RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/COMTD/M/34
26 September 2001
(01-4579)
Committee on Trade and Development
Thirty-Fourth Session
NOTE ON THE MEETING OF 22 AND 23 MAY 2001
Chairman:  H.E. Mr. Nathan Irumba (Uganda)
Subjects discussed:
A. A DOPTION OF THE DRAFT AGENDA ............................................................................................2
B. O BSERVERS ............................................................................................................................... ..2
C. R EPORT OF THE JOINT ADVISORY GROUP ON THE INTERNATIONAL TRADE CENTRE
UNCTAD/WTO..................................................................................................................... .....2
D. N OTIFICATIONS UNDER THE ENABLING CLAUSE ........................................................................4
(i) Generalized System  of Preferences........................................................................................... ..4
- Notification by the United St ates (WT/COMTD/N/1/Add.3) ....................................................... 4
- Notification by Japan (WT/COMTD/N/2/Add.10) ....................................................................... 7
(ii) Any Other Notifications .................................................................................................... ..........8
E. F INANCING FOR DEVELOPMENT - WTO M EMBERS ' CONTRIBUTION TO
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON FINANCING FOR DEVELOPMENT  (WT/COMTD/30) .........10
F. S PECIAL AND DIFFERENTIAL TREATMENT :  IMPLEMENTATION AND PROPOSALS
(WT/COMTD/W/85) ................................................................................................................ 13
G. E LECTRONIC COMMERCE ..........................................................................................................19
(i) Follow-Up to the Gene ral Council Discussion.........................................................................19
(ii) Communication From Cuba (WT/COMTD/W/87)....................................................................22
H. T ECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND TRAINING ..................................................................................23
(i) Report on Training – Trade Policy Courses 2000, Note by the Secretariat
(WT/COMTD/W/82; WT /COMTD/W/86) .................................................................................23
(ii) Report on Technical Assistance Activities in 2000 (WT/COMTD/W/83) .................................27
(iii) Three-Year Plan for Technica l Assistance (WT/COMTD/W/84)..............................................27
(iv) A Strategy for Technical Assist ance in WTO (WT/COMTD/W/78/Rev.1) ................................27
I. F UTURE WORK PROGRAMME OF THE CTD...............................................................................34
J. O THER BUSINESS ......................................................................................................................34WT/COMTD/M/34
Page 2
A. ADOPTION OF THE DRAFT AGENDA
1. The Chairman Said that the draft Agenda for the meeting was contained in
airgram WTO/AIR/1544/Rev.1 of 16 May 2001.  He asked if any Member wished to add any other
matter under the Item of "Other Business".
2. The representative of Barbados indicated that she wished to raise the matter of the proposed
study for small economies under any Other Business.
3. The representative of the European Communities said  that he wished to raise the results of the
recently concluded Least-Developed Countries (LDCs) Conference under Item D.
4. The Agenda was adopted, as amended.
B. OBSERVERS
5. The Chairman recalled that at the previous Session of the Committee on Trade and
Development (CTD), it had been agreed to invite the following intergovernmental organizations on an
ad hoc basis meeting by meeting basis:  the Ar ab Maghreb Union (AMU);  the Economic Community
of West African States (ECOWAS);  the Economic  Cooperation Organisation (ECO);  the Inter-Arab
Investment Guarantee Corporation;  the Islamic Development Bank (IDB);  the Organization of
African Unity (OAU);  the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC);  the South Centre;  theSouth Pacific Forum; the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP);  the West African
Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) and the World Intellectual Property Organization
(WIPO).  He proposed that these Organizations be invited to the next formal meeting of the CTD.
6. It is so agreed.
7. The Chairman said that there were four outstanding requests for observer status on an ad hoc
basis from the League of Arab States, OPEC, the Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting and the
Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie.  Informal consultations had been held and it did not,
as yet, appear to be a consensus on these requests.  He therefore proposed to pass to the next item.
8. It was so agreed.
C. REPORT OF THE JOINT ADVISORY GROUP ON THE INTERNATIONAL TRADE CENTRE
UNCTAD/WTO
9. The Chairman invited Ambassador Filip (Romania), Chairperson of the Joint Advisory
Group (JAG), of the International Trade Centre (ITC) to introduce the Annual Report of the JAG on
the ITC UNCTAD/WTO.
10. The Chairperson of the JAG said that the JAG had held its 34th Session from 30 April to
4 May 2001.  The report was contained in documen t ITC/AG(XXXIV)/188.  The terms of reference
of the JAG were to review the activities of the ITC and to formulate recommendations to the
Governing Bodies of UNCTAD and the WTO.  The Group examined the following matters during its
session:  ITC's technical cooperation activities in the year 2000, the draft annual report and the report
of the consultative committee on the ITC Global Trust Fund.  During the opening session,
Mr. Rubens Ricupero, the Secretary General of UNCTAD referred to the important work undertaken
by ITC on behalf of the least-developed countrie s.  UNCTAD echoed ITC's concerns regarding the
unpredictability of resources, and Mr. Ricupero noted that the rhetoric about the central importance ofWT/COMTD/M/34
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trade as a tool for development had not been backed by action from donor countries.
Mr. Ablassé Ouedraogo, Deputy-Director General of WTO thanked ITC for its valuable contribution
to the work of the WTO to establish capacities for integrating developing countries and transitional
economies into the multilateral trading system.  He also commended ITC's particularly impressive
record in the year 2000 in building teamwork, in providing specialized support to other organizations
and in joining partnerships to design and implement technical assistance.  In his statement to the
Group, Mr. Bélisle referred to ITC's achievements in the year 2000 which included the finalization
and pilot testing of the e-facilitated trade development strategy and the design of a programme of
implementation called the E-trade bridge.  The programme was intended to assist small- and
medium-size enterprises in bridging the digital divide.  In fact, this programme was presented during
an informal session of the JAG meeting where representatives had the opportunity to exchange views
on the subject.  During the review of ITC's technical cooperation activities in 2000, the Groupcommended ITC on its new annual report which was more analytical than the previous one and
provided an excellent basis for discussion of ITC's technical cooperation activities.  ITC's central role
in trade-related technical cooperation was acknowledged and its pro-activity in trade-related capacity
building unanimously endorsed.  Likewise, ITC had been congratulated by many on the effective
management of its limited resources.  A number of donor representatives indicated interest in beingmore closely associated with ITC's ongoing efforts to identify ways to achieve its technical assistance
objectives, and several endorsed a proposal for a comprehensive independent evaluation to ITC.  Such
an evaluation would be conducted as a forward-look ing exercise with a view to determining ITC's
larger role in trade-related technical assistance.  The recommendation was welcomed by the
Secretariat which suggested that further consultations be held to ensure that the exercise had clear andspecific terms of reference and that it involved all stakeholders.  Another subject raised was the
current practice of the JAG which resulted in documentation being submitted in four languages
(English, French, Russian and Spanish) while interpretation was in the six official languages.  One
representative requested documentation in all six languages as was customary in UN meetings, while
another representative, insisting on the Joint UN-WTO nature of JAG, was not in favour of increasingadministrative costs.  This matter would require further consideration.  Finally, at the 31
st Session,
government representatives had either announced or confirmed voluntary contributions to ITC and the
Chairperson of the JAG expressed gratitude to the Governments of Canada, China, Denmark, Finland,
France, India, the Netherlands, Norway, Swed en and Switzerland for their contributions.
11. The representative of the European Communities said that he found the report informative but
noted a quote attributed to Mr. Ricupero stating that a lot of promises had been made but that there
had not been much delivery on them.  Not only had the European Communities (EC) made promises,but they had also delivered for the LDCs.  The EC had delivered the "Everything But Arms"-initiative
(EBA).  A lot of money came from the EC and its Member States and he would therefore have
preferred that the quote from Mr. Ricupero had been left out.
12. The representative of Mexico said that the report was well-structured.  It was easy to read and
executive in its nature.  He congratulated the ITC for its work, despite problems with resources for
technical assistance.  The report clearly showed the success of ITC in the year 2000.  ITC should also
be congratulated for the programme which guaranteed women the opportunity to compete on the
international market.  He asked whether the annual meetings of the ITC could be held every other
year in the United Nations (U.N.) and every other year in WTO, to underline the joint character of the
ITC.
13. The representative of Egypt expressed his government's wish to have ITC documents
available in all six languages used in the U.N.  This would allow better assimilation of these
documents in his capital, help his government elaborate its' needs, and decide how to use available
programmes.  The question of the cost would be taken up later in the Budget Committee.  This would
also be one step towards WTO documents being available in all U.N. languages.WT/COMTD/M/34
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14. The representative of Cuba congratulated ITC on its efforts to promote exports from
developing countries.  Cuba supported Egypt's request for documents to be made available in other
languages to better disseminate information and obtain reactions from specialists in capitals.
15. The representative of Haiti thanked the Chairperson of the JAG for the report, which enabled
delegates to see the contribution of the ITC to the development of developing countries, especially the
LDCs over the year 2000.  Forty per cent of the activities of the ITC were dedicated to the LDCs.  The
Executive Director of the ITC had worked hard to integrate LDCs into the world economy.  He
highlighted that at least two developing countries had contributed to the Fund alongside developed
countries.  His delegation supported those who had expressed a desire to see documents translated
into other languages, even if there was a problem with its financing.
16. The representative of United States said that her delegation had appreciated the report of the
JAG and would continue to support the activities of the ITC when proposals were presented in the
Budget Committee.  The current year would hope fully bring progress towards supplementing the
resources.  She said that at the Geneva side, her delegation would try to get its capital to do even more
to assist the ITC because developing countries had benefitted from the very practical technical
assistance provided by ITC.  Her government wished to encourage the ITC because of its good results
in integration developing countries into the multilateral trading system.
17. The representative of Zambia recalled that the JAG meeting was one of the most successful
meetings in 2001 within the triangular relationship of WTO, UNCTAD and ITC and he fully endorsed
the report.  His government would have preferre d that the resources spent on the evaluation would
have been given to ITC to continue its good work.  He supported the expansion of the JITAP to other
African countries as recommended in last year's revi ew.  He also supported an increase in the regular
budget resources of the ITC.
18. The representative of Tunisia thanked ITC for the detailed report and for its efforts and
important activities.
19. The Chairperson of the JAG thanked delegations for their comments and constructive
remarks.  Regarding the remark that was made by the representative of the EC, she recalled that
Mr. Ricupero had tried to stress the need to avoid complacency.  A lot was being done, but
delegations could work together to do even more.
20. The Executive Director of the ITC said that he  appreciated the suggestions, including that the
JAG could be held in the WTO every two years.  He also appreciated the support of delegations.
21. The Committee took note of the report of the JAG.
D. NOTIFICATIONS UNDER THE ENABLING CLAUSE
(i) Generalized System of Preferences
- Notification by the United States (WT/COMTD/N/1/Add.3)
22. The Chairman said noted that under agenda Item D, the CTD had received a notification by
the United States (WT/COMTD/N/1/Add.3) concerning the trade provisions of the Africa Growth and
Opportunity Act (AGOA).
23. The representative of the United States said that the notification was made with respect to
new expanded Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) benefits for 1,835 tariff lines under theirWT/COMTD/M/34
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African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) which were effective from 21 December 2000.  The
particular tariff lines were selected after having received public comments from a number of
interested parties, including some of the AGOA beneficiaries.  A number of the AGOA beneficiaries
were LDCs, however, the AGOA was not limited to African LDCs.  Her delegation welcomed any
comments from the CTD.  If any beneficiary wished more information, she would be happy to takeback any questions.  A seminar had recently been  held to explain the AGOA, which was not limited to
tariff preferences notified.
24. The representative of Sri Lanka thanked the delegation of the US for the opportunity to
comment on the scheme.  She said that the CTD had not seen any analysis from UNCTAD or the
WTO Secretariats on the real implications of the new scheme.  Such an analysis was needed since her
country had certain difficulties about schemes which only favoured one category of countries.  The
GSP scheme was based on non-discrimination and non-reciprocity and she requested, the WTOSecretariat to carry out an analysis of the implications for developing countries of the different GSP
schemes introduced in the last five years.  She also requested more information on the countries
affected and the product coverage of the AGOA.
25. The representative of Cuba said that her delegation also appreciate an assessment of to what
extent the developing countries had been able to use different preference schemes.  The GSP was
important for the international community and the principles of non-discrimination, non-reciprocity
and the generalized nature should be evaluated.  The CTD was the ideal forum for such an evaluation.
26. The representative of Pakistan said that his delegation shared the views and concerns raised
by the representative of Sri Lanka regarding a study by the CTD of the effects of preferential schemes
on developing countries.  He also sought details on the rules of origin requirements applicable underthe AGOA.
27. The representative of Kenya thanked the U.S. delegation for notifying its GSP scheme which
liberalized access to a major market.  As for the comments from other delegations, he recalled the
experience with the waiver requested for the Cot onou Agreement in the Council for Trade in Goods.
28. The representative of India expressed his delegation's appreciation for the initiative of the
U.S. in extending market access to African countries.  Referring to a number of products covered by
the scheme, he noted that it went beyond the EBA-init iative of the EC in that it included revolvers and
pistols.  The GSP was supposed to be generalize d, non-reciprocal and non-discriminatory, and he was
not certain that the AGOA satisfied those provisions.  The information supplied in the CTD was only
the annex to an Act.  In order to verify if the scheme satisfied all the conditions for a GSP scheme, it
would be useful to have a copy of the Act itself.  That would be needed before the next discussion on
this important subject.  His delegations' concerns re lated only to being able to comment fully.  His
delegation welcomed the scheme and hoped that African countries would be able to draw maximum
benefits from it.
29. The representative of Mauritius thanked the U.S. delegation for the notification its benefits to
African countries.  He noted the positive attitude of the representative of India who had expressed his
appreciation of the gesture of the U.S. government.  Referring to the comments by the representativeof Kenya about the experience with the Cotonou Agreement, he hoped that procedural matters would
not become an imbroglio.  That the 52 countries of  Africa only had two per cent of world trade had to
be kept in mind.
