Supachai
makes first report on Doha negotiations back to top
Director-General
Supachai Panitchpakdi, as chairperson of the Trade Negotiations
Committee, has called on members to move away from defensive positions
in order to meet rapidly approaching deadlines. He was reporting to
the WTO General Council on 15 October 2002.
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Immediate
priority is the start of substantive negotiations — Dr. Supachai back to top
Director-General
Supachai Panitchpakdi, in his first press
conference held on 2 September, said his immediate priority is the
start of substantive negotiations under the Doha Development Agenda.
“We have no time to waste,” he said. In a speech
at the General Assembly of the Swiss Bankers Association on
20 September in Basel, he announced “four pillars” aimed at
strengthening the WTO and helping bring the Doha Development Agenda to
a timely and successful conclusion:
“My
first pillar is the legal framework which binds the multilateral
trading system together. The WTO is the only international
organization dealing with multilateral rules of trade between
countries. These rules ensure that trade flows as smoothly,
predictably and freely as possible. I intend to ensure that the
Secretariat continues to be as helpful as possible to WTO Members to
use this legal framework to their best mutual advantage”.
“My
second pillar is to assist developing and least developed countries
through technical assistance and capacity building to be better
equipped to participate in the multilateral trading system. The WTO
has taken on an unprecedented level of commitment in providing
technical assistance and capacity building to developing countries. It
is one of my priorities to ensure that our technical assistance and
capacity building activities are effective, well targeted and
coordinated with other agencies to get the best results”.
“As
for my third pillar, I will seek to promote greater coherence in
international economic policy-making. The reality of globalization is
an increasingly interdependent world. The WTO cannot possibly achieve
its goals working alone. The WTO, in keeping with its mandate, has to
work closely along with other international agencies”.
“Lastly
but most importantly, I intend to strengthen the WTO as an
institution, so as to be able to serve its membership even better. My
approach as Director-General will be equitable, balanced and
inclusive. And I will support and encourage the work of Members in
every way and at every level I can”.
The
four new Deputy Directors-General took up their posts on
1 October. In addition to the responsibilities for the Divisions
allocated to them, the Director-General assigned to each of the DDGs
“a leading role in coordinating one of the four broad, horizontal
themes that I have set out as my priorities”. Following
consultations with WTO member governments, Dr. Supachai, on
16 August, announced the selection of the following persons who
will serve as his Deputy Directors-General for three years starting on
1 October 2002: Messrs. Roderick Abbot (United Kingdom), Kipkorir Aly
Azad Rana (Kenya), Francisco Thompson-Flôres (Brazil) and Rufus Yerxa
(United States).
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Director-General
underlines WTO's contribution to sustainable developmentback to top
The
Director-General, in a speech
at the High-Level Special Roundtable of the World Summit on
Sustainable Development on 3 September in Johannesburg, stressed
that “WTO's contribution to sustainable development goes beyond
raising incomes and helping to alleviate poverty,” citing ongoing
negotiations on agriculture and fishery subsidies as well as on WTO's
relationship with environmental agreements.
n
Commission
report is food for thought on intellectual property — Supachai back to top
Director-General
Supachai said on 16 September that the report by the UK Commission on
Intellectual Property Rights makes an important contribution to the
debate on how developing countries can best make use of the WTO
agreement and its flexibilities, and how the international framework
might be improved.
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In
August, the World Health Organization and the WTO Secretariat published a joint study of the relationship between trade rules and
public health. The 171-page study “WTO Agreements and Public Health”
explains how WTO Agreements relate to different aspects of health
policies. It is meant to give a better insight into key issues for those
who develop, communicate or debate policy issues related to trade and
health. The study covers areas such as drugs and intellectual property
rights, food safety, tobacco and many other issues which have been
subject to passionate debate.
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Panel
on EC steel measures established back to top
The
Dispute Settlement Body, on 16 September 2002, established a panel to
examine the United States’ complaint concerning the European
Communities’ provisional safeguard measures on imports of certain
steel products. In September 2002, the WTO released the following dispute-settlement
reports: the Appellate Body reports on, respectively, EC's trade
description of sardines and on Chile's agriculture
measures, and the
panel report on the US “Byrd Amendment”.
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WTO
reviews trade policies of Mauritania, Australiaback to top
WTO
members, at the conclusion of their first review of Mauritania's
trade policies on 13 September 2002, commended the country for its
ambitious structural reforms aimed at reducing poverty. Mauritania
stressed the importance it attaches to trade liberalization as a
development instrument. On 23 and 25 September 2002, they commended
Australia's global orientation and its active role in the WTO. Australia's
trade regime was praised for being largely open and transparent
but a number of concerns were raised, including on SPS and tariff
peaks.
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Working
Party completes work on the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia back to top
The
Working Party on the Accession of the Former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia successfully held its final meeting on 17 September. The
Working Party concluded its mandate by adopting the accession
“package” constituting the Draft Report of the Working Party
(including the Draft Decision and the Draft Protocol of Accession), and
the Draft Schedules on Goods and Services. The accession package will be
forwarded to the General Council for approval at its meeting in October.
Earlier, on 12 September, the Working Party on the Accession Nepal
held its second meeting. H. E. Mr. Purna Bahadur Khadka recalled that
the Kingdom of Nepal was a land locked LDC. He described recent
developments in the economic and trade regime of the Kingdom of Nepal
and outlined the needs for technical assistance and capacity building to
implement the WTO Agreements. Members expressed support for the early
accession of Nepal to the WTO.
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WTO
doubles training capacity for developing country officials back to top
The
WTO, on 16 September 2002, launched its 21st
and 22nd Residential Trade Policy Courses. Increased resources
approved by members have enabled the Secretariat to conduct — for
the first time — two training courses in parallel. Earlier, on 11 to
13 September 2002, the WTO, UNCTAD and the International
Trade Centre discussed the progress of the Joint Integrated Technical
Assistance Programme (JITAP) for eight African countries. Officials
from the African partner countries and representatives from the donor
governments attended the meeting.
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