RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE WT/GC/W/25
7December 1995
ORGANIZATION(95-3990)
GENERAL COUNCIL
13December 1995
ANNUAL REPORTS (1995)
Inpursuance oftheProcedures foranAnnual Overview ofWTO Activities andforreporting
under theWTO (WT/L/105), WTO bodies arerequired toprepare reports ontheiractivities eachyear.
Theannual reports for1995 oftheGeneral Council, Dispute Settlement Body, Trade Policy Review
Body, Sectoral Councils, Committees onTrade andDevelopment, Balance-of-Payments Restrictions,
andBudget, Finance andAdministration arereproduced hereunder. Each report isreproduced asa
separate section withitsownpagenumbering.
Reports Pages
Section I: General Council 1-34
Section II: Dispute Settlement Body 1-12
Section III: Trade Policy Review Body 1
Section IV: Council forTrade inGoods 1-21
Section V: Council forTrade inServices 1-5
Section VI: Council forTrade-Related Aspects of
Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) 1-5
Section VII: Committee onTrade andDevelopment 1-10
Section VIII: Committee onBalance-of-Payments Restrictions 1-2
Section IX: Committee onBudget, Finance andAdministration 1-2WT/GC/W/25
Section I
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GENERAL COUNCIL
Draft Report onWork since 1January 19951
Thepresent report hasbeenprepared inpursuance oftheProcedures foranAnnual Overview
ofWTO Activities andforReporting under theWTO (WT/L/105), andsetsouttheactions taken by
theGeneral Council since 1January 1995.
Incarrying outitstasks, theGeneral Council hasheld[..]meetings since January 1995. The
minutes ofthese meetings, which remain therecord oftheGeneral Council 'swork, arecontained in
documents WT/GC/M/1-WT/GC/M/[..].
Thefollowing subjects areincluded inthereport:
Page
1. Matters arising from thereport ofthePreparatory Committee totheWTO 5
(a) Rules ofProcedure fortheMinisterial Conference andtheGeneral Council 5
(b) Participation inmeetings ofWTO bodies bycertain signatories oftheFinal
Acteligible tobecome original Members oftheWTO 5
(c) Participation oftheUnited Nations, UNCTAD, IMFandtheWorld Bank as
observers atthefirstmeeting oftheGeneral Council 6
(d) Transfer Agreement between GATT 1947, ICITO andtheWTO 6
(e) Avoidance ofprocedural andinstitutional duplication 6
(f) Finalization ofnegotiations onschedules ongoods andservices 6
(g) Requests forWTO accession under Article XII 7
(h) Guidelines forappointment ofofficers toWTO Bodies 8
(i) Adoption ofthereport ofthePreparatory Committee 8
2. Approval ofschedules ongoods andservices pursuant totheMinisterial Decision in
Favour ofLeast-Developed Countries 8
3. Headquarters Agreement 8
4. Establishment ofcommittees andadoption oftheirterms ofreference 9
(a) Committees onTrade andDevelopment, Balance-of-Payments Restrictions,
andBudget, Finance andAdministration 9
(b) Committee onMarket Access 9
(c) Committee onTrade andEnvironment 10
(d) Terms ofreference oftheCommittee onAgriculture 10
5. Composition oftheTextiles Monitoring Body 10
6. Adoption oftheMarrakesh Ministerial Decision onNotification Procedures 10
1Thefinalversion ofthisreport willalsoreflect theGeneral Council meeting on13December, andthepoints willbe
renumbered asnecessary.WT/GC/W/25
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7. Draft decision oncontinued application under theWTO Customs Valuation Agreement
ofinvocations ofprovisions fordeveloping countries fordelayed application and
reservations under theCustoms Valuation Agreement 1979 11
8. Recommendation bytheCommittee onTrade-Related Investment Measures 11
9. Approval ofrules ofprocedure ofsubsidiary bodies 11
(a) Councils forTrade inGoods, TRIPS andServices 11
(b) Committee onTrade andDevelopment 12
10. Committee onBalance-of-Payments Restrictions 12
(a) Programme ofconsultations for1995 12
(b) Consultations 12
(c) Disinvocation byIsrael andSouth Africa 13
(d) Notes onmeetings 13
11. Committee onBudget, Finance andAdministration 13
- Reports 13
12. Customs unions andfree-trade areas; regional agreements 14
(a) Establishment ofaCommittee onregional trading arrangements 14
(b) Terms ofreference ofworking parties onagreements notified under Article
XXIV ofGATT 1947 14
(c) Enlargement oftheEuropean Union 15
(d) Hungary -Slovenia Free-Trade Agreement 15
13. Waivers inforce asof1January 1995 15
14. Decision-making procedures under Articles IXandXIIoftheWTO Agreement 16
15. Waivers under Article IXoftheWTO Agreement 16
(a) Harmonized System 16
(i) Bangladesh,Guatemala,Israel,Jamaica,Morocco,SriLanka,Trinidad
andTobago 16
(ii) Pakistan 17
(b) Other waivers 17
(i) Senegal -Renegotiation ofSchedule XLIX 17
(ii) Malawi -Renegotiation ofSchedule LVIII 17
(iii) United States -Caribbean Basin Recovery Act 17
16. Accession matters 18
(a) Belarus 18
(b) Ecuador 18
(c) Seychelles 19
(d) Tonga 19
(e) Vanuatu 20
(f) VietNam 20
(g) Working Parties onaccession totheWTO 20
- Chairmanships 20
17. Brazil -Import restrictive measures onautomobiles 21WT/GC/W/25
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18. Brazil -Tariff increases 21
19. Japan-United States autoandautoparts issues 22
(a) United States 'autoandautoparts issues: USunilateral measures 22
(b) Japan'sautomotive barriers andrestrictive practices 22
20. Papua NewGuinea -Increase inapplied tariff oncanned mackerel 22
21. United States -Imposition ofimport duties onautomobiles fromJapan under Sections
301and304oftheTrade Actof1974 22
22. United States -Investigation regarding Japan'sphotographic filmmarket under Section
301oftheTrade Actof1974 23
23. United States -Proposed legislation toreinforce thecommercial, economic andfinancial
embargo onCuba 23
24. United States -Recent actions under Section 301oftheOmnibus Trade and
Competitiveness Actof1988 23
25. Negotiations onfinancial services 23
26. Organization andworking methods ofWTO bodies 24
27. Working language intheTechnical Committee onRules ofOrigin under theauspices
oftheWorld Customs Organization 24
28. Attendance atWTO meetings when introducing agenda items 24
29. Procedures foranannual overview ofWTO activities andforreporting under the
WTO 24
30. Guidelines forthescheduling ofmeetings 25
31. Programme ofmeetings oftheGeneral Council 25
32. Procedures forthecirculation andderestriction ofWTO documents 25
33. Arrangements foreffective cooperation withother intergovernmental organizations 26
(a) United Nations 26
(b) IMFandWorld Bank 26
34. Guidelines forarrangements onrelations withnon-governmental organizations pursuant
toArticle V:2oftheWTO Agreement 27
35. International Trade Centre UNCTAD/GATT 27
(a) Relationship between theInternational Trade Centre UNCTAD/GATT and
theWTO 27
(b) Report oftheJoint Advisory Group 28
36. Ratification oftheWTO Agreement 28WT/GC/W/25
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(a) Cameroon 28
(b) Egypt 28
(c) Poland 28
(d) Switzerland 29
(e) Turkey 29
37. 1996 Ministerial Conference 29
(a) Venue oftheConference 29
(b) Preparations fortheConference 29
38. Salaries andPensions ofWTO staff 30
39. Office ofDirector-General andDeputy Directors-General 30
(a) Appointment ofanewDirector-General 30
(b) Creation ofadditional postofDeputy Director-General 30
40. Observer status 31
(a) Governments 31
(i) Requests from anumber ofStates andseparate customs territories 31
(ii) Oman 32
(iii) China 32
(b) International intergovernmental organizations 32
41. Statusofleast-developedcountrieswhoseschedulesongoodsandserviceswereapproved
bytheGeneral Council (WT/L/70) andofother non-voting participants falling under
theDecision bytheGeneral Council inWT/L/27 33
42. Appointment ofOfficers oftheDispute Settlement Body, Trade Policy Review Body,
Council forTrade inGoods, Council forTrade inServices, Council forTrade-Related
Aspects ofIntellectual Property Rights, theCommittee onTrade andDevelopment,
Committee onBalance-of-Payments Restrictions, Committee onBudget, Finance and
Administration andtheCommittee onTrade andEnvironment 34
43. Election ofChairman 34
1. Rules ofprocedure formeetings oftheDispute Settlement Body 5
2. Arrangements forprogramming meetings oftheDispute Settlement Body 5
3. Rules ofconduct 5
4. Standing Appellate Body 6
(a) Establishment oftheAppellate Body 6
(b) Appointment ofmembers oftheAppellate Body 6
5. Indicative listofgovernmental andnon-governmental panelists 8
6. "Date ofcirculation" intheDSU anditsadditional andspecial rules 9
7. Communications under theDSU 9WT/GC/W/25
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8. Time-periods under theDSU andother covered agreements 9
9. Notifications ofrequests forconsultations 10
10. Recourse todispute settlement procedures 10
(a) Australia 10
- Measures affecting importation ofsalmon 10
(b) European Communities 10
(i) Duties onimport ofcereals 10
(ii) Duties onimports ofgrains 11
(iii) Trade description ofscallops 11
(c) Japan 12
(i) Automotive barriers andrestrictive practices 12
Taxes onalcoholic beverages 12
(d) Korea 13
- Measures concerning shelf-life ofproducts 13
(e) Malaysia 13
- Prohibition ofimports ofpolyethylene andpolypropylene 13
(f) United States 14
(i) Auto andautoparts issues: USunilateral measures 14
(ii) Standards forreformulated andconventional gasoline 14
1. Matters arising from thereport ofthePreparatory Committee totheWTO
(a) Rules ofProcedure fortheMinisterial Conference andtheGeneral Council
(WT/GC/M/1, 3)
AttheGeneral Council meeting on31January 1995, theChairman recalled thatthePreparatory
Committee hadapproved theRules ofProcedure fortheMinisterial Conference andtheGeneral Council
inPC/IPL/9,andproposedthattheGeneralCounciladopttheseruleswiththeexceptionoftheprovisions
concerning officers oftheGeneral Council andobserver status forinternational intergovernmental
organizations, andthathebeauthorized toholdinformal consultations onthese issues andtorevert
tothem atafuture meeting.
TheGeneral Council soagreed (WT/L/28).
AttheGeneral Council meeting on3April 1995, theChairman proposed, onthebasisofhis
consultations, thattheGeneral Council adopt thedraftrules ofprocedure concerning officers ofthe
General Council inWT/GC/W/5, andthatheshould holdfurther consultations ontherulesconcerning
observer status forinternational intergovernmental organizations.
TheGeneral Council soagreed.
(b) Participation inmeetings ofWTO bodies bycertain signatories oftheFinal Acteligible
tobecome original Members oftheWTO (WT/GC/M/1)
AttheGeneral Council meeting on31January 1995, theChairman recalled thatthePreparatory
Committee hadinvited theGeneral Council atitsfirstmeeting toadopt thedecision concerning
participation inmeetings ofWTO bodies bycertain signatories oftheFinal Acteligible tobecome
original Members oftheWTO inPC/10, andproposed thatthedecision beadopted.WT/GC/W/25
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TheGeneral Council soagreed (WT/L/27).
(c) Participation oftheUnited Nations, UNCTAD, IMFandtheWorld Bank asobservers
atthefirstmeeting oftheGeneral Council (WT/GC/M/1)
AttheGeneral Council meeting on31January 1995, theChairman noted thatthePreparatory
Committee hadrecommended that,pending adoption ofguidelines onobserver status forinternational
intergovernmental organizations, representatives oftheUnited Nations, UNCTAD, IMFandWorld
Bank beinvited asobservers atthefirstmeeting oftheGeneral Council, andproposed thattheGeneral
Council agree tothePreparatory Committee 'srecommendation.
TheGeneral Council soagreed.
(d) Transfer Agreement between GATT 1947, ICITO andtheWTO (WT/GC/M/1)
AttheGeneral Council meeting on31January 1995, theChairman recalled thatthePreparatory
Committee andtheCONTRACTING PARTIES toGATT 1947 hadapproved atransfer agreement
between thePreparatory Committee, theICITO andtheGATT CONTRACTING PARTIES toGATT
1947(PC/9). Inaccordance withthePreparatory Committee 'srecommendation, heproposed thatthe
General Council endorse thedecisions taken bythePreparatory Committee andtheCONTRACTING
PARTIES toGATT 1947.
TheGeneral Council soagreed (WT/L/36).
(e) Avoidance ofprocedural andinstitutional duplication (WT/GC/M/1)
AttheGeneral Council meeting on31January 1995, theChairman proposed thattheGeneral
Council adopt thedecision adopted earlier bythePreparatory Committee andtheCONTRACTING
PARTIES toGATT 1947concerning theavoidance ofprocedural andinstitutional duplication (PC/11).
TheGeneral Council soagreed (WT/L/29).
(f) Finalization ofnegotiations onschedules ongoods andservices
(WT/GC/M/1, 3,5,6,8)
AttheGeneral Council meeting on31January 1995, theChairman recalled thatthePreparatory
Committee hadforwarded totheGeneral Council foradoption atitsfirstmeeting thedecision concerning
thefinalization ofnegotiations onschedules ongoods andservices inPC/17, andproposed thatthe
decision beadopted.
TheGeneral Council soagreed (WT/L/30).
AttheGeneral Council meeting on3April 1995, theChairmen oftheCouncils forTrade in
Goods andforServices reported onthefinalization ofnegotiations onschedules ofanumber of
governments andoftheirverification bytherespective Councils.
TheChairman spoke.WT/GC/W/25
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TheGeneral Council approved thegoods schedules ofChad andtheGambia2andagreed to
extend thedeadline inWT/L/30 forthesubmission ofnegotiated schedules forgoods andservices until
24April 1995.
AttheGeneral Council meeting on11July1995, theChairman noted thatthecountries covered
bytheDecision inWT/L/30, namely Grenada, Papua NewGuinea, St.KittsandNevis, Qatar and
theUnited ArabEmirates, hadnotyetconcluded theirprocess ofaccession. Since these governments
werecontracting parties totheGATT 1947andhadbeengranted observer status bytheGeneral Council,
heproposed thattheyretain theirobserver status inWTO bodies until31December 1995, when the
GATT 1947 wasduetoexpire.
TheGeneral Council soagreed.
TheChairman theninformed theGeneral Council thatadraftProtocol ofAccession forthe
governments covered bytheDecision inWT/L/30 wasbeing prepared andwould becirculated for
consideration andapproval bytheGeneral Council induecourse.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthisinformation.
AttheGeneral Council meeting on31July1995, theChairman proposed approval ofthegoods
schedule ofGrenada andthegoods andservices schedules ofQatar, ontheunderstanding thatapproval
ofthese schedules didnotmean thattheprocess ofaccession ofthese countries hadbeencompleted
sincetheissueofrequirements forinstruments ofaccession ofallthecountries covered bytheDecision
inWT/L/30 wasstillsubject toconsultations.
TheGeneral Council approved theschedules ontheunderstanding readoutbytheChairman.
Atitsmeeting on15November 1995, theGeneral Council approved thegoods andservices
schedules ofSt.KittsandNevis andPapua NewGuinea. TheGeneral Council thenconsidered draft
Protocols ofAccession anddraftdecisions onaccession forGrenada (WT/GC/20), Papua NewGuinea
(WT/GC/W/21), Qatar (WT/GC/W/22) andSt.KittsandNevis (WT/GC/W/23).
TheGeneralCouncilapprovedthetextsofthedraftProtocolsofAccession(WT/L/97-Grenada;
WT/L/99 -Papua NewGuinea; WT/L/101 -Qatar; andWT/L/95 -St.Kitts andNevis) and,in
accordance withtheDecision-Making Procedures Under Articles IXandXIIoftheWTO Agreement
contained inWT/L/93, adopted thedecisions onaccession (WT/L/96 -Grenada; WT/L/98 -Papua
NewGuinea; WT/L/100 -Qatar; andWT/L/94 -St.KittsandNevis).
Therepresentative ofJapan reiterated hisGovernment 'sconcern thatPapua NewGuinea 's
applied tariffoncanned mackerel wasinexcess oftheceiling binding forthisproduct inthatcountry 's
schedule.3
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatement.
(g) Requests forWTO accession under Article XII(WT/GC/M/1)
2These countries were subsequently taken upbytheGeneral Council under point 2-"Approval ofschedules ongoods
andservices pursuant totheMinisterial Decision inFavour ofLeast-Developed Countries".
3Anearlier statement byJapan relating tothismatter iscarried under point 20-"Papua NewGuinea -Increase inapplied
tariff oncanned mackerel".WT/GC/W/25
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Atitsmeeting on31January 1995, theGeneral Council approved thePreparatory Committee 's
recommendation (PC/R, paragraph 35)thatasandwhen requests forWTO accession under Article XII
weremade bystates andseparate customs territories forwhom aGATT 1947 working party already
existed, theexisting working parties should continue theirwork asWTO accession working parties
withstandard terms ofreference andtheirrespective current chairpersons.
(h) Guidelines forappointment ofofficers toWTO Bodies (WT/GC/M/1)
AttheGeneral Council meeting on31January 1995, theChairman recalled thatthePreparatory
CommitteehadapprovedproposedguidelinesfortheappointmentofofficerstoWTObodies(PC/IPL/14)
andhadforwarded themtotheWTO forfurther action. Heproposed thattheGeneral Council approve
theguidelines.
TheGeneral Council soagreed (WT/L/31).
(i) Adoption ofthereport ofthePreparatory Committee (WT/GC/M/1)
Atitsmeeting on31January 1995, theChairman proposed thattheGeneral Council adopt
thereport ofthePreparatory Committee totheWTO asawhole (PC/R andCorr.1), onthebasis of
certain understandings, which hereadout,ofwhatadoption ofthereport would mean.
TheGeneral Council adopted thereport ofthePreparatory Committee asawhole onthe
understanding indicated inthestatement bytheChairman.
2. Approval ofschedules ongoods andservices pursuant totheMinisterial Decision inFavour
ofLeast-Developed Countries4(WT/GC/M/4)
Under theMarrakesh Ministerial Decision inFavour ofLeast-Developed Countries, these
countries were given anadditional period ofoneyearfrom 15April 1994 tosubmit theirschedules
asrequired under Article XIoftheWTO Agreement.
AttheGeneral Council meeting on31May1995, theChairmen oftheCouncils forTrade
inGoods andforServices reported ontheverification bytheirrespective Councils ofanumber of
schedules thathadbeensubmitted pursuant tothisDecision andwhich were being forwarded tothe
General Council forfinalapproval.
TheGeneral Council approved theschedules ofthetwenty countries thathadbeenforwarded
toitforapproval.5
TheChairman spoke.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatement.
3. Headquarters Agreement (WT/GC/M/1, 4)
4Approval ofthegoods schedules ofChad andtheGambia wastaken upon3April under sub-point 1(f)-"Finalization
ofnegotiations onschedules ongoods andservices".