30. The representative of Barbados welcomed the US notification.  Such an initiative should
assist developing countries in their development ef forts.  She looked forward to further information
from the US on other initiatives that might be elaborated in this area.WT/COMTD/M/34
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31. The representative of Zambia thanked the US for its notification and more importantly, for the
AGOA itself.  He had appreciated the AGOA seminar and would be indicating so directly to
Washington.  He understood that there was an in tention to review AGOA at some stage to take
account of some concerns, and he hoped that review would remove remaining trade barriers to make
the AGOA scheme ev en more beneficial.  As to the comments by other colleagues, he supported what
the representative of Kenya had said.  Like the representative of Mauritius, he hoped that procedural
issues would not be a deterrent to  the substance contained in the AGOA.
32. The representative of Haiti  said that he congratulated the Government of the US for having
taken the AGOA initiative in favour of African countries.  He hoped the US Government would soon
report on what they it was doing in the Caribbean.  He noted that the AGOA initiative would be
accompanied by technical assistance to help beneficiaries improve their supply capacity and thus
obtain the most from the scheme.
33. The representative of Tanzania said that his delegation supported the AGOA initiative.
34. The representative of Egypt said that as one of the few countries in Africa which would not
benefit from the AGOA, he still wished to welcome the gesture of the U.S. towards many African
countries, including all the LDCs in Africa.
35. The representative of Morocco said that he thanked the U.S. Government for the notification
and for the initiative.
36. The representative of Nigeria also said that he thanked the U.S. Government for the AGOA.
37. The representative of Sri Lanka asked the US delegation for a list of AGOA beneficiary
countries.
38. The representative of the United States said that she had appreciated the comments and
questions from delegations.  Additional information would be provided.  On the questions of rules of
origin, there was nothing new in the notification.  The US would provide a list of the beneficiaries for
the Secretariat to circulate.  The number of beneficiaries could hopefully be expanded.  The
discussion with respect to the notification for LDCs was similar to some of the discussions that took
place when the U.S. delegation had announced its textiles liberalization at the end of 1994, in that anumber of developing countries argued that the quota  system provided guaranteed market access since
they could not compete with larger developing countries in the textiles field.  It was interesting to see
that same dynamic in the request by the representative of Sri Lanka that the Secretariat conduct a
study of the effects of preference programmes on ot her developing countries.  Her delegation did not
yet have a position on whether to conduct such a study, and wished to know more about it.  The
Chairman might inquiry informally about how such a study would be conducted.  By the end of the
year the US Government would have provided up to nearly US$2 million to the WTO specifically forcapacity building efforts in Africa.  The U.S. Government was constantly sending teams of expert to
Africa to look at customs procedures and explain the implementation of the AGOA.  She could
provide a list of the number of teams sent to Africa to provide technical assistance, and she hoped that
the AGOA might become a model for the U.S. Government for other developing countries.  She
would convey Zambia's comment s on the AGOA seminar to  Washington, and thanked the Secretariat
for its help in conducting that seminar.  South-South preferences might be discussed in any informal
discussion concerning the study on the effects of preference programmes for certain developing
countries on other developing countries.
39. The Director of the Development Division thanked the representative of Sri Lanka for her
point about what we might conclude in a study of the GSP.  This needed further discussion, especiallyWT/COMTD/M/34
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in light of what Professor Bhagwati had called the Spaghetti Bowl of Preferences.  He would like to
come back to the GSP study issue under Item F.
40. The Committee took note of the notification and the comments made.
- Notification by Japan (WT/COMTD/N/2/Add.10)
41. The Chairman said the CTD also had a notification by Japan before it concerning the
extension of its GSP scheme until March 2011 (WT/COMTD/N/2/Add.10).  That notification had
been anticipated in a communication from the Government of Japan on the proposed reform
(WT/COMTD/29 and WT/LDC/SWG/IF/12 of 6 February 2001), but there had been no prior
discussion of it.
42. The representative of Japan said that he thought that some comments on the US notification
might also apply to the Japanese GSP scheme.  His Government believed that Japan's GSP had
contributed to promote exports as well as growth of export incomes in developing countries.  Thereseemed to be general consensus among the intern ational community that GSP schemes be maintained
and improved.  Market access for LDCs was an issue that should be addressed, as at the recent UN
Conference on LDCs in Brussels.  His government had decided to extend the effective period of its
GSP scheme by 10 years until 31 March 2011.  The new GSP scheme which had been implemented
since 1 April 2001 extended preferences for LDCs, making about 360 items duty-free.
43. The representative of Sri Lanka thanked the Japanese delegation for the notification.  She was
aware that the Japanese GSP scheme was governed by the Enabling Clause, which specially stated
that a reduction of duties could be undertaken by a particular country in favour of LDCs.  However,
the Enabling Clause also stated that the removal of non-tariff barriers should be undertaken in
consultation with other Members and Japan had not consulted other Members as they were obliged to.Her delegation was concern about that kind of development in the WTO.  She recognized the
concerns of LDCs, but there were certain countries which did not belong to the LDC category, which
still shared some of the criteria for special tr eatment.  She was aware that the Sub-Committee on
LDCs was discussing these issues in detail, but the CTD was the major body of the LDCs
Sub-Committee.  She therefore sought clarification from the Secretariat as to whether there was aprecedent where countries had modified or introduced GSP schemes had held consultations before
introducing the system.
44. The representative of Mauritius thanked the delegation of Japan for the notification and for its
commendable efforts in improving market access for developing countries.  The document would be
sent to his capital for examination.
45. The representative of Argentina said that he congratulated the Government of Japan for the
measures taken.  Nevertheless, at the right time, his delegation wished to come back to Annexes 2 and
3 of the document, on which he hoped to receive clarification from Japan.
46. The representative of Haiti said that he thanked the Government of Japan for giving special
attention to products coming from LDCs.
47. The representative of Zambia thanked the Government of Japan for the notification.
48. The Director of the Development Division, referring to the question by the representative of
Sri Lanka concerning the issue of quota removal and consultations on modifications of GSP schemes
under the Enabling Clause, said he would look into this and come back with an answer.
49. The representative of Japan thanked delegations for their comments on the notification.WT/COMTD/M/34
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50. The Committee took note of the notification and the comments made.
(ii) Any Other Notifications
51. The representative of Norway commended the governments of New Zealand, the U.S. and
Japan on recent modifications to their GSP schemes.  His Government had also decided to eliminate
all remaining tariffs on products from LDCs with effect from 1 July 2002 with no transitionarrangements for any product.  His delegation would notify the changes to the CTD in the near future.
52. The representative to the European Communities said that the EC also had made changes to
its GSP scheme although those were not yet officially notified.  The Political Declaration adopted at
the recently held Third UN Conference on the LDCs1, which took place in Brussels from 14-20 May
2001, contained the following paragraph dealing with trade:
" We believe  that increased trade is essential for the growth and development of
LDCs. A transparent, non-discriminatory and rules-based multilateral trading systemis essential for LDCs to reap the potential benefits of globalisation.  The accession of
LDCs to the WTO should be encouraged and facilitated.  We commit  ourselves to
seizing the opportunity of the fourth WTO Ministerial meeting in Doha in
November 2001, to advance the development dimension of trade, in particular for the
development of LDCs.  We aim at improving preferential market access for LDCs byworking towards the objective of duty-free and quota-free market access for all
LDCs´ products in the markets of developed countries.  Measures will also be taken
to address problems caused by supply-side constraints.  The crucial importance of
trade and economic growth must be reflected in poverty reduction strategies."
The Plan of Action
2 adopted at that same conference spelled out commitments in more detail,
covering market access, technical assistance, services, the accession of WTO and regional trade.  All
that documentation would be made available as an official contribution for WTO approval as soon as
possible.  The text just read out showed the momentum to get to a situation where essentially all
products were included in the scheme.  The result of the LDC Conference was in line with the
thinking which a number of delegations had developed in the CTD and also in the rest of the WTOlately.  His delegation intended to build on that.  Additional market access commitments would be
welcomed, not only from developed countries, but from all WTO Members.
53. The representative of Uruguay said that he shared the comments made by the representative
of the EC.  The Third Ministerial Conference on the LDCs had approved two important documents:
the first was a Political Declaration summarising actions in favour of the LDCs, and the second, a
Plan of Action for 2001-2010 which contained a commitment number 5 which dealt with trade andwhich had to be implemented by the LDCs as well as all those associated with their development.
Participants at the Conference had committed themselves to implement fully, on a priority basis,
special and differential (S&D) treatment for LDCs as it emerged from the results of the Uruguay
Round.  GSP schemes would continue to be improved in favour of the LDCs and technical assistance
would be provided for the implementation of multilateral agreements.  There was also a specificchapter on accessions to the WTO, which referred to the facilitation of the process for the
least-developed countries.  In addition, there were chapters on commodities, regional agreements, etc.,
but he wished to dwell on the chapter on market access, where the commitment was to increase and
improve access to markets for LDCs, making certain that all the products exported by LDCs entered
the markets of the developed countries duty- and quota-free.  The primary responsibility was thus ondeveloped countries to improve the access to their markets for products coming from LDCs.  The
                                                     
1 WT/COMTD/31.
2 WT/COMTD/32.WT/COMTD/M/34
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developing countries also had an important part to play, by being required to study, on a voluntary
basis the possibilities of enhancing market access for the LDCs, as covered by the political part of the
Brussels Declaration.  The action plan was realistic and a good basis for inverting the negative
tendencies in international trade but required political will on the part of both the developed countries
and developing countries.
54. The representative of Egypt thanked the European Union and its Parliament for their efforts in
hosting the LDC Conference.  He also thanked UNCTAD for the excellent preparation which had
ensured the success of the Conference.  The Conference was not an end itself, but the start of the
process which should lead to many initiatives in favour of the least-developed countries.  He was
pleased to hear about the initiative announced by the representative of Norway.  The Government of
Norway had also played a crucial role in the concluding of the trade chapter and Plan of Action.
Trade had figured prominently on the agenda of the Conference.  There had been a thematic sessionon trade, there was a chapter on trade in the Plan of Action and a paragraph in the political
declaration.  The Declaration contained a political commitment by all countries having participated in
the Conference to emphasize the development's di mension of trade in favour of the LDCs.  The
Fourth WTO Ministerial Conference in Doha would be an additional opportunity to show how the
trade dimension could be reinforced for the LDCs.  The LDC Conference had not been an end, but thestart of a process, with the forthcoming WTO Ministerial Conference as its next stage.
55. The representative of Korea said he thanked the EC for having hosted the UN Conference on
LDCs.  Regarding the trade paragraph, he drew attention to the fact that a few delegations had some
reservations on the specific language, which indicated that they agreed to the consensus, but that they
had reservations about the text of the trade paragraph.
56. The representative of Haiti thanked and congratulated the European Union for holding the
Conference.  However, it was from implementati on that LDCs would draw the maximum benefit from
the Conference.  Importance had to be given to the reinforcement of the production capacity of the
LDCs in order for them to benefit from improved market access.  The Conference had seen a useful
report on the reinforcement of the Integrated Framework.  The question of how to facilitate accessionto the WTO for the LDCs had also been taken up.  At the Doha Ministerial Conference, there should
be agreement on assistance for development and trade, in particular for the LDCs.  What remained
was to implement the promises made during the LDC conference.
57. The representative of Cuba said that her delegation had appreciated the information on the
results of the Third Conference on LDCs recently held in Brussels.  It was important to implement the
decisions taken.  Special efforts on the part of the world community, in particular by the developed
countries, were needed to improve the economic situation of the LDCs.  Both the Political Declarationand the Plan of Action should serve as guides to be translated into practice at the WTO.
58. The representative of Japan, referring to the LDC Conference, said that his government was
fully ready to cooperate with the LDCs.  However, like the representative of Korea, he wished to
mention that it had some reservations on the trade aspects.
59. The representative of Mauritius congratulated Norway on the announcement of their initiative
in favour of LDCs, the implementation of which would start next year.  He also congratulated the
European Union and its Parliament for the initiatives and all the efforts made to hold the conference.
He hoped that the results would be something tangible for the LDCs.
60. The representative of Zambia thanked the governments of the US, Japan, Norway and the EC
for their initiatives in favour of the LDCs.  He hoped others would follow the good examples.  It was
important to make market access predictable and for LDCs to use this market access and less stringent
rules of origin to attract foreign investment.  That might have been what Mr. Ricupero had referred toWT/COMTD/M/34
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in the JAG Report.  Blending market access, harmonization of rules of origin and less stringent
standards would be one important part of the developmental dimension mentioned at the Third UN
Conference on the LDCs.  The Political Declaration urged the development partners to take the
necessary political action.
61. The representative of Tanzania expressed his appreciation to the EC for hosting the Third UN
Conference on the LDCs and all the Member States who participated in that Conference.  He also
thanked all the countries which had made commitments to open their markets under the Enabling
Clause.  His delegation now looked for tangible results from these initiatives.
62. The representative of the United States thanked the EC for the arrangements.  During the
Conference, the Government of the US had announced  its contribution to the Integrated Framework
Trust Fund, and would do so again at the next meeting of the Sub-Committee on Least-Developed
Countries.  The US Government had contributed US$200,000 to the Trust Fund, and was continuingits bilateral efforts to help increase the number of LDCs to benefit from the pilot scheme.  Her
Government was contributing US$500,000 to two LDCs in the queue.
63. The representative of India said that he sought clarification from the representative of Norway
on whether their GSP scheme would become effective from 1 July 2002 or whether there were any
transition periods.  Secondly, the representative of the EC had said that he hoped that, apart fromdeveloped countries, developing countries would also extend market access for LDCs.  In that respect,
it should be noted that, in terms of imports from LDCs as a percentage of total imports, Thailand and
India were the top two counties.
