PRESS RELEASE
PRESS/239
1 August 2001
(01-3840)
MOORE HAILS IMPLEMENTATION BREAKTHROUGH
Director-General Mike Moore today hailed agreement reached last night to approve long-
standing requests from eight developing countries to extend the grace period for complying with the
WTO Agreement Trade-Related Investment Measures.
Mr. Moore said agreement on this TRIMs issue was an important step in addressing the
concerns raised by many developing countries on the implementation of existing WTO agreements.Mr. Moore said it was vital for member government s to focus efforts on finding solutions to the
complex and divisive implementation problems which many developing countries have said represent
the most important item on the WTO's agenda.  General Council Chairman Stuart Harbinson, Hong
Kong, China, also announced last night that the council had referred four other implementation issues
and a Jamaican proposal to subsidiary bodies for action.  He said early agreement was also possibleon four other implementation proposals which were technical in nature.  Many developing countries
have made their support for the launch of a new Round at the 4
th Ministerial Conference in Doha,
Qatar conditional on resolution of these implementation issues.
"Resolution of these issues is certainly a positive step. This a sign of new flexibility among
members that augurs well for a successful Ministerial Conference in Doha this November.  But a good
deal more remains to be done.  Some member governments have made clear that absent progress on
implementation they cannot support the launch of a round.  This is something which proponents of a
round must address," he said.
The Goods Council, on 31 July 2001, adopted decisions granting extension of the transition
period for the elimination of TRIMs notified under Article 5.1 of the TRIMs Agreement to the
following countries: Argentina, Colombia, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, the Philippines and Romania.
At the same time, it recommended that the General Council  grant a waiver to Thailand for its TRIMs.
The waiver for Thailand was approved by the General Council in a meeting that immediatelyfollowed that of the Goods Council.
The TRIMs Agreement provides for disciplines on measures in trade in goods that favour
domestic over imported goods or establish quantitative restrictions on imports. An example of a
TRIM is domestic content requirement in automobile manufacture.  Developing countries were given
a transition period of five years (1995-2000) to wind up their TRIMs.  The new decisions extend this
deadline for the requesting countries by two years (from 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2001) with apossible further two years (1 January 2002 to 31 December 2003), subject to certain criteria such as
the submission of a phase-out plan for the TRIMs measure.
END