5Alistofthecountries concerned, together withtherelevant document references, wassubsequently issued asWT/L/70.WT/GC/W/25
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InJuly1994, thePreparatory Committee fortheWTO hadapproved Geneva astheseatof
theWTO (PC/M/4, Annex 1)subject toasatisfactory conclusion ofthenegotiation ofaHeadquarters
Agreement withtheSwiss Authorities. InDecember 1994, theCommittee hadagreed thatthemandate
oftheteamnegotiating onbehalf oftheWTO beextended, thataprogress report bepresented tothe
firstmeetingoftheWTO'sGeneralCouncil,andthattheoverallresultsofthenegotiationsbetransmitted
forapproval toasubsequent meeting thereof (PC/R, paragraph 16).
AttheGeneral Council meeting on31January 1995, Mr.Szepesi (Hungary) made aprogress
report concerning thenegotiations ontheHeadquarters Agreement.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteoftheprogress report andagreed thattheoverall results of
thenegotiations besubmitted forapproval atafuture meeting.
Atitsmeeting on31May1995, theGeneral Council considered aNote bytheNegotiating
Team (WT/GC/3) andtwolegalinstruments negotiated between theSwiss authorities andtheWTO
Negotiating Team (WT/GC/1 andAdd.1 andWT/GC/2).
TheChairmanproposedthattheGeneralCouncilapprovethetwolegalinstrumentsandauthorize
himandtheDirector-General oftheWTO toaccept these legalinstruments onbehalf oftheWTO.
TheGeneral Council soagreed (WT/L/69).
4. Establishment ofcommittees andadoption oftheirterms ofreference
(a) CommitteesonTradeandDevelopment,Balance-of-PaymentsRestrictions,andBudget,
Finance andAdministration (WT/GC/M/1)
AttheGeneral Council meeting on31January 1995, theChairman proposed that,pursuant
totherequirement inArticle IV:7oftheWTO Agreement, theGeneral Council establish aCommittee
onTrade andDevelopment, aCommittee onBalance-of-Payments Restrictions, andaCommittee on
Budget, Finance andAdministration.
TheGeneral Council soagreed.
TheChairman thenproposed thattheGeneral Council adopt theterms ofreference and
membership oftheCommittee onBudget, Finance andAdministration inPC/IPL/2, theterms of
referencefortheCommitteeonBalance-of-PaymentsRestrictionsinPC/IPL/3,andthetermsofreference
fortheCommitteeonTradeandDevelopmentinPC/IPL/4,andtakenoteoftheaccompanyingstatements
orunderstandings tothese textsreferred toinPC/R, paragraph 40.
TheGeneral Council soagreed.
(b) Committee onMarket Access (WT/GC/M/1)
AttheGeneral Council meeting on31January 1995, theChairman saidthatthere hadbeen
agreement toestablish aCommittee onMarket Access, andproposed thattheGeneral Council establish
thisCommittee pursuant toArticle IV:7oftheWTO Agreement.
TheGeneral Council soagreed.WT/GC/W/25
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TheChairman thenproposed thattheGeneral Council adopt theterms ofreference forthe
CommitteeonMarketAccessinPC/IPL/5,andtakenoteoftheaccompanyingstatementorunderstanding
tothistextcontained inPC/IPL/M/9, paragraphs 6,7and8.
TheGeneral Council soagreed.
(c) Committee onTrade andEnvironment (WT/GC/M/1)
AttheGeneral Council meeting on31January 1995, theChairman recalled that,pursuant to
theMarrakesh Ministerial Decision onTrade andEnvironment (MTN.TNC/45(MIN), Annex II),a
Committee onTrade andEnvironment should beestablished atthefirstmeeting oftheGeneral Council,
andproposed thattheGeneral Council establish thisCommittee.
TheGeneral Council soagreed.
(d) Terms ofreference oftheCommittee onAgriculture (WT/GC/M/1)
Atitsmeeting on31January 1995, theChairman proposed thattheGeneral Council adopt
theterms ofreference fortheCommittee onAgriculture inPC/IPL/1, andtakenoteoftheaccompanying
statement orunderstanding referred toinPC/R, paragraph 40.
TheGeneral Council soagreed.
5. Composition oftheTextiles Monitoring Body (WT/GC/M/1)
AttheGeneral Council meeting on31January 1995, theChairman proposed, onthebasis
ofconsultations thathadbeenheldinthepastmonth, thattheGeneral Council adopt thedraftdecision
inWT/GC/W/4 concerning thecomposition oftheTMB.
TheGeneral Council soagreed (WT/L/26).
TheChairman thenproposed thattheTMB becomposed ofmembers appointed bythefollowing
WTO Members: Brazil, Canada, theEuropean Communities, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Indonesia,
Norway, Pakistan andtheUnited States.
TheGeneral Council soagreed.
TheChairman theninvited theabove-mentioned WTO Members toproceed toappoint their
respective TMB members, andproposed thatMr.Szepesi (Hungary) beappointed asChairman ofthe
TMB forathree-year period.
TheGeneral Council soagreed.
6. Adoption oftheMarrakesh Ministerial Decision onNotification Procedures (WT/GC/M/1)
Atitsmeeting on31January 1995, theGeneral Council adopted theMarrakesh Ministerial
Decision onNotification Procedures, which Ministers hadrecommended foradoption bytheMinisterial
Conference.WT/GC/W/25
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7. Draft decision oncontinued application under theWTO Customs Valuation Agreement of
invocations ofprovisions fordeveloping countries fordelayed application andreservations
under theCustoms Valuation Agreement 1979 (WT/GC/M/1)
Atitsmeeting on31January 1995, theChairman proposed thattheGeneral Council adopt
thedraftdecision inWT/GC/W/1 providing forthecontinued application under theWTO Customs
Valuation Agreement ofinvocations ofprovisions fordeveloping countries fordelayed application and
reservations under the1979 Customs Valuation Agreement.
TheGeneral Council soagreed (WT/L/38).
8. Recommendation bytheCommittee onTrade-Related Investment Measures (WT/GC/M/3)
AttheGeneral Council meeting on3April 1995, theChairman drew attention to
recommendations ontheissue ofthearrangements fornotifications under Article 5.1oftheTRIMs
Agreement bystates andseparate customs territories eligible tobecome original WTO Members that
accepted theAgreement afteritsentry intoforce (G/TRIMS/2) andproposed thattheGeneral Council
adopt thedecision contained inthatdocument.
TheGeneral Council soagreed (WT/L/64).
9. Approval ofrules ofprocedure ofsubsidiary bodies
(a) Councils forTrade inGoods, TRIPS andServices (WT/GC/M/4, 6,8)
Atitsmeeting on31May1995, theGeneral Council considered forapproval, pursuant to
Article IV:5oftheWTO Agreement, thedraftrulesofprocedure fortheCouncils forTrade inGoods,
TRIPS andServices inG/C/W/2, IP/C/W/2 andS/C/W/2 respectively.
TheChairman saidthatfurther work wasrequired before these draftrulescould beapproved.
Since theoutstanding issues appeared tobeofconcern toallthree sectoral Councils, heproposed that
heholdconsultations withtheChairmen oftherespective Councils andthattheGeneral Council revert
tothismatter atitsnextmeeting.
TheGeneral Council soagreed.
Atitsmeeting on31July1995, theGeneral Council considered thedraftrules ofprocedure
formeetings oftheCouncil forTrade inGoods inG/C/W/2 andAdd.1.
TheChairman spoke.
TheGeneral Council approved therules ofprocedure fortheCouncil forTrade inGoods in
G/C/W/2 andAdd.1, andagreed thatsince thesame issuerelated torule33wasrelevant totherules
ofprocedure oftheCouncils forTRIPS andServices, thesolution adopted withrespect totheGoods
Council bereferred totheother twosectoral Councils fortheirconsideration.
Atitsmeeting on15November 1995, theGeneral Council considered therulesofprocedure
formeetings oftheCouncils forTRIPS andServices inIP/C/1 andS/L/15 which hadrecently beenWT/GC/W/25
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adopted bytherespective Councils.
TheGeneral Council approved therulesofprocedure formeetings oftheCouncils forTRIPS
andServices inIP/C/1 andS/L/15 respectively.
(b) Committee onTrade andDevelopment (WT/GC/M/8)
Atitsmeeting on15November 1995, theGeneral Council considered therulesofprocedure
formeetings oftheCommittee onTrade andDevelopment inWT/COMTD/6 which hadrecently been
adopted bythatCommittee.
TheGeneral Council approved therulesofprocedure formeetings oftheCommittee onTrade
andDevelopment inWT/COMTD/6.
10. Committee onBalance-of-Payments Restrictions6
(a) Programme ofconsultations for1995 (WT/GC/M/1)
AttheGeneral Council meeting on31January 1995, theChairman drew attention tothe
Committee 'sproposed programme ofconsultations for1995 (WT/BOP/W/1).
Therepresentative ofTurkey spoke.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatement andoftheinformation inWT/BOP/W/1.
(b) Consultations (WT/GC/M/5, 8)
AttheGeneral Council meeting on11July1995, theChairman oftheCommittee introduced
theCommittee 'sreports onitsconsultations withSouth Africa (WT/BOP/R/1-BOP/R/224) andEgypt
(WT/BOP/R/2-BOP/R/225) and,inconnection withthesecountries 'disinvocation oftherelevant GATT
provisions, recalled thatevery Member hadtherighttotakemeasures under Articles XIIandXVIII:B
tosafeguard itsexternal financial position anditsbalance-of-payments inthecircumstances provided
forinthese Articles. Hetheninformed theGeneral Council oftheconclusions reached atthe
consultations withHungary andSlovakia pending thesubmission ofthereports thereon.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatement andadopted thereports inWT/BOP/R/1-
BOP/R/224 andWT/BOP/R/2-BOP/R/225.
AttheGeneral Council meeting on15November 1995, theChairman oftheCommittee
introduced theCommittee 'sreports onitsconsultations withHungary (WT/BOP/R/3-BOP/R/226),
theSlovakRepublic(WT/BOP/R/4-BOP/R/227)andTurkey(WT/BOP/R/6-BOP/R/230),andinformed
theGeneral Council oftheconclusions reached attheconsultations withBrazil andSriLanka pending
thesubmission ofthereports thereon.
Therepresentative ofBrazil spoke.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatements andadopted thereports inWT/BOP/R/3-
6Onthedesignation oftheChairman oftheCommittee, seeunder point 42-"Appointment ofOfficers of...".WT/GC/W/25
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BOP/R/226, WT/BOP/R/4-BOP/R/227 andWT/BOP/R/6-BOP/R/230.
(c) Disinvocation byIsrael andSouth Africa (WT/GC/M/8)
Atitsmeeting on15November 1995, theChairman oftheCommittee informed theGeneral
Council thatIsrael andSouth Africa hadrecently communicated totheCommittee theirdisinvocation
ofthebalance-of-payments provisions ofGATT 1994 (WT/BOP/N/3 andWT/BOP/N/5).
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatement.
(d) Notes onmeetings (WT/GC/M/8)
AttheGeneral Council meeting on15November 1995, theChairman oftheCommittee drew
attention totheCommittee 'sdiscussion ofitsongoing business reported inWT/BOP/R/5-BOP/R/229.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteoftheinformation inWT/BOP/R/5-BOP/R/229.
11. Committee onBudget, Finance andAdministration7
- Reports (WT/GC/M/3, 4,5,8)
AttheGeneral Council meeting on3April 1995, theChairman oftheCommittee onBudget,
Finance andAdministration introduced theCommittee 'srecommendations atitsmeetings on16,22
and27March (WT/BFA/2 -L/7626), pending thesubmission ofareport thereon, andmade anoral
report onhisownresponsibility ontheCommittee 'sdiscussions concerning theManagement Review.
TheChairman spoke.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatements, including theoralreport made bytheBudget
Committee Chairman under hisresponsibility ontheManagement Review, andapproved theBudget
Committee 'srecommendations inparagraphs 1,2and3ofdocument WT/BFA/2 -L/7626.
AttheGeneral Council meeting on31May1995, theChairman oftheCommittee onBudget,
FinanceandAdministrationintroducedtheCommittee'sreportsinWT/BFA/3-L/7628andWT/BFA/4-
L/7629.
Therepresentatives ofEgypt andSwitzerland, andtheChairman oftheCommittee andthe
Chairman spoke.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatements andapproved theBudget Committee 'sspecific
recommendations inparagraphs 32,33,34and35ofitsreport inWT/BFA/3 -L/7628, andadopted
thereport. TheGeneral Council thenapproved theBudget Committee 'sspecific recommendations
inparagraphs 9,13and15ofitsreport inWT/BFA/4 -L/7629, andadopted thatreport.
AttheGeneral Council meeting on11July1995, theChairman oftheCommittee onBudget,
Finance andAdministration introduced theCommittee 'srecommendations atitsmeeting on29June
(WT/BFA/5 andAdd.1 -L/7631 andAdd.1), pending thesubmission ofareport thereon.
7Onthedesignation oftheChairman oftheCommittee, seeunder point 42-"Appointment ofOfficers of...".WT/GC/W/25
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TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatement andapproved theBudget Committee 'sspecific
recommendations inparagraphs 1,2,3,4and5ofdocument WT/BFA/5 andAdd.1 -L/7631 and
Add.1.
TheDirector-General spoke.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatement.
AttheGeneral Council meeting on15November 1995, theChairman oftheCommittee on
Budget, Finance andAdministration introduced theCommittee 'sreports inWT/BFA/6-L/7633,
WT/BFA/7-L/7634 andWT/BFA/8-L/7649.
Therepresentatives ofMorocco, Zimbabwe, Egypt andSenegal, andtheChairman ofthe
Committee andtheChairman spoke.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatements andadopted theCommittee 'sreport in
WT/BFA/6-L/7633. TheGeneral Council then approved theBudget Committee 'sspecific
recommendationsinparagraph9ofitsreportinWT/BFA/7-L/7634andadoptedthatreport.TheGeneral
Council thenapproved theBudget Committee 'sspecific recommendations inparagraphs 14,18,22
and39ofitsreport inWT/BFA/8-L/7649 andadopted thatreport.
12. Customs unions andfree-trade areas; regional agreements
(a) Establishment ofaCommittee onregional trading arrangements (WT/GC/M/8)
Atitsmeeting on15November 1995, theGeneral Council considered acommunication from
Canada (WT/GC/W/18) proposing thattheChairman oftheGeneral Council holdconsultations on
thepossible establishment ofaCommittee onregional trading arrangements.
Therepresentatives ofCanada, Japan, Hong Kong, Korea, Malaysia onbehalf oftheASEAN
countries, theUnited States, India, Australia, Argentina, Switzerland, theEuropean Communities,
Norway,Mexico,Morocco,NewZealand,Pakistan,Egypt,Brazil,Poland,theCzechRepublic,Tunisia,
Turkey, Uruguay, Trinidad andTobago, Chile, Hungary, Romania, Venezuela andTanzania, andthe
Chairman oftheCouncil forTrade inGoods, theDirector-General andtheChairman spoke.
TheGeneralCounciltooknoteofthestatementsandauthorizeditsChairmantoconductinformal
consultations onthequestion oftheestablishment ofaCommittee onregional trading arrangements.
(b) Terms ofreference ofworking parties onagreements notified under Article XXIV of
GATT 1947 (WT/GC/M/5)
AttheGeneral Council meeting on11July1995, theChairman recalled thatthismatter had
beenthesubject ofinformal consultations conducted bytheChairman oftheCouncil forTrade inGoods.
TheChairman oftheCouncil forTrade inGoods spoke.
TheGeneral Council approved theterms ofreference forthese working parties together with
theaccompanying understandings asreadoutbytheChairman oftheCouncil forTrade inGoods.
Therepresentative ofUruguay onbehalf oftheMercosur countries spoke.WT/GC/W/25
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TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatement.
(c) Enlargement oftheEuropean Union (WT/GC/M/1, 4)
Atitsmeeting on31January 1995, theGeneral Council considered acommunication from
theEuropean Communities concerning itsratification on1January 1995oftheTreaty concerning the
accession ofAustria, Finland, Sweden andNorway totheEuropean Union (L/7614), andanadditional
communication containing theformal notification oftheratification oftheaccession ofAustria, Finland
andSweden totheEuropean Union (WT/L/7).
TheChairman saiditwashisunderstanding from consultations heldbytheSecretariat that
there wasbroad agreement fortheGeneral Council toestablish aworking party under Article XXIV
ofGATT 1994 toexamine thismatter under terms ofreference thathereadout.
Therepresentatives oftheEuropean Communities, theUnited States, Japan, Canada, New
Zealand, Indonesia onbehalf oftheASEAN Members oftheWTO, Australia, Chile, Switzerland,
Uruguay, Mexico, Argentina, Turkey, Norway, Iceland, Hong Kong andIsrael spoke.
TheGeneral Council agreed thatfurther informal consultations beheldontheterms ofreference
andthatthematter bereverted toatalaterstage, andauthorized itsChairman toconsult onthismatter
withtheChairman oftheCouncil forTrade inGoods andtheChairmen ofother WTO Councils, if
necessary.
Atitsmeeting on31May1995, theGeneral Council considered acommunication from the
European Communities (WT/L/67) inwhich theCommunity agreed totheprolongation ofallrights
heldbyWTO Members under Article XXVIII:3 ofGATT 1994 until31December 1995, inrespect
oftheArticle XXIV:6 negotiations under wayfollowing theaccession ofAustria, Finland andSweden
totheEuropean Union.
Therepresentatives ofCanada andJapan spoke.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatements andagreed thatthesix-month period referred
toinArticle XXVIII:3 would notbeconsidered toexpire prior to31December 1995.
(d) Hungary -Slovenia Free-Trade Agreement (WT/GC/M/5)
Atitsmeeting on11July1995, therepresentative ofHungary, alsoonbehalf ofSlovenia,
informed theGeneral Council thataFree-Trade Agreement between Hungary andSlovenia signed
on6April 1994 hadentered intoforce on1January 1995, andthatthetextoftheAgreement would
besubmitted shortly. Heindicated thereadiness ofbothparties tosubmit theAgreement forexamination
under therelevant provisions oftheGATT 1994byaworking party thatmight beestablished forthis
purpose.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatement.
13. Waivers inforce asof1January 1995 (WT/GC/M/1)
Atitsmeeting on31January 1995, theGeneral Council considered anupdated listofwaivers
inforce on1January 1995 (WT/L/3), pursuant totheprovision infootnote 1toparagraph 1(b)(iii)
oftheGATT 1994thattheMinisterial Conference establish atitsfirstsession arevised listofwaiversWT/GC/W/25
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covered bythisparagraph.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteoftheinformation contained inWT/L/3.
14. Decision-making procedures under Articles IXandXIIoftheWTO Agreement (WT/GC/M/8)
AttheGeneral Council meeting on15November 1995, theChairman recalled thatthere had
beensome discussion concerning themanner inwhich theGeneral Council should takedecisions in
relation towaivers oraccessions totheWTO, andproposed, onthebasis ofconsultations, thatthis
issue beclarified intheform ofastatement bytheChairman which hereadout.
Therepresentative ofIndia saidthathisdelegation would joininaconsensus onthestatement
bytheChairmanonanadreferendumbasisandonthebasisofcertainunderstandingswhichheoutlined.8
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatement andagreed tothestatement bytheChairman
onWTO decision-making procedures under Articles IXandXIIoftheWTO Agreement (WT/L/93).
15. Waivers under Article IXoftheWTO Agreement
(a) Harmonized System
(i) Bangladesh, Guatemala, Israel, Jamaica, Morocco, SriLanka, Trinidad and
Tobago (WT/GC/M/6)
Atitsmeeting on31July1995, theGeneral Council considered requests byBangladesh (G/L/8),
Guatemala (G/L/12), Israel (G/L/14), Jamaica (G/L/9), Morocco (G/L/11), SriLanka (G/L/10) and
Trinidad andTobago (G/L/13) forextensions ofwaivers previously granted inconnection withtheir
implementation oftheHarmonized System.