64. The representative of Madagascar thanked the countries announcing measures in favour of the
LDCs.  He hoped that the commitments accepted in Brussels would be followed up by measures
which would help the LDCs emerge from their marginalization.
65. The representative of Norway explained that the Norwegian scheme would be effective from
1 July 2002, with no transitional arrangements from that date.
66. The representative of Morocco said that pursuant to the decisions taken in Cairo on
1 January 2001, the Government of Morocco had exonerated from import duties the main products
from LDCs in Africa.  Details could be f ound in document, WT/LDC/SWG/IF/18 of 9 May 2001.
His delegation would come back to that document at the meeting of the Sub-Committee on
Least-Developed Countries.
67. The representative of Zambia thanked the Government of Morocco for the good gesture.
68. The Committee took note of the statements made.
E. FINANCING FOR DEVELOPMENT - WTO M EMBERS ' CONTRIBUTION TO INTERNATIONAL
CONFERENCE ON FINANCING FOR DEVELOPMENT  (WT/COMTD/30)
69. The Chairman said that the International Conference on Financing for Development was
scheduled for March 2002.  Following extensive formal and informal consultations, it had been
possible to accept the text contained in document WT/COMTD/30.  He expressed his appreciation for
the cooperation of Members and for the hard work put in right up to the final hours before the NewYork meeting to arrive at an acceptable document.  He reminded Members that the text was in the
form of a political statement, and did not constitute a binding legal commitment on Members.
However, since the document was accepted by correspondence, it was fair to allow an opportunity for
comments in the CTD for the record.  The Members' contribution was taken to the PreparatoryWT/COMTD/M/34
Page 11
Committee for the meeting in New York on 2-8 May by Mr. Tulloch, Director, Development
Division.
70. The Director, Development Division, said that  he had been present at the Preparatory
Committee (PrepCom) meeting on 3 and 4 May.  The main discussion on trade issues was held on
Friday, 4 May, but he had been invited to spea k on 3 May to present the WTO Members' input.  He
was also asked to speak on institutional aspects of "coherence" and the WTO's relationship with the
UN system.  Copies of these two statements were made available, as well as the summary from the
UN website of the state of play in the Financing for Development process.
71. The main substantive decision of the PrepCom was that the International Conference on
Financing for Development would take place in Monterrey in Mexico on 18-22 March 2002.  The
meeting would have three segments:  (i) a High-Level Official meeting;  (ii) a Ministerial meeting
where the Governments would be invited to send what was described as fully integrated delegationswith representatives from all relevant national ministries; and, (iii) a summit meeting.  All this
information could be found on the UN website (http://www.un.org/esa/ffd).  The members of the
PrepCom very much welcomed the fact that WTO Members had been able to agree on a common
statement, and they welcomed the fact that the statement had been delivered to the meeting.
72. The main discussion at the meeting had been on  a paper presented by the Facilitator, Mr.
Mauricio Escanero of Mexico, focussing on five cross-cutting issues.  The first was global coherence
in support financing for development, where the paper saw the challenge as how to embrace the
coherence and consistency of the international monetary, financial, and trading systems in support of
development.  Second, on participation and ownership, the paper stated that enhancing was an
important step to achieve the effective participation of the developing countries in relevantinternational decision-making on norm-setting as well as policy implementation.  The paper
emphasized the need to ensure responsiveness to the requirements of developing countries, and, in
particular, the special needs of Africa, the least-developed countries, small and developing states,
land-locked and transit developing countries, as well as countries with economies in transition.  These
have special difficulties in attracting finance for development.  Lastly, they were promotingpublic/private partnerships in supporting  the financing for development.
73. In respect of trade, the paper posed eight sets of questions:  (i) how to support the
enhancement of the development dimension of multila teral trade agreements;  (ii) how to deepen the
political momentum towards ensuring full market access of LDCs' exports to the markets
industrialized countries;  (iii) how best to enhance the contribution of regional and sub-regional
cooperation and integration as building blocks to global trade and development;  (iv) how to
strengthen the contribution of the World Bank, go vernments, donors and other financial development
institutions in support of diversified export capacity;  (v) how to strengthen the existing international
mechanism for compensatory balance-of-payments support in times of price shocks;  (vi) how
relevant international organizations could support developing countries by providing access to risk
management instruments to cope with a persistent terms of trade decline and commodity prices
instability;  (vii) how international organizations could contribute to improve market access for thedeveloping countries;  and, (viii) what steps should be taken on a priority basis to match the
requirements of technical and financial assistance for capacity building, including areas such as trade
negotiations and dispute settlement, as well as, supporting implementation and how to support the
Integrated Framework for LDCs and build that experience for enhancing the coherence of trade
capacity building for other developing overlapping countries.
74. The meeting recognized that there were two ov erlapping processes in the preparation of the
WTO Ministerial Conference and the Preparatory Process for the FFD Conference.  Great emphasis
was put by all speakers, and, in particular the Group of 77, on trade as the most important element in
external financing for development.  It was univers ally recognised that the most important thing forWT/COMTD/M/34
Page 12
the trading system as a whole was that there should be a successful outcome at Doha, and the WTO
must therefore concentrate on the successful preparation of the Doha meeting.
75. The next meeting of the Preparatory Committee was scheduled for 15-19 October.  For that
meeting, the Facilitator would present a "first draft" of a "final outcome" for consideration by
members of the PrepCom; that paper should be available by the end of September.  The Bureau of theFinancing for Development Conference was very much concerned that the WTO should remain
engaged in the PrepCom process.  In parallel to the PrepCom, a high level panel appointed by the UN
Secretary-General and headed by former President Zedillo of Mexico was preparing a report which
was scheduled to be available by the end of May.  This would also be posted on the FFD website
when it became available.  Finally, he emphasized that the day before the Preparatory Committee
meeting started, the annual high level exchange of views between the international financial
institutions and ECOSOC had been held and it had been strongly suggested that the WTO be involved
in the corresponding event in 2002.
76. The Chairman noted the importance attached by the UN PrepCom for the International
Conference on Financing for Development to the need for enhanced engagement by the WTO.
77. The representative of Turkey expressed his appreciation to the Chair, as well as the
Secretariat and the Committee, for the great efforts which enabled the CTD to deliver the contribution
of the WTO to the UN PrepCom for the Conference on Financing for Development.  It had not been
easy to conclude a consensus text containing different varieties of issues which were important for all.
Indeed, his delegation was still not happy with the language used in one sentence in paragraph 11
which stated that "… many Members consider that reduction of high tariffs, tariff peaks and tariff
escalation would benefit a number of areas of export interest to developing countries, including, forexample, in textiles and clothing, where in addition the main liberalisation agreed in the Uruguay
Round has yet to take place."  His delegation was certainly not one of the Members mentioned in that
sentence, but had an opposite view on the matter.  However, his delegation had not wanted to insist on
a position which would have prolonged the debate unnecessarily and had remained silent during the
discussions.  He appreciated the opportunity to express his delegation's concern on that subject whichwould also be discussed in the preparation for the Ministerial.
78. The representative of Saint Lucia said that her delegation was interested in the Conference on
Financing for Development and was glad that the WTO had been able to make a contribution,
although her delegation would preferred a more ambitious statement, reflecting her government's
particular concerns.  However, she understood that it was a political statement which had been well
received in New York.  She asked for Mr. Tulloch's statement to be distributed.
79. The representative of Cuba said that her delegation did not agree with the contribution in
document WT/COMTD/30.  She said she wished to state the disappointment of the Cuban authorities
concerning the content of the document.  The WTO contribution should have been more substantive,
reflecting the real issues which developing countries face in international trade.  The document should
not have been limited to identifying the problems being faced at present, but should have defined the
means to reverse the existing situation.  The report should have been more critical as regards the roledeveloped countries could and should play in supporting development.  The solutions proposed,
which imposed obligations on developing countries to create internal resources, did not take into
account the situation which developing countries faced, nor the diversity of these problems.  Her
delegation did not believe that there was a direct or automatic relationship between trade liberalization
at the international level and the promotion of economic growth.  She reserved her delegation's rightin forthcoming meetings and at the Conference on Financing for Development to set out her
Government's views with regard to what should have been part of the WTO's contribution.WT/COMTD/M/34
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80. The representative of European Communities thanked those delegations which had made an
effort to let the text go forward and had limited them selves to placing their views on the record of the
CTD.  That was a welcome approach.  However, his delegation still believed that the document –
although not perfect – was a useful contribution to the discussions, and he was pleased to be able to
provide a collective input to the Conference, while recognizing that not every word was acceptable foreverybody.  He asked what the next stages of the process were.
81. The Chairman expressed his appreciation to Members who had cooperated in the finalization
of the text.  The work of the Preparatory Committee would continue through to the Conference, and
the CTD might wish to revert to the matter later in the year.  He asked the Secretariat to keep the CTD
informed about any developments and it was open to any Member to raise the matter further at any
future meeting.  The next meeting of the Preparatory Committee was scheduled for
15-19 October 2001.
82. The Director, Development Division thanked all the delegations which had spoken and for the
understanding that allowed the text to go forward.  On the question about the next stages, the
PrepCom Bureau was very keen to keep the WTO in volved and recognized that there was a kind of
overlapping process with the preparation of Doha, as the WTO priority.  At the same time, their views
were focused on March 2002.  The next stage would be in September when the facilitator was topresent his first draft of what may be called a "draft outcome" and he would ensure that that document
was circulated to Members.
F. S
PECIAL AND DIFFERENTIAL TREATMENT :  I MPLEMENTATION AND PROPOSALS
(WT/COMTD/W/85)
83. The Chairman said that for Agenda Item F, a document entitled "Special And Differential
Treatment: Implementation and Proposals" (WT/COMTD/W/85) had been prepared by the
Secretariat.  The discussion in the CTD was not intended to duplicate the implementation-related
work going on in the General Council.  Nevertheless, the Secretariat paper contained interesting
material which the CTD could discuss as an input to Members' thinking in the wider context of thefuture of S&D provisions in the WTO Agreements.
84. The Director, Development Division, said he had two matters to raise:  first, the Secretariat
paper, WT/COMTD/W/85, and, second, the work which had been requested on the GSP.
Document WT/COMTD/W/85 was the most recent in a series of documents reflecting the state of
discussions on S&D treatment.  The document followed the same pattern used in the previous
document (WT/COMTD/W/77) and contained two main elements.  First, it updated information
which had been provided in WT/COMTD/W/77 on the implementation of S&D provisions, coveringdevelopments through the Autumn 2000 and Spring 2001 in the following Agreements,
Understandings, and Decisions:  the Understanding on Balance-of-Payments Provisions, the
Agreement on Agriculture, the Decision Concerning the Possible Negative Effects of the Reform
Programme on Least-Developed and Net-Food Impor ting Developing Countries, the SPS Agreement,
the TBT Agreement, the Anti-Dumping Agreement,  the Subsidies Agreement, the GATS (references
had been made to the guidelines and procedures established by the GATS Council in
document S/L/93), the TRIPS Agreement, and the Decision on Measures in Favour of
Least-Developed Countries.  Second, Section III of the document referred specifically to written
proposals related to S&D treatment which were made by Members in the negotiations on agriculture
in a recent special session of the Committee on Agriculture and statements made at that meeting.  Thepaper gave a clear and graphic view of developmen ts in the discussion on S&D treatment, which was
engaged in relation to all agreements and Ministerial decisions.  The objective of the paper was also to
provide useful background information for Members' discussions on the future development of S&D.WT/COMTD/M/34
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The Committee should certainly not pre-empt the work of the General Council, it should rather feed
into the discussions under the oversight of the General Council.
85. The Chairman said that the task before the CTD on S&D treatment reflected one of the core
functions of the CTD, namely to keep under review the different provisions in WTO Agreements
which pertained to developing countries.  The discussions in the CTD and those which had takenplace elsewhere showed that there was a considerable body of opinion among Members pointing to
the need to rethink and fine-tune the concept of S&D treatment to make it more responsive to the
specific constraints faced by developing countries in their integration into the multilateral trading
system and the implementation of trade policy reform.  The CTD's discussions of
document WT/COMTD/W/85 and its predecessor could be a useful platform to support Member's
efforts in collectively thinking about the concept of S&D treatment.
86. The representative of Pakistan said that the compilation indicated the various provisions
relating to S&D treatment in various agreements in a synoptic manner, and also provided an overview
of what had been done on S&D provisions.  Referrin g to Section J dealing with Services, he asked the
Secretariat to clarify or elaborate on the comments made in relation to Article IV:I of the GATS.  The
comments stated that "The requirements of the provisions of this article are reflected in S/L/93
"Guidelines and Procedures for the Negotiations on Trade in Services" as adopted by the Council forTrade in Services on 28 March 2001.  He asked what the correlation was between the provisions and
the comments.
87. The representative of Paraguay also referred to Section J on Services and asked the
Secretariat if it would be possible to indicate in the comments the paragraph of the guidelines to
which it was referring.  On Section 3 of the document, there had been proposals from Members at theSpecial Session on Agriculture.  However, in the negotiations on Services, there had also been
proposals on S&D treatment for developing countries – perhaps not many, but they did exist and the
proposals presented by Norway should help the LDCs.  It would be useful to have a similar section
describing the proposals on S&D in the Services negotiations.
88. The representative of the European Communities said that as pointed out, there was an
implementation debate where some of these proposals were being raised as well as a general debate
on S&D.  It would be useful to pause and reflect on what could usefully be done.  He asked whether
WT/COMTD/W/85 was just a reference document that should be brought to the next discussion in the
General Council, or whether it should be furthered in the CTD.  His delegation had an open mind in
that respect.  The discussion on S&D could take place in the General Council as well as in the CTD.
His delegation wished to take part in such a discussion and would attempt to be as helpful as possible.
