News

How the Conference was organized back to top

The Conference opened at 15h00 on Monday 30 November. Following addresses by the Chair, the Director-General, the Chair of the General Council and heads of other intergovernmental organizations, the Chair proposed the adoption of the Agenda. He then opened the floor for the first speakers in the Plenary Session. The Plenary provided an opportunity for Ministers to make prepared statements in accordance with the List of Speakers.

In parallel to the Plenary Session, there were two Working Sessions on 1 December and 2 December, respectively. The Working Sessions were aimed at providing an interactive forum for Ministers for discussion under two broad sub-themes: “Review of WTO activities, including the Doha Work Programme” for the first day; and “The WTO's contribution to recovery, growth and development” for the second day.

> Programme

Scope of the Conference back to top

In his report to the General Council on 17 November 2009, Pascal Lamy said that while the upcoming WTO Ministerial Conference would not be a negotiating session, it would be “a platform for ministers to review the functioning of this house”, including the Doha Round, and an occasion “to send a number of strong signals to the world with respect to the entire WTO waterfront of issues — from monitoring and surveillance to disputes, accessions, Aid for Trade, technical assistance and international governance”.

Statements back to top

• Statements from the Opening Session
• Statements from the Plenary Session
• Statements from the Closing Session

Ministerial Breakfast on the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF)  back to top

Official documents for the Geneva Ministerial  back to top

Background materials  back to top

• What is the Ministerial Conference?
• Director-General's letter to journalists
• Video: Objectives of the Conference
• Briefing notes on some of the main aspects of the Doha Round
• Briefing note on intellectual property: non-violation complaints
• Report by Pascal Lamy on state of play in the Doha Round
• Impact of the financial crisis on least-developed countries