TheChairman oftheCouncil forTrade inGoods reported ontheconsideration oftheserequests
bytheCouncil.
TheGeneral Council took noteofthereport, approved thetexts ofthedraft decisions
(G/C/W/9/Rev.1-Bangladesh;G/C/W/13/Rev.1-Guatemala;G/C/W/15/Rev.1-Israel;G/C/W/10/Rev.1-
Jamaica; G/C/W/12/Rev.1-Morocco; G/C/W/11/Rev.1-Sri Lanka; andG/C/W/14/Rev.1-Trinidad
andTobago), andagreed tosubmit them toavotebypostal ballot.
TherepresentativeofArgentinaonbehalfoftheInformalGroupofDevelopingCountriesspoke.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatement.
TheDecisionswereadoptedon31August1995(WT/L/80-Bangladesh;WT/L/81-Guatemala;
WT/L/82 -Israel; WT/L/83 -Jamaica; WT/L/84 -Morocco; WT/L/86 -SriLanka; andWT/L/87 -
Trinidad andTobago).
8Inaletter dated 17November addressed totheChairman, therepresentative ofIndia indicated thathisGovernment
waswilling tojoinintheconsensus ontheunderstanding thatthedecision wasbased ontheelements outlined inhisdelegation 's
statement atthemeeting andthatthisstatement would form partoftherecord.WT/GC/W/25
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(ii) Pakistan (WT/GC/M/8)
Atitsmeeting on15November 1995, theGeneral Council considered arequest byPakistan
(G/L/6) foranextension ofawaiver previously granted inconnection withitsimplementation ofthe
Harmonized System, andadraftdecision tothiseffect (G/C/W/7/Rev.1).
TheChairman oftheCouncil forTrade inGoods reported ontheconsideration ofthisrequest
bytheCouncil.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthereport and,inaccordance withtheDecision-Making
Procedures Under Articles IXandXIIoftheWTO Agreement inWT/L/93, adopted thedecision
(WT/L/102).
(b) Other waivers
(i) Senegal -Renegotiation ofSchedule XLIX (WT/GC/M/6)
Atitsmeeting on31July1995, theGeneral Council considered arequest bySenegal (G/L/7)
foranextension ofawaiver previously granted inconnection withitsrenegotiation ofitsschedule,
andadraftdecision tothiseffect (G/C/W/8/Rev.1).
TheChairman oftheCouncil forTrade inGoods reported ontheconsideration ofthisrequest
bytheCouncil.
TheGeneral Council took noteofthereport, approved thetextofthedraft decision
(G/C/W/8/Rev.1) andagreed tosubmit ittoavotebypostal ballot.
TheDecision wasadopted on31August 1995 (WT/L/85).
(ii) Malawi -Renegotiation ofSchedule LVIII (WT/GC/M/8)
Atitsmeeting on15November 1995, theGeneral Council considered arequest byMalawi
(G/L/24) foranextension ofawaiver previously granted inconnection withitsrenegotiation ofits
schedule, andadraftdecision tothiseffect (G/C/W/19).
TheChairman oftheCouncil forTrade inGoods reported ontheconsideration ofthisrequest
bytheCouncil.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthereport and,inaccordance withtheDecision-Making
Procedures Under Articles IXandXIIoftheWTO Agreement contained inWT/L/93, adopted the
decision (WT/L/103).
(iii) United States -Caribbean Basin Recovery Act(WT/GC/M/8)
Atitsmeeting on15November 1995, theGeneral Council considered arequest bytheUnited
States (G/L/25) fortherenewal ofitswaiver concerning theCaribbean Basin Recovery Act(CBERA),
andadraftdecision tothiseffect (G/C/W/21/Rev.1).
TheChairman oftheCouncil forTrade inGoods reported ontheconsideration ofthisrequestWT/GC/W/25
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bytheCouncil.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthereport and,inaccordance withtheDecision-Making
Procedures Under Articles IXandXIIoftheWTO Agreement contained inWT/L/93, adopted the
decision (WT/L/104).
Therepresentative ofColombia spoke.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatement.
16. Accession matters
(a) Belarus (WT/GC/M/19)
Atitsmeeting on31January 1995, theGeneral Council considered acommunication from
Belarus (WT/L/21) inwhich thatGovernment requested accession totheWTO under Article XIIand
forwhich aGATT 1947 accession Working Party already existed.
TheChairmanproposed,onthebasisoftheGeneralCouncil'sdecisionregardingsuchrequests,10
thattheexisting Working Party ontheAccession ofBelarus continue itswork asaWTO Accession
Working Party.
TheGeneral Council soagreed.
TheChairman theninvited Belarus, onbehalf oftheGeneral Council, toattend meetings of
theGeneral Council andofother WTO bodies asanobserver during theperiod inwhich theWorking
Party wascarrying outitswork.
(b) Ecuador (WT/GC/5, 6)
InOctober 1992, theGATT 1947Council hadestablished aworking partytoexamine Ecuador 's
request foraccession totheGATT. Subsequently, inpursuance ofthedecision bytheGeneral Council
on31January11regardingrequestsforWTOaccessionbygovernmentsforwhomaGATT1947accession
working partyalready existed, thatworking partyhadbeentransformed intoaWTO Accession Working
Party.
AttheGeneral Council meeting on11July1995, therepresentative ofColombia, onbehalf
oftheGroup ofLatin-American andCaribbean countries (GRULAC), proposed thatinviewofthe
recent completion ofthework oftheWorking Party onEcuador 'saccession, anadditional meeting
oftheGeneral Council beheldthatmonth totakeadecision onEcuador 'saccession.
TherepresentativesoftheUnitedStates,theEuropeanCommunitiesandEcuador(asanobserver)
spoke.
9Carried intheMinutes under "Requests forWTO accession under Article XII".
10SeeWT/GC/M/1, Item4(g).
11Idem.WT/GC/W/25
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TheChairman saidhewould consult onthequestion ofconvening anadditional meeting before
thesummer break todealwiththisandother matters thathadbeenraised atthatmeeting.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatements.
Atitsmeeting on31July1995, theGeneral Council considered theWorking Party'sreport
(WT/L/77 andCorr.1, Add.1, Add.1/Corr.1 andCorr.2, andAdd.2).
TherepresentativesofEcuador(asanobserver),Venezuela,theEuropeanCommunities,Malaysia
onbehalf oftheASEAN countries, Colombia andArgentina, andtheChairman spoke.
Therepresentatives ofagreat majority oftheMembers, including Australia, Bolivia, Brazil,
Canada, theEuropean Communities, Cuba, Czech Republic, Egypt, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong,
India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines,
Romania andUruguay, among others, wished tobeplaced onrecord aswelcoming andsupporting
theaccession ofEcuador.
TheGeneral Council approved thetextofthedraftProtocol ofAccession andthetextofthe
draftdecision, agreed thatthedraftdecision besubmitted toavotebypostal ballot, adopted thereport
oftheWorking Party inWT/L/77 andCorr.1, Add.1, Add.1/Corr.1 andCorr.2, andAdd.2, andtook
noteofthestatements andoftheexpressions ofsupport.
TheDecision wasadopted on16August 1995 (WT/ACC/ECU/5).
(c) Seychelles (WT/GC/M/5)
Atitsmeetingon11July1995,theGeneralCouncilconsideredacommunicationfromSeychelles
(WT/ACC/SYC/1) concerning itsinterest inacceding totheWTO Agreement pursuant toArticle XII.
Therepresentative ofSeychelles (asanobserver) andtheChairman spoke.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatements, agreed toestablish aworking partytoexamine
Seychelles 'srequest, andauthorized itsChairman todesignate theChairperson oftheWorking Party
inconsultation withrepresentatives ofMembers andwiththerepresentative ofSeychelles.
Therepresentative oftheEuropean Communities spoke.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatement.
TheChairman theninvited Seychelles, onbehalf oftheGeneral Council, toattend meetings
oftheGeneral Council andofother WTO bodies asanobserver during theperiod inwhich theWorking
Party wascarrying outitswork.
(d) Tonga (WT/GC/M/8)
Atitsmeeting on15November 1995, theGeneral Council considered acommunication from
Tonga (WT/ACC/TON/1) concerning itsinterest inacceding totheWTO Agreement pursuant to
Article XII.
Therepresentatives ofTonga (asanobserver), NewZealand, Australia, theUnited States,
Malaysia onbehalf oftheASEAN countries, andIndia, andtheDirector-General spoke.WT/GC/W/25
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TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatements, agreed toestablish aworking partytoexamine
Tonga 'srequest, andauthorized itsChairman todesignate theChairperson oftheWorking Party in
consultation withrepresentatives ofMembers andwiththerepresentative ofTonga.
TheChairman theninvited Tonga, onbehalf oftheGeneral Council, toattend meetings of
theGeneral Council andofother WTO bodies asanobserver during theperiod inwhich theWorking
Party wascarrying outitswork.
(e) Vanuatu (WT/GC/M/5)
Atitsmeeting on11July1995, theGeneral Council considered acommunication fromVanuatu
(WT/ACC/VAT/1) concerning itsinterest inacceding totheWTO Agreement pursuant toArticle XII.
Therepresentatives ofVanuatu (asanobserver), theEuropean Communities, Australia, New
Zealand andCyprus spoke.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatements, agreed toestablish aworking partytoexamine
Vanuatu 'srequest andauthorized itsChairman todesignate theChairperson oftheWorking Party in
consultation withrepresentatives ofMembers andwiththerepresentative ofVanuatu.
TheChairman theninvited Vanuatu, onbehalf oftheGeneral Council, toattend meetings of
theGeneral Council andofother WTO bodies asanobserver during theperiod inwhich theWorking
Party wascarrying outitswork.
(f) VietNam (WT/GC/M/1, 3)
Atitsmeeting on31January 1995, theGeneral Council considered acommunication from
VietNam(WT/L/1) concerning itsinterest inacceding totheWTO Agreement pursuant toArticle XII.
Therepresentatives ofVietNam(asanobserver), Australia, Indonesia onbehalf oftheASEAN
countries, India, Japan andNewZealand spoke.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatements, agreed toestablish aworking partytoexamine
VietNam'srequest, andauthorized itsChairman todesignate theChairperson oftheWorking Party
inconsultation withrepresentatives ofMembers andwiththerepresentative ofVietNam.
TheChairman theninvited VietNam, onbehalf oftheGeneral Council, toattend meetings
oftheGeneral Council andofother WTO bodies asanobserver during theperiod inwhich theWorking
Party wascarrying outitswork.
Atitsmeeting on3April 1995, theChairman informed theGeneral Council thatMr.S.Ho
(Korea) hadagreed toserve asChairman oftheWorking Party.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthisinformation.
(g) Working Parties onaccession totheWTO
- Chairmanships (WT/GC/M/3, 4,5)
AttheGeneral Council meeting on3April 1995, theChairman announced, onthebasis of
consultations, thatthefollowing hadagreed toserve asChairpersons oftherespective working parties:WT/GC/W/25
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-Accession ofCambodia: Mr.A.Meloni (Italy)
-Accession ofLithuania: Mr.P.Witt(Germany)
-Accession oftheFormer Yugoslav Republic ofMacedonia: Mr.B.Ekblom (Finland)
-Accession ofSudan: Mr.A.Lecheheb (Morocco)
-Accession ofUzbekistan: Mr.M.Ennaceur (Tunisia)
-Accession ofVietNam: Mr.S.Ho(Korea)
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthisinformation.
Atitsmeeting on31May1995, theChairman informed theGeneral Council thatMr.B.Ekblom
(Finland) wasnolonger available tochairtheWorking Party ontheAccession oftheFormer Yugoslav
Republic ofMacedonia andthathewascontinuing consultations tofindanewChairman.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthisinformation.
Atitsmeetingon11July1995,theChairmaninformedtheGeneralCouncilthatMr.Johannessen
(Norway) hadagreed toserve asChairman oftheWorking Party ontheAccession oftheFormer
Yugoslav Republic ofMacedonia.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthisinformation.
17. Brazil -Import restrictive measures onautomobiles (WT/GC/M/6)
AttheGeneralCouncilmeetingon31July1995,therepresentativeoftheUnitedStatesexpressed
concern atanotification byBrazil (WT/BOP/N/4) ofitsintention toinvoke Article XVIII:B ofGATT
1994 withrespect toquantitative restrictions onimports ofautomobiles imposed on13June.
Therepresentatives ofKorea, Japan, theEuropean Communities, Mexico, Canada andBrazil,
andtheChairman oftheCommittee onBalance-of-Payments Restrictions spoke.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatements.12
18. Brazil -Tariff increases (WT/GC/M/3)
AttheGeneralCouncilmeetingon3April1995,therepresentativeoftheUnitedStatesexpressed
concern attariff increases ofupto70percentrecently announced byBrazil onavariety ofdurable
consumer goods andautomobiles.
Therepresentative ofBrazil spoke.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatements.
12Seealsothesubsequent statement byBrazilon15November under sub-poi nt10(b) -"Commi tteeonBalance-of-Payment s
Restrictions -Consultations".WT/GC/W/25
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19. Japan-United States autoandautoparts issues (WT/GC/M/4, 5)
(a) United States 'autoandautoparts issues: USunilateral measures
(b) Japan'sautomotive barriers andrestrictive practices
AttheGeneral Council meeting on31May1995, theChairman saiditwashisunderstanding
thatdelegations didnotwishtoenterintoadiscussion onthese twomatters atthatmeeting, butrather
tohavetheGeneral Council takenoteofstatements made ontheseitems atthemeetings oftheCouncil
forTrade inGoods on29May1995 andoftheDispute Settlement Body thatmorning.
Therepresentatives ofArgentina andChile spoke.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatements, aswellasofthestatements made onthese
items atthemeetings oftheCouncil forTrade inGoods on29MayandoftheDispute Settlement Body
thatmorning.13
Atitsmeeting on11July1995, theGeneral Council again considered thismatter.
Therepresentatives ofJapan, theEuropean Communities, Australia andHong Kong, andthe
Director-General spoke.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatements.
20. Papua NewGuinea -Increase inapplied tariff oncanned mackerel (WT/GC/M/4)
AttheGeneral Council meeting on31May1995, therepresentative ofJapan expressed concern
overPapua NewGuinea 'srecent increase ofitsapplied tariffoncanned mackerel inexcess oftheceiling
binding forthisproduct inthatcountry 'sSchedule.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatement.14
21. United States -Imposition ofimport duties onautomobiles from Japan under Sections 301
and304oftheTrade Actof1974 (WT/GC/M/4)
AttheGeneralCouncilmeetingon31May1995,therepresentativeoftheEuropeanCommunities
saidthattheCommunity wished tobejoined intheconsultations under Article XXII:1 ofGATT 1994
requested byJapan15concerning theUnited States 'trade measures affecting imports from Japan of
certain automobiles under Sections 301and304oftheUSTrade Actof1974.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatement.
13SeeG/C/M/3, items 5and6,andWT/DSB/M/5, items 2and3.
14Asubsequent statement byJapan relating tothismatter wasmade on15November under sub-point 1(f)-"Finalization
ofschedules ongoods andservices".
15SeeWT/DSB/M/5.WT/GC/W/25
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22. United States -Investigation regarding Japan'sphotographic filmmarket under Section 301
oftheTrade Actof1974 (WT/GC/M/5)
AttheGeneral Council meeting on11July1995, therepresentative ofJapan expressed concern
attheinitiation ofaninvestigation announced bytheUnited States under Section 301ofitsTrade Act
of1974 concerning Japan'smarket forphotographic film.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatement.
23. UnitedStates-Proposedlegislationtoreinforcethecommercial,economicandfinancialembargo
onCuba (WT/GC/M/5)
AttheGeneral Council meeting on11July1995, therepresentative ofCuba expressed concern
atabillbefore theUSCongress which proposed thereinforcement ofthecommercial, economic and
financial embargo imposed onCuba.
Therepresentatives oftheEuropean Communities, Mexico andColombia spoke.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatements.
24. United States -Recent actions under Section 301oftheOmnibus Trade andCompetitiveness
Actof1988 (WT/GC/M/1, 3)
AttheGeneral Council meeting on31January 1995, therepresentative ofColombia expressed
concern ataninvestigation recently initiated bytheUnited States under Section 301ofitsOmnibus
Trade andCompetitiveness Actof1988 concerning theexport régime forbananas fromColombia to
theEuropean Community.
Therepresentatives ofCosta Rica, Guatemala, Mexico andHong Kong, andtheChairman
spoke.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatements.
Atitsmeeting on3April 1995, theGeneral Council again considered thismatter.
Therepresentatives ofCosta Rica, Colombia, theEuropean Communities, Chile, Nicaragua
andVenezuela spoke.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatements.
25. Negotiations onfinancial services (WT/GC/M/5)
AttheGeneralCouncilmeetingon11July1995,therepresentativeoftheEuropeanCommunities
saidthattheCommunity anditsmember States continued toattach importance totheliberalization
offinancial services within theWTO framework, andinvited allparticipants inthenegotiations to
keeptheirbestoffers onthetableonanm.f.n. basisinorder toensure thebroadest possible participation
inanyagreement bythenewdeadline forthecompletion ofthenegotiations setfor28July1995.WT/GC/W/25
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TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatement.
26. Organization andworking methods ofWTO bodies (WT/GC/M/3)
AttheGeneralCouncilmeetingon3April1995,therepresentativeoftheEuropeanCommunities
saidthatwhile thecustomary practice ofholding informal meetings onacase-by-case basistodiscuss
specificsubjectswasindispensableandfacilitateddecision-makingatformalmeetings,informalmeetings
atwhich thetotality oftheagenda proposed foraformal meeting wasdiscussed werenotworthwhile.
Therepresentative ofEgypt andtheChairman spoke.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatements.
27. Working language intheTechnical Committee onRules ofOrigin under theauspices ofthe
World Customs Organization (WT/GC/M/1)
AttheGeneral Council meeting on31January 1995, therepresentative ofChile expressed
concern overthelackofinterpretation inSpanish atthefirstmeeting oftheTechnical Committee on
Rules ofOrigin oftheWorld Customs Organization tobeheldinBrussels inFebruary.
Therepresentative ofArgentina alsoonbehalf oftheLatin American andCaribbean countries
spoke.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatements andauthorized itsChairman toconvey the
concerns expressed byChile andArgentina totheSecretariat oftheWorld Customs Organization.
28. Attendance atWTO meetings when introducing agenda items (WT/GC/M/7, 8)
AttheGeneral Council meeting on30October 1995, therepresentative ofArgentina proposed
thatatitsnextmeeting theGeneral Council consider adopting adecision under which theChairman
ofaWTO bodywould nottakeupanagenda itemproposed byoneormoredelegations, ifthedelegation
ordelegations which proposed theitemforconsideration bythatbodywerenotpresent inthemeeting
room tointroduce theiteminquestion ontheirownbehalf andtoparticipate inanydebate towhich
itmight giverise.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatement.
Atitsmeeting on15November 1995, theGeneral Council considered acommunication from
Argentina onthismatter (WT/GC/W/14).
Therepresentatives ofArgentina, India andZimbabwe, andtheChairman spoke.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatements.