89. The representative of Venezuela said that he believed that S&D treatment should be
something above and beyond transition periods that would enable developing countries to implement
pro-active development policies and foster their growth.  It was desirable to re-examine the Services
section of the document.  He asked why there was no mention of concerns raised about the necessity
of technical cooperation under the TRIPS Agreement (Section K, paragraph 67).
90. The representative of India said that he hoped that document WT/COMTD/W/85 would be
useful for developing country delegations in the discussions on S&D issues in other WTO bodies.
The S&D provisions in the various WTO Agreements and Decisions were useful tools in dealing with
countries at different levels of development, helping developing countries to gain maximum benefits
from the multilateral trading system.
91. The representative of Pakistan said that he was prompted by the intervention of the
representative of the EC to ask about the purpose of the document and asked whether it was just a
reference paper.  In various fora, such as the General Council, the CTD and at other meetings, theWT/COMTD/M/34
Page 15
non-operationalization of S&D treatment had been mentioned as a major problem for the developing
countries.  His delegation looked forward to using the document as a good source of information for
Members, especially developing countries and LDCs, as to what measures had been taken by
developed country Members for the operationalization of S&D provisions in the various WTO
agreements.
92. The representative of Morocco said that he was of the view that the implementation of S&D
treatment had not been sufficient to balance the rights and obligations of each Member.  S&D
treatment had not spared the economies of LDCs from marginalization.  Furthermore, although S&D
was an indispensable tool, it had to go far enough for people to see their commitments fulfilled.
While S&D continued to foster international development and cooperation, it should be more
pragmatic in addressing the difficulties encountered by developing countries in the implementation of
commitments.
93. The representative of Canada said that a few weeks prior to the CTD meeting, there had been
an informal Special Session of the General Council on S&D treatment, and about 18 delegations had
noted that nothing had been done on S&D treatment.  So she had now re-read
document WT/COMTD/W/77 in depth and tried to un derstand what had been proposed and what had
been done.  She said that she had been struck by how much had been done and the fact that theopportunities in the S&D treatment provisions had not been fully used.  That paper could be an
information piece which would assist delegations understand what was available, to formulate
requests and thus to take full advantage of the S&D provisions.
94. The representative of Uruguay asked the Secretariat how provisions relating to transfer of
technology were treated in the document.  Recently, there had been a seminar at the WTO in
collaboration with UNCTAD and other organizations, on the transfer of technology.  One of the
conclusions was that provisions of technology in  the WTO Agreement had not yet been implemented.
The document on S&D treatment showed that technology transfer existed in one or other of the six
categories on S&D.  In the Services Agreement, under paragraph 1 of Article 4, there was a reference
to the need to strengthen national capacity in Services, which could be achieved through access totechnology.  However, the Secretariat had included that in the category "provisions aimed at
increasing the trade opportunities of developing country Members".  Article 66.2 of the TRIPS
Agreement also stated that developed countries should transfer technology to the LDCs and the
Secretariat had included that article on the transfer of technology among the provisions related to
LDCs.  Provisions related to the transfer of technology thus appeared in various categories.  He asked
whether if would not be wise to create a new category on technology transfer, as it deserved, given its
importance.  However, other delegations might prefer to keep the six existing categories.
95. The representative of Malaysia said that document WT/COMTD/W/85 would be useful for
work at a later stage on S&D, including for possible future negotiations.  His delegation proposed that
the document be updated from time to time to allow for monitoring of progress in the application of
S&D provisions.
96. The representative of Mexico asked whether some Articles had been forgotten.  For example,
Article XVIII had provisions for S&D, but they  had not been included, neither was the Enabling
Clause.  The order of presentation could be clearer if divided into goods, services, intellectual
property and so on.
97. The representative of Paraguay said that he suppored the suggestion made by the
representative of Mexico.  The document could be enriched and the Secretariat could draw up a
document reflecting more of the provisions and rules under the WTO Agreements with regard to S&D
treatment.WT/COMTD/M/34
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98. The representative of Cuba said that the document constituted a good source of information
for developing countries to identify and to develop measures in order to improve the implementation
of S&D treatment.  Her delegation supported the pr oposal made by the representative of Uruguay
with regard to giving special attention to a category on technology transfer.
99. The Director, Development Division thanked delegations for all the comments.  It was
important to be clear that the document WT/C OMTD/W/85 was not an attempt to repeat the
information in WT/COMTD/W/77 which listed the complete range of 145 provisions of S&D
treatment contained in the WTO Agreements.  The current document only showed where there the
S&D provisions with respect to which there had been proposals or action taken.  If there were no new
developments since the previous document, the provision had not been included.  For example, in
textiles, there had been no new work and no new proposals made so the S&D provisions with respect
to textiles were not covered.  That approach should perhaps have stated more clearly.  The Secretariatwould look at the services section again to try to be more helpful to the delegations in linking precise
used had originally been set up for the High Level Symposium on Trade and Development in 1999.
Provisions on transfer of technology would, generally, fall under one of the categories of S&D, most
likely under the "provisions aimed at increasing tr ade opportunities for developing country Members".
The treatment of LDCs was cross-cutting because all fields had provisions specifically related toLDCs.  However, the Secretariat could do some work in that area.  The representative of India had
asked to keep the issue open.  However, it was diff icult to produce updates for every meeting of the
Committee but the Secretariat would see what could be done.  With respect to the point made in the
second intervention by the representative of Pakistan, he said that the only objective of the document
had been to provide information on what measures had been taken to operationalize S&D treatmentprovisions.  If the document could make a positive contribution to the debate in the CTD or the
General Council, then that was valuable.  He took note of the point by the representative of Canada
that the document could also show what S&D provisions had not been implemented and what S&D
provisions had not been used.
100. The representative of Pakistan thanked Mr. Tulloch for the clarification.  With respect to the
services issue, he appreciated that a new version of the document would show the various paragraphs
of the negotiating guidelines corresponding to the comments.  He asked if it would be possible to
show, alongside the provisions of negotiating guidelines, what measures had been taken to
operationalize S&D provisions, especially in services.
101. The representative of Uruguay asked the Secretariat again about the difficulties in creating a
new category of S&D treatment, which referred spec ifically to the subject of transfer of technology.
In the view of his delegation, having a specific ca tegory on transfer of technology would have two
advantages.  First, there would be a single set of provisions in the WTO on the transfer of technology.
Second, if the transfer of technology was a separate category, it would be possible in the S&D
document to include those provisions with a column on observations, from which it would be possible
to see the degree of implementation of those provisions.
102. The representative of Paraguay asked whether there had been anything new in any report of a
panel or from the Appellate Body on the implementation of the S&D measures for developing
countries or for LDCs.
103. The representative of India said that he thought that it would be useful if the present
document was integrated into WT/COMTD/W/77, and that that basic document be issued on an
annual basis, with updates as and when required.
104. The Director, Development Division thanked delegations which had responded to his initial
comments and said that he would see what could be  done.  On dispute settlement, the Secretariat had
carefully checked with the Legal Affairs Division and the Appellate Body, and the document hadWT/COMTD/M/34
Page 17
been compiled on the basis of information received, but he would re-check that point.  In terms of
transfer of technology, he would take proposal by the representative of Uruguay into consideration
and see what could be done.  He noted the point made by the representative of India about making
annual comprehensive compilations rather than just updates.
105. The Chairman said that S&D was an issue to wh ich the CTD would revert in the future as the
question of the application of S&D treatment was an ongoing matter of particular concern to the
Committee.  He then asked the Director, Developm ent Division to introduce the question of a study of
the GSP.
106. The Director, Development Division recalled that at the previous CTD, in the context of the
S&D debate, the representative of the United States and one or two other delegations had asked the
Secretariat to include work on GSP schemes in relation to S&D.  He said that GSP was a big topic and
the Secretariat had work in progress but was not yet in a position to present it to the CTD.  It  hoped todo so at the October meeting of the CTD.  The work would contain a descriptive and a quantitative
part.  If possible, all GSP schemes would be covered.  One problem was that GSP schemes were
unilateral; there were up-to-date notifications on some GSP schemes, but not necessarily all.  He
appealed to Members to make sure that the Secretariat had the most up-to-date information on GSP
schemes to permit a good job.  In the absence of statistical information, in particular, at the tariff linelevel, the Secretariat had been trying to use information from the Integrated Data Base.  Ms. Jackson,
Director, Statistics Division would talk about the issue of statistics relating to GSP.
107. The Director, Statistics Division, said that her Division had been actively supporting the
Development Division in its work on GSP schemes since early April.  The data elements required
were as follows:  MFN applied duties and preferential duties at the tariff line level;  Import values bypartner country at the tariff line level;  and for each member implementing preferential schemes,
identification of the beneficiaries.  The primary source for the information required for this exercise
was the WTO Integrated Data Base (IDB), built from the official submissions of WTO Members.
The mandatory IDB information requirements included MFN current bound duties, MFN current
applied duties, and imports by country of origin, value and quantity – all at the tariff line level.Additional information, including information on preferential duties, was not mandatory, but was
submitted by some Members on a voluntary basis.  The current reference years of the IDB are
1996-2001 for tariffs and 1996-1999 for imports.  If all the data were available, it would have been a
relatively straightforward task for the IDB statisticians and programmers to compile the required
information using the standard software applications with some modifications.  However, some of the
information needed for this study was not contained in the IDB.  For example, the preferential duties
of a number of significant traders, in particular the EC were missing.  In addition, the IDBinformation was not up-to-date for all the Members concerned.  In order to overcome data availability
problems, the Secretariat was looking into the po ssibility of complementing IDB information with
data from other sources, such as the TPR Di vision and the UNCTAD "TRAINS" database.  The
United Nations Statistical Division's COMTRADE database could also be used for import
information, although it did not go beyond the 6-digit level.  However, merging IDB and non-IDBdata was not, based on recent experience, the optimum solution, essentially because differences in
format created additional processing burdens and were also a potential source of errors.  In addition,
the tariff level on which the information was reported in other sources could differ from the level at
which the data were reported to the IDB.  Therefore, in order to use such external data, the Secretariat
could be obliged to perform some additional calculations on the files used for the analyses (averages,grouping of trade, etc.).  The best solution would therefore be for the Members concerned to supply
the missing information.  In this respect, the EC  had already been requested to investigate the
possibility of supplying preferential information to the Secretariat in the context of the current
Multilateral Appraisal of the IDB process being undertaken by the Committee on Market Access.  The
Statistics Division would be available to dialogue with delegations in this respect.  Despite thelimitations on data availability, the work was proceeding.  The software applications needed toWT/COMTD/M/34
Page 18
perform the necessary calculations had been developed using the information of two IDB reporters
(Japan and the US), and the results were being extensively verified.  After testing, the IDB could then
be used to perform similar calculations for Australia, Canada and New Zealand.  However, for the
EC, the Republic of Korea and Norway, preferential duties would need to be integrated into the
working data set using non-IDB sources.  These applications could only operate on duties withad valorem  rates or ad valorem  equivalents;  specific duties could not be used because developing the
complex software needed to convert specific duties into ad valorem  equivalents was beyond the
resources of the Secretariat, and, in any case, not all specific duties could be converted with the
existing information in the IDB.  Given the current resource constraints, the demanding computer
application work necessary, and the sheer volume of information that needed to be analysed and
presented properly, a realistic time-frame for presentation of the results to the Committee would not
be before its next meeting in October.
108. The representative of Sri Lanka, referring to  her earlier intervention, proposed the following
issues for inclusion into a WTO study of the effects of the GSP schemes on the developing countries:
total GSP products coverage for LDCs and non-LDCs;  the average tariff level of GSP rates for LDCs
and non-LDCs;  the total trade under GSP of LDCs a nd non-LDCs;  the impact of the erosion of GSP
rates on non-LDCs;  the impact of new rules of origin on LDCs and non-LDCs;  and, finally, the
possible trade effects resulting from unilateral preferential tariff concessions on trade flows from other
developing countries.  Referring to some of the problems for the study, she recalled an earlier
Secretariat paper on how to convert specific duties to ad valorem  duties.  It would be necessary to
take account of tariff quotas because a lot of GSP are preferential tariff quotas.  She also noted the
importance of non-tariff barriers.
109. The representative of India requested that the statement made by the Secretariat be circulated.
110. The representative of the European Communitie s, while thanking the representative of Sri
Lanka for the details on her proposal, said it could lead to an impossible task.  On the other hand, the
EC agreed that all concerns had to be adequately addressed, including the possible question of the
impact of GSP schemes.  He therefore asked the representative of Sri Lanka to put her points onpaper.  He could already signal that his delegation had a slight problem with the fact that the proposal
seemed to be all about the possible impact on other developing countries and not about why GSP was
granted in the first place, namely to give preferences to developing countries, which was an accepted
part of the WTO system.  It was therefore necessary to reflect on how to present anything like that in a
balanced fashion.  There also seemed to be some technical questions for the Secretariat.  There was
scope for informal discussions about what was feasible and what was acceptable to the Membership.
111. The representative of the United States also thanked the representative of Sri Lanka for
providing some details about the request that she had made earlier.  She thought it would still be
useful for the Chairman to enquire further informally about the substance of a study before the
Secretariat proceeded to prepare a study of this kind.  She shared the views of the representative of the
European Communities and wished to have some time to think it over.
112. The representative of Norway said that his delegation had commissioned an independent
study on the effects of market access for LDCs.  However, that did not cover exactly the same
perspective.  What had been seen so far unfortunately was that the changes in trade flows would be
rather small.  His government's interpretation was that market access for LDCs was important, but
that other conditions had to be met as well.
113. The Chairman said that the CTD would come back to the question of GSP on which an
analysis was being undertaken by the Secretariat at the request of Members when the results of that
work was available.  As to the specific request of  Sri Lanka, he would consult informally with the
Secretariat and Members, if it was thought useful.  In the meantime, he proposed that the CommitteeWT/COMTD/M/34
Page 19
took note of the current work on the Secretariat document and agreed to revert to the item at its next
meeting.
