Past WTO
Ministerials:
>
Seattle,
1999
> Geneva,
1998
> Singapore,
1996
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These included
specific initiatives to identify the difficulties facing LDCs in the
WTO, a comprehensive reassessment of technical cooperation and
capacity building activities, a separate mechanism to deal with
implementation-related issues and concerns and a dedicated process to
seek improvements in the area of internal transparency and effective
participation of all members. Throughout 2000 these
confidence-building measures took centre stage at the General Council
level with the Director-General and the WTO Secretariat pursuing
several parallel initiatives on outreach to non-resident members,
installation of WTO reference centres in developing and
least-developed countries, and closer cooperation with other
international agencies such as the World Bank and the IMF to ensure
consistency and coordination of development policies.
In
addition to the above confidence-building measures the year 2000 also
saw the launch of the mandated negotiations on agriculture and
services which combined account for over two-thirds of the world's
economic output. Throughout 2000 these negotiations proceeded
according to schedule and on their dedicated tracks with a high degree
of participation from the entire WTO membership. At the end of March
2001 both negotiating processes reached a stocktaking point at which
there was broad agreement among members that the work done so far had
been both very constructive and provided a solid foundation for
entering into the more detailed work of phase two.
On
8 February 2001 WTO members accepted the offer by Qatar to host the
Fourth Ministerial Conference and at the same time provided the
Chairman of the General Council, in cooperation with the
Director-General, with a mandate to begin consultations on
organizational and substantive matters related to the preparatory
process for this event.
The
General Council Chairman, Mr. Stuart Harbinson, Permanent
Representative of Hong Kong, China, has recently intensified the
preparatory process using as a framework a checklist of possible
issues which was circulated on 20 April. The Chairman, in cooperation
with the Director-General and the Secretariat, is using the checklist
as well as input from delegations as a basis for organizing further
intensive consultations.
So
far the Chairman's preparatory process has been conducted largely on
the basis of informal open-ended General Council meetings supplemented
as necessary by other consultations. This approach reflects the wishes
of members as expressed during discussions on internal transparency
for a transparent, yet flexible and efficient process. The immediate
focus of the Chairman's process is to clarify and build towards
agreement on elements of the Doha agenda. This “bottom-up”
approach has been widely welcomed by members. The Chairman has
discouraged formal proposals such as those tabled in 1999 and has
urged delegations to show a maximum of flexibility in seeking common
ground among their established positions.
Since
early this year various WTO members have taken initiatives outside the
formal WTO structure to promote the inclusion of a number of items in
the negotiating agenda post-Doha. These so-called “proponent-driven processes” have been particularly active
in the areas of non-agricultural market access, investment,
competition and environment. They are not seen as a substitute for the
General Council process but as a source of inputs into that process,
along with differing views of other members. Both the Chairman of the
General Council and the Director-General have emphasized that the
responsibility of bringing such inputs into the General Council
preparatory process rests with the proponents.
WTO
members are also spending considerable time and effort on the
Implementation Review Mechanism, i.e. the dedicated process for
addressing implementation-related issues and concerns. These issues
remain very sensitive between certain developing-country and other
members. The Director-General has continued to urge respect and
realism on all sides in order to enable this complex of issues to
become a positive contributor to the Doha outcome rather than a
problem. The Chairman of the General Council has undertaken to review
all the remaining issues before the end of June, and intensive efforts
are going on to find an acceptable outcome.
The
Director-General has articulated his intention to provide the WTO
membership with a “reality check” by end July. The purpose
of this exercise would be to clearly and frankly provide WTO members
with a report on the situation and possibilities which arise out of
the preparatory process until then. The Director-General has
emphasized the importance of identifying a critical mass of subjects
by the end of July which would form the basis for decisions at the
Fourth Ministerial Conference. Nevertheless, despite the constructive
tone of recent consultations in Geneva and elsewhere, members still
remain far from answering key questions concerning the agenda for
Doha. Well-known and well-defended positions are still dominating the
discussions and while some signs of flexibility have begun to show
there is still a sense that many players are waiting for others to
make the first concessions.
The
preparatory process for the Ministerial Conference in Doha has
recently received important attention from international gatherings
outside Geneva. However, while the arguments in favour of launching a
new Round appear to be gaining ground, such political movement has yet
to translate into concrete progress. In order to complement the Geneva
process and build momentum for a positive outcome at Doha the
Director-General has pursued a large number of contacts with ministers
— both bilaterally and at international meetings. In these meetings,
most recently at the OECD Ministerial Meeting in May, the
Director-General has signalled the urgent need both for active
political involvement to allow for the necessary flexibility in
negotiating mandates and for close, continuous follow-up by ministers
to ensure that the recent boost in political momentum carries through
into action in Geneva and ultimately at Doha.
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