29. Procedures foranannual overview ofWTO activities andforreporting under theWTO
(WT/GC/M/8)WT/GC/W/25
Section I
Page25
Atitsmeeting on15November 1995, theGeneral Council considered proposals submitted
bytheChairman, following consultations withChairpersons ofother WTO bodies andwiththe
Secretariat, foranannual overview ofWTO activities andforreporting under theWTO
(WT/GC/W/15/Rev.1).
Therepresentatives oftheUnited States, theEuropean Communities andIndia spoke.
TheGeneral Council adopted theprocedures foranannual overview ofWTO activities and
forreporting under theWTO (WT/L/105) ontheunderstanding thattheChairman would consult with
theChairman oftheTPRB onthequestion ofholding theannual overview ofWTO activities atthe
sametimeastheoverview ofdevelopments ininternational tradeandthetrading system required under
theTrade Policy Review Mechanism.
30. Guidelines forthescheduling ofmeetings (WT/GC/M/8)
Atitsmeeting on15November 1995, theGeneral Council considered guidelines forthe
scheduling ofmeetings (WT/GC/W/16) which hadbeendrawn upfollowing intensive consultations
withdelegations andwithaviewtoensuring theefficient conduct ofmeetings ofWTO bodies.
TheChairman saidthattheDSB, theBOPCommittee andtheTMB hadparticular requirements
formeetings andthatitshould therefore beunderstood thatwhile allefforts would bemade toschedule
meetings ofthese bodies inaccordance withtheguidelines inWT/GC/W/16, thenecessary flexibility
would beapplied ininstances where thiswould notbepossible. Headded thatinscheduling WTO
meetings, thetimetable ofmeetings ofother intergovernmental organizations inGeneva, suchas
UNCTAD,wouldbetakenintoaccountasfaraspossiblebearinginmindtheworkloadsoftherespective
organizations.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatement andadopted theguidelines forthescheduling
ofmeetings (WT/L/106).
31. Programme ofmeetings oftheGeneral Council (WT/GC/M/1, 3)
AttheGeneral Council meeting on31January 1995, theChairman proposed thattheGeneral
Council meetinprinciple onaquarterly basis, andthatmore frequent meetings beheldifasufficient
number ofmatters forconsideration sorequired. Heannounced hisintention toholdinformal
consultations onthismatter.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatement.
AttheGeneral Council meeting on3April 1995, theChairman saiditappeared from his
consultations thatthesuggestion hehadmade atthemeeting on31January wasacceptable, namely
thattheGeneral Council should, inprinciple, meetquarterly andthatmore frequent meetings would
beconvened ifrequired.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthisinformation.
32. Procedures forthecirculation andderestriction ofWTO documents (WT/GC/M/5, 6)WT/GC/W/25
Section I
Page26
AttheGeneral Council meeting on11July1995, theChairman saidthatwhile substantial
progress hadbeenmade ininformal consultations indefining proposals onthese procedures, there
werestillsome outstanding points which required further clarification, andtheGeneral Council would
therefore havetorevert tothisiteminthenearfuture.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatement.
Atitsmeeting on31July1995, theGeneral Council again considered thismatter.
TheChairman spoke.
TheGeneral Council agreed thatdelegations begiven more timeinorder tofinalize their
positions andthatfurther consultations beconducted onthismatter aswellasonguidelines for
arrangements onrelations withnon-governmental organizations, andthatboththesematters bereverted
toatitsnextmeeting.
33. Arrangements foreffective cooperation withother intergovernmental organizations
(a) United Nations (WT/GC/M/3, 8)
Inadopting thereport ofthePreparatory Committee (PC/R) on31January, theGeneral Council
hadendorsed paragraph 54ofthereport, which stated that"ThePreparatory Committee sawnogrounds
forformal institutional links between theWTO andtheUnited Nations, although theneedforthe
establishment ofcooperative tiesbetween thetwoorganizations wasunderscored; thislatter aspect
could betaken upbytheWTO."
AttheGeneral Council meeting on3April 1995, theChairman reported onhisinformal
consultations concerning thearrangements forcooperation tobeestablished between thetwo
organizations, andproposed thattheGeneral Council confirm totheSecretariat therequest ofMembers
thatitwork outwiththeUnited Nations aglobal arrangement16which would bebased onthesame
effective working relationship thathadexisted inthepastbetween theGATT andtheUnited Nations.
TheGeneral Council soagreed.
Atitsmeeting on15November 1995, theGeneral Council considered acommunication from
theDirector-General (WT/GC/W/10) informing Members ofaglobal arrangement thathadbeenagreed
between thetwoSecretariats through anexchange ofletters signed bytheSecretary-General ofthe
United Nations andbyhimself.
Therepresentative oftheUnited States andtheDirector-General spoke.
TheGeneralCounciltooknoteofthecommunicationfromtheDirector-GeneralinWT/GC/W/10
andofthestatements.
(b) IMFandWorld Bank (WT/GC/M/3, 5)
16Some discussion relating tothismatter iscarried under sub-point 35(a) -"Relationship between theInternational Trade
Centre UNCTAD/GATT andtheWTO".WT/GC/W/25
Section I
Page27
Atitsmeeting on3April 1995, theChairman informed theGeneral Council thatconsultations
onthequestion oftherelationship between theWTO andtheIMFandtheWorld Bank were being
conducted byMr.Rossier (Switzerland) andthattheGeneral Council would revert tothismatter at
alaterdate.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthisinformation.
AttheGeneral Council meeting on11July1995, Mr.Rossier readoutasetof"proposed
conclusions" resulting fromhisconsultations which, following theirapproval bytheGeneral Council,
would beaddressed totheDirector-General asabasistoseekanagreement onthefuture relationship
between theWTO andtheIMFandWorld Bank.
Therepresentative oftheEuropean Communities andtheChairman spoke.
TheGeneral Council approved thesetof"proposed conclusions" readoutbyMr.Rossier and
tooknoteofthestatements.
TheDirector-General andtheChairman spoke.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatements.
34. Guidelines forarrangements onrelations withnon-governmental organizations pursuant to
Article V:2oftheWTO Agreement (WT/GC/M/5, 6)
AttheGeneral Council meeting on11July1995, theChairman saidthatwhile considerable
progress hadbeenmade ininformal consultations onthismatter, further consultations were needed
tofinalize adraftwhich could besubmitted totheGeneral Council forapproval.
Therepresentative oftheEuropean Communities andtheChairman oftheCommittee onTrade
andEnvironment spoke.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatements.
Atitsmeeting on31July1995, theGeneral Council again considered thismatter.
TheChairman spoke.
TheGeneral Council agreed thatdelegations begiven more timeinorder tofinalize their
positions andthatfurther consultations beconducted onthismatter aswellasonprocedures forthe
circulation andderestriction ofdocuments, andthatboththesematters bereverted toatitsnextmeeting.
35. International Trade Centre UNCTAD/GATT
(a) Relationship between theInternational Trade Centre UNCTAD/GATT andtheWTO
(WT/GC/M/3)
AttheGeneral Council meeting on3April 1995, theChairman reported onhisinformal
consultations concerning therelationship oftheWTO withtheITC, andproposed thatitbeagreed
thattheITCshould beoperated jointly bytheWTO andUNCTAD, thelatter acting onbehalf oftheWT/GC/W/25
Section I
Page28
United Nations. Healsoproposed thattheBudget Committee 'srecommendations concerning theITC,
asadopted bytheGeneral Council,17beconveyed totheUnited Nations andthatnegotiations start
without delay. Thisbudgetary aspect waspartoftheoverall package tobenegotiated bytheSecretariat
onthecooperative tieswiththisorganization.18
Therepresentative ofArgentina andtheChairman spoke.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatements andagreed withtheChairman 'sproposals.19
(b) Report oftheJoint Advisory Group (WT/GC/M/8)
Atitsmeeting on15November 1995, theGeneral Council considered thereport oftheJoint
Advisory Group oftheInternational Trade Centre UNCTAD/GATT onitstwenty-eighth session
(ITC/AG(XXVIII)/150 andAnnex I).
TheChairman oftheGroup introduced thereport. Therepresentatives oftheEuropean
Communities, Switzerland, Argentina onbehalf oftheInformal Group ofDeveloping Countries, and
Canada, andtheExecutive Director oftheInternational Trade Centre, theDirector-General andthe
Chairman spoke.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatements andadopted thereport.
36. Ratification oftheWTO Agreement
(a) Cameroon (WT/GC/M/6)
Atitsmeeting on31July1995, therepresentative ofCameroon informed theGeneral Council
thatCameroon hadrecently completed itsdomestic procedures forratification oftheWTO Agreement
andthattheinstrument ofratification would bedeposited withtheSecretariat shortly.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatement.
(b) Egypt (WT/GC/M/4)
Atitsmeeting on31May1995, therepresentative ofEgypt informed theGeneral Council
thatEgypt hadcompleted itsdomestic procedures forratification oftheWTO Agreement andthata
ratification instrument hadbeendeposited withtheSecretariat thatday.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatement.
(c) Poland (WT/GC/M/4)
17SeeWT/BFA/2, paragraph 1,andWT/GC/M/3, item8.
18Onthecooperative arrangements withtheUnited Nations, seeunder sub-point 33(a) -"Arrangements foreffective
cooperation withother intergovernmental organizations -United Nations".
19AttheGeneral Council meeting on15November, inconnection withthediscussion onthearrangements concluded
between theWTO andtheUnited Nations, theDirector-General announced thatthe"International Trade Centre
UNCTAD/GATT" would nowbethe"International Trade Centre UNCTAD/WTO."WT/GC/W/25
Section I
Page29
Atitsmeeting on31May1995, therepresentative ofPoland informed theGeneral Council
thatPoland hadcompleted itsratification process fortheWTO Agreement andtheMultilateral Trade
Agreements annexed thereto, andthattheAgreement would enterintoforceforPoland on1July1995.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatement.
(d) Switzerland (WT/GC/M/3)
Atitsmeeting on3April 1995, therepresentative ofSwitzerland informed theGeneral Council
thatthewaywasnowclearforSwitzerland tomodify itsdomestic legislation toimplement theUruguay
Round Agreements andthatthiswould bedoneatthelatest byend-May, shortly afterwhich Switzerland
would beinaposition todeposit itsinstrument ofratification.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatement.
(e) Turkey (WT/GC/M/1)
Atitsmeeting on31January 1995, therepresentative ofTurkey informed theGeneral Council
thatTurkey 'sNational Assembly hadadopted alawproviding forratification oftheWTO Agreement
effective on1January 1995, andthataformal instrument ofratification would shortly besubmitted
totheSecretariat.
Therepresentative oftheEuropean Communities spoke.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatements.
37. 1996 Ministerial Conference
(a) Venue oftheConference (WT/GC/M/1)
AttheGeneral Council meeting on31January 1995, therepresentative ofSingapore recalled
thatherGovernment hadmade anofferattheMarrakesh Ministerial meeting tohostthefirstMinisterial
Conference oftheWTO, andsaidthatconsultations since thenwithmembers oftheGATT andWTO
hadshownanoverwhelmingsupportforSingapore'soffer,thusprovidingsufficientbasisforaconsensus
decision onthismatter, which herGovernment sought atthepresent meeting.
Therepresentatives ofIndonesia alsoonbehalf ofBrunei Darussalam, Malaysia, Philippines,
andThailand, Malaysia onbehalf oftheInformal Group ofDeveloping Countries, Hong Kong, the
European Communities, Mexico, Morocco onbehalf oftheAfrican Group, Argentina onbehalf of
Latin American andCaribbean countries, Canada, Australia, Korea, Japan, India, Hungary, Pakistan
andTurkey spoke.
TheGeneral Council welcomed theinvitation oftheGovernment ofSingapore, agreed by
consensus thatthefirstMinisterial Conference would beheldinSingapore, andauthorized itsChairman
toholdconsultations ontheprecise dates fortheConference.
Therepresentative ofSingapore spoke.
(b) Preparations fortheConference (WT/GC/M/6)WT/GC/W/25
Section I
Page30
AttheGeneral Council meeting on31July1995, theChairman saidheintended todiscuss
withdelegations afterthesummer break issues relating totheorganization oftheMinisterial Conference,
which would cover thequestion ofthepreparatory mechanism tobesetupaswellastheperson to
chair suchamechanism, andoffered hisinitial views onthissubject.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatement.
38. Salaries andPensions ofWTO staff(WT/GC/M/7)
Atitsmeeting on30October 1995, theGeneral Council considered thequestion ofsalaries
andpensions ofWTO staff. Insodoing, theGeneral Council hadbefore itacommunication from
theChairmanoftheCommitteeonBudget,FinanceandAdministrationaddressedtotheGeneralCouncil
Chairman (WT/GC/W/11) which attached adraftdecision onthissubject bytheBudget Committee
Chairman onhisownresponsibility, aswellasaproposal bytheGeneral Council Chairman, alsoon
hisownresponsibility, inWT/GC/W/12.
Therepresentatives ofTunisia, Colombia, Japan, Malaysia onbehalf oftheASEAN countries,
Switzerland, Norway, Canada, Spain, Australia, Italy, NewZealand, Trinidad andTobago, Argentina,
India, Morocco, theUnited Kingdom, Hong Kong, Brazil, Chile, Germany, Senegal, Egypt, Korea,
theUnited States andBelgium, andtheChairman oftheWTO Staff Council, theChairman ofthe
Committee onBudget, Finance andAdministration, theDirector-General andtheChairman spoke.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatements andadopted thedecision inWT/GC/W/12
proposed bytheChairman (WT/L/91).
39. Office ofDirector-General andDeputy Directors-General (WT/GC/M/2)
(a) Appointment ofanewDirector-General
(b) Creation ofadditional postofDeputy Director-General
Atitsmeetingon24March1995,theGeneralCouncilconsideredtheappointmentofasuccessor
totheoutgoing Director-General, Mr.Peter Sutherland.
TheChairman proposed thatMembers agree, following theconsensus reached inconsultations
heldoverthepastninemonths, toformally appoint Mr.Renato Ruggiero astheDirector-General of
theWTO foronefour-year termeffective asfrom 1May1995.
TheGeneral Council soagreed.
TheChairman thenreported oncertain understandings thathadbeen reached during the
consultations, including thatthenextDirector-General would beanon-European andthatanadditional
postofDeputy Director-General becreated. Hethenproposed thatconsultations beundertaken by
theChairman oftheGeneral Council, attheappropriate time, ondevising more effective procedures
forfuture appointments ofaDirector-General.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteoftheunderstanding reached thatthenextDirector-General
would beanon-European, invited theWTO Committee onBudget, Finance andAdministration to
takeupthequestion oftheestablishment ofanother postofDeputy Director-General andreport to
theGeneral Council onthismatter, taking intoaccount theinterests andconcerns ofsome regions,
particularly theAfrican regions onthequestion offuture appointments, andauthorized theChairmanWT/GC/W/25
Section I
Page31
toundertake consultations attheappropriate timeonthedevelopment ofprocedures fortheappointment
infuture ofaDirector-General.
TherepresentativesofMoroccoonbehalfoftheAfricancountries,Korea,Turkey,theEuropean
Communities, Switzerland, France, Bangladesh onbehalf oftheleast-developed countries, Brazil on
behalf oftheLatin American andCaribbean countries, Canada andItaly, andtheChairman oftheBudget
Committee andtheChairman spoke.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatements.
40. Observer status
(a) Governments20
(i) RequestsfromanumberofStatesandseparatecustomsterritories(WT/GC/M/1)
Atitsmeeting on31January 1995, theGeneral Council considered requests forobserver status
from Ecuador (WT/L/4), Panama (WT/L/5), Qatar (WT/L/8), Bulgaria (WT/L/10), Mongolia
(WT/L/12), Sudan (WT/L/13), Separate Customs Territory ofTaiwan, Penghu, Kinmen andMatsu
(WT/L/14), Former Yugoslav Republic ofMacedonia (WT/L/16), Russian Federation (WT/L/17),
Republic ofCroatia (WT/L/18), Ukraine (WT/L/19) andRepublic ofBelarus (WT/L/21).
TheChairman saidthatanumber ofthese Governments, namely, Croatia, Ecuador, Former
Yugoslav Republic ofMacedonia, Qatar, Russian Federation, Sudan andUkraine, wereintheprocess
ofnegotiating their accession totheWTO. Inaccordance with thecustomary practice ofthe
CONTRACTING PARTIES toGATT 1947, under which governments whose accession process had
beenformally begun were invited automatically, andasamatter ofcourtesy, toattend meetings as
observers, heproposed thatthese andother governments whose accession process hadbeenformally
begun, beinvited toattend asobservers meetings oftheGeneral Council anditssubsidiary bodies,
aswellasthose oftheDSB, theTPRB andtheMinisterial Conference, withtheexception ofmeetings
oftheCommittee onBudget, Finance andAdministration.21
TheGeneral Council soagreed.
TheChairman thenproposed that,onthebasis ofthedecision justtaken, Cambodia and
Uzbekistan, which werecurrently intheprocess ofnegotiating accession totheWTO, alsobeinvited
toattend meetings oftheGeneral Council andother WTO bodies asobservers. Onthesame basis,
heproposed thataction ontherequest byVietNam (WT/L/15) betaken inconjunction withthat
Government 'srequest foraccession. Hethennoted that, under theDecision onfinalization of
negotiations ongoods andservices schedules, which theGeneral Council would adopt lateratthat
meeting, Grenada, Papua NewGuinea, St.KittsandNevis andtheUnited Arab Emirates would be
given until31March 1995tofinalize andsubmit theirnegotiated schedules. Until thatdate,therefore,
20Seealsopoint 41-"Status ofleast-developed countries whose schedules ongoods andservices were approved by
theGeneral Council (WT/L/70) andofother non-voting participants falling under theDecision bytheGeneral Council in
WT/L/70", andsub-point 1(b)-"Participation inmeetings ofWTO bodies bycertain signatories oftheFinal Acteligible
tobecome original Members oftheWTO".
21Onthesame basis, theGeneral Council subsequently welcomed asobservers Albania, Algeria, Armenia, Estonia and
Latvia, whose GATT 1947 accession working parties hadbeen transformed intoWTO accession working parties.WT/GC/W/25
Section I
Page32
these governments should alsobeinvited toattend meetings oftheGeneral Council andother WTO
bodies asobservers.22
TheGeneral Council soagreed.
TheChairman thennoted thatBulgaria, Mongolia, Panama andtheSeparate Customs Territory
ofTaiwan, Penghu, Kinmen andMatsu hadallexpressed anintention toaccede totheWTO. Under
rules ofprocedure tobeagreed bytheGeneral Council lateratthatmeeting, requests forobserver
status fromgovernments should normally beaccompanied byadescription ofthegovernments 'current
economic andtrade policies, aswellasanyintended future reforms ofthese policies. However, the
abovegovernmentswereintheprocessofaccedingtotheGATT1947andhadprovidedsuchinformation
inthatcontext, andcould therefore beassumed tohavefulfilled thatrequirement. Accordingly, he
proposed thattheGeneral Council agree toalsogrant these governments observer status.
TheGeneral Council soagreed.
(ii) Oman (WT/GC/M/3)
Atitsmeetingon3April1995,theGeneralCouncilconsideredarequestfromOman(WT/L/33)
forobserver status intheGeneral Council anditssubsidiary bodies, andgranted therequest.
Therepresentative ofOman (asanobserver) spoke.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatement.
(iii) China (WT/GC/M/5)
Atitsmeeting on11July1995, theGeneral Council considered arequest fromChina (WT/L/72)
forobserver status intheGeneral Council anditssubsidiary bodies, andgranted therequest.