114. It was so agreed.
G. ELECTRONIC COMMERCE
(i) Follow-Up to the General Council Discussion
115. The Chairman said that, following the substantial discussion on electronic commerce in the
General Council on 8 May 2001, the four subsidiary bodies which also dealt with the issue of
electronic commerce had been invited to continue their work and report back to the General Council.
The Committee on Trade and Development was one of these subsidiary bodies.  He understood that
Members attached importance to the issue of electronic commerce and development, and he sought
Members views on how to deal with the issue of electronic commerce in the Committee on Trade andDevelopment.  An illustrative list of points for which further study was proposed in the CTD had been
circulated on 1 November 2000 as an Annex to do cument WT/COMTD/26.  That list contained a
large range of issues identified for possible future work in the Committee on Trade and Development.
In order for any in-depth work to be carried out in  the CTD, it would be necessary to identify specific
aspects which Members considered to be of priority importance.  Once the Committee had narrowedthe list of issues, it would also have to decide on how to deal with them.  In addition to the illustrative
list, aspects to electronic commerce and development had been mentioned during the General Council
meeting of 8 May 2001 when several delegations identified a range of development issues as being
horizontal in nature.  The issues identified at the General Council included:  participation of
developing countries in e-commerce;  technical assistance;  capacity-building;  access to infrastructureand technology;  promoting the use of information technology;  transfer of technology;  access to
developed countries' markets for developing countries' producers and suppliers;  and how to ensure
that e-commerce benefits developed and developing countries equally.  The Chairman reminded
delegations that the 2001 Work Programme for the Committee on Trade and Development already
contained a seminar on electronic commerce.  The date for this seminar had been set for 14 June, justbefore the mid-June General Council discussion dedicated to horizontal issues of electronic
commerce.  The theme of the CTD seminar would be "Government Facilitation of E-commerce for
Development".  Four sessions were envisaged on:  Regulation and Deregulation;  Promotion of
Modern Information and Communication Technologies;  Education and Information;  and
Government Coordination/Task-force on Electronic Commerce.  The idea was to have a lead speaker
from a developing country government for each session, with a respondent from a developed country
government and possibly representatives of other international organizations and the private sector.These speakers would share their experiences, and there would be time for discussion.
116. The representative of Uruguay wished to recall in the CTD the statement that MERCOSUR
had made with regard to e-commerce in the Gene ral Council of 8 May.  MERCOSUR delegations had
presented a document (WT/GC/W/434) which stated  that MERCOSUR had participated and would
continue to participate actively in the WTO Work Programme on Electronic Commerce.  Thedocument intended to contribute to the work programme and foster a debate between Members.
MERCOSUR delegations hoped to contribute to the development of a methodology, which would
enable Members to reinvigorate the work programme, looking both at sectorial issues which were
under study in the different subsidiary bodies, and, at horizontal or cross-cutting issues.  MERCOSUR
delegations had identified three sectorial issues whic h they wished to highlight in the CTD.  The first
was the need to perfect human resources in e-commerce;  the second was infrastructure;  and the third
was how businesses could compete in e-commerce in developing countries.  There were also three
cross-cutting issues:  the classification of the content of some electronic transmissions;  the
relationship between traditional means of trade and e-commerce;  and questions related toWT/COMTD/M/34
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development, including among others technical assist ance.  The identification of these issues in the
MERCOSUR document did not prejudge the conclusion which might come out of an analysis carried
out by the Members.  Rather, the document aimed at highlighting the close relationship between the
different issues.  As MERCOSUR delegations had stated in the General Council, special attention
should be given to development aspects, as development was a horizontal cross-cutting issue in thework programme.
117. The representative of Venezuela said that his country was interested in e-commerce and had
carried out a number of activities and programmes in order to bridge the digital divide.  One
programme created specialized centres for the population to get access to internet services.  That
programme was called "Info-Centres".  Venezuel a had approved a law on electronic commerce as
well as a law on telecommunication which highlighted the importance his government attached to the
issue.  There was also a draft law on technology.  His government considered electronic commerce fordevelopment a priority and therefore supported points 7, 9 and 12 of section E of the annex to
document W/COMTD/26 which was the illustrative list of points for which further study had been
proposed i.e., development of infrastructure, technical assistance in order to bridge the digital divide
and technology transfer, perfecting human resources, and how companies in developing countries
could compete using electronic commerce.  He proposed that the CTD evaluate the impact ofe-commerce on development, emphasizing options available to bridge the digital divide.  It was
necessary to consider technology transfer and giving priority to better access.  He reiterated what had
been said by the representative of Venezuela in the General Council on behalf of the delegations of
Chile, Costa Rica, Columbia, Equator and Peru during the discussion of the work programme on
electronic commerce, namely that that group sought continued study of electronic commerce by thedifferent subsidiary bodies.  The group hoped to study positive national experiences, the impact on
opportunities in investment and the implications for education, public health, development and small
and medium-enterprises, etc. and emphasised the importance of the work in the WTO along with
other organizations, as well as the need for technical assistance to help developing countries bridge
the digital divide.
118. The representative of the European Communities asked if the chair could make available the
list of issues which had been raised in the Genera l Council.  Her delegation recognized the usefulness
of the paper submitted to the General Council by MERCOSUR listing various issues for examination
by the CTD.  There was much in common with issues which the delegation of the EC also had raised
in the General Council.  It was important to learn about the participation of developing country
enterprises in electronic commerce.  The seminar held the previous year with ITC assistance had
given a number of useful examples of different businesses involved in electronic commerce.  It couldbe useful to analyse the elements which had helped them become successful and see how these might
be replicated by individual Members or industries at a national level.  Information technology was
important in that respect, as was the question of how to facilitate the various elements which made up
the electronic commerce environment.  Her delegation looked forward to the seminar in June, and
would be ready to share its own experience in the area, particularly the initiative called "E-Europe"which might be of assistance to other Members as well.  The issue of technical assistance was
obviously important.  The EC had been assisting a number of countries and would try to prepare
something in written form to the Committee on its ef forts.  It would also welcome hearing about the
experiences developing countries had with technical assistance, in particular what had proved
particularly useful or less useful as that could help to guide future assistance.  Human resourcedevelopment was interesting, and could to some extent be carried out through technical assistance or
even education, as mentioned by Venezuela.  So, there were a variety of issues which could usefully
be addressed in the Committee.  It could be helpful if Members were to consider submitting even brief
papers to help focus the debate on the development aspects of e-commerce.
119. The representative of the United States said that here delegation appreciated the rescheduling
of the June seminar, in which the U.S. would participate actively.  Here delegation stressed the effectWT/COMTD/M/34
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that electronic commerce had on small and medium-size enterprises.  That effect could be enhanced to
the international level with respect to small and medium-size countries and enterprises small and
medium size-enterprises within developing countries.  The very nature of electronic commerce was
increasingly dynamic.  Whatever happened to dot. com companies, the situation would stabilize and
there would be another stage of electronic commerce which would hopefully be more inclusive.  Asfar as the WTO was concerned, the development dimension concerned more WTO bodies than the
CTD.  Her delegation thanked MERCOSUR delegatio ns for their contribution, and looked forward to
the presentation that would come at the June seminar.  Latin America had been moving fast in this
area, and the US wished to see what was happening in other regions of the world.  Earlier seminars
with representatives from Africa and India had s hown how electronic commerce worked for them at
different levels.  The CTD had already identified issues that were specific to the WTO Agreements
and her delegation looked forward to more in depth discussion in the CTD.  At the same time, somecase studies could be identified in the CTD exercise to show how trade could be enhanced at the same
time.  The government of the United States was working to further capacity building;  it had identified
ten countries and was planning to augment that pilot scheme to include more countries in all regions,
including transition economies.  It also had the new initiative which was specific to Africa, and was
implementing joint projects with other institutions such as the ITU.  Her delegation hoped that thework of other institutions would be reflected at the June seminar, in particular the work of the ITU.
Her delegation looked forward to more synergy on e-commerce and development between the WTO
and other institutions in Geneva such as WIPO, ITC, ITU and UNCTAD.
120. The representative of Paraguay said, with reference to the MERCOSUR
document (WT/GC/W/434), that the intention of the MERCOSUR delegations had been to contribute
to the work in the General Council on horizontal issues as well as the work of the subsidiary bodies,
including the CTD.  The illustrative list, annexed to document W/COMTD/26 was not exhaustive, but
was still useful.  Electronic commerce provided opportunities for all regions, even the least-favoured
sectors of the planet, and helped the development and trade of those countries as well as the
enterprises working in those counties.  The work carried out by the ITC could therefore be useful tothe discussions in the CTD.  He asked if the ITC observer could provide the CTD with more
information on the work ITC did with respect to electronic commerce.
121. The representative of Indonesia said the work of the CTD had contributed positively in
helping Members understand the complex issues involved in the dynamic area of electronic
commerce.  The discussions in the CTD had been particularly important in finding answers to the
questions of how e-commerce should be treated in the WTO and in identifying the relevant WTO
agreements.  Despite the intensive discussion to date in the respective WTO subsidiary bodies,Indonesia considered that further work in the WTO was still required as there were questions that had
not been fully answered.  More work was needed on the horizontal as well as the sectoral issues.  He
welcomed the submission by MERCOSUR delegations.  His delegation recognized the benefits that e-
commerce could offer, such as minimizing transaction costs.  However, like many other developing
countries, the government of Indonesia also realized that the full use of the potential benefits ofe-commerce posed challenges for developing countries, including telecommunications and physical
infrastructure.  The level of development of each developing country therefore had to be taken into
respect when considering the benefits electronic commerce could bring.  His delegation supported the
proposals on the use of the illustrative list of issues for study, and looked forward to participating in
the upcoming seminar.
122. The representative of Ecuador said that the subject of electronic commerce was of interest
because of the effects it currently had on trade.  Electronic commerce offered various possibilities for
developing countries.  However, there was an important gap to fill which required the transfer of
technology, the development of human resources, technical assistance and other elements mentioned
by the representative of Venezuela.  He hoped that the upcoming seminar would be successful and ofbenefit to developing countries.WT/COMTD/M/34
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123. The representative of the United States said that her delegation supported efforts to keep a
free-flowing environment for e-commerce, which would enhance development, increase trade and
access to markets.  She said that she hoped that the principle of Members avoiding measures that
would impede the growth of e-commerce could be supported by all delegations, although she
recognized that in some circumstances, it might be  necessary for delegations to regulate in the area of
e-commerce in the light of their national interests and security concerns.
124. The representative of Mexico asked if a study was already being done or when such a study
could be carried out.  He asked if all the comment s made by Members would be taken into account, in
particular as regarded horizontal and vertical aspects, as well as the points regarding the involvement
of other international organizations participating in electronic commerce.  Considering the illustrative
list, there were areas such as infrastructure where the ITU or UNCTAD could help, as well as the ITC,
WCO on customs, and WIPO.
125. The Chairman said that the idea was to try to focus the debate on the areas where the CTD
could make a contribution.  He thanked delegations for their useful suggestions on how to proceed
with the issues of electronic commerce in this Committee.  A Committee on Trade and Development
seminar on "Government Facilitation of E-commerce for development" would be held on 14 June, and
the Committee would revert to the item of e-commerce at  its next regular meeting in light of whathad been suggested by delegations at the present meeting.
126. The Director, Development Division, said that the objective of the discussion had been to
restart the debate in the CTD.  He sought Members' views on priorities with respect to the points for
which a study had been proposed.  He said that other international organizations mentioned during the
discussions, notably ITU, ITC, and UNCTAD, had been invited to participate in the seminar.
127. The Committee took note of the statements made.
(ii) Communication From Cuba (WT/COMTD/W/87)
128. The Chairman said that the Committee had also received a communication from the
delegation of Cuba contained in document WT/COMTD/W/87.  That communication had also been
sent to the General Council as well as to the other subsidiary bodies involved in work on electroniccommerce.
129. The representative of Cuba presented document WT/COMTD/W/87 which supported
electronic commerce without restrictions.  It was based on an earlier statement on the need for
unrestricted global electronic commerce, presented at the General Council on 8 May, when Members
agreed to set up a work programme to study all aspects of e-commerce, taking into particular account
the needs of the developing countries.  In spite of the recognition that progress in international trade
must be guided by rules and procedures that were compatible with Article 36 of Part IV on theGATT 1994, several developing countries including Cuba had been prevented from participating in
the global project of the ITU, being conducted in cooperation with the Swiss company Wisekey, on
electronic commerce for developing countries owing to the United State's policy of imposing
unilateral and coercive measures in violation of the rules and principles of international trade.  The
ITU project was conceived to help developing countries afford access to information technology so asto guarantee secure electronic commerce (digital signatures and encryption techniques).  These were
in commercial use although export was forbidden for reasons of national security.  She said she
wished to reiterate the importance of eliminating any kind of restriction on trade for political reasons.
Restrictions such as those affecting the purchase and free use of coding techniques which were
already available on the market would prevent the economic development of technology indeveloping countries.WT/COMTD/M/34
Page 23
130. The Chairman noted that there were no comments.
131. The CTD took note of the Communication from Cuba.
H. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND TRAINING
(i) Report on Training – Trade Policy Courses 2000, Note by the Secretariat
(WT/COMTD/W/82; WT/COMTD/W/86)
132. The Chairman said that there were four items:  Report on Training – Trade Policy
Courses 2000, Note by the Secretariat (WT/COMTD/W/82 and WT/COMTD/W/86);  Report on
Technical Cooperation Activities in 2000 (WT/CO MTD/W/83);  Three-Year Plan for Technical
Assistance (WT/COMTD/W/84);  and A Strategy for Technical Assistance in WTO
(WT/COMTD/W/78/Rev.1).  He suggested to begin with the two documents prepared by the Training
Division of the WTO Secretariat in relation to the 12-week Trade Policy Courses.  The firstdocument, WT/COMTD/W/82, was the annual report on those activities for the year 2000, while the
second document, WT/COMTD/W/86, reflected the results of a review that had been undertaken by
the Training Division on these Trade Policy Courses (TPC).  He noted that the second document was
presented under the initiative of the Secretariat to allow Members to have a better understanding of
the evolution of this activity as a result of efforts to improve the practicality and effectiveness of thistype of training.  He invited the Director, Training Division to introduce the documents.
