. /.RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/GC/W/113
19 November 1998
(98-4620)
Original:  Spanish
PROCEDURES FOR THE CIRCULATION AND
DERESTRICTION OF WTO DOCUMENTS
Proposal by Mexico
The following communication, dated 9 November 1998, received from the delegation of
Mexico is circulated to WTO Members.
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Introduction
The procedures for the circulation and derestriction of WTO documents contained in the
Decision adopted by the General Council on 18 July 1996 have worked satisfactorily.  They have
made it possible to maintain an atmosphere in which negotiations can take place between
representatives of the governments of WTO Members without detracting from the need for all
international governmental organizations to maintain transparency vis-à-vis  international public
opinion.
Contrary to the view expressed by certain opinion groups, the WTO is not a secret and
obscure organization.  All that is agreed upon is brought to the knowledge of the public, inter alia
through such open mass media as the Internet.  According to the most recent statistics, since the
above-mentioned procedures were introduced only 1.3 per cent of the documents circulated in 1996
and 6.9 per cent of the documents circulated in 1997 are still restricted.  The reason why they are
restricted is very simple:  they are documents that are still under negotiation and their publicationcould negatively affect the positions of the parties involved.
According to paragraph 7 of the Procedures, "In the light of the experience gained from the
operation of these procedures and changes in any other relevant procedures under the WTO, the
General Council will review, and if necessary modify , the procedures two years after their adoption",
i.e. in 1998.
Proposal
Although they have worked satisfactorily, Mexico considers that on the basis of the
guidelines contained in paragraph 7 of the Council Decision, a few changes should be made to the
Procedures with a view to:
(a) Making it clear in the main text of the Council Decision that if they are to be
derestricted, documents must be available in Spanish, French and English;
(b) giving greater meaning and operability to footnote 2 of the Council Decision;WT/GC/W/113
Page 2
(c) adding, in subparagraph (b) of the Appendix to the Council Decision, documents
relating to the modification of schedules of commitments under Article XXI of the
General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS).
The proposals contained in subparagraphs (a) and (b) above are based on the experience
acquired in applying the procedures agreed n 1996.  In the case of subparagraph (a), the intention is toensure that the derestriction of documents is carr ied out in conformity with the principle of equal
treatment of the official WTO languages, while in the case of subparagraph (b), it is to ensure that the
governments of WTO Members not only attach particular importance to the restricted nature of
documents so designated, but that they actually proceed accordingly in their handling of such
documents.
The proposal contained in subparagraph (c) is a logical consequence of the procedures that
are being developed for the modification of the schedules of commitments under Article XXI of the
GATS.  Its purpose is to ensure that documents on services are given the same treatment already
accorded to documents on goods when commitments or concessions, whatever the case, are being
renegotiated.
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