAL DECLARATION: MONITORING
PROGRESS OF THE SMALL ECONOMIES' PROPOSALS IN THE NEGOTIATING AND OTHER
BODIES ........................................................................................................................................ 4
A.
ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA
1.
The Chairman recalled that the draft agenda for the meeting was contained in
Airgram WTO/AIR/2889 issued on 19 September 2006.
2.
The agenda was adopted.
B.
DRAFT REPORT TO THE GENERAL COUNCIL ON MEASURES TO ASSIST SMALL ECONOMIES IN
MEETING THEIR OBLIGATIONS UNDER THE AGREEMENTS ON SPS MEASURES, TBT AND
TRIPS
3.
The Chairman recalled that the Dedicated Session had discussed a draft text of the report to
the General Council at an informal, open-ended meeting on Wednesday, 27 September. He said that
the informal discussions were useful and that the Dedicated Session was able to provisionally agree
on the text of the report. However, after the meeting, some delegations noted that the added text was
not sufficiently clear and set out to improve it. The Chairman said that the agreed draft text from
Wednesday's meeting and a proposed change by some Members was available to delegations in the
back of the room, in the three official languages.
4.
The Chairman said that in paragraph 6 it was proposed that the last sentence read as follows:
This recommendation is without prejudice both to the identification of other specific
measures in due course to facilitate the fuller integration of small economies into the
multilateral trading system and to the use of regional bodies as described in this
report by other developing country Members.
5.
The Chairman asked if the proposed change was acceptable, and if the Dedicated Session
could agree on the text of the report.
WT/COMTD/SE/M/16
Page 2
6.
It was so agreed.
7.
The representative of Canada said that his delegation was very pleased to be able to support
the Report to General Council, as drafted by the Chairman. He thanked Members which had
identified an area of concern and worked positively towards developing a proposal to address the
underlying problem. He also thanked Members for their careful consideration of language that had
been put forward by the Canadian delegation in previous meetings of the Dedicated Session. He said
that while his delegation was very pleased to join the consensus for approval of the report, he would
like to make a small procedural comment on the process by which the proposals from the small
economies were considered. He said that by allowing Members to table proposals within the
Dedicated Session for the purpose of considering them for adoption, the Dedicated Session may
appear to be going beyond the guidance laid out in paragraph 41 of the Hong Kong Ministerial
Declaration to monitor progress of the proposals in the negotiating and other bodies. Such a process
may inadvertently bypass the responsibilities of the committees established to carry out the functions
necessary to implement the provisions of the various WTO Agreements. He underscored that the
Canadian delegation was fully supportive of Members making use of the Dedicated Session to discuss
and formulate common proposals for simultaneous consideration by several negotiating or other
bodies. However, he asked that such proposals also be tabled for adoption in those bodies.
8.
The Chairman said he was satisfied that the proposals in question had been extensively
discussed, both in the Dedicated Session and in the TBT, SPS Committees and the TRIPS Council.
He recalled that ample opportunity had been given to the consulted bodies to guide the discussion on
the proposals and that the proponents had subsequently revised their proposals to take into account the
comments made in those bodies. He believed that all questions raised by Members in the
consultations were addressed and that their concerns were taken into account in the draft of the report.
He said that the CTD in Dedicated Session was a body which had the power to take decisions and
make recommendations to the General Council in its own right. However, because the matters
discussed in the Dedicated Session touched upon issues that were of concern to other bodies, the
Dedicated Session consulted those other bodies and the results of those consultations were taken into
account in the drafting of the report.
9.
The representative of the United States said that her delegation supported the text of the draft
report. She also shared the procedural concerns raised by the representative of Canada. She urged the
Dedicated Session to exercise caution when adopting decisions on issues where other committees had
direct responsibilities. She said that it was not just a question of consulting these other bodies but also
of being mindful that they also had the right to take decisions.
10.
The representative of Australia said that her delegation also supported the adoption of the
Report to the General Council on Measures to Assist Small Economies in Meeting their Obligations
under the Agreements on SPS Measures, TBT and TRIPS. She believed the report demonstrated the
desire and commitment of small economies to comply with their WTO obligations, which should be
supported and acknowledged. She thanked the proponents for the flexibility that they had shown in
addressing concerns that other Members had raised. She also shared some of the procedural concerns
that had been raised by the Canadian delegation. However, having listened to the response provided
by the Chairman, she agreed with his assessment of the situation concerning the report. She thought
the Dedicated Session should be mindful of the procedural concern that had been raised in carrying
out its future work.
11.
The representative of Costa Rica said the recommendation would help small economies to
comply with their WTO obligations in the areas of SPS, TBT and TRIPS. The recommendation was
an adequate response to a trade-related problem identified by the proponents and helped with their
integration into the multilateral trade system, without creating a new sub-category of Members. He
noted that the types of measures proposed in the recommendations should also be available to other
WT/COMTD/SE/M/16
Page 3
developing countries. Therefore, he welcomed the clarification introduced in paragraph 6 of the
report. His delegation understood that the recommendations in the report did not limit the rights of
developing countries to request technical assistance individually. Nor did it oblige donors or the
WTO to channel technical assistance solely to regional organizations.
12.
The representative of Mexico expressed support for the report to the General Council and
welcomed the amendment to paragraph 6 of the report. She noted that the report resulted from
discussions, both within the Committees on TBT and SPS and the TRIPS Council, as well as the
Dedicated Session. She also noted that the purpose of the recommendations was to help small
economies comply with their WTO obligations, without altering the rights and obligations of
Members. She highlighted that the report: (i) recognized that Members would continue to be
responsible, on an individual basis, for their notifications and for other obligations under the covered
agreements; (ii) was in accordance with paragraph 41 of the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration,
which expressly cautioned against the creation of new sub-categories of Members;
and
(iii) recognized in paragraph 6 that other developing countries may also use regional bodies as
described in the report. She said that her delegation joined the consensus in adopting the
recommendation and transmitting it to the General Council. She also suggested that the Chairman
inform the Chairpersons of the SPS and TBT Committees, and TRIPS Council, about the adoption of
this decision by the Dedicated Session.