133. The Director, Training Division, said that 82 officials from 72 countries/customs territories
had followed the courses in 2000.  In 2000, there was an English/Spanish/English sequence of
courses.  If the ongoing French 17th TPC were included, 78 per cent of the coverage of the cycle
2000-2001 would have been reached.  Out of the 153 countries/customs territories invited to thecourses, 120 had been covered thus far.  There were still 33 countries/customs territories to cover.  All
LDCs would have participated in at least one TPC by  the end of this year.  A new cycle would start in
January 2002 and extend through 2003, unless changes occurred in the total number of fellowships
available, for example, through the implementa tion of the doubling proposal put forward by the
Director-General.  He thanked the Canadian, Spanish, Finnish and Swiss authorities equally for thestudy tours they had hosted in the year 2000, as well as Switzerland for the financing of one
consultant on trade negotiations techniques.  As mentioned in the report, efforts were continuing to
improve the practical aspects and the overall operation of the courses.  He was looking forward to
possible cooperation with other consultants and other financing sources as well for briefings on
aspects of trade negotiations, techniques and training.  He mentioned that the study tours abroad had
been deleted from the programme as of January 2001, and in this way it would be possible to finance
seven additional fellowships in the year.  More tim e was needed to assess the real impact of the
absence of study tours abroad since the course was so intensive that the participants needed some kind
of a break, even when it is a break related to WTO matters.  He said that the WTO had also been
talking with some Universities, and it seemed that the programme of the three months was so
intensive that it was almost equivalent to 50 per cent of a Masters' degree for which the participants so
far did not have any formal recognition as credit for their studies.  It might be possible to negotiatesomething with the universities to provide proper cr edit to those who participated in the course.  He
also referred to the proposal on the doubling of capacity of the training activities, as put forward by
the Director-General last year, but nothing had been agreed by the Members in terms of additional
financial contributions.  The Director-General would be proposing this same capacity doubling again
this year.  Such doubling would require initial one-time expenditures on physical installations(conference rooms, equipment and so on) and perhaps voluntary contributions to facilitate the
expansion.  He also informed the CTD that the Association of Former Participants of GATT/WTO
Trade Policy Courses had been reactivated in February 2001, and about 70 former participants who
were in Geneva had been invited.  This number ha d grown to 75, excluding four Secretariat membersWT/COMTD/M/34
Page 24
who were also former participants.  There would be a meeting of the Association with the
Director-General on 18 June.  The Association was also looking forward to organizing a gathering of
former participants at the beginning of the Doha Conference which would be attended by a large
number of ex-participants in the GATT/WTO courses.  The WTO was continuing to build up the
electronic database of the former participants of the courses, but was still lacking about one-third ofthe replies from countries which participated in the past.  The basic document to which the Chairman
referred was being provided for information only in the interests of transparency, not for action by
Members.  It was for the information of Members about the efforts undertaken to put into practice
recommendations arising from former participants in  the courses, the WTO's own observations on the
organization and delivery of the residential trade policy courses, as well as from WTO Members
themselves in this Committee in particular.  He noted that the Training Division was now undertaking
an ever-more systematic assessment/evaluation of its activities, and was quite encouraged by theresults.  The Basic Document also established guidelines for the organization and delivery for the
WTO's residential Trade Policy Courses, based on the feedback from participants, Members and the
Secretariat.  The guidelines identified the objectives  to be met for the two-year cycle of courses, for
individual courses, for modules and for sessions inside the modules.  Thirteen objectives had been
identified, ranging from the mandate of the Training Division itself, to the coverage of WTO aspects,transfer of knowledge and skills, effective organization, clarity, objectivity, practicability and the
inclusion of a "development dimension" in the training.  The evaluation tools consisted essentially of
weekly evaluation questionnaires covering all sessions, plus a final questionnaire for the whole
programme, and, finally, an interactive final evaluation session.  From 2002, there would be self-
evaluation questionnaires for all the topics.  This ad ditional tool would allow each participant to see
for himself or herself how much had been learned.  For the training officials, it would allow them to
better focus the review sessions.
134. The representative of Pakistan thanked the Director for the report on the TPC held in the
year 2000.  Noting the proposal to have the course accr edited at a university, he asked if this could be
done for past participants.  He expressed disappoint ment that the study tours had been suppressed to
create seven additional fellowships.  He had personally found the tour valuable.  He asked whether the
decision had already been taken or whether it was still being examined.
135. The representative of Venezuela also thanked the Secretariat for the document.  She said that
training was a priority for his country and region.  There were even more requests and one should take
this fact into consideration.  She also thought that it was an excellent idea to bring this course up to
university level.  To this end, it would be necessary to have an evaluation process and to give marks, a
condition in most universities, and he understood that the participants were evaluated on a constantbasis.  Written work might also qualify for credits.
136. The representative of Mexico supported the comments by Pakistan and Venezuela.  He had
also benefitted from the Trade Policy Courses, which provided a practical training for civil servants
from capitals.  When he came in 1991 there were two tours:  one abroad and one in Switzerland.  He
believed it would be wrong to eliminate these tours, which allowed interaction among participants andwith business representatives.  The cancellation of the study tours should be reconsidered.
137. The representative of Tunisia also thanked the Director of the Training Division for his
exhaustive report.  He believed it was necessary to envisage a doubling of the training capacity.  The
programme reinforced the capacity of the developi ng countries to follow up on the implementation of
commitments.  Each country should be able to have at least one official benefitting from the trainingprogramme each year.
138. The representative of Barbados expressed her appreciation for the presentation.  Her
government had always found the trade policy courses to be an excellent tool in helping developing
countries participate in the WTO and in the multilate ral trading system.  She had also benefitted fromWT/COMTD/M/34
Page 25
the course.  The course delivery was of a very high standard and professional quality.  There was an
initiative to reformulate some of the objectives of the course and she looked forward to having an
even better crafted course for future participants.  She endorsed concerns expressed by Mexico,
Pakistan and Venezuela about the contraction of aspects of the trade policy course.  She was also
concerned that the pool of the beneficiary countries for a certain number of fellowships had beenextended by merging developing countries and economies in transition, which meant therefore that
each of those groups would have perhaps a less frequent turn at the tables.  She also thought that the
initiative on the Alumni Association was a very positive one, encouraging continuing interaction
between past participants.
139. The representative of India joined other delegations in thanking the Director of the Training
Division for his exhaustive and complete report on training activities and on the basic document for
internal use in the Secretariat.  The trade policy courses were an important tool for widening theknowledge of the Members' governments on WTO activities.  He joined other comments on the
usefulness of the study tours.  He thought it would help former participants in the Trade Policy
Courses by circulating the CD-ROM being brought  out by the WTO Secretariat from time-to-time.
This would be helpful in updating their knowledge.  It was also possible to see from the participants
the areas of the interests and send them to the e-mail address.   Also, in view of limitations in financialresources, it would be useful to pursue the use of distance learning.  The Training Division could also
issue information for all Members, including a complete listing of trade websites of various
international intergovernmental organizations, as well as sources of trade statistics.  He was aware
that the WTO website had linkages to other websites but the listing was not complete.
140. The representative of Cuba thanked the Secretariat for the presentation of the report, as well
as for the participation Cuba had in the different trade policy courses organized under the GATT and
WTO.  These courses had been of considerable importance, since they had contributed to the training
of young civil servants in a number of trade policy instruments, allowing for better participation in the
deliberations in the WTO, as well as making decisions on trade policy at home.  She was concerned
that the courses did not offer the possibility for more systematic participation of her country.  Cubawould like that participation in courses be over a shorter period, allowing for one participant per year.
Thus civil servants in capitals would gain experience, and this would have a multiplier effect on
domestic decisions as well as allowing for the increased participation of the Cuban delegation in the
different deliberations, especially at such an important time as the preparation for a new Ministerial
Conference.  Consequently, Cuba would like to in sist on the need for the participation of one
candidate per year in the trade policy courses.
141. The representative of Colombia also thanked the Secretariat for the excellent presentation of
the documents.  He agreed that there should be greater participation.  He understood the budgetary
problems raised, but this would be compensated through improved implementation of the
Agreements.  Colombia was studying the document WT/COMTD/W/86 and would convey its
comments to the Secretariat.  He also asked wh ether there had been any progress on the initiative
presented on 17 February relating to the possibility of establishing a system of internship programmesfinanced by the WTO.
142. The representative of Indonesia also thanked the Secretariat for the documentation on the
Trade Policy Courses which were very important for his government.  He would appreciate it if the
Training Division could also facilitate the attendance of the participants of trade policy courses in the
regular meetings of the WTO.  He also considered that the study tour was very helpful.  He also drewthe attention of the Training Division to the fact that some Members of developing countries would
like to participate in the WTO courses in different languages.
143. The representative of Guatemala also expressed his thanks for the report that had been
presented.  He supported other speakers on the need for more Spanish courses, on which GuatemalaWT/COMTD/M/34
Page 26
had written to the WTO, in view of the increased participation of Latin American countries in the
organization.
144. The representative of Argentina also expressed his appreciation for the report presented by the
Secretariat on the courses which were of great use in trade negotiations, not just in multilateral
agreements but also in regional and bilateral agreements because the WTO standards werefundamental even for bilateral dealings.  He also fully supported Guatemala on the need for additional
courses in Spanish.  Once every two years was insufficient, especially as in addition to diplomatic
civil servants from the foreign trade ministry, there were requests from civil servants in other
ministries who were involved in WTO affairs, such as the Ministry of Agriculture, Industry and others
dealing with WTO topics.  As to what was raised by Indonesia on attending courses in Spanish, it was
practically impossible for Latin American officials to participate in the courses given in English or,
especially in French, which was why there were courses in Spanish.  He understood that others couldbenefit from courses given in Spanish but Latin American officials could not always participate in the
French courses, especially if they did not come from the foreign trade ministry.  They could only
participate in the Spanish courses or perhaps in the English courses.
145. The representative of Thailand appreciated the comprehensive report made by the Director,
Training Division.  She said that he had participated in the WTO course held in Spanish and at this
moment, another Thai representative was participating in the course in French.  She thought that she
had been the first Asian representative to join the WTO course held in Spanish, and one of her
colleagues was currently the first to join the French course.  It depended on the linguistic proficiency
of each individual applicant.  Almost half of the Thai mission was now composed of ex-participants.
146. The representative of Turkey also appreciated the excellent report.  He supported the deletion
of the study tour from the programme.  This certainly had some advantages but, as a former
participant, he felt it was more important to give  a chance to others to participate in the course,
especially in having heard of the intensive demand made from other countries.
147. The representative of El Salvador thanked the Secretariat for the report, and said that the
courses were extremely beneficial for the training of his country's civil servants and for the country
itself.  He agreed with colleagues, especially the Guatemalan delegate, on the need for greater
possibilities for Spanish-speaking countries.  He realized that there was a heavy demand for these
courses because of their usefulness, but they were extremely important and, in a more globalizing
world, a priority.
148. The representative of Tunisia thought that the Association of Former Participants was a forum
which could make a possible exchange of informal views, especially such as the one planned for June,
which contributed to the social benefit of such an association.
149. The Director, Training Division, said that a num ber of points had been made about diplomas
and the academic recognition of the training.  Another question which was mentioned by nearly
everyone concerned the study tours and the related question of the additional fellowships.  There were
also questions on the frequency of courses and the sequence of languages in the delivery of training
courses and other references to different more specific subjects.  On the question of diplomas and therecognition, he welcomed all the comments, some of which had been very helpful.  For the time
being, this was at the beginning of the exploration of  the idea.  It was important to recall that the first
objective was not really to provide a graduate training, but to provide for increasing the institutional
capacities in the developing countries for integr ating in the multilateral trading system and
understanding better the multilateral trading system.  It was almost by accident that the current size ofthe course compared with a large part of the curriculum of some universities, not a deliberate choice.
The WTO would explore the possibilities for getting academic recognition and how much could be
done for those which had taken the course earlier.  However, there would be difficulties in the senseWT/COMTD/M/34
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that it was one thing to give lectures and another thing to have them recognized by universities, as
mentioned by Venezuela.  For example, it might be necessary to introduce new elements in the
courses, such as examinations.  This had been done once in the early eighties, and it had led to such a
negative outcome that he certainly did not want to go in the same direction.  But the self-evaluation
questionnaires might be acceptable to universities instead of formal examinations, as might therecognition of written research papers.  On study tours, he was aware of the benefits:  it was one way
to interact with the officials of other countries, and, in this case, industrialized countries.  Western
Europe and Canada had contributed to these activities.  However, with the blessing of the
Director-General and senior management, the WTO had opted, at least for the time being, for the
suppression of the European and Canadian study tours.  This allowed for providing seven additional
fellowships at about CHF 20,000 each, not a negligible amount.  The course was also shorter:  it used
to be four months and now only three months which meant that it was barely possible to fit all theprogramme in that time even without the study tour.  It was important to note that one study tour for
two days study in Switzerland was being retained, plus another break, so that allowed for three tour
days all together during the course which was very demanding, intellectually and physically.  The
programmes also allowed at least one half-day free for the participants each week, so they could do
other reading or visit experts in the WTO.  So the minimum had been kept in the study tour area.  TheWTO would consider the need for a longer tour, but if training capacity were doubled it would be
difficult to keep asking the same developed-countries' authorities to organize tours for such a large
number of groups.  If there were six courses a year instead of three, it would mean going to six
different capitals and then, the following year starting again.  Regarding the sequence of languages,
the current sequence corresponded to the demand since the WTO had been in existence.  A greaterfrequency of Spanish courses or French courses would necessarily affect the capacity to meet the
demand for the English courses.  English, unfortunately or fortunately, was the language of the WTO
in the informal sense, and everybody wanted to lear n the terminology in English, wanted to be trained
in English.  All told there were 153 customers to satisfy every two years.  Some 162 fellowships were
paid from the regular budget including the 14 which come from the suppression of study tours.  Withmore rooms, more budget and more staff, one course per year could be done.  He said that he would
look into the demand from India for lists of various sources of information.  He thanked those who
supported the increase and who had expressed their appreciation for the training courses.  Delegates
would have ample opportunities to repeat their support in the appropriate fora.
