The General Council took note of a statement by the Chairman regarding the waiver request, “New EC Special Tariff Arrangements to Combat Drug Production and Trafficking”, which recalled that this request was under consideration by the Goods Council in accordance with the procedures in Article  IX(3)(b) and encouraged the Chairman of the Goods Council and all delegations to persevere in their efforts to reach agreement as soon as possible on finalizing a report to the General Council. The General Council agreed to revert to this matter once the Goods Council had submitted its report pursuant to Article  IX(3)(b).

The General Council agreed to revert at its next meeting to the report of the Inter-Agency Panel on short-term difficulties in financing normal levels of commercial imports of basic foodstuffs. The General Council also agreed to invite the Chairman of the Committee on Agriculture to consult with interested Members on how to move forward with regard to following up on the recommendations of the Panel, particularly with regard to the recommendation in paragraph  168(b), and to report on the results of his consultations to the General Council at its next meeting.

The General Council took note of a report by the Director-General on the activities of the Trade Negotiations Committee.

The General Council took note of a report by the Chairman of the Dedicated Sessions of the Committee on Trade and Development on the Work Programme on Small Economies.

The General Council took note of a report by the Chairman of the Committee on Rules of Origin in G/RO/52 and the recommendations contained therein, and agreed to hold a first meeting at General Council level on the 12  issues identified by the CRO Chairman in paragraph  5 of the report, to be preceded by informal consultations after the summer recess for the purpose of preparing and organizing the said meeting. It was understood that additional meetings would be organized to address the other remaining issues.

In the light of the statement by the Chairman of the Goods Council with regard to the proposals contained in paragraphs  4.4 and  4.5 of the Doha Ministerial Decision on Implementation-Related Issues and Concerns relating to the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing, and the resulting discussion, the General Council took note of the statements by the Goods Council Chairman and delegations, on the understanding that this would not prejudice the various positions taken by Members, which would be duly reflected in the minutes of the meeting. The Chairman indicated that he would report in detail to the Chairman of the General Council who would no doubt wish to examine the situation in greater depth.

The General Council took note of a report by the Chairman of the Committee on Trade and Development in Special Session regarding Special and Differential Treatment in pursuance of paragraph  12.1 of the Doha Ministerial Decision on Implementation-Related Issues and Concerns in TN/CTD/3, and approved the recommendations contained in paragraphs  14 to  19 of the report.

The General Council took note of a report (G/SCM/45) by the Chairman of the Committee on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures on its review of provisions regarding countervailing duty investigations in pursuance of paragraph  10.3 of the Doha Ministerial Decision on Implementation-Related Issues and Concerns, and of the statements by delegations.