Therepresentatives ofMalaysia onbehalf oftheASEAN countries, Pakistan, India, Argentina,
theEuropean Communities, New Zealand, Australia, Uruguay, Colombia onbehalf oftheLatin
American andCaribbean countries, Egypt, Jamaica, Brazil, Chile, Switzerland, Mexico, Israel, Canada,
Nigeria, Japan, Korea, Hungary, Peru, Norway, Tunisia, Hong Kong, Poland, Côted'Ivoire, theSlovak
Republic, Turkey, Czech Republic, Cuba, Romania, Cyprus, Iceland andChina (asanobserver) spoke.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthestatements.
(b) International intergovernmental organizations23(WT/GC/M/3, 4,5,6,8)
Atitsmeetingon3April1995,theChairmaninformedtheGeneralCouncilthatpendingadoption
ofcriteria andconditions forobserver status forinternational intergovernmental organizations, adhoc
22Asindicated under sub-point 1(f),theGeneral Council agreed on11JulythatGrenada, Papua NewGuinea, Qatar,
StKitts andNevis andtheUnited Arab Emirates which were covered bytheDecision onthefinalization ofnegotiations
onschedules ongoods andservices (WT/L/30) andwhich hadnotconcluded theirprocess ofaccession, retain theirobserver
status inWTO bodies until31December 1995.
23Seealsosub-point 1(c)-"Participation oftheUnited Nations, UNCTAD, IMFandWorld Bank asobservers atthe
firstmeeting oftheGeneral Council".WT/GC/W/25
Section I
Page33
arrangements hadbeenapproved ataninformal Heads ofDelegations meeting on16March, which
hereadout,toenable organizations whose work wasrelevant anduseful forvarious WTO bodies
toattend theirmeetings asobservers inthemeantime. Onthebasis ofthese adhocarrangements,
heproposed thattheUnited Nations, UNCTAD, IMF, World Bank, FAO, WIPO andOECD beinvited
toattend thatmeeting andthattheyalsobeinvited tothenextmeeting oftheGeneral Council.
TheGeneral Council soagreed.
AttheGeneral Council meeting on31May1995, theChairman saiditwashisunderstanding
thatpending agreement onguidelines forobserver status forinternational organizations, theUnited
Nations, UNCTAD, IMF, World Bank, FAO, WIPO andOECD would beinvited tothenextmeeting
oftheGeneral Council, inaccordance withtheadhocarrangements approved on16March.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthisinformation.
AttheGeneralCouncilmeetingon11July1995,theChairmanrecalledhisearlierunderstanding
onthismatter.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthisinformation.
AttheGeneralCouncilmeetingon31July1995,theChairmanrecalledhisearlierunderstanding
onthismatter.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthisinformation.
AttheGeneral Council meeting on15November 1995, theChairman recalled hisearlier
understanding onthismatter.
TheGeneral Council tooknoteofthisinformation.
41. Status ofleast-developed countries whose schedules ongoods andservices wereapproved by
theGeneral Council (WT/L/70) andofother non-voting participants falling under theDecision
bytheGeneral Council inWT/L/27 (WT/GC/M/5)
AttheGeneralCouncilmeetingon11July1995,theChairmanproposedthattheleast-developed
countries whose schedules hadbeenapproved inMay24pursuant totheMarrakesh Decision inFavour
ofLeast-DevelopedCountriesbutwhichhadnotyetacceptedtheWTOAgreement,begrantednon-voting
participant status inWTO bodies until31July1995 onthebasis oftheDecision onparticipation in
meetings ofWTO bodies bycertain signatories oftheFinal Acteligible tobecome original Members
oftheWTO (WT/L/27). After thatdate, when non-voting participant status would nolonger exist,
heproposed thattheleast-developed countries begranted observer status until31December 1996,
when thetwo-year period referred toinArticle XIV:1 oftheWTO Agreement expired. Thecountries
concerned were: Angola, Burundi, Chad, theGambia, Guinea, Haïti, Mozambique, Rwanda, Sierra
Leone andZaire.
Withregard totheothernon-voting participants covered bytheDecision inWT/L/27 thatwould
24Seepoint 2-"Approval ofschedules ongoods andservices pursuant totheMinisterial Decision inFavour ofLeast-
Developed Countries".WT/GC/W/25
Section I
Page34
nothaveratified theWTO Agreement by31July, heproposed thattheybegranted observer status
inWTO bodies until31December 1996. Thecountries concerned were: Benin, Bolivia, Cameroon,
Congo, Fiji,Liechtenstein, Madagascar, Nicaragua andNiger.
TheGeneral Council soagreed.
42. Appointment ofOfficers oftheDispute Settlement Body, Trade Policy Review Body, Council
forTrade inGoods, Council forTrade inServices, Council forTrade-Related Aspects of
Intellectual Property Rights, theCommittee onTrade andDevelopment, Committee on
Balance-of-Payments Restrictions, Committee onBudget, Finance andAdministration andthe
Committee onTrade andEnvironment (WT/GC/M/1, 3)
AttheGeneral Council meeting on31January 1995, theoutgoing Chairman oftheGATT
1947 CONTRACTING PARTIES, Mr.Szepesi (Hungary), proposed thefollowing nominations for
appointments toWTO bodies:
-Dispute Settlement Body: Mr.D.Kenyon (Australia)
-Trade Policy Review Body: Vice-Chairman: Mr.Lecheheb (Morocco)
-Council forTrade inGoods: Mr.M.Endo (Japan)
-Council forTrade inServices: Mr.C.Manhusen (Sweden)
-Trade-Related Aspects ofIntellectual Property: Mr.S.Harbinson (Hong Kong)
-Committee onBalance-of-Payments Restrictions: Mr.P.Witt(Germany)
-Committee onBudget, Finance, andAdministration: Mr.J.-M. Metzger (France)
-Committee onTrade andDevelopment: Mr.S.Haron (Malaysia)
-Committee onTrade andEnvironment: Mr.J.Sanchez Arnau (Argentina)
TheGeneral Council agreed withthenominations proposed.
Atitsmeeting on3April 1995, theGeneral Council approved thenomination ofMr.Osorio
Londoño (Colombia) asChairman oftheTrade Policy Review Body.
43. Election ofChairman (WT/GC/M/1)
AttheGeneral Council meeting on31January 1995, Mr.K.Kesavapany (Singapore) was
unanimously elected totheChair.WT/GC/W/25
Section II
Page1
DISPUTE SETTLEMENT BODY
Draft Report onWork since 1January 1995
Thisreport hasbeenprepared inpursuance oftheProcedures foranAnnual Overview ofthe
WTO Activities andforReporting under theWTO (WT/L/105), andsetsouttheactions taken bythe
Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) during 1995.
Incarrying outitstask, theDSBhasheldninemeetings since January 1995. Theminutes
ofthese meetings which remain therecord oftheDSB'swork, arecontained inWT/DSB/M/1 -
WT/DSB/M/9 andshould bereadinconjunction withthisreport.
Thefollowing subjects areincluded inthereport: Page
1. Matters arising from thereport ofthePreparatory Committee totheWTO 5
(a) Rules ofProcedure fortheMinisterial Conference andtheGeneral Council 5
(b) Participation inmeetings ofWTO bodies bycertain signatories oftheFinal
Acteligible tobecome original Members oftheWTO 5
(c) Participation oftheUnited Nations, UNCTAD, IMFandtheWorld Bank as
observers atthefirstmeeting oftheGeneral Council 6
(d) Transfer Agreement between GATT 1947, ICITO andtheWTO 6
(e) Avoidance ofprocedural andinstitutional duplication 6
(f) Finalization ofnegotiations onschedules ongoods andservices 6
(g) Requests forWTO accession under Article XII 7
(h) Guidelines forappointment ofofficers toWTO Bodies 8
(i) Adoption ofthereport ofthePreparatory Committee 8
2. Approval ofschedules ongoods andservices pursuant totheMinisterial Decision in
Favour ofLeast-Developed Countries 8
3. Headquarters Agreement 8
4. Establishment ofcommittees andadoption oftheirterms ofreference 9
(a) Committees onTrade andDevelopment, Balance-of-Payments Restrictions,
andBudget, Finance andAdministration 9
(b) Committee onMarket Access 9
(c) Committee onTrade andEnvironment 10
(d) Terms ofreference oftheCommittee onAgriculture 10
5. Composition oftheTextiles Monitoring Body 10
6. Adoption oftheMarrakesh Ministerial Decision onNotification Procedures 10
7. Draft decision oncontinued application under theWTO Customs Valuation Agreement
ofinvocations ofprovisions fordeveloping countries fordelayed application and
reservations under theCustoms Valuation Agreement 1979 11WT/GC/W/25
Section II
Page2
8. Recommendation bytheCommittee onTrade-Related Investment Measures 11
9. Approval ofrules ofprocedure ofsubsidiary bodies 11
(a) Councils forTrade inGoods, TRIPS andServices 11
(b) Committee onTrade andDevelopment 12
10. Committee onBalance-of-Payments Restrictions 12
(a) Programme ofconsultations for1995 12
(b) Consultations 12
(c) Disinvocation byIsrael andSouth Africa 13
(d) Notes onmeetings 13
11. Committee onBudget, Finance andAdministration 13
- Reports 13
12. Customs unions andfree-trade areas; regional agreements 14
(a) Establishment ofaCommittee onregional trading arrangements 14
(b) Terms ofreference ofworking parties onagreements notified under Article
XXIV ofGATT 1947 14
(c) Enlargement oftheEuropean Union 15
(d) Hungary -Slovenia Free-Trade Agreement 15
13. Waivers inforce asof1January 1995 15
14. Decision-making procedures under Articles IXandXIIoftheWTO Agreement 16
15. Waivers under Article IXoftheWTO Agreement 16
(a) Harmonized System 16
(i) Bangladesh,Guatemala,Israel,Jamaica,Morocco,SriLanka,Trinidad
andTobago 16
(ii) Pakistan 17
(b) Other waivers 17
(i) Senegal -Renegotiation ofSchedule XLIX 17
(ii) Malawi -Renegotiation ofSchedule LVIII 17
(iii) United States -Caribbean Basin Recovery Act 17
16. Accession matters 18
(a) Belarus 18
(b) Ecuador 18
(c) Seychelles 19
(d) Tonga 19
(e) Vanuatu 20
(f) VietNam 20
(g) Working Parties onaccession totheWTO 20
- Chairmanships 20
17. Brazil -Import restrictive measures onautomobiles 21
18. Brazil -Tariff increases 21
19. Japan-United States autoandautoparts issues 22WT/GC/W/25
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(a) United States 'autoandautoparts issues: USunilateral measures 22
(b) Japan'sautomotive barriers andrestrictive practices 22
20. Papua NewGuinea -Increase inapplied tariff oncanned mackerel 22
21. United States -Imposition ofimport duties onautomobiles fromJapan under Sections
301and304oftheTrade Actof1974 22
22. United States -Investigation regarding Japan'sphotographic filmmarket under Section
301oftheTrade Actof1974 23
23. United States -Proposed legislation toreinforce thecommercial, economic andfinancial
embargo onCuba 23
24. United States -Recent actions under Section 301oftheOmnibus Trade and
Competitiveness Actof1988 23
25. Negotiations onfinancial services 23
26. Organization andworking methods ofWTO bodies 24
27. Working language intheTechnical Committee onRules ofOrigin under theauspices
oftheWorld Customs Organization 24
28. Attendance atWTO meetings when introducing agenda items 24
29. Procedures foranannual overview ofWTO activities andforreporting under the
WTO 24
30. Guidelines forthescheduling ofmeetings 25
31. Programme ofmeetings oftheGeneral Council 25
32. Procedures forthecirculation andderestriction ofWTO documents 25
33. Arrangements foreffective cooperation withother intergovernmental organizations 26
(a) United Nations 26
(b) IMFandWorld Bank 26
34. Guidelines forarrangements onrelations withnon-governmental organizations pursuant
toArticle V:2oftheWTO Agreement 27
35. International Trade Centre UNCTAD/GATT 27
(a) Relationship between theInternational Trade Centre UNCTAD/GATT and
theWTO 27
(b) Report oftheJoint Advisory Group 28
36. Ratification oftheWTO Agreement 28
(a) Cameroon 28
(b) Egypt 28
(c) Poland 28WT/GC/W/25
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(d) Switzerland 29
(e) Turkey 29
37. 1996 Ministerial Conference 29
(a) Venue oftheConference 29
(b) Preparations fortheConference 29
38. Salaries andPensions ofWTO staff 30
39. Office ofDirector-General andDeputy Directors-General 30
(a) Appointment ofanewDirector-General 30
(b) Creation ofadditional postofDeputy Director-General 30
40. Observer status 31
(a) Governments 31
(i) Requests from anumber ofStates andseparate customs territories 31
(ii) Oman 32
(iii) China 32
(b) International intergovernmental organizations 32
41. Statusofleast-developedcountrieswhoseschedulesongoodsandserviceswereapproved
bytheGeneral Council (WT/L/70) andofother non-voting participants falling under
theDecision bytheGeneral Council inWT/L/27 33
42. Appointment ofOfficers oftheDispute Settlement Body, Trade Policy Review Body,
Council forTrade inGoods, Council forTrade inServices, Council forTrade-Related
Aspects ofIntellectual Property Rights, theCommittee onTrade andDevelopment,
Committee onBalance-of-Payments Restrictions, Committee onBudget, Finance and
Administration andtheCommittee onTrade andEnvironment 34
43. Election ofChairman 34
1. Rules ofprocedure formeetings oftheDispute Settlement Body 5
2. Arrangements forprogramming meetings oftheDispute Settlement Body 5
3. Rules ofconduct 5
4. Standing Appellate Body 6
(a) Establishment oftheAppellate Body 6
(b) Appointment ofmembers oftheAppellate Body 6
5. Indicative listofgovernmental andnon-governmental panelists 8
6. "Date ofcirculation" intheDSU anditsadditional andspecial rules 9
7. Communications under theDSU 9
8. Time-periods under theDSU andother covered agreements 9
9. Notifications ofrequests forconsultations 10WT/GC/W/25
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10. Recourse todispute settlement procedures 10
(a) Australia 10
- Measures affecting importation ofsalmon 10
(b) European Communities 10
(i) Duties onimport ofcereals 10
(ii) Duties onimports ofgrains 11
(iii) Trade description ofscallops 11
(c) Japan 12
(i) Automotive barriers andrestrictive practices 12
Taxes onalcoholic beverages 12
(d) Korea 13
- Measures concerning shelf-life ofproducts 13
(e) Malaysia 13
- Prohibition ofimports ofpolyethylene andpolypropylene 13
(f) United States 14
(i) Auto andautoparts issues: USunilateral measures 14
(ii) Standards forreformulated andconventional gasoline 14
1. Rules ofprocedure formeetings oftheDispute Settlement Body (WT/DSB/M/1,4)25
AttheDSBmeeting on10February 1995, theChairman proposed thatinaccordance with
Article IV:3oftheWTO Agreement, theDSBadopt theRules ofProcedure contained inPC/IPL/9
withtheexception oftwooutstanding issues: i.e., thequestion ofofficers andtheparticipation of
intergovernmental organization observers intheWTO, towhich theDSBwould revert onceagreement
onthem hadbeenreached.
TheDSBsoagreed.
AttheDSBmeeting on25April 1995, theChairman proposed thattheDSBapprove draft
rules ofprocedure concerning theelection ofofficers contained inWT/DSB/W/4.
TheDSBsoagreed.
2. Arrangements forprogramming meetings oftheDispute Settlement Body (WT/DSB/M/2)
AttheDSBmeeting on29March 1995, theChairman proposed aschedule forregular meetings
oftheDSBin1995 which would besubject tochange, ifrequired.
TheDSBtooknoteofthisinformation.
3. Rules ofconduct (WT/DSB/M/1,2,3,6,7)
AttheDSBmeeting on10February 1995, theChairman recalled thattheWTO Preparatory
Committee hadforwarded theworkdoneonRules ofConduct totheWTO asapossible basisforfurther
25Asindicatedunder Item8,attheDSBmeetingon27September 1995theChairmanwasauthorizedtoholdconsul tations
inter aliaonthequestion oftheten-day rulereferred tointheRules ofProcedure.WT/GC/W/25
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work,andthattheGeneralCouncilhadforwardedthismattertotheDSBforconsideration.Mr.Trainor,
onbehalf ofMr.Armstrong, theChairman oftheInformal Group onRules ofConduct, presented
aprogress report ontheconsultations onthismatter. TheChairman proposed thattheChairman of
theInformal Group pursue informal consultations withtheviewtoconcluding afinaldrafttextonthe
Rules ofConduct before 24March 1995.
TheDSBtooknoteofthestatement andagreed thatinformal consultations bepursued with
aviewtoconcluding afinaldrafttextonRules ofConduct before 24March 1995.
AttheDSBmeetingon29March1995,theChairmanoftheInformalGrouponRulesofConduct
presented aprogress report onthework doneinthisarea.
TheDSBtooknoteofthestatement.
AttheDSBmeeting on10April 1995, therepresentative ofBrazil, under "Other Business",
drew attention oftheMembers thatanumber ofsubstantive issues concerning thenegotiations onthe
Rules ofConduct fortheDSU were stillunder discussion andthatparticipants were stillseeking a
common ground onwhich acompromise textcould bebased.
Therepresentatives ofseveral delegations andtheChairman oftheInformal Group ontheRules
ofConduct spoke.
TheDSBtooknoteofthestatement.
AttheDSBmeeting on19July1995, theChairman oftheInformal Group onRules ofConduct
presented aprogress report onthework doneinthisarea.
TheDSBtooknoteofthestatement.
AttheDSBmeeting on27September 1995, theChairman oftheInformal Group onRules
ofConduct presented aprogress report.
Therepresentatives ofseveral delegations spoke.
TheDSBtooknoteofthestatements.
4. Standing Appellate Body
(a) Establishment oftheAppellate Body (WT/DSB/M/1)
Atitsmeeting on10February 1995, theChairman proposed thattheDSBestablish theAppellate
Body inaccordance with Article 17:1oftheDSU.
TheDSBsoagreed.
(b) Appointment ofmembers oftheAppellate Body (WT/DSB/M/1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9)
AttheDSBmeetingon10February1995,theChairmandrewattentiontodocumentPC/IPL/13
which contained procedures fortheappointment ofAppellate Body members, andproposed atime-table
fortheselection process.WT/GC/W/25
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Therepresentatives oftheUnited States, NewZealand, theEuropean Communities, Canada
andIndia, andtheChairman spoke.
TheDSBtooknoteofthestatements andagreed totheproposal readoutbytheChairman.
AttheDSBmeeting on29March 1995, theChairman recalled thatthedeadline forsubmission
ofnominations totheAppellate Body hadbeenextended andinvited delegations toprovide theirviews
onthecriteria fortheappointment ofmembers totheAppellate Body.
TheDSBtooknoteofthestatement.
AttheDSBmeeting on25April 1995, theChairman presented alistofsuggested names for
theAppellate Body andinvited delegations tomake theirviews ontheproposed candidates known
totheso-called Committee ofSix,comprised oftheDirector-General, theChairman oftheDSBand
theChairmen oftheGeneral Council andCouncils forGoods, Services andTRIPS whowould examine
thesuggestions.
Therepresentatives ofBrazil, Japan, Norway, theEuropean Communities, India, Mexico,
Uruguay andMorocco, andtheChairman spoke.
