Japan presented a paper from members of the Friends of Anti-Dumping Negotiations (FANs) Group on “recalibration of negotiations on anti-dumping”, which proposed that the core deliverables in the anti-dumping part of the post-Bali work programme should be due process and transparency. Japan said that anti-dumping is an essential part of the post-Bali work programme and expressed the hope that discussions on this issue could start shortly. The other co-sponsors — Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Israel, Korea, Norway, Singapore, Switzerland, Chinese Taipei, Thailand and Hong Kong, China — spoke in support of the paper.

Australia said that the FANs paper sets unrealistic goals and could lead members back to issues where differences could not be bridged. It reiterated that agriculture should set the level of ambition in the post-Bali work programme. The United States said it would carefully evaluate what it had heard during the meeting and stressed that doability should be the main criterion in looking at the issues. The United States was struggling to define doability in rules given the lack of clarity in the core of the Doha Round, and in these circumstances it was hard to imagine active discussions in the Rules Group.

Many country groupings supported the inclusion of fisheries subsidies with appropriate special and differential treatment for developing countries in the post-Bali work programme. They included Egypt speaking on behalf of the Agadir Group (also Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia), Fiji on behalf of the ACP (Africa, Caribbean and Pacific) Group and the SVEs (small, vulnerable economies), and Solomon Islands on behalf of the LDC (least-developed countries) Group and the Pacific Group.

New Zealand, speaking on behalf of the Friends of Fish (Argentina, Australia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Iceland, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines and the US) said they are consulting with other members on how to proceed with the discussions on fisheries subsidies.

The European Union said that the Rules Group must focus on what can be realistically achieved, and in fisheries subsidies it should look at subsidies that lead to overcapacity and at developing stronger and more effective transparency provisions. It said that transparency provisions should cover all the areas under the Rules Group (anti-dumping, horizontal subsidies, fisheries subsidies and regional trade agreements).

Brazil, India and Canada said that the Group cannot move ahead of the core Doha Round issues.

The Chair of the Negotiating Group on Rules, Ambassador Wayne McCook (Jamaica), at the close of the meeting noted the view that the Group cannot be out of step with the other Doha Round issues. He would be consulting with members on the next steps, including on possible exploratory work and discussions of recalibrated proposals.