150. The representative of Pakistan wanted to emphasize the importance of technical assistance
and training activities for developing countries and the LDCs, and understood the constraints which
the Training Division faced in terms of capacity.  The important element in the whole trainingprogramme was to ensure that the participants utilised the training available, that they at least left the
WTO with some understanding of the WTO agreements , which in three months or twelve weeks was
practically impossible.  The underlying emphasis should be always on quality and not just increasing
the number of participants.  In 1998, in a formal meeting of the CTD, Pakistan had suggested that if a
team of four or five experts or WTO officials were sent to capitals, they could reach a much greateraudience. This suggestion had largely been welcomed by the Membership.  The then Chairman,
Amb. Chowdhury, had acknowledged that that could be  a cost-effective way to overcome the capacity
constraints.
151. The Committee took note of the documents and the statements made.
(ii) Report on Technical Assistance Activities in 2000 (WT/COMTD/W/83)
(iii) Three-Year Plan for Technical Assistance (WT/COMTD/W/84)
(iv) A Strategy for Technical Assistance in WTO (WT/COMTD/W/78/Rev.1)WT/COMTD/M/34
Page 28
152. The Chairman then moved to the remaining three-sub-items, on technical assistance activities
and proposed to take the discussion of these sub-items together.  The documents for the items were:
(i) Report on Technical Assistance Activities in  2000 (WT/COMTD/W/83);  (ii) the Three-Year Plan
for Technical Assistance (WT/COMTD/W/84) – a fo llow-up to the initial documents covering the
years 2001-2003 circulated last October and November under WT/COMTD/W/79 and 79/Rev.1;  and(iii) the Strategy for Technical Assistance in WTO, which had already been discussed on several
occasions by the CTD.  This latest revision inco rporated comments made at the previous meeting of
the CTD and more importantly, there had been informal discussions with delegations during the last
several months to evaluate how well the Strategy as proposed fitted the needs of recipient countries.
153. The Deputy Director-General responsible for technical assistance (Mr. P.-H. Ravier)
introduced the discussion with two preliminary comments.  First he introduced Mr. Paul Rolian, who
since February 2001 was in charge of the Audit of th e Technical Assistance.  It was very important to
have this auditing of technical cooperation work done properly, both for the beneficiaries as well as
the donor countries.  Second, the Senior Management of the WTO, and specifically the Director-
General was conscious of the remarks emanating from Members about the necessity to put some order
in the internal organization of the Secretariat as far as Technical Assistance was concerned.  Solutions
were currently under consideration by the Director-General, and if and when decisions were to betaken, Members would be duly informed.
154. Turning to the subject of the meeting, he referred to the document on strategy which had been
under discussion since the previous October.  This had not been worked up and he believed that it
would not be finalized.  He asked whether it was necessary to search for a shorter document, such as
the 1996 version.  Instead of searching for a difficult consensus on a long detailed document, he askedwhether it would not be better to go for something more flexible, shorter, with more general ideas
about objectives, certain ways of handle things, the methods, the management, the human resources as
well as financial resources.  As concerned the three-year plan, the document reflected the activities
which were planned but it did not reflect those which were not planned and which represented a very
important part of the activities.  Besides, it was well known that the degree of implementation of thethree-year plan was low.  Was it therefore  necessary to continue with the constant up-dating of the
document?  He sided with the opinion that it was useful and necessary to have as  a complement to the
strategy document another which could be called a plan for two, three years or x-years which would
be more precise on the activities of the organization in the area of technical cooperation.  It might
therefore be useful to ask whether it was necessary to have an elaborate strategy document with the
three-year plan which was also very developed or was it possible, because these two were
complementary, to have a document on strategy which would be much shorter, more general andwhich could be associated to the three-year plan which would still be rather detailed or the contrary.
Alternatively, if a relatively developed and elaborate strategy document were desired, then could not
the three-year plan be much more simple?
155. Concerning the strategy paper, he had three se ries of comments in this connection.  First,
technical assistance was demand-driven.  However, financially, it was impossible to satisfy allrequests.  This meant it was necessary to set up prio rities.  These priorities had to be set by the
beneficiary countries – a principle which must be respected.  The way in which priorities were
determined on the basis of a common joint agreement was by means of a questionnaire sent to
Member countries to ask them to place in order their priorities concerning technical cooperation.  So
far, the rate of reply to these questionnaires was about 54 per cent and he thought this approach shouldbe continued.  It was important for this questionnaire to be completed carefully on the basis of a
dialogue between the delegations in Geneva and the administrations in the capitals.  Also, it was
important for someone in capitals to select the di fferent priorities for technical cooperation, so this
questionnaire was a good means, but not the only one to determine these priorities;  another approach
was in the framework of the Integrated Programme;  and also another way could be the use of thetrade policy reviews to include consultations on matters concerning technical cooperation with theWT/COMTD/M/34
Page 29
country under review.  There was a whole series of means to draw up, on the basis of a common
agreement, the indispensable priorities for a good management of request for technical cooperation,
but nothing would ever replace the permanent di alogue between the requesting countries and the
Secretariat.  Second was the question of  how to balance the management on a geographical basis with
a more horizontal approach, based on the WTO agreements.  Technical cooperation has movedprogressively from general explanations of the multi lateral trading system to a much more technical
approach  on the detail s of each and every agreements
.  So there may be some logic in starting the
implementation of the technical cooperation activi ties with the Techncial Cooperation Division and
then passing on to other Divisions dealing with one or other agreements.
156. Third was the question of  resources.  The first thing to bear in mind was that human resources
were just as important, even more so than financial resources.  If the WTO had US$20 million to
spend on technical cooperation, it would not have the human resources to carry out the work.  Asconcerns financial resources, the relationship between voluntary contributions and the regular budget
funds was quite out of proportion, because the budgetary means accorded for less than 20 per cent of
voluntary contributions.  This was in the hands of the Members, but everybody knew this led to
management problems because voluntary contributions were always accompanied by conditions,
reducing flexibility and the possibilities for the Secretariat to have flexibility in the management oftechnical cooperation activities.  Since the voluntary contributions were far higher than ordinary
budget contributions, there was a problem of increasing conditionality.  This is legitimate from the
donor's point of view, but made management ever more difficult.  Another issue for reflection was the
problem of coordination among those making vol untary contributions.  He was not suggesting a
further Committee but the issue would be  present even more in the future.
157. The representative of Peru referred to the document on strategies for technical assistance in
the WTO.  The document had been subject to discussions several times in the Committee in its formal
and informal meetings and was a valiant effort.  He could see that there had been a great effort to seek
new modalities to allow for better programming and planning of technical cooperation.  However,
these modalities represented a considerable reduction of flexibility on the part of the Secretariat torespond to the real needs for technical assistance which could not be included in a strategy, because
the truth was that a strategy which was not flexible was not a strategy;  whether military, diplomatic
or corporate.  On financial and budgetary constrai nts, Peru supported efforts to include technical
cooperation in the regular budget but this was a long-term objective to be realistic.  Voluntary
contributions would be vital if there was to be flexible technical cooperation, but the problem with
these resources was that they had certain conditions attached to them, as in the IMF and World Bank
loans.  Technical cooperation needed to be sufficie ntly flexible to address new issues such as the
highly technical - the new proposals to reduce quotas in agriculture, e-commerce, the categorization
of services, or adapting laws on intellectual property.  The programming should be sufficiently
flexible to deal with the needs and requests that are presenting themselves constantly over the year.
158. The representative of Uruguay referred to the establishment of priorities in
document COMTD/W/77/Rev.1.  The strategy document was the result of the two-day meeting on
technical assistance held in July 2000 and other internal reports of the organization.  Generally,
Uruguay did not have a problem at all with the pr iority attached to LDCs, other African countries,
non-residents and small economies since these countries should receive more cooperation.  But this
type of priority necessarily may exclude the needs of other developing countries.  For example, if we
read the document relating to activities in 2000, in the annex which refers to Latin American andCaribbean countries, it is impressive to see the number of courses and seminars, workshops which
worked out in the region - in other words, demand was great.  All developing countries were
continuing to make requests to the WTO Secretariat for technical cooperation activities, so, the
establishment of priorities by country did not necessarily reflect the current reality.  As the Peruvian
Ambassador had said, the new negotiations in agriculture and services and electronic commercerequired training, especially the Latin America region.  He therefore asked how the SecretariatWT/COMTD/M/34
Page 30
established these priorities.  At the Secretariat established these priorities.  At the reflections on
technical assistance, he did not remember there having been a list or establishment of Latin America
priorities by country.
159. The representative of Tunisia said it was important to strengthen the dialogue, as stressed by
the Deputy Director-General.  The three-year plan could not reflect the technical assistance needs of
everyone because some could be identified in advance but others resulted from different situations at
different times, especially in the framework of the follow-up of commitments on the WTO
agreements.  He endorsed the suggestion of Mr. Ravier to involve more Committees in identifying
priority needs.  The extent of voluntary contributions raised problems for the budgeting of planned
activities and left less room for nanoeuvre with regard to technical cooperation, even on priority
issues, although he paid tribute to the donor countries.  However, the need for technical cooperation
and for capacity building was growing especially relating to the implementation of their commitmentson the WTO agreements, in the preparatory process for the Ministerial Conference and afterwards.
He reiterated Tunisia's support for the JITAP programme.
160. The representative of the European Commission said that this was an important item, not only
because the European tax payer was funding most of the technical assistance, but because it was
important to get it right in order to have the credibility of the WTO assured.  He appreciated theamount of work which had gone into the compilation of the reports, the three-year plan and the
Strategy paper.  In the six months since the paper had last been discussed, the world certainly had
moved on.  The idea of mainstreaming trade into overall development strategies was now firmly
anchored, not only in the WTO but also in organi zations like the World Bank, IMF, etc., and that
should be reflected.  It followed that there was a greater need for coherence on donors andorganizations, which should also be reflected.  Lastly, with the experience from Uruguay Round
implementation, there was a clear and renewed focus on the individual agreements, as mentioned by
the DDG.  For the EC, the strategy was the way the priorities were established and resources
allocated.  The three-year plan should flow from the strategy and not the other way round.  To do that,
the commitment to mainstreaming had to be fully refl ected in the paper.  Paragraph 45 of the strategy
paper said:  "In this connection, the strategy incorp orates a better use of existing donor coordination
mechanisms such as the World Bank Cons ultative Group Meetings and UNDP Round Table
Meetings".  On the other hand, this was not reflected in the questionnaire.  For example, countries
were not asked how the proposed activity fitted with the PRSP.  There were also other parts of the
paper where the overall mainstreaming idea could be included.  He also considered that what was
going on in the WTO, in particular the renewed focus on agreements which comes from
implementation experience, should also be better reflected.  There should also be a clearercommitment, not just about agreements but within the various Divisions on technical assistance.  For
example, in the three-year plan there is a short section on page 177 on the LDCs integrated
framework.  This could not just be only an Annex;  it had to be a part of the strategy and fully
endorsed by the relevant Division.  I would be useful start if all the Divisions that delivered technical
assistance were represented in meetings such as this.  The EC had taken note of the observations madeby Mr. Ravier that the Secretariat was working on this, and was certainly interested to see how the
internal re-organization reflected the strategy.  On a very specific point, there was a reference on
page 5 of the three-year plan, a reference to ear-marking and the constraints on flexibility.  The EC
would try to take that into account.  The question was now what to do next.  The description here was
of work in progress, something to be revised.  Hopefully, the paper could be updated taking intoaccount the points made.  A revised paper could be shorter, really a policy paper, not setting out too
much detail, the EC hoped that this would be possible before the summer.  He would also hope that
the paper would have the common signature of all WTO Divisions working in this field.  Finally, the
EC had produced a draft paper on the agreement by agreement approach, which the EC had pursued
in the customs valuation Committee and wished to expand to the SPS activity.  This document wouldgo forward as a draft decision within the next couple of days.WT/COMTD/M/34
Page 31
161. The representative of United States said that she was not in a position to accept the strategy
paper that day.  The Strategy needed to be more precise, more targeted.  The US would look at the
objectives from the demand-driven approach and the overall needs of the institution to enable
developing countries to participate more effectively in the WTO.  She appreciated that the three-year
plan actually had divided some sections by the type of technical assistance.  The US understood theWTO was not a development institution providing supply-side technical assistance, but in some cases
there could be on overlap, including joint projects with other organizations such as WIPO, UNCTAD
and ITC and, perhaps, ITU.  She asked whether the three-year plan was mainly based on predictions
from questionnaires or did it include earlier ad hoc requests?  In other words, were ad hoc requests
make in previous years carried over into the three-year plan?  Also, what was the percentage of ad hoc
requests and those requests that made in the questionnaires?  How was the choice made between these
competing requests?  What were the priorities between regions for the use of funding?  She alsowanted to have a clearer idea of the percentage of technical assistance that came from the regular
budget and the percentage from extra-budgetary contri butions.  Did any of the projections include the
possibility of requests arising from ongoing negotiations?  These could be anticipated, but the WTO
might not have had yet specific requests, and certainly a barrage of requests could be expected when
the negotiations were closer.  She was also concerned about the Deputy-Director General's comments.The US was doing its best to limit the amount of conditions attached to its voluntary contributions.