TheDSBtooknoteofthestatements.
AttheDSBmeeting on31May1995, theChairman reported onconsultations regarding the
selection ofmembers totheAppellate Body heldbythe"Committee ofSix"withfifty-four delegations.
Therepresentative oftheEuropean Communities spoke.
TheDSBtooknoteofthestatements.
AttheDSBmeeting on19July1995, theChairman informed Members thatthe"Committee
ofSix"wasstillnotinaposition tosubmit arecommendation totheDSBonappointments tothe
Appellate Body.
Therepresentatives ofMalaysia onbehalf ofASEAN countries, Argentina, Australia, Colombia
onbehalf ofLatin American andCaribbean countries, Hong Kong, India, Korea, Nigeria onbehalf
oftheAfrican Group, Brazil, Chile, Canada, Switzerland, Uruguay, NewZealand, Mexico, Egypt,
theEuropean Communities, andtheUnited States spoke.
TheDSBtooknoteofthestatements.
AttheDSB meeting on27September 1995, theChairman informed Members thatthe
"CommitteeofSix"wasstillnotinapositiontosubmitarecommendationtotheDSBonthecomposition
oftheAppellate Body.
TheDSBtooknoteofthestatement.
AttheDSBmeeting on11October 1995, theChairman informed Members thattheconclusions
ofthe"Committee ofSix"onthecomposition oftheAppellate Body hadbeencommunicated totwenty-
three Members andthatsome delegations hadrequested further timeforreflection.
Therepresentative ofSwitzerland spoke.WT/GC/W/25
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TheDSBtooknoteofthestatements.
AttheDSBmeeting on1and29November 1995, theChairman, onbehalf ofthe"Committee
ofSix", submitted forapproval totheDSBarecommendation onthecomposition oftheAppellate
Body.
Therepresentatives ofArgentina, theEuropean Communities, India, Malaysia onbehalf of
ASEAN countries, Brazil, Mexico, Egypt, Switzerland, Morocco, Jamaica, Peru, Norway, theUnited
States, Australia, Hong Kong, Canada, Chile, Korea, Costa RicaandColombia spoke.
TheDSBtooknoteofthestatements andapproved therecommendation onthecomposition
oftheAppellate Body submitted bytheChairman, onbehalf ofthe"Committee ofSix".
5. Indicative listofgovernmental andnon-governmental panelists (WT/DSB/M/1,2,4,5,6,7,9)
AttheDSB meeting on10February 1995, theChairman recalled thatinaccordance with
Article 8:4oftheDSU anindicative listofgovernmental andnon-governmental panelists should be
maintained bytheSecretariat. Hetherefore invited delegations tosubmit names ofcandidates together
withtheircurricula vitaeforinclusion ontheindicative list.
Therepresentatives oftheUnited States, Tunisia andNorway spoke.
TheDSBtooknoteofthestatements, agreed thattheissue oftheindicative listbefurther
discussed andauthorized itsChairman toholdinformal consultations onthismatter.
AttheDSBmeeting on29March 1995, theChairman under "Other Business", informed the
DSBofrecently heldinformal consultations ontheadministration oftheindicative list.
TheDSBtooknoteofthisinformation.
AttheDSB meeting on25April 1995, theChairman drew attention toanoteonthe
administration oftheindicative listofgovernmental andnon-governmental panelists prepared bythe
Secretariat, andinvited delegations toexamine andsubmit theircomments thereon sothatthenote
could thenbeissued asaformal document.
TheDSBtooknoteofthisinformation.
AttheDSB meeting on31May1995, theChairman provided information concerning the
administration oftheindicative listanddrewattention todocument WT/DSB/W/6 containing proposals
fortheadministration oftheindicative listbased ondiscussions andcomments fromdelegations. He
proposed thattheDSBapprove theabove-mentioned document.
TheDSBtooknoteoftheinformation provided bytheChairman andapproved theproposals
fortheadministration oftheindicative listcontained inWT/DSB/W/6.
AttheDSBmeeting on19July1995, theChairman urged Members tosubmit theirnominations
assoonaspossible, using theforminWT/DSB/W/6, sothattheindicative listcould thenbeconstituted.
TheDSBtooknoteofthestatement.WT/GC/W/25
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AttheDSB meeting on27September 1995, theChairman drew attention todocument
WT/DSB/W/8 containing names ofcandidates proposed fortheinclusion ontheindicative list,and
proposed thattheDSBapprove thenames therein andthusthereby formally constitute theindicative
list.
TheDSBapproved thenames contained inWT/DSB/W/8.
Therepresentative oftheUnited States proposed thattheindicative listbeissued asan
unrestricted document.
TheDSBagreed totheproposal thattheindicative listbeissued asanunrestricted document.
AttheDSBmeeting on1and29November 1995, theChairman drew attention todocument
WT/DSB/W/13 containing additional names ofcandidates fortheindicative listandproposed thatthe
DSBapprove theirinclusion onthelistandagree thattheadditional names indocument WT/DSB/W/13
becirculated asunrestricted.
TheDSBsoagreed.
6. "Date ofcirculation" intheDSU anditsadditional andspecial rules (WT/DSB/M/2)
AttheDSB meeting on29March 1995, theChairman, under "Other Business", informed
Membersofinformalconsultationshehadheldregardingthemeaningofthe"dateofcirculation"referred
tointheDSU anditsspecial oradditional rules andprocedures.
TheDSBtooknoteofthisinformation.
7. Communications under theDSU (WT/DSB/M/5)
AttheDSBmeeting on31May1995, theChairman, under "Other Business", proposed that
theDSBagree that,forreasons ofefficiency, communications under theDSU oranyother covered
agreements should always besenttotheSecretariat withacopytotheChairman.
TheDSBagreed totheproposal bytheChairman.
8. Time-periods under theDSU andother covered agreements (WT/DSB/M/5,6,7)
AttheDSBmeeting on31May1995, theChairman, under "Other Business", announced his
intention toconduct consultations ontheissueoftermination oftime-periods under theDSUandother
covered agreements when suchtime-periods fellonanon-working day.
TheDSBtooknoteofthisinformation.
AttheDSBmeetingon19July1995,theChairman,under"OtherBusiness",informedMembers
thataproposal ontheexpiration oftime-periods would becirculated todelegations forcomments in
thenextfewdays.
TheDSBtooknoteofthestatement.WT/GC/W/25
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AttheDSBmeeting on27September 1995, prior toadoption oftheproposed agenda, the
representativeoftheEuropeanCommunitiessaidthattherequestsbyPeruandChilefortheestablishment
ofpanels ontrade description ofscallops should beremoved from theagenda since thetime-periods
forconsultations stipulated intheDSU andtheinclusion ofthose items ontheagenda hadnotbeen
respected.
Therepresentatives ofPeru, Chile, theUnited States, Argentina, Malaysia onbehalf ofASEAN
countries, Canada, Australia, NewZealand andMexico spoke.
TheDSBapproved theAgenda withamendments proposed byPeruandChile andauthorized
theDSBChairman toundertake informal consultations onthequestion oftime-periods inArticle 4.7
oftheDSU andtheten-day ruleintheRules ofProcedure oftheDSB.
TheDSBtooknotethestatements.
TheChairman proposed thattheDSBagree tothepractice concerning theexpiration oftime-
periods contained inWT/DSB/W/10 andAdd.1.
TheDSBsoagreed.
Therepresentatives oftheEuropean Communities andtheUnited States spoke.
TheDSBtooknoteofthestatements.
9. Notifications ofrequests forconsultations (WT/DSB/M/6)
AttheDSBmeeting on19July1995, theChairman proposed thatinorder tosimplify work
delegations should sendasingle textoftheirnotifications ofrequests forconsultations totheSecretariat
andspecify inthattexttheother relevant Councils orCommittees towhich theywished thenotifications
tobeaddressed.
TheDSBagreed totheproposal bytheChairman.
10. Recourse todispute settlement procedures
(a) Australia
- Measures affecting importation ofsalmon (WT/DSB/M/8)
AttheDSBmeeting on11October 1995, therepresentative ofCanada, under "Other Business",
informed Members thathisGovernment hadrequested consultations withAustralia regarding thelatter's
prohibition onimportation ofsalmon from Canada.
TheDSBtooknoteofthestatement.
(b) European Communities
(i) Duties onimport ofcereals (WT/DSB/M/7,8)
Atitsmeeting on27September 1995, theDSB considered arequest byCanada fortheWT/GC/W/25
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establishment ofapanel toexamine itscomplaint regarding theEuropean Communities 'duties onaccess
ofcereals (WT/DS9/2).
TherepresentativesofCanada,theEuropeanCommunities,theUnitedStates,Uruguay,Australia
andArgentina spoke.
TheDSBtooknoteofthestatements andagreed torevert tothismatter atitsnextmeeting.
Atitsmeeting on11October 1995, theDSBagain considered thismatter.
Therepresentatives ofCanada, theEuropean Communities, theUnited States, Australia, Japan
andArgentina spoke. Therepresentatives oftheUnited States, Australia, Japan andArgentina reserved
theirthird-party rights toparticipate inthepanel.26
TheDSBtooknoteofthestatements andagreed toestablish apanel withstandard terms of
reference inaccordance withtheprovisions ofArticle 6oftheDSU.
(ii) Duties onimports ofgrains (WT/DSB/M/8,9)
Atitsmeeting on11October 1995, theDSBconsidered arequest bytheUnited States for
theestablishment ofapanel toexamine itscomplaint regarding theEuropean Communities 'duties
onimports ofgrains (WT/DS13/2).
Therepresentatives oftheUnited States andtheEuropean Communities, andtheChairman
spoke.
TheDSBtooknoteofthestatements andagreed torevert tothismatter atitsnextmeeting.
Atitsmeeting on1and29November 1995, theDSBagain considered thismatter.
TheChairman proposed thatsincetheparties tothedispute werestillconsulting theDSBwould
revert tothismatter atitsnextmeeting.
TheDSBsoagreed.
(iii) Trade description ofscallops (WT/DSB/M/5,6,7,8)
AttheDSBmeeting on31May1995, therepresentative ofCanada, under "Other Business"
drew attention toCanada 'srequest forconsultations withtheEuropean Communities concerning the
French Order of22March 1993andsubsequent amendments laying down theofficial names andtrade
description ofscallops (WT/DS7/1).
Therepresentatives ofPeruandChile spoke.
TheDSBtooknoteofthestatements.
Atitsmeeting on19July1995, theDSBconsidered arequest byCanada fortheestablishment
ofapanel toexamine itscomplaint regarding theFrench labelling regulation onscallops (WT/DS7/7
andWT/DS7/7/Corr. 1).
26India reserved itsthird-party rights inacommunication senttotheSecretariat aftertheDSB meeting on11October.WT/GC/W/25
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Therepresentatives ofCanada, theEuropean Communities, theUnited States, Australia, Peru,
Japan andIceland spoke. Therepresentatives ofAustralia, Peru, Japan, andIceland reserved their
third-party rights toparticipate inthepanel.
TheDSBtooknoteofthestatements andagreed toestablish apanel withstandard terms of
reference inaccordance withtheprovisions ofArticle 6oftheDSU.
AttheDSB meeting on19July1995, therepresentative ofPeru, under "Other Business",
informed Members thathisGovernment hadrequested consultations withtheEuropean Communities
concerning theFrench Order anditssubsequent amendments which regulated thetrade description
ofscallops (WT/DS12/1).
TheDSBtooknoteofthestatement.
AttheDSBmeeting on27September 1995, therepresentatives ofPeruandChile requested
afurther meeting oftheDSBtoconsider theirrequests fortheestablishment ofapanel toexamine
thecomplaints (WT/DS12/6 and7).
TheChairman spoke.
TheDSBtooknoteofthestatements.
Atitsmeeting on11October 1995, theDSBconsidered requests byPeruandChile forthe
establishment ofasingle panel inaccordance withArticle 9oftheDSUwithstandard terms ofreference
setoutinArticle 7oftheDSU toexamine theircomplaints onthismatter.
Therepresentatives ofPeru, Chile, andtheEuropean Communities, andtheChairman spoke.
Therepresentatives oftheUnited States, Australia, Iceland, Japan andCanada reserved theirthird-party
rights toparticipate inthepanel.
TheDSBtooknoteofthestatements andagreed toestablish asingle panel inaccordance with
Article 9.1oftheDSU andwiththestandard terms ofreference asprovided forinArticle 7ofthe
DSU.
(c) Japan
(i) Automotive barriers andrestrictive practices (WT/DSB/M/5)
Atitsmeeting on31May1995, theDSBconsidered thismatter attherequest oftheUnited
States.
Therepresentatives oftheUnited States, Japan, Canada, Korea, Japan andArgentina, and
theChairman aswellastheChairman oftheGeneral Council spoke.
TheDSBtooknoteofthestatements.
(ii) Taxes onalcoholic beverages (WT/DSB/M/7)
Atitsmeeting on27September 1995, theDSB considered requests bytheEuropean
Communities, Canada andtheUnited States fortheestablishment ofasingle panel inaccordance with
Article 9.1oftheDSU andwiththestandard terms ofreference asprovided forinArticle 7oftheWT/GC/W/25
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DSUtoexamine theircomplaints onthismatter (WT/DS8/5,WT/DS10/5 andWT/DS11/2 andCorr.1).
Therepresentatives oftheEuropean Communities, Canada, theUnited States andJapan, and
theChairmanspoke.TherepresentativeofNorwayreservedhiscountry'sthird-partyrightstoparticipate
inthepanel.
TheDSBtooknoteofthestatements andagreed toestablish asingle panel inaccordance with
Article 9.1oftheDSU andwiththestandard terms ofreference asprovided forinArticle 7ofthe
DSU.
(d) Korea
- Measures concerning shelf-life ofproducts (WT/DSB/M/9)
Atitsmeeting on1and29November 1995, therepresentative oftheUnited States, under
"Other Business" expressed theUnited States 'concerns thatKorea wasnotimplementing theagreement
reached on20July1995 withtheUnited States concerning shelf-life ofproducts (WT/DS5/5).
Therepresentatives ofKorea, Australia andCanada spoke.
TheDSBtooknoteofthestatements.
(e) Malaysia
- Prohibition ofimports ofpolyethylene andpolypropylene (WT/DSB/M/1,
2,3,6)
AttheDSBmeeting on10February 1995, therepresentative ofSingapore recalled thathis
Government hadrequested consultations withMalaysia under Article XXIII:1 oftheGATT 1994with
regard totheprohibition onimports ofpolyethylene andpolypropylene.
Therepresentative ofMalaysia spoke.
TheDSBtooknoteofthestatements.
Atitsmeeting on29March 1995, theDSB considered arequest bySingapore forthe
establishment ofapanel toexamine itscomplaint regarding Malaysia 'sprohibition ofimports of
polyethylene andpolypropylene (WT/DS1/2).
Therepresentatives ofSingapore, Malaysia, theUnited States andJapan, andtheChairman
spoke.
TheDSBtooknoteofthestatements andagreed torevert tothismatter atitsnextmeeting.
AttheDSBmeeting on10April 1995, theChairman drew attention tothecommunication
from Malaysia indocument WT/DS1/3 which contained information onMalaysia 'smodified import
licensing measures forpolyethylene andpolypropylene.
Therepresentatives ofSingapore, Malaysia andJapan spoke.
TheDSBtooknoteofthestatements andagreed torevert tothismatter atafuture meeting,
ifnecessary.WT/GC/W/25
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AttheDSBmeeting on19July1995, therepresentative ofSingapore, under "Other Business",
informed theDSBthathisGovernment haddecided towithdraw itscomplaint concerning Malaysia 's
prohibition ofimports ofpolyethylene andpolypropylene.
Therepresentative ofMalaysia andtheChairman spoke.
TheDSBtooknoteofthestatements.
(f) United States
(i) Auto andautoparts issues: USunilateral measures (WT/DSB/M/5,6)
Atitsmeeting on31May1995, theDSBconsidered thismatter attherequest ofJapan.
TherepresentativesofJapan,theUnitedStates,Canada,Hong-Kong,theEuropeanCommunities,
Brazil, Turkey, Switzerland, Norway, Australia, India, Indonesia onbehalf ofASEAN countries and
Pakistan, andtheChairman spoke.
TheDSBtooknoteofthestatements.
AttheDSB meeting on19July1995, therepresentative ofJapan, under "Other Business"
informed Members thathisGovernment would nolonger pursue consultations withtheUnited States
onautoandauto-parts issues (WT/DS6/1).
Therepresentative oftheUnited States spoke.
TheDSBtooknoteofthestatements.
(ii) Standards forreformulated andconventional gasoline (WT/DSB/M/1,2,3,5)
AttheDSB meeting on10February 1995, therepresentative ofVenezuela, under "Other
Business", informed Members thatVenezuela hadwithdrawn itsrequest forconsultations under
Article XXIII:2 oftheGATT 1947 withregard toUSregulations onreformulated gasoline andthat
ithadrequested consultations withtheUnited States pursuant toArticle XXII:1 oftheGATT 1994
(WT/DS2/1).
Therepresentative ofBrazil spoke.
TheDSBtooknoteofthestatements.
AttheDSBmeetingon29March1995,theChairmaninformedMembersofVenezuela'srequest
forameeting forthepurpose oftheestablishment ofapanel onthismatter (WT/DS2/2).
Therepresentative ofBrazil spoke.
TheDSBtooknoteofthestatements.
Atitsmeeting on10April 1995, theDSB considered arequest byVenezuela forthe
establishment ofapanel toexamine itscomplaint (WT/DS2/2).
Therepresentatives ofVenezuela, theUnited States, Brazil, Norway, Australia, theEuropeanWT/GC/W/25
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Communities andCanada, andtheChairman spoke. Therepresentatives ofNorway, Australia, the
European Communities andCanada reserved theirrights toparticipate inthepanel asinterested third
parties.
TheDSBtooknoteofthestatements andagreed toestablish apanel inaccordance withArticle 6
oftheDSU.
Atitsmeeting on31May1995, theDSBconsidered arequest byBrazil fortheestablishment
ofapanel toexamine itscomplaint regarding theUSregulation onreformulated gasoline (WT/DS4/2).
Therepresentatives ofBrazil, theUnited States, Canada, theEuropean Communities, Norway
andVenezuela, andtheChairman spoke. Therepresentatives ofCanada, theEuropean Communities,
andNorway reserved theirthird-party rights toparticipate inthepanel.
TheDSB tooknoteofthestatements andagreed toestablish apanel toexamine Brazil 's
complaint. TheDSBfurther agreed that,asprovided forinArticle 9oftheDSUinrespect ofmultiple
complainants, thePanel established on10April toexamine thecomplaint byVenezuela should also
examine thecomplaint byBrazil indocument WT/DS4/2 withtheterms ofreference readoutbythe
Chairman.WT/GC/W/25
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REPORT (1995) OFTHE TRADE POLICY REVIEW BODY
1. Thisreport ispresented pursuant totheProcedures foranAnnual Overview ofWTO Activities
andforReporting under theWTO (WT/L/105), andsetsouttheactions taken bytheTPRB since 1
January 1995.
2. TheTrade Policy Review Body hasbeen operational since 1January 1995, under the
Chairmanship ofH.E. MrNestor Osorio Londoño (Colombia); Vice Chairman, MrAbdelkader
Lecheheb (Morocco) untilJune1995.
3. TheRules ofProcedure oftheTPRB, contained indocument WT/TPR/6, were adopted by
theBody on6June1995. Revised schedules oftheautumn 1995reviews werepresented indocuments
WT/TPR/7 and8.
