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Mike
Moore's speeches
Renato
Ruggiero's speeches, 1995-99
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The
new chairpersons are:
- Committee
on Agriculture: Amb. Apiradi Tantraporn (Thailand); Vice: Mr.
Yoichi Suzuki (Japan)
- Committee
on Anti-Dumping: Mrs. Sahar Hosni Abdelaziz (Egypt)
- Committee
on Customs Valuation: Mr. K. Weerasinghe (Sri Lanka)
- Committee
on Import Licensing: Ms. Simone Rudder (Barbados)
- Committee
on Market Access: Mr. Yair Shiran (Israel)
- Committee
on Rules of Origin: Mr. Ho Young Ahn (Korea)
- Committee
on Safeguards: Mr. Martin Pospisil (Czech Rep.)
- Committee
on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures: Mr. Wiliam Ehlers
(Uruguay)
- Committee
on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures: Mr. Remo Moretta
(Australia)
- Committee
on Technical Barriers to Trade: Mr. Joshua Phoho (Lesotho)
- Committee
on Trade-Related Investment Measures: Mr. Paul Bennett
(Ireland)
- Working
Party on State Trading Enterprises: Ms. Maija Manika (Latvia)
The
Goods Council continued discussions on the following subjects, and
agreed that the new chairman would hold consultations on them:
- On
the requests by nine developing countries for extension of the
transition periods for their trade-related investment measures (TRIMs),
the Chairman said that a solution based on his proposal last
November seemed close at hand. He said the resolution of this
issue would be important for the ongoing confidence-building
process and for the WTO Ministerial Meeting in Qatar. Egypt became
the tenth developing country to request a TRIMs extension. The
Council also continued discussions on Pakistan's proposal for the
WTO and UNCTAD to carry out a joint study that would assist
developing countries in the review of the TRIMs Agreement.
- On
the request for a waiver on the new ACP-EC Partnership agreement,
the European Communities circulated its Council Regulation on a
new banana import regime. It argued that with this notification,
members should now start the examination of the waiver request.
However, Central and Latin American banana producers said that in
the absence of the EC implementing legislation, the examination
could not go forward as information on the waiver request was
still insufficient. Several ACP countries underlined the economic
importance to them of this Agreement and urged that the waiver
examination proceed as soon as possible.
India,
Pakistan and Hong Kong, China said that the Goods Council, as part of
its oversight function on the functioning of the Agreement on Textiles
and Clothing (ATC), should call for transparency on new bilaterally
agreed restraints on textiles. They urged that bilateral restraints
that were found to be inconsistent with the ATC be rescinded. The
United States and Turkey defended their agreement on Turkey's export
of cotton and man-made fibre underwear to the US as conforming with
the ATC, and suggested that this issue be discussed instead later this
year when the Council conducts a major review on the implementation of
the ATC. The Council agreed to revert to this subject at its next
meeting.
The
Council agreed that market access measures notified to it by
developing countries under the 1999 waiver on preferential tariff
treatment for least-developed countries (LDCs) would be referred for
advice to the CTD Sub-Committee on LDCs. This would bring the
notification procedure into line with actions taken by developed
countries under their GSP schemes in favour of LDCs which are sent to
the CTD under the provisions of the Enabling Clause. This will allow
for a unified consideration in one forum of measures taken in favour
of LDCs.
The
Council adopted the terms of reference under which the Committee on
Regional Trade Agreements should examine 12 Free Trade Agreements as
well as the Trade, Development and Cooperation Agreement between the
EC and South Africa.
At
the end of the meeting, members elected by acclamation Amb. Istvan
Major of Hungary as the new chairman, succeeding Amb. Carlos Perez del
Castillo of Uruguay. Delegations commended Amb. Perez del Castillo's
leadership during the past year, when, they said, the Council faced
many important issues. |
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