The US had announced recently that it would be contributing a US$1 million to the WTO Global
Trust Fund, and was in the process of dealing with th e mechanics for that.  The intention is to do the
least amount of ear-marking in that context, alth ough it would of course have to take into account
countries with which it had diplomatic relations.  In the previous year, US$655,000 had been destinedfor the Africa region, but for the US$1 million that had recently been announced, it was hoped to limit
the amount of ear-marking.
162. The representative of Switzerland said that it was necessary to improve the long-term
effectiveness of technical assistance and to do so, there was a need for a coherent and comprehensive
package of technical assistance in the WTO.  Even if there is any agreement based approach, it will benecessary to set priorities, as demands would likely be behind what was on offer.  It was necessary to
reflect on how synergy could be produced between missions to the same country on different
agreements.  To reach the objectives, there was a need to proceed on two tracks:  on the one hand, the
WTO needed to develop and define a package, taking into consideration its limited means, both
financially and in terms of human resources.  That was why the discussion on technical assistance
strategy belonged in CTD.  On the other hand, beneficiary countries would need to analyze their
needs in the medium-term perspective.  There should be an interactive process between supply anddemand, perhaps through the three-year plan.  It ma y not be the only tool nor even the optimal one,
but it was not for the delegates to tell which type of tools should be used.  However, he insisted that
the more general objective of the strategy include a longer-term prospective on technical assistance.
Synergies must be sought, there must be follow-up activities, and the beneficiary countries must have
concrete ideas in which areas and by which means they wanted to improve that capacities.  Thestrategy should be an interactive process oriented to a longer prospective and against ad hocism.  As
long as these lines are followed, Switzerland was not opposed to the Secretariat changing or
shortening and improving the strategy.
163. The representative of Norway welcomed the emphasis on training and the emphasis on
coordination/collaboration;  all this could be furt her strengthened.  Norway was ready to consider a
reform of the strategy, maybe focussing on the agreements.  In order to use the strategy, there was
also a need for coherence within the organization, and he understood that this was being worked on.
He looked forward to seeing how the strategy c ould be further developed, and looked forward to
hearing more about this before the summer break.  The three-year plan document was very big, so it
was important that there be at least a short summary.  There seemed to be some lack of coherence,with a different format for the section of LDCs.  This should be worked on to have one coherent
document.  Lastly, on resources, the WTO needed to have credible TA on budget and Norway wasWT/COMTD/M/34
Page 32
ready to work with others to find ways to ensure stable and predictable resource base for technical
assistance.
164. The representative of Venezuela said he wished to respond to the questions raised by the
Secretariat.  In his view, the document on strategy was clear, it was not voluminous and it should be
left like this.  As to the three-year plan, it should be more specific.  It should be shorter or have a goodsummary as suggested by previous delegations.  The documents should be related because the plan
should flow from the strategy.  Referring to tables 2, 3 and 4, it could be seen that technical
cooperation for Latin America and the Caribbean has been reduced drastically.  Technical assistance
should be demand-driven, and it was the beneficiaries which determined their need.  The
questionnaires were useful but must be found to new ways establishing disparities.  For example,
contacts with the focal points in the countries themselves could be strengthened.  He agreed that some
importance should be attached to geographical distribution as a way of establishing priorities.  Thepriorities raised in paragraph 20 should be linked to paragraph 57 in the strategy paper.  The content
of paragraph 21 should have an additional sub-section.  He was pleased with the discussion in
paragraph 4 on the attention to the needs of developing countries.  As to the organization of activities,
he agreed with idea that there should be a sub-regional perspective when the needs and difficulties
were similar.  Joint training activities could have a positive effect in the medium and long-term.  Theproposal in paragraph 32 of the strategy document was positive.  Evaluation should be given priority
because it would improve assistance in the future.  He proposed the creation of a permanent
coordination mechanism to guarantee the follow-up and evaluation of the impact in the short-term as
well as ensuring continuity and the achievement of the objectives of the technical assistance
programme in the medium and long-term.  Finally, as to the financing of technical assistance, hehoped that regular budget would be increased, and he expressed his concern that there are continued
to be conditions attached to extra-budgetary contributions.
165. The representative of Guatemala said that the strategy should be a factual, specific document,
but it should also be flexible.  It was impossible to summarize in 40 pages the entire strategy for
technical assistance in WTO for the next few years.  As concerned the establishment of priorities, asUruguay had said, Guatemala was also concerned ab out who was to decide the priorities.  Members
stated the priorities on training matters.  The triennial plan was useful, but maybe it should only be for
one or two years, instead of three years as now.  The type of had hoc assistance, according to new
subjects came up on the agenda would be even after the next Ministerial.  New subjects might arise,
and developing countries would need extra training.  This had not been included in the three-year
plan.  He supported the US point that ad hoc assistance should be specific and not general.  Technical
assistance for each country within the TPR process should not be optional but obligatory, havinglong-term benefits for trade policy formulation.  Assistance should be given agreement by agreement,
there was no longer any need for general seminars but specific workshops tailored to needs.  He again
stressed the need for flexibility – for strategy and the three-year plan.
166. The representative of India thanked the DDG for his presentation of the three exhaustive
documents prepared by the Secretariat.  It was useful to prepare the three-year plan on technical
assistance on the basis of the replies to questionnaires.  However, after a lapse of time, some
flexibility was important.  He agreed with other delegations that technical assistance should be
determined by the beneficiaries themselves.  Keep ing in view the excessive demand for the 12 week
Trade Policy Courses conducted by the WTO, some importance could usefully be given to the
short-term courses organized outside Geneva.  He noted on page 31 of the Secretariat document ontechnical assistance activities, that the first WTO ESCAP trade policy course and WTO and
multilateral trading system for Asian developing economies had been held in Bangkok from 8 to
26 May 2000.  In the three-year plan, its duration had been curtailed in 2001, 2002 and 2003.  He
asked why the duration of this course had been halved.  This TPC outside Geneva should supplement
the main WTO trade policy course, and, hence, it would be useful if the duration was not curtailed.He also asked about the modalities for nominations to this course, in particular, whether theWT/COMTD/M/34
Page 33
nominations were handled by ESCAP Secretariat.  Before closing, he wanted to join other delegations
with the request that each developing country and economy in transition, held one place per year in
the 12 week residential trade policy course.  This could not be replaced by regional seminars on trade
policy, other trade policy courses and workshops, bearing in mind the intensity of the trade residential
courses and the benefits available to the participants by way of access to the WTO Library and otherconnected international intergovernmental organizations in Geneva.  He hoped that a favourable
solution could be found to the Director-General's proposal on doubling the capacity of the residential
courses.  He also  hoped that the problem of adequate budget resources could be sorted out soon.  He
agreed with Venezuela and others that should be continuous evaluation of the technical assistance
activities by the CTD.
167. The representative of Argentina agreed with Uruguay as concerns priorities in the document.
168. The representative of Cuba supported Uruguay, Peru, Guatemala and others on the need for
flexibility in the application of the plan to be responsive to the needs of the Member countries.
Techncial assistance should be demand-driven, since the Member countries know, best know their
own needs in order to be able to participate ever more fully in the multilateral trading system.  Cuba
was in favour of the participation of all the Divisions of the secretariat in technical assistance.  Cuba
was very concerned at the conditions for granting technical assistance, as in other fields, and rejectedany kind of discrimination towards Member countries in WTO because non-discrimination was a key
principle of the WTO.  One of the principles of WTO was to grant technical assistance to all
countries, in particular to the least-developed countries, in order to help them all fulfill their
obligations and attain their rights.
169. The representative of Barbados noted her country's concern with how the plan had been
drawn up, i.e., almost uniquely on the basis of the responses to the questionnaire.  Needless to say,
some countries had not been able to respond to the questionnaire, due to limited capacity and
resources.  She would not do way with the questionnaire since it was useful, but a mix of measures
was needed to arrive at an agreed plan.  Secondly,  with regard to sources of funding, Barbados had
always been very concerned with the extent of voluntary funds, and was quite glad to hear the U.S.and the EC specifically say that they would try to  diminish the ear-marking of their contribution.
Clearly, what needs to happen is that regular fund contribution should be increased, and should not be
subject to conditionalities.  Rather it should respond to priorities established in an objective way.  On
the question of priorities, there was a general principle that all beneficiary countries had access
resources but it was clear that priorities must be set in order to achieve maximum results from
available resources.  Her delegation fully supported the different sets of priorities identified by the
Secretariat in the strategy document.  Some good work had gone into this document, while the planwould need to be reviewed.  She was not so sure that it was necessary to shorten any of the document:
details were important in the exercise.  Barbados would like to be involved in any consultations that
might be held on the issue.
170. The representative of Malaysia said that basically, for Malaysia, what was important was that
any strategy on technical assistance should ensure th at the needs of Members were met, and this could
linked to improving the capacity of members in th e WTO, particularly in the implementation of the
WTO agreements.  In this respect, the strategy paper, whether it be shorter or longer-term should
address priorities, based on Members needs, which could be determined either with the questionnaire
or through consultations with Members.  Second, there was a need to address issues related to
resources.  Third, regarding the delivery of technical assistance, this could be done by focussing onagreements, but some macro aspects of technical assistance could be covered in the trade policy
courses which were cross-cutting in nature.  Finally, there was a need to address coherence among
institutions delivering the technical assistance so it is to avoid duplication.  He also supported the need
for flexibility in the three-year plan.WT/COMTD/M/34
Page 34
171. The observer from the Arab Maghreb Union thanked the Deputy Director-General for the
very exhaustive and pertinent statement on technical assistance and also the Division on Technical
Cooperation for all the documents presented during the course of the meeting.  For the Arab Maghreb
Union, technical assistance was of great importance for planned programmes including agro-industrial
programmes.  The WTO should have a long-term strategy, but it was necessary for this strategy to besufficiently flexible to incorporate the various elements which might arise.
172. The Deputy Director-General (Mr. Ravier) noted that one of the points which was taken up
most often was the matter of flexibility.  He was convinced that there was no good strategy without
flexibility.  Nor was there a good strategy without organization.  In consequence, it was necessary to
find proper means to balance those two constraints.   The equilibrium between the planned activities
and the ad hoc activities, reflecting flexibility, was not satisfactory because it depended on first-come,
first-served:  when there was money a request was accepted, otherwise the WTO had to say no.  Thiswas neither strategy, nor management, nor an intelligent way of tackling a problem such as technical
assistance.  This had to be tackled.  On the other hand, he was not in favour of doing without the ad
hoc activities:  there must be a margin for manoeuvre.  The US representative had asked whether in a
Ministerial periods, such as this year, there was an increase in requests of an ad hoc nature as
concerns negotiation techniques, and the reply was affirmative.  So when there was a MinisterialConference, there was a need for additional flexibility.  The Secretariat would take into account all
that had been said.  He noted that Members thoug ht the questionnaire was not a bad approach.  He
hoped to be able to show improvements in the strategic orientation as soon as possible or for the next
CTD in October.
173. The Committee took note of the documents and the statements made.
I. FUTURE WORK PROGRAMME OF THE CTD
174. The Chairman noted that the CTD had held a brief discussion on the work programme at the
previous two meetings of the CTD.  He said that he wished to take the opportunity to bring delegates
up to date on the schedule for the remainder of this year.  He invited the Director, DevelopmentDivision to comment on the schedule.
175. The Director, Development Division, said that the issue of the proposed informal CTD and
Budget meeting would be taken up in the framework of the discussion on technical cooperation.  The
Third Geneva Week for Non-Residents was scheduled for September 2001 in order to give the
non-residents a clear picture of what was going on in Geneva as soon as possible after the July
assessment of progress in the run-up to the Doha meeting.  The 35th Session of the CTD on Monday,
8 October would include questions raised at the present meeting, such as GSP and various other topicswhich had been proposed to be carried forward, including the issue of S&D treatment.  The seminar
planned for late 2001 and early 2002 on policy's strategic for trade and development was initially
scheduled for early autumn before the dates were known for the Doha Ministerial meeting.
176. The Committee took note of the statement.
J. OTHER BUSINESS
177. The representative of Barbados recalled that the issue of small economies had been discussed
in the CTD for some time.  Interested delegations had been constantly asking for some work to be
carried out within the CTD to examine the constraints affecting the integration of small economies
into the multilateral trading system.  Consultations had been held in February 2001 and it had beenagreed that terms of reference would be drawn up as a basis for a study to be conducted by theWT/COMTD/M/34
Page 35
Secretariat.  In March, the Secretariat drafted a set of terms of reference which were to form the basis
for open-ended consultations to be conducted by the Chairman.  These consultations were schedules
for April-May but were postponed, and, unfortunately, it had not been possible as yet to re-schedule
the discussion.  Her delegation found that small economies were in a rather curious position of not
only being marginalized within the multilateral tr ading system but also within the CTD.  Her
delegation requested that the issue be brought back of the forefront of the work of the Committee,
and, specifically, requested that the business of the finalization of the terms of reference be the subject
of the open-ended consultations conducted by the Chairman in the near future.  She said that she
hoped it would be possible to proceed with the approval of the study within a short time-frame,
allowing the study to be carried out in a timely fashion.
178. The representative of the United States said that she welcomed the intervention by the
representative of Barbados and agreed that the Chairman would resume consultations on the terms of
reference, which her delegation needed to see before the study could be endorsed.  Her delegation had
not yet seen the terms of reference, and would come back when the Chairman held the consultations.
179. The representative of Mauritius said that he endorsed the request by the representatives of
Barbados and the US for consultations.
180. The representative of Guatemala said that he supported the request by the representatives of
the US and Barbados for consultations.
181. The Chairman said that he would arrange consultations.  He proposed that the Committee
took of the statements made and agreed to proceed accordingly.
182. It was so agreed.
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