13.
The representative of Barbados on behalf of the small economies accepted that the procedural
concerns that had been raised by some delegations were important. However, he agreed with the
analysis of the situation made by the Chairman. On behalf of the small economies, he thanked the
Chairman, the Secretariat and the former Chairman of the Dedicated Session for the impartial support
that had been given throughout this process. He also thanked the delegations of the European
Communities, Canada, the United States, Colombia and India for helping with suggestions for
specific language to be included in the report. He expressed support for the suggestion made by the
representative of Mexico to inform the Chairmen of the SPS and TBT Committees and TRIPS
Council. He noted that the report reflected the intention of small countries to honour and respect their
responsibilities in the WTO, with the help of WTO technical assistance and capacity-building
programmes.
14.
The representative of the Solomon Islands said that for small-island countries in the Pacific,
regionalism constitutes the only way to ensure that their obligations under the SPS and TBT and
TRIPS Agreements were effectively implemented. He, therefore, looked forward to a favourable
consideration by the General Council of the report and recommendations.
15.
The representative of Antigua and Barbuda said that the adoption of the report sends an
important positive signal to constituencies in small countries that the WTO is making progress in
addressing the trade-related problems of small economies. Therefore, there was value in the
multilateral trading system for the small economies and their development.
16.
The Chairman proposed that the CTD in Dedicated Session take note of all the statements that
had been made. He also proposed that the CTD in Dedicated Session adopt the Report to the General
Council on Measures to Assist Small Economies in Meeting their Obligations under the Agreements
on SPS Measures, TBT and TRIPS and forward it to the General Council for its 10 October 2006
meeting.
17.
It was so agreed.
WT/COMTD/SE/M/16
Page 4
C.
PARAGRAPH 41 OF THE HONG KONG MINISTERIAL DECLARATION: MONITORING PROGRESS
OF THE SMALL ECONOMIES' PROPOSALS IN THE NEGOTIATING AND OTHER BODIES
18.
The Chairman recalled that the monitoring role of the Dedicated Session was part of the
two-track approach on small economies contained in paragraph 41 of the Hong Kong Ministerial
Declaration. He also recalled that at the last meeting, the Dedicated Session requested the Secretariat
to prepare, for discussion, a compilation paper on the proposals by the small economies in the
negotiating and other bodies. However, given the fact that the negotiations had been suspended, he
suggested that the Dedicated Session revert back to the discussion of this item at a future meeting. He
asked whether this would be agreeable to Members.
19.
The representative of El Salvador noted that the small economies had introduced a proposal in
the Committee on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (SCM) and that it was still being discussed.
He requested that the monitoring process include those proposals that were still being examined in the
regular WTO bodies.
20.
The Chairman said that he was in the hands of Members on how to proceed with the
monitoring of proposals by the small economies in the negotiating and other WTO bodies.
21.
The representative of Barbados said that he agreed to suspend the Dedicated Session's
monitoring of the proposals in the negotiating bodies. However, he was not aware that there was any
suspension of discussions in the other bodies. Therefore, the Dedicated Session should not suspend
the monitoring of any of the small economy issues which were being discussed in WTO bodies.
22.
The Chairman made two suggestions on how the Dedicated Session should proceed with the
monitoring process. The first suggestion was to request the Secretariat to compile the proposals that
concern small economies that are before the WTO bodies that are not negotiating bodies. The second
suggestion was that the Dedicated Session review at its next session the situation regarding the
negotiations and discuss whether it would be useful to have the Secretariat prepare a compilation of
all the proposals that had been submitted to the negotiating bodies. The compilation would then be
discussed at the following meeting of the Dedicated Session.
23.
The representative of the European Communities said he did not object continuing the
monitoring of proposals by the small economies that were before the regular WTO bodies. On the
basis of document WT/COMTD/SE/W/21/Rev.1, he believed that the proposals in the SCM
Committee and the Working Party on Domestic Regulation should continue to be monitored. He also
saw merit in the Chairman's proposal to discuss at the next meeting of the Dedicated Session whether
there would be any value in continuing the monitoring of the proposals in the negotiating bodies.
24.
The representative of Colombia clarified that the discussions in the Working Party on
Domestic Regulation had also been suspended, although that body was not considered to be a DDA
negotiating body.
25.
The representative of Barbados noted that the request for a paper by the Secretariat at the
previous meeting was intended to go beyond a mere compilation of the proposals. He said that the
objective of the paper was to take into account the discussions, the minutes and the chairpersons'
reports in the negotiating and other bodies and to give delegates in the Dedicated Session an overview
of what was happening in those bodies. He said that his delegation supported the proposal to continue
monitoring the proposals in the regular bodies and to re-evaluate the situation with respect to the
monitoring of proposals in the negotiating bodies at the next meeting of the Dedicated Session.
WT/COMTD/SE/M/16
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26.
The Chairman said that the monitoring idea mandated in Paragraph 41 of the Hong Kong
Ministerial Declaration was to use the Dedicated Session to add value to the process without the
Dedicated Session becoming a forum for negotiations. He requested the Secretariat to prepare a
compilation of all the proposals made by the small economies which were being discussed in the
regular WTO bodies. As for the proposals in the negotiating bodies, the Dedicated Session would
review the situation at its next meeting. He asked whether this was agreeable.
27.
It was so agreed.
28.
The meeting was adjourned.
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