Statement by Pascal Lamy to the General Council

Report by the Chairman of the Trade Negotiations Committee

Thank you Mr. Chairman.

Since I last reported to the General Council in October, the TNC has held one formal meeting which took place yesterday, and which marked the end of a period of very intensive work aimed at establishing modalities in Agriculture and NAMA.

As I reported to the TNC yesterday, and as I am sure everyone is aware, we were not far from achieving our goal, having made very good progress in both areas, but ultimately we had to recognize the reality that calling Ministers to try to finalise modalities by the end of the year would be running too much of a risk of failure which could damage not only the Round but also the WTO system as a whole.

My statement at yesterday's meeting was circulated to delegations in document Job(08)/134, and I will not repeat all the points I made then.

I take from the discussion we had at the TNC yesterday that there is a collective will to advance the Doha negotiations on all fronts. All Chairs expressed their readiness to provide a forum where you, the Members, can resume negotiations across the board, in Agriculture and NAMA, but also on Services, Trade Facilitation, Rules, TRIPS related issues and Special and Differential treatment or environment to name a few.

I also take that the entire membership believes that a Doha Development Round which is better adapted to the new trading realities and which responds to the needs and aspirations of all its members and in particular developing countries is worth fighting for. This has been and remains our priority for 2009.

I also take from the discussions that you all believe that the WTO is more than the Doha Round and that we need to ensure that the Organisation remains relevant and attuned to the wider trading scene. Yesterday we discussed a number of areas where the WTO could work in 2009, including on ensuring a better overview of developments in the international trading environment which are having an impact on the multilateral trading system, and that is also true for Trade Finance and Aid for Trade.

All of this is in addition to our regular work in the committees and councils which testify of the strong foundations of our rules-based multilateral trading system.

At the TNC yesterday we also heard many of you pleading for holding our next regular Ministerial meeting in the course of next year, to take a strategic look at the future and steps to advance the goals of the organisation.

Yesterday many of you mentioned Sisyphus, the king cursed to roll a huge rock up a hill only to watch it roll down again, and to repeat this throughout eternity. Even the most tenacious minds would be discouraged by the idea of rolling up and down through eternity. I believe that after these last days of discussions and reflections the future looks a bit brighter and I would suggest we rather think of the German poet Goethe when he said “What is not started today is never finished tomorrow.” Today begins our work for 2009.

That concludes my report today, Mr. Chairman. I take the opportunity to wish you all a happy holiday. Thank you.