. /.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/COMTD/W/109
26 November 2002
(02-6538)
Committee on Trade and Development
DRAFT
OUTSTANDING IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES
GATT Article XVIII: A, C and D
Report by the Committee on Trade and Development to the Trade Negotiations Committee
1. This report is submitted to meet the requirement in paragraph 12(b) of the Doha Ministerial
Declaration1 which states that "the other outstanding implementation issues shall be addressed as a
matter of priority by the relevant WTO bodies, which shall report to the Trade Negotiations
Committee, established under paragraph 46 below, by the end of 2002 for appropriate action."
2. The Committee on Trade and Development (CTD) has been considering sections A, C and D
of GATT Article XVIII as an outstanding implementation issue.  The CTD began its consideration of
sections A, C and D of Article XVIII at its 40th Session.  The work was based on paragraph 12 of the
Doha Ministerial Declaration and the Decision on Implementation-Related Issues and Concerns2 in
conjunction with tiret 3 of Job(01)/152/Rev.1 of  27 October 2001.  Tiret 3 of Job(01)/152/Rev.1
states:
"A complete review of Article XVIII shall be undertaken with a view to ensure that it
subserves the original objective of facilitating the progressive development of
economies in developing countries and to allow them to implement programmes and
policies of economic development designed to raise the general standard of living of
their people."
3. At the 40th Session the Chairman said that it was his understanding that the Committee on
Balance-of-Payments was considering section B of Article XVIII3 and would report to the General
Council at the end of 2002, and that it was for the CTD to consider the remaining elements of GATT
Article XVIII as an outstanding implementation issue.
4. The issue of the appropriate fora to deal with Article XVIII was raised.  The delegation of
India drew Members' attention to its earlier propos al on sections A and C of Article XVIII, contained
in document WT/GC/W/363 of 12 October 1999.  The Secretariat was requested to provide
background information on the manner in which section C of Article XVIII had been applied since the
WTO came into being.  That information was subsequently circulated in document WT/COMTD/39.
The Secretariat note showed that since the creation of the WTO, no clear and unambiguous precedent
had been established as to where and how matters with respect to the invocation of Article XVIII weredealt with.  More than one WTO body had received notifications with respect to Article XVIII and
there had not been any clear understanding as to where such notifications should be sent, and how
they should be dealt with.
                                                     
1 WT/MIN(01)/DEC/1
2 WT/MIN(01)/17
3 Tiret 1 of JOB(01)/152/Rev.1WT/COMTD/W/109
Page 2
5. Informal consultations were held on 21 June 2002 and 10 September 2002 and it became clear
that Members did not oppose that parts of Article XV III be dealt with in the CTD as long as it was
without prejudice to work with respect to Article XVIII being carried out in other WTO bodies.  At
the 41st Session, the Secretariat was requested to provide further information regarding the application
of section C of Article XVIII before the WTO came into being.  That information was subsequentlyprovided in document WT/COMTD/39/Add.1.
6. A few delegations stressed the importance of fulfilling the mandate given by Ministers at the
Doha Ministerial Conference as reflected in tiret 3 of Job(01)/152/Rev.1. A few other delegations said
that no new information or compelling arguments had been provided to warrant a review of
Article XVIII.  Although there was no consensus on how to move the issue forward in the CTD, it
was felt that the CTD should continue to deal with this subject within its own mandate.
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