55 December 2001    
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WTO Secretariat reorganizes for Development Round Back to top

Director-General Mike Moore, in a speech on 14 December 2001, said that “the WTO has been given an important new negotiating mandate by Ministers”. He said that “to prepare for this challenge and improve the functioning of the Secretariat, I have determined that certain organizational changes are needed at this stage”. Mr. Moore said these changes aim to reflect the work priorities of the Doha Development Agenda, make efficiency gains and cost savings, ensure proper coordination of related elements of work wihtin the Secretariat, increase accountability and assess the efficiency of the Secretariat on a continuing basis, and to communicate more effectively with the outside world on the work of the WTO.

 

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Director-General M. Moore and Chairman Min. Youssef Hussain Kamal steer the Doha meeting to success.

               
Doha success marks a turning-point for world trade — Moore Back to top

The 4th Ministerial Conference held in Doha, Qatar on 9-14 November was “an extraordinarily successful meeting ... that will be remembered as a turning point in the history of the WTO and the trading system and in relations between developed and developing countries within that system,” said Director-General Mike Moore in his first formal assessment of the results. In his speech WTO and the New Round of Trade Talks  before the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council in Hong Kong, China on 28 November 2001, he said that the work programme agreed in Doha “invigorates and extends the negotiations for liberalizing access to markets which are the core business of the WTO”. He said the completion of the Ministerial Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health “removed a critical point of discord between developed and developing countries”. Mr. Moore cited the accession of China and Chinese Taipei as “a massive achievement”.

 

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Doha Conference ends with agreement on new programme Back to top

Ministers from WTO member governments, on 14 November 2001, approved a work programme — which they called “broad and balanced" — that includes negotiations on a range of subjects and other tasks for the coming years. “The success of our conference at this difficult time is … especially important as a reaffirmation of the determination of the international community to work together to respond to these challenges for a better future,” said Conference chairman, Qatari Finance, Economy and Trade Minister Youssef Hussain Kamal. Director-General Mike Moore said: “I have been impressed by the readiness which so many ministers have shown to understand and accommodate the needs of others, and by the strength of the common determination to make the conference a success — not just for the sake of national interests, but very much because everybody appreciated the need to give a signal of confidence in this very difficult time of international uncertainty.” The work programme, spelt out in two declarations — a main declaration and one on intellectual property (TRIPS) and public health — and one decision on implementation — i.e. developing countries’ difficulties in implementing current WTO agreements.

> Doha Ministerial Declaration
> Implementation-related issues and concerns — Decision
> Subsidies — procedures for extensions under Article 27.4

 

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“A meeting for a better and more just world”

               
Qatar's Emir opens 4th WTO Ministerial Back to top

His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Emir of Qatar, opened the 4th Ministerial Conference on 9 November by underscoring that “a successful meeting will be the best possible demonstration that all nations, rich and poor alike, are working together for a better and more just world”. He said that “the world is looking forward to a new round that would give prominence to development…” The Emir added that “the Conference gives the State of Qatar the opportunity to introduce itself and show that its economic system is open and flexible”.

> Statements from the inaugural session

 

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Ministers adopt Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health
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The 4th Ministerial Conference, on 14 November, adopted the Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health. The Declaration recognized that the TRIPS Agreement contained elements of flexibility that can be used to respond to health emergencies. They include the right to grant compulsory licenses and to determine the grounds upon which they should be granted, and the right to establish national regimes for the exhaustion of intellectual property rights.

 

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China's Foreign Trade Min. Shi Guangsheng signs his country's membership document on 11 Nov. 2001

               
WTO Ministerial Conference approves China's accession Back to top

The WTO's Ministerial Conference, on 10 November, approved by consensus the text of the agreement for China's entry into the WTO. “This is an historic moment for the WTO, for China and for international economic cooperation”, said WTO’s Director-General, Mike Moore, commenting on the approval of China’s accession.

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Economic Affairs Min. Lin Hsin-I signs Chinese Taipei's accession document on 12 Nov.2001

               
Chinese Taipei signs membership package
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Chinese Taipei, on 12 November, signed its membership package in Doha, Qatar. Ministers from WTO member governments had formally approved Chinese Taipei’s package on 11 November. 

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Ministers grant waiver to ACP-EC Partnership Agreement
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The Ministerial Conference, on 14 November, granted a waiver to the Partnership Agreement between the ACP (Africa, Caribbean and the Pacific) and the European Communities, also known as the Cotenou Agreement. Under this Agreement, the EC provides preferential tariffs to ACP products. The draft waiver decision was forwarded to the Ministers by the Council for Trade in Goods which held a special meeting in Doha.

> Decision on waiver for the ACP-EC Partnership Agreement

> Decision on the EU transitional regime for banana imports 

 

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Agencies to boost developing countries' participation in setting food safety and related norms Back to top

At the WTO Ministerial Conference in Doha, Qatar, five international organizations, on 11 November, issued a joint statement committing themselves to help developing countries' participate more fully in setting international norms for sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures — food safety and animal and plant health.The five organizations are the WTO, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the International Animal Health Organization (Office International des Epizooties or OIE), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the World Bank. 

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Conference photos by Mrs. Esperanza Sesar Lauraux/WTO