The following items were discussed by the General Council:
1. Report by the Chairman of the Trade
Negotiations Committee
The Director-General, as Chairman of the Trade
Negotiations Committee (TNC), reported on the TNC’s activities since his
last report to the Council, including the TNC meeting held on 19
October. He stressed that the aim of the cocktail approach, including
small groups, was to energize, not supplant, the multilateral
negotiating process and that its objective remained to reach a level of
ambition and balance that all Members could subscribe to. He invited
delegations to take the engagement to a higher gear by going deeper and
wider in the discussions and proposed that Members re-evaluate and take
stock of the overall process and discuss the next steps in mid-November,
benefiting also from the discussions of the G20 and APEC leaders. The
Informal Group of Developing Countries said that, while supporting the
cocktail approach, it believed that the small group process needed to be
fine-tuned and that transparency needed to be fully respected.
2. Work Programme on Small Economies —
Report by the Chairman of the Dedicated Session of the Committee on
Trade and Development
The Chairman of the Committee on Trade and
Development (CTD) reported that proponents of small and vulnerable
economies (SVEs) continued to be active in the Doha Development Agenda (DDA)
negotiations, including in recent meetings of the negotiating groups and
that they had been closely following work on Aid for Trade. He added
that the Secretariat was revising a paper compiling all the proposals
made to date by the proponents of SVEs, which was to be ready for a
meeting of the Dedicated Session at the end of the year.
3. Aid for Trade — Preparations for the
Third Global Review — Statement by the Director-General
The Director-General highlighted the question
“is Aid for Trade working?”, which had been asked in the letters sent to
Members in conjunction with the OECD, and introduced the joint WTO-OECD
monitoring and evaluation exercise which would underpin the Third Global
Review of Aid for Trade - scheduled for July 2011 - the focus of which
would be to assess the impact and outcome of Aid for Trade on the
ground. He explained that the exercise was based on three main elements:
an analysis of trade flows by the OECD; self assessment questionnaires;
and case stories outlining what was working well and what needed
improvements in the area of Aid for Trade. He called on Members to
submit the self-assessment questionnaires and case stories by 31 January
2011. In the discussion which followed, delegations supported the
approach of case stories showcasing the impact and outcome of Aid for
Trade and stressed the importance they attached to Aid for Trade and its
Third Global Review.
4. Transparency for Preferential Trade
Arrangements — Report by the Chairman of the Committee on Trade and
Development
The CTD Chairman reported that, at the meeting
held on 4 October, the Committee had approved the text on a Transparency
Mechanism for Preferential Trade Arrangements. This important
development was the result of intensive work and consultations which had
begun in 2007, following the mandate given by the General Council. He
noted that some members were completing internal procedures in order for
the mechanism to be adopted in the near future, possibly at the next
General Council meeting. Several delegations emphasized the importance
of the mechanism to enhance understanding of PTAs and increase
transparency and looked forward to its adoption.
5. Accession priorities for 2010 in
respect of LDCs — Communication from Zambia on behalf of the LDC Group (WT/GC/128)
The delegation of Zambia (on behalf of the LDC
Group) emphasized that accessions for least-developed countries (LDCs)
should be conducted in accordance with the letter and spirit of the 2002
General Council Decision. He noted that the accessions of three LDCs —
Samoa, Vanuatu and Yemen — had been established as part of the 2010
priorities. The Group believed that at least two accessions, Vanuatu and
Yemen, were ready to be completed in 2010. In the discussion which
followed, several delegations stressed that accessions of LDCs should be
based only on technical, trade-related considerations, that the process
should be consistent with their development needs, that no excessive
demands should be placed on acceding LDCs and that technical assistance
had a key role to play. Other delegations highlighted that the approach
on LDC accessions had been fully based on the Guidelines agreed by the
Council and some added that the completion of the accession process also
lay in the hands of the applicant country and that important reforms
were needed, as well as technical assistance. Some delegations stressed
that this was a systemic issue, not one pertaining only to individual
accessions, and that members should reflect on the need to undertake a
systematic revision of accession processes.
6. WTO Pension Plan — Annual Report of the
Management Board for 2009
In presenting the Annual Report for 2009 (WT/L/802),
the Chairman of the Management Board stressed that, in 2009, the WTO
Pension Plan had witnessed a significant rebound from the performance of
2008 and that a major reform had been agreed in order to restore the
actuarial balance of the Plan. The Council took note of the Report.
7. Committee on Budget, Finance and
Administration — Report on meeting of October 2010
The Council adopted the report of the Budget
Committee contained in WT/BFA/118 and approved the specific
recommendations contained in paragraphs 19 and 21 therein.
8. Date and Venue for the Eighth Session
of the Ministerial Conference
Under “Other Business”, the Chairman reminded
delegations that, at the Seventh Ministerial Conference, Ministers had
agreed to hold the following Ministerial Conference at the end of 2011.
He announced that, on the basis of contacts he had with delegations,
there was wide acceptance that the Conference should take place in
Geneva and that it would be held on 15-17 December 2011 at the Geneva
International Conference Centre (CICG).
9. Chairmanship of the Working Party on
the Accession of Ethiopia
Under “Other Business”, the Chairman informed
Members that it had been agreed that Ambassador Steffen Smidt (Denmark)
would serve as Chairman of the Working Party.
10. Administrative Measures for Members in
arrears:
Under “Other Business”, the Chair of the
Budget Committee informed the Council of the members that were under
Administrative Measures in Categories II - IV. The Director-General
highlighted the positive developments concerning this issue, and that in
the last 20 months the total number of Members subject to administrative
measures had reduced from 27 to 16.
The next General Council meeting is scheduled
for 14-15 December 2010.
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