4. During1995,theTPRBwillhaveconductedthreereviewsunderGATT1947procedurescarried
overfromthe1994programme, andeight WTO reviews under theprocedures laiddown inAnnex 3
oftheMarrakesh Agreement. Relevant documents areasfollows:
Document Country Meeting dates
C/RM/M/50 GATT 1947 review ofPakistan 15-16 February 1995
C/RM/M/56 GATT 1947 review ofCameroon 13-14 February 1995
C/RM/M/57 andAdd1 GATT 1947 review ofJapan 4-5April 1995
WT/TPR/M/1 WTO review ofCosta Rica 12-13 July1995
WT/TPR/M/2 WTO review ofCôted'Ivoire 4-5July1995
WT/TPR/M/3 WTO review oftheEuropean Union 24-25 July1995
WT/TPR/M/4 WTO review ofUganda 27-28 July1995
WT/TPR/M/5 WTO review ofMauritius 17-18 October 1995
WT/TPR/M/6 WTO review ofSriLanka 7-8November 1995
WT/TPR/M/7 WTO review oftheSlovak Republic* 5-6December 1995
WT/TPR/M/9 WTO review ofThailand * 19-20 December 1995
* Forthcoming.
Theprogramme established for1995willconclude withreviews ofMorocco, Venezuela, Dominican
Republic, Czech Republic, Norway, Singapore andSwitzerland tobeconducted inJanuary-May 1996.
5. TheChairman conducted consultations onprocedural aspects oftheTPRM inApril, September
andOctober 1995. TheChairman 'sconclusions fromthese consultations arecirculated indocument
WT/TPR/12, discussed attheTPRB meeting on6-7December.WT/GC/W/25
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REPORT (1995) OFTHE COUNCIL FOR TRADE INGOODS
Inaccordance withthe"Procedures foranAnnual Overview ofWTO Activities andfor
Reporting under theWTO" (WT/L/105), theCouncil forTrade inGoods istoreport "in
November eachyeartotheGeneral Council ontheactivities intheCouncil aswellasinthe
subsidiary bodies". Thereports aretobe"factual innature, containing anindication ofactions
anddecisions taken, withcross references toreports ofsubordinate bodies andcould follow the
model oftheGATT 1947 Council reports totheCONTRACTING PARTIES".
Incarrying outitstask,theCouncil forTrade inGoods hasheld7regular meetings. The
minutes ofthese meetings, which remain therecord oftheCouncil 'swork, arecontained in
documents G/C/M/1 to7.
Thefollowing subjects areincluded inthereport: Page
1. Waivers under Article IXoftheWTO Agreement
(a) Harmonized System
(i) Bangladesh, Israel, Morocco, SriLanka 4
(ii) Guatemala 4
(iii) Jamaica, Trinidad andTobago 4
(iv) Pakistan 5
(v) Bolivia, Nicaragua 5
(b) Dominican Republic-Renegotiation ofSchedule XXIII 6
(c) Malawi -Renegotiation ofSchedule LVIII 6
(d) Senegal -Renegotiation ofSchedule XLIX 6
(e) Zambia -Renegotiation ofSchedule LXXVIII 6
(f) Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act-Request forrenewal 7
ofwaiver
2. Understanding ontheInterpretation ofArticle XVII ofGATT 1994
(a) Establishment oftheWorking Party onState Trading Enterprises 7
(b) Notification requirement withrespect toState Enterprises under 7
Article XVII ofGATT 1994
3. Market access matters
(a) Committee onMarket Access 7
- Report oftheCommittee 7
(b) Finalization ofschedules ofconcessions ongoods 7
(c) Decision ontheintroduction ofharmonized system changes intoWTO 8
Schedules oftariff concessions on1January 1996
(d) Decision onnotification procedures forquantitative restrictions 9
(e) Decision onreverse notification ofnon-tariff measures 9
4. Agreement onTextiles andClothing
- Textiles Monitoring Body -Status ofMembers 9WT/GC/W/25
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5. Agreement onTrade-Related Investment Measures (TRIMs)
(a) Notification formats andprocedures: notifications under 9
Article 5.1oftheTRIMs Agreement
(b) Notifications under Article 5.1bygovernments which accept 9
theAgreement after1January 1995
(c) Recommendation bytheCommittee onTRIMs 10
6. Agreement onPreshipment Inspection
- Legal status oftheIndependent Review Entity under Article 4of 10
theAgreement
7. Agreement onRules ofOrigin
- UseofSpanish asaworking language intheTechnical Committee 11
onRules ofOrigin
8. Agreement onSubsidies andCountervailing Measures
- Approval ofquestionnaire format forsubsidy notifications under 11
Article 25oftheAgreement onSubsidies andCountervailing
Measures andunder Article XVIofGATT 1994
9. Agreement onSafeguards
- Membership oftheCommittee onSafeguards 12
10. Notification byMalaysia inpursuance ofArticle XVIII:C ofGATT 1994 12
andthe1979 Decision onSafeguard Action forDevelopment Purposes
11. Customs unions andFree-trade areas; regional agreements
(a) Free-Trade Agreements between theCzech Republic andSlovenia, 12
andbetween theSlovak Republic andSlovenia
(b) Interim Agreement between Bulgaria andtheEuropean Communities 13
(c) Interim Agreement between Romania andtheEuropean Communities 13
(d) Enlargement oftheEuropean Union: Accession ofAustria, Finland 13
andSweden totheEuropean Communities
(e) Free-Trade Agreements between theCzech Republic andRomania 14
andbetween theSlovak Republic andRomania respectively
(f) Free-Trade Agreements between Estonia, Latvia andLithuania, and 14
theEuropean Communities
(g) Terms ofReference ofWorking Parties onAgreements notified 14
under Article XXIV ofGATT 1947
(h) Signature ofaFreeTrade Agreement between EFTA and 14
Slovenia
(i) Free-Trade Agreement between Latvia andtheEuropean 14
Communities
(j) Free-Trade Agreement between Estonia andtheEuropean 15
Communities
(k) Free-Trade Agreement between Lithuania andtheEuropean 15
Communities
(l) Cooperation Agreement between theEuropean Communities and 15
theRepublic ofSlovenia
(m) Free-Trade Agreement between theRepublic ofHungary andthe 15
Republic ofSloveniaWT/GC/W/25
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(n) EFTA-Slovenia FreeTrade Agreement 15
(o) Agreement between theEuropean Community ontheonepart,andthe 16
Government ofDenmark andtheHome Government oftheFaroe Islands
ontheother part
(p) Chairmanship oftheWorking Parties 16
12. Marrakesh Ministerial Decision onNotification Procedures
- Establishment ofaWorking Group onNotification Obligations 16
andProcedures
13. Canada -import regime forpasta 16
14. Hungarian agricultural export subsidies 17
15. Taxation ofcertain alcoholic beverages inJapan 17
16. US/Japan: autoandautoparts issues
(a) Japan/United States: autoandautoparts issues; United States 17
unilateral measures
(b) Japan'sautomotive barriers andrestrictive practices 17
(c) Agreement between US/Japan onautoandautoparts 18
17. Tariff quota oftheEuropean Communities 18
18. Brazil -Provisional Measure N1024 (automobiles) 18
19. Tariff increase bytheEuropean Communities resulting from achange 18
oftheclassification ofCD-ROM Drives
20. Information ontheCairns Group Ministerial Meeting inManila 18
on26-27 May1995
21. Rules ofProcedure oftheCouncil forTrade inGoods 19
22. Rules ofProcedure ofsubsidiary bodies 19
23. Reports from subsidiary bodies 19
24. Adhocarrangements fortheparticipation ofinternational intergovernmental 20
organizations inthework ofthesubsidiary bodies oftheCouncil forTrade
inGoods
25. Adhocarrangements fortheparticipation ofinternational intergovernmental 20
organizations inmeetings oftheCouncil forTrade inGoods
26. Observer governments 20
27. Appointment ofofficers fortheCommittee onAgriculture, Committee on 21
Market Access, Committee onSafeguards, Committee onSanitary and
Phytosanitary Measures, Working Group onNotification Obligations and
Procedures, andWorking Party onState Trading EnterprisesWT/GC/W/25
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1. Waivers under Article IXoftheWTO Agreement
(a) Harmonized System
(i) Bangladesh, Israel, Morocco, SriLanka (G/C/M/4 and7)
Atitsmeeting of3July1995, theCouncil forTrade inGoods considered requests byBangladesh
(G/L/8), Israel (G/L/14), Morocco (G/L/11), SriLanka (G/L/10) foranextension, until
31December 1995, ofwaivers already granted inconnection withtheir implementation ofthe
Harmonized System.
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods approved thetextsofthedraftdecisions inG/C/W/9 andCorr.1
(Bangladesh),G/C/W/15andCorr.1(Israel),G/C/W/12(Morocco),G/C/W/11andCorr.1(SriLanka)
andrecommended theiradoption bytheGeneral Council.
Atitsmeeting of1December 1995, theCouncil forTrade inGoods considered requests by
Bangladesh (G/L/42), Morocco (G/L/56) andSriLanka (G/L/48) foranextension, until30June1996,
ofwaivers already granted inconnection withtheirimplementation oftheHarmonized System.
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods approved thetexts ofthedraft decisions inG/C/W/23
(Bangladesh), G/C/W/35 (Morocco) andG/C/W/29 (SriLanka) andrecommended theiradoption by
theGeneral Council.
(ii) Guatemala (G/C/M/4, 5and7)
Atthemeeting of3July1995, theChairman proposed thatasGuatemala 'sWTO membership
hadnotyettaken effect, consideration ofGuatemala 'srequest (G/L/12) foranextension, until
31December 1995, ofthewaiver already granted inconnection withitsimplementation ofthe
Harmonized System should bepostponed tothenextmeeting oftheCouncil forTrade inGoods.
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods agreed torevert toGuatemala 'srequest atitsnextmeeting.
Atitsmeeting of31July1995, theCouncil forTrade inGoods approved thetextofthedraft
decision inG/C/W/13/Rev.1 extending thewaiver, andrecommended itsadoption bytheGeneral
Council.
Atitsmeeting of1December 1995, theCouncil forTrade inGoods considered arequest by
Guatemala (G/L/44) foranextension, until30June1996, ofawaiver already granted inconnection
withitsimplementation oftheHarmonized System.
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods approved thetextofthedraft decision inG/C/W/25
(Guatemala), andrecommended itsadoption bytheGeneral Council.
(iii) Jamaica, Trinidad andTobago (G/C/M/4, 5and7)
Atitsmeeting of3July1995, theCouncil forTrade inGoods considered requests byJamaica
(G/L/9) andTrinidad andTobago (G/L/13) foranextension, until31December 1995, ofthewaiver
already granted inconnection withtheirimplementation oftheHarmonized System.
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods agreed torevert tothese requests forwaiver extensions at
itsnextmeeting, andauthorized theChairman toundertake consultations onthese requests.WT/GC/W/25
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Atthemeeting of31July1995, theChairman informed theCouncil forTrade inGoods that
hehadundertaken consultations withrespect totherequests forextension ofwaivers. Thedraftdecisions
hadbeenrevised inlightofthose consultations andhadbeencirculated indocuments G/C/W/10/Rev.1
(Jamaica) andG/C/W/14/Rev.1 (Trinidad andTobago).
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods approved thetextsofthedraftdecisions inG/C/W/10/Rev.1
(Jamaica) andG/C/W/14/Rev.1 (Trinidad andTobago), andrecommended theiradoption bytheGeneral
Council.
Atitsmeeting of1December 1995, theCouncil forTrade inGoods considered requests by
Jamaica (G/L/45) andTrinidad andTobago (G/L/49) foranextension, until30June1996, ofthewaiver
already granted inconnection withtheirimplementation oftheHarmonized System.
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods approved thetextsofthedraftdecisions inG/C/W/26 (Jamaica)
andG/C/W/30 (Trinidad andTobago), andrecommended theiradoption bytheGeneral Council.
(iv) Pakistan (G/C/M/4, 5,6and7)
Atitsmeeting of3July1995, theCouncil forTrade inGoods considered arequest byPakistan
(G/L/6) foranextension until, 31December 1995, ofthewaiver already granted inconnection with
itsimplementation oftheHarmonized System.
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods agreed torevert tothisrequest forawaiver extension atits
nextmeeting, andauthorized theChairman toundertake consultations onthisrequest.
Atthemeeting of31July1995, theChairman informed theCouncil forTrade inGoods that
hehadundertaken consultations withrespect tothisrequest foranextension ofawaiver. Thedraft
decision hadbeen revised inlight ofthose consultations andhadbeen circulated indocument
G/C/W/7/Rev.1 (Pakistan). TheCouncil forTrade inGoods authorized theChairman toundertake
further consultations ontherequest forawaiver extension from Pakistan.
Atthemeeting of26September 1995, theChairman informed theCouncil forTrade inGoods
thatconsultations hadbeen carried out,andthatagreement hadbeenreached between theparties
concerned toextend thewaiver requested byPakistan until31December 1995.
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods approved thetextofthedraftdecision inG/C/W/7/Rev.1,
andrecommended itsadoption bytheGeneral Council.
Atitsmeeting of1December 1995, theCouncil forTrade inGoods tooknoteoftheinformation
provided bytherepresentative ofPakistan, thatPakistan hadnotrequested anextension ofthewaiver
ontheexpectation thatArticle XXVIII negotiations would conclude before 31December 1995.
(v) Bolivia, Nicaragua (G/C/M/7)
Atitsmeeting of1December 1995, theCouncil forTrade inGoods considered requests by
Bolivia (G/L/43) andNicaragua (G/L/46) foranextension, until30June1996, ofthewaiver already
granted inconnection withtheirimplementation oftheHarmonized System.
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods approved thetextsofthedraftdecisions inG/C/W/24 (Bolivia)
andG/C/W/27 (Nicaragua), andrecommended theiradoption bytheGeneral Council.WT/GC/W/25
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(b) Dominican Republic -Renegotiation ofSchedule XXIII (G/C/M/2 and3)
Atitsmeeting of3April 1995, theCouncil forTrade inGoods considered arequest from
theDominican Republic (G/L/4) requesting awaiver from itsobligations under Article IIofGATT
1994 fortherenegotiation andtransposition ofitspre-Uruguay Round Schedule XXIII intothe
Harmonized System.
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods agreed thatfurther discussion wasneeded andauthorized the
Chairman toundertake informal consultations onthismatter.
Atitsmeeting of29May1995, theCouncil forTrade inGoods tooknoteofthedecision by
theDominican Republic towithdraw itsrequest forawaiver.
(c) Malawi -Renegotiation ofSchedule LVIII (G/C/M/6 and7)
Atitsmeeting of26September 1995, theCouncil forTrade inGoods considered arequest
byMalawi (G/L/24) foranextension, until31December 1995, ofthewaiver granted toitinconnection
withtherenegotiation ofitsSchedule.
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods approved thetextofthedraftdecision inG/C/W/19 (Malawi),
andrecommended itsadoption bytheGeneral Council.
Atitsmeeting of1December 1995, theCouncil forTrade inGoods considered arequest by
Malawi (G/L/51) foranextension, until30June1996, ofthewaiver granted toitinconnection with
therenegotiation ofitsSchedule andthedraftdecision (G/C/W/31).
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods agreed torevert tothisrequest atitsnextmeeting.
(d) Senegal -Renegotiation ofSchedule XLIX (G/C/M/4 and7)
Atitsmeeting of3July1995, theCouncil forTrade inGoods considered arequest bySenegal
(G/L/7) foranextension, until31December 1995, ofthewaiver granted toitinconnection withthe
renegotiation ofitsSchedule.
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods approved thetextofthedraftdecision inG/C/W/8 (Senegal),
andrecommended itsadoption bytheGeneral Council.
Atitsmeeting of1December 1995, theCouncil forTrade inGoods considered arequest by
Senegal (G/L/52) foranextension, until30June1996, ofthewaiver granted toitinconnection with
therenegotiation ofitsSchedule.
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods agreed toforward thedraftdecision inG/C/W/32 (Senegal)
totheGeneral Council foritsconsideration.
(e) Zambia -Renegotiation ofSchedule LXXVIII (G/C/M/7)
Atitsmeeting of1December 1995, theCouncil forTrade inGoods considered arequest by
Zambia (G/L/53) foranextension ofthewaiver granted toitinconnection withtherenegotiation of
itsSchedule.WT/GC/W/25
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TheCouncil forTrade inGoods approved thetextofthedraftdecision inG/C/W/33 (Zambia),
andrecommended itsadoption bytheGeneral Council.
(f) Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act-Request forrenewal ofwaiver (G/C/M/6)
Atitsmeeting of26September 1995, theCouncil forTrade inGoods considered a
communication from theUnited States requesting arenewal ofthewaiver relating totheCaribbean
Basin Economic Recovery Act(G/L/25).
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods approved therequest fromtheUnited States fortherenewal
ofthewaiver relating totheCaribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act,oncondition thatinfurther
consultations tobeheldshortly thequestions raised andthedrafting changes mentioned beclarified.
Thedraftdecision withtheagreed changes could thenbeforwarded asarevision ofdocument G/C/W/21
totheGeneral Council withtherecommendation thatitbeadopted.
2. Understanding ontheInterpretation ofArticle XVII ofGATT 1994
(a) Establishment oftheWorking Party onState Trading Enterprises (G/C/M/1)
Atitsmeeting of20February 1995, theCouncil forTrade inGoods established aWorking
Party onStateTrading Enterprises tocarry outthetasksdescribed inparagraph 5oftheUnderstanding
ontheInterpretation ofArticle XVII ofGATT 1994, withmembership intheWorking Party open
toallMembers indicating theirwishtoserve onit.
(b) Notification requirement withrespect toStateTrading Enterprises under Article XVIIofGATT
1994 (G/C/M/1)
Atitsmeeting of20February 1995, theCouncil forTrade inGoods agreed thatthefirst
notifications onstatetrading enterprises would be"new andfull" andthatthedeadline fortheir
submission would be30June1995.
3. Market Access Matters
(a) Committee onMarket Access
- Report oftheCommittee (G/C/M/4)
Atitsmeeting of3July1995, theCouncil forTrade inGoods tooknoteofthereport.
(b) Finalization ofSchedules ofConcessions onGoods (G/C/M/2, 3,5and7)
Atthemeeting of3April 1995, Mr.Saint-Jacques (Canada), theChairman oftheMarket Access
Committee reported thatattheinformal meeting oftheMarket Access Committee, which hadbeen
convened on31March 1995, withthepurpose ofverifying draftfinalschedules ofconcessions, the
goods schedules ofChad andTheGambia hadbeenverified.
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods tooknoteofthereport, agreed tosubmit theSchedules of
Concessions onGoods ofChad andTheGambia totheGeneral Council withtherecommendation that
theybeapproved, andrecommended thattheGeneral Council extend thedeadline of31March 1995
forthesubmission ofnegotiated schedules totheGeneral Council provided forintheDecision onWT/GC/W/25
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"Finalization ofNegotiations onSchedules onGoods andServices" to24April 1995, asproposed
bytheMarket Access Committee.
Atthemeeting of29May1995, Mr.Saint-Jacques (Canada), theChairman oftheMarket
Access Committee reported thatattheinformal meeting oftheMarket Access Committee which had
beenconvened on24April 1995 withthepurpose ofverifying draftfinalschedules ofconcessions,
thegoodsschedulesofAngola,Botswana,Burundi,CentralAfricanRepublic,Djibouti,Grenada,Guinea,
Guinea Bissau, Haiti, Lesotho, Malawi, Maldives, Mozambique, Papua NewGuinea, Rwanda, St.
KittsandNevis, Sierra Leone, Togo andZaire hadbeenverified.
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods tooknoteofthereport, andagreed tosubmit totheGeneral
Council forapproval theSchedules ofConcessions onGoods ofAngola, Botswana, Burundi, Central
African Republic, Djibouti, Grenada, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Haiti, Lesotho, Malawi, Maldives,
Mozambique, Papua NewGuinea, Rwanda, St.KittsandNevis, Sierra Leone, Togo andZaire.
Atthemeeting of31July1995, theChairman informed theCouncil forTrade inGoods that
thefourth revision ofQatar'sdraftschedule hadbeenconsidered verified, andproposed thattheCouncil
approve thisSchedule ofConcessions onGoods ofQatar andforward itforapproval totheGeneral
Council.
TheCouncilforTradeinGoodsapprovedthefourthrevisionofQatar'sScheduleofConcessions
onGoods andagreed toforward ittotheGeneral Council withtherecommendation thatitbeapproved.
Atitsmeeting of1December 1995, theCouncil forTrade inGoods approved theSchedule
ofConcessions onGoods oftheSolomon Islands andagreed toforward ittotheGeneral Council with
therecommendation thatitbeapproved.
Atitsmeeting of1December 1995, theCouncil forTrade inGoods agreed thataninformal
meeting oftheMarket Access Committee beconvened forthepurposes ofverifying theSchedule of
Concessions onGoods oftheUnited Arab Emirates. Ifnoobjections were raised atthatmeeting
regarding thisSchedule, theSchedule would beforwarded totheGeneral Council forapproval atits
meeting scheduled for13December 1995.
(c) Decision ontheintroduction oftheHarmonized System Changes intoWTO Schedules ofTariff
Concessions on1January 1996 (G/C/M/7)
Atthemeeting of1December 1995, theChairman informed theCouncil forTrade inGoods
thatfrominformal consultations heldbytheChairman oftheMarket Access Committee onthesituation
arising fromtheintroduction andimplementation ofHarmonized System 1996changes tonational tariffs
on1January 1996andtheimplication ofthesechanges onWTO Schedules ofConcessions, itappeared
thatMembers were infavour ofacollective waiver which would begranted upon request tothose
Members finding itnecessary toconsult ornegotiate under Article XXVIII ofGATT 1994asaresult
ofthose changes.
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods approved andagreed toforward totheGeneral Council the
draftdecision related totheHarmonized System 1996 changes tobeintroduced on1January 1996,
andcontained indocument G/MA/W/4/Rev.1.WT/GC/W/25
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(d) Decision onnotification procedures forquantitative restrictions (G/C/M/7)
Atitsmeeting of1December 1995, theCouncil forTrade inGoods approved thedecision
onnotification procedures forquantitative restrictions contained indocument G/MA/NTM/W/1/Rev.1,
whichhadbeenadoptedbytheCommitteeonMarketAccess,pursuanttoitsmandatesetoutinparagraph
(d)ofitsterms ofreference contained indocument WT/L/47.
(e) Decision onreverse notification ofnon-tariff measures (G/C/M/7)
Atitsmeeting of1December 1995, theCouncil forTrade inGoods approved thedecision
onreverse notification ofnon-tariff measures, contained indocument G/MA/NTM/W/2/Rev.1, which
hadbeenadopted bytheCommittee onMarket Access pursuant toitsmandate setoutinparagraph
(d)ofitsterms ofreference contained indocument WT/L/47.
4. Agreement onTextiles andClothing
- Textiles Monitoring Body -Status ofMembers (G/C/M/5)
Atthemeeting of31July1995, theChairman informed theCouncil forTrade inGoods that
theChairman oftheTextiles Monitoring Body, onbehalf oftheBody, hadinformed himofdiscussions
ithadheldwhen developing andadopting itsownworking procedures, withrespect totheperceived
needoftheBody tore-assert thefactthattheTMB members discharge theirfunctions onanadpersonam
basis. Henoted thathewould beconsulting withMembers onthismatter, onthebasisofaproposal
provided bytheTMB.
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods tooknoteofthisinformation.
5. Agreement onTrade-Related Investment Measures (TRIMs)
(a) Notification formats andprocedures: notifications under Article 5.1oftheTRIMs Agreement
(G/C/M/1)
Atthemeeting of20February 1995, theChairman proposed thattheCouncil forTrade in
Goods endorse theformat fornotifications under Article 5.1oftheTRIMs Agreement andremit it
andtheother issues relating tonotifications totheTRIMS Committee forfurther consideration and/or
action asappropriate.
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods soagreed.
(b) Notifications under Article 5.1bygovernments which accept theAgreement after
1January 1995 (G/C/M/1)
Atthemeeting of20February 1995, theChairman proposed thattheCouncil forTrade in
Goods request theCommittee onTRIMs toconsider thematter ofarrangements fornotifications under
Article 5.1bycountries eligible tobecome original Members andwhich accepted theWTO Agreement
after theexpiry ofninety days provided forinthatArticle, andtoprepare anyappropriate
recommendations.
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods soagreed.WT/GC/W/25
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(c) Recommendation bytheCommittee onTRIMs (G/C/M/2)
Atitsmeeting of3April 1995, theCouncil forTrade inGoods tooknoteofthedraft
recommendation andthedecision contained therein which would allow states andseparate customs
territories which accepted theWTO Agreement afteritsentry intoforce aperiod ofninety daysfrom
thedateoftheiracceptance oftheWTO Agreement tomake notifications required under Article 5.1
oftheTRIMs Agreement. TheCouncil forTrade inGoods agreed tosubmit thedecision totheGeneral
Council foradoption.
6. Agreement onPreshipment Inspection
- Legal status oftheIndependent Review Entity under Article 4oftheAgreement (G/C/M/1,
2,3,4and7)
Atitsmeeting of7October 1994, theSub-Committee onInstitutional, Procedural andLegal
MattershadrequestedtheSecretariatinconsultationwithinteresteddelegationsandwiththeInternational
Federation ofInspection Agencies (IFIA) andtheInternational Chamber ofCommerce (ICC), toprepare
adraftforformalising, inwriting, thestatus oftheICC, theIFIAandtheIndependent Entity foreseen
under Article 4oftheAgreement onPreshipment Inspection (PC/IPL/M/6, paragraph 60).Atitsfirst
meeting on31January 1995, theGeneral Council hadassigned thesubject ofpreshipment inspection
totheCouncil forTrade inGoods.
Atthemeetingof20February1995,arepresentativeoftheSecretariatreportedthatconsultations
hadnotyetconcluded andthusuntilasolution hadbeenfound tothequestions ofstatus andlegal
liabilities oftheIndependent Entity andofitsstaffandpanellists, theIndependent Entity would not
come intoexistence and,therefore, norecourse could bemade toit.
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods tooknoteofthereport; requested theSecretariat topursue
itsconsultations withinterested delegations andwiththeICCandIFIA, withaviewtoputting forward
asolution tothequestions ofthestatus oftheIndependent Entity andthelegal liabilities ofthe
Independent Entity, itsstaffandpanellists, forconsideration byallWTO Members; andagreed torevert
tothismatter atitsnextmeeting.
Atitsmeetingof3April1995,theCouncilforTradeinGoodstooknoteofinformationprovided
bytheobserver from theWorld Customs Organization andrequested theSecretariat topursue its
consultations withinterested delegations andwiththeICCandtheIFIA onthelegal status ofthe
Independent Entity.
Atthemeeting of29May1995, theChairman informed theCouncil forTrade inGoods that
asolution hadbeenelaborated thatmetwiththeapproval ofmostofthedelegations participating in
theconsultations, aswellaswiththeagreement oftheICCandtheIFIA.
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods requested theSecretariat, ifandwhen itreceived apositive
response fromJapan, toprepare aworking document outlining theproposed solution andtocirculate
ittoallMembers forcomment before itwasputbefore theCouncil foraction.
Atthemeeting of3July1995, theChairman informed theCouncil forTrade inGoods that
agreementhademergedontheproposedsolutionconcerningthequestionsofthestatusoftheIndependent
Entity andthelegalliabilities oftheIndependent Entity, itsstaffandpanellists.WT/GC/W/25
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TheCouncil forTrade inGoods requested theSecretariat toissueaworking document outlining
theproposed solution, andtocirculate ittoallMembers forcomment before itwasputbefore the
Council foraction.
Atthemeeting of1December 1995, theChairman informed theCouncil forTrade inGoods,
thattheSecretariat hadincooperation withICCandIFIA, prepared draftdocumentation withaview
toestablishing thePSIentity asasubsidiary body oftheCouncil forTrade inGoods. Oneortwo
points hadtobefurther clarified andthetextwould beaccordingly adapted.
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods agreed that,assoonasfinalagreement wasreached, arevised
version ofthedocument (G/PSI/W/2), incorporating theagreed changes, would becirculated andwould
beputbefore theGeneral Council foradoption atitsmeeting of13December 1995.
7. Agreement onRules ofOrigin
- UseofSpanish asaworking language intheTechnical Committee onRules ofOrigin
(G/C/M/1)
Atthemeeting of20February 1995, therepresentative ofChile requested thattheCouncil
forTrade inGoods make arecommendation totheCommittee onRules ofOrigin torequest theWorld
Customs Organization toensure thatthetechnical work onrules oforigin becarried outinEnglish,
French andSpanish.
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods recommended totheCommittee onRules ofOrigin torequest
theWorld Customs Organization toensure thatwork intheTechnical Committee onRules ofOrigin
becarried outinEnglish, French andSpanish.
8. Agreement onSubsidies andCountervailing Measures
- Approval ofquestionnaire format forsubsidy notifications under Article 25oftheAgreement
onSubsidies andCountervailing Measures andunder Article XVIofGATT 1994(G/C/M/6)
Atitsmeeting of26September 1995, theCouncil forTrade inGoods considered the
questionnaire format forsubsidy notifications under Article 25oftheAgreement onSubsidies and
Countervailing Measures andArticle XVIofGATT 1994 (G/SCM/6) which hadbeendeveloped by
theWorking Party onSubsidy Notifications, andadopted bytheCommittee onSubsidies and
Countervailing Measures atitsspecial meeting of21July1995.
TheChairman noted thattheapproval ofthisquestionnaire format atthismeeting, innorespect,
intended toprejudge theoutcome ofthework oftheWorking Group onNotification Obligations. He
expressed concern regarding thestatus ofnotifications inthesubsidies area, andurged allMembers
whohadnotmade suchnotifications todosopromptly.
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods tooknoteofthestatement andapproved thequestionnaire
format contained indocument G/SCM/6.WT/GC/W/25
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9. Agreement onSafeguards
- Membership oftheCommittee onSafeguards (G/C/M/1)
Atthemeeting of20February 1995, theChairman proposed thattheCouncil forTrade in
Goods consider allWTO Members tobemembers oftheCommittee onSafeguards unless theyindicate
otherwise by22February 1995.
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods soagreed.
10. Notification byMalaysia inpursuance ofArticle XVIII:C ofGATT 1994 andthe1979
Decision onSafeguard Action forDevelopment Purposes (G/C/M/1, 2and3)
Atitsmeetingof20February1995,theCouncilforTradeinGoodsconsideredacommunication
fromSingapore (G/L/2) which wasinresponse toMalaysia 'snotification made inpursuance ofArticle
XVIII:C andthe1979 Decision onSafeguard Action forDevelopment Purposes (WT/L/32), anda
communication from Malaysia circulated indocument G/L/3.
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods authorized theChairman toundertake consultations onthe
notification byMalaysia, asrequested inthecommunication from Singapore.
Atthemeeting of3April 1995, theChairman reported thattheconsultations thathehadcarried
outonMalaysia 'sNotification ofMeasures under Article XVIII:C andthe1979 Decision on"Safeguard
Action forDevelopment Purposes" hadproven tobeinconclusive. However, hehadbeenrecently
informed thatMalaysia hadproposed theintroduction ofanalternative measure todealwithitsspecific
problem, which could haveimportant implications ontheconsultation process.
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods tooknoteofthisreport.
Atthemeeting of29May1995, theChairman reported thatinlightoftheintroduction by
Malaysia ofanalternative measure todealwithitsspecific problem, itwasnolonger necessary for
consultations tobepursued onMalaysia 'srecourse toArticle XVIII:C ofGATT 1994.
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods tooknoteofthisreport.
11. Customs Unions andFreeTrade Areas; regional agreements
(a) FreeTrade Agreements between theCzech Republic andSlovenia, andbetween theSlovak
Republic andSlovenia (G/C/M/1)
InJune1994, theGATT 1947 Council hadestablished theWorking Party ontheFreeTrade
Agreements between theCzech Republic andSlovenia andbetween theSlovak Republic andSlovenia.
Atthemeeting of20February 1995, theChairman informed theCouncil forTrade inGoods
thatMr.Manhusen (Sweden) hadagreed toserve asChairman oftheWorking Party.
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods tooknoteofthisinformation.WT/GC/W/25
Section IV
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(b) Interim Agreement between Bulgaria andtheEuropean Communities (G/C/M/1)
Atitsmeetingof20February1995,theCouncilforTradeinGoodsconsideredacommunication
fromtheEuropean Communities (WT/REG1/1) inwhich itindicated thatthenotification oftheInterim
Agreement between theEuropean Communities andtheRepublic ofBulgaria which wasoriginally
notified totheGATT 1947 contracting parties indocument L/7617 should beconsidered tobea
notification alsounder theGATT 1994.
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods tooknoteofthisinformation, established aworking party,
andauthorized theChairman todesignate theChairperson oftheWorking Party inconsultations with
thedelegations principally concerned.
(c) Interim Agreement between Romania andtheEuropean Communities (G/C/M/1)
Atitsmeetingof20February1995,theCouncilforTradeinGoodsconsideredacommunication
fromtheEuropean Communities (WT/REG2/1) inwhich itindicated thatthenotification oftheInterim
Agreement between theEuropean Communities andRomania which wasoriginally notified totheGATT
1947contracting parties indocument L/7618 should beconsidered tobeanotification alsounder the
GATT 1994.
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods tooknoteofthisinformation, established aworking party
andauthorized theChairman todesignate theChairperson oftheWorking Party inconsultations with
thedelegations principally concerned.
(d) EnlargementoftheEuropeanUnion:AccessionofAustria,FinlandandSwedentotheEuropean
Communities (G/C/M/1, 2,3and7)
Atthemeeting of20February 1995, theChairman informed theCouncil forTrade inGoods
thatinformal consultations heldbytheChairman oftheGeneral Council hadresulted inagreement
ontheestablishment ofaworking partyunder Article XXIV ofGATT 1994andonitsterms ofreference
aswellasontheunderstanding onthebasis ofwhich theterms ofreference would beadopted.
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods tooknoteofthisinformation, established aworking party,
andauthorized theChairman todesignate theChairperson oftheWorking Party inconsultation with
thedelegations principally concerned.
Atthemeeting of3April 1995, theChairman informed theCouncil forTrade inGoods that
Mr.Armstrong (New Zealand) hadagreed toserve asChairman oftheWorking Party.
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods tooknoteofthisinformation.
Atthemeeting of29May1995, therepresentative oftheEuropean Communities informed
theCouncil forTrade inGoods ofitscommunication of19May1995 (WT/L/67) concerning the
extension to31December 1995oftherights heldbyWTO Members under GATT 1994fornegotiations
concerning enlargement oftheECunder Article XXIV:6.
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods tooknoteofthisinformation.
Atthemeeting of1December 1995, therepresentative oftheEuropean Communities proposed
thattherights heldbyWTO Members under Article XXVIII:3 ofGATT 1994 beextended until
31January 1996 fornegotiations concerning theenlargement oftheECunder Article XXIV:6.WT/GC/W/25
Section IV
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TheCouncil forTrade inGoods soagreed.
(e) FreeTrade Agreements between theCzech Republic andRomania andbetween theSlovak
Republic andRomania respectively (G/C/M/2)
Atthemeeting of3April 1995, therepresentative oftheCzech Republic, alsoonbehalf of
theSlovak Republic andRomania, informed theCouncil forTrade inGoods oftherecent signature
ofFreeTrade Agreements between theCzech Republic andRomania andbetween theSlovak Republic
andRomania,respectively.TheFreeTradeAgreementswerebeingappliedprovisionallysince1January
1995 andwould enter intoforce definitively when therespective ratification processes hadbeen
completed.
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods tooknoteofthisinformation.
(f) Freetradeagreements between Estonia, Latvia andLithuania, andtheEuropean Communities
(G/C/M/3)
Atthemeeting of29May1995, therepresentative oftheEuropean Community informed the
Council forTrade inGoods thattheCommunity hadrecently concluded freetrade agreements with
Estonia, Latvia andLithuania andwould soonbenotifying these agreements under Article XXIV of
GATT 1994.
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods tooknoteofthisinformation.
(g) Terms ofreference ofworking parties onagreements notified under Article XXIV ofGATT
1947 (G/C/M/4)
Atthemeeting of3July1995, theChairman informed theCouncil forTrade inGoods that
hehadconsulted onwhether these Working Parties would examine theregional trading agreements
inthelightofGATT 1947orGATT 1994andtowhich bodytheywould submit theirreport. Contacts
hadbeenmade withthecountries involved intheWorking Parties established prior totheentry into
force oftheWTO andother interested Members toascertain howtheterms ofreference should read.
Itwashisfeeling thatmore timewasneeded toreach acommon understanding onthematter.
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods agreed thatthematter beputontheagenda oftheGeneral
Council meeting of11July1995, andauthorized theChairman toholdinformal consultations.
(h) Signature ofaFreeTrade Agreement between EFTA andSlovenia (G/C/M/4)
Atthemeeting of3July1995, therepresentative ofSwitzerland, onbehalf oftheEFTA
countries, namely Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway andSwitzerland, andalsoonbehalf ofSlovenia
informed theCouncil forTrade inGoods thattheEFTA countries andSlovenia hadsigned afreetrade
agreement on13June1995, which would bedulynotified under therelevant GATT 1994provisions.
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods tooknoteofthisinformation.
(i) Free-Trade Agreement between Latvia andtheEuropean Communities (G/C/M/6)
Atitsmeeting of26September 1995, theCouncil forTrade inGoods considered a
communication fromtheEuropean Communities (WT/REG7/N/1), indicating theentry intoforce on
1January 1995 oftheFreeTrade Agreement (WT/REG7/1) between theECandLatvia.WT/GC/W/25
Section IV
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TheCouncil forTrade inGoods tooknoteofthisinformation, established aworking party,
andauthorized theChairman todesignate theChairperson oftheWorking Party inconsultations with
delegations principally concerned.
(j) Free-Trade Agreement between Estonia andtheEuropean Communities (G/C/M/6)
Atitsmeeting of26September 1995, theCouncil forTrade inGoods considered a
communication fromtheEuropean Communities (WT/REG8/N/1), which indicated theentryintoforce
on1January 1995 oftheFreeTrade Agreement (WT/REG8/1) between theECandEstonia.
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods tooknoteofthisinformation, established aworking party,
andauthorized theChairman todesignate theChairperson oftheWorking Party inconsultations with
delegations principally concerned.
(k) Free-Trade Agreement between Lithuania andtