WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/GC/34
13 October 2000
(00-4228)
GENERAL COUNCIL
Fourth Ministerial Conference
Statement by Mr. Kåre Bryn, Chairman of the General Council
at the meeting on 10 October 2000
1. Article IV of the WTO Agreement provides that "There shall be a Ministerial Conference
composed of representatives of all Members, which shall meet at least once every two years."
2. In accordance with this provision a Ministerial Conference should be convened in 2001.  I
therefore believe that the General Council should seek to take a decision on the date and venue of thenext Ministerial Conference as soon as possible.  To this end I propose that:
(a) the General Council agree to take a decision on the date and venue of the next
Ministerial Conference at its end-of-year meeting on 7 and 8 December 2000;
(b) the General Council take note with appreciation of the invitation of the Government
of Qatar to host the Conference, and invite any other Member Government wishing to
host the Conference to so inform the General Council in time for a final decision inDecember;  and
(c) the General Council invite the Secretariat to prepare a factual report to the General
Council on the conference facilities which are available in each proposed venue.These reports, which should provide a detailed factual description of the facilities and
logistics available for the organization of the event, would serve as a basis for a final
decision on the venue.
3. In this respect I wish to inform Members that the Government of Qatar has already invited the
Secretariat to visit the conference facilities availa ble in Doha and I propose that the report by the
Secretariat be circulated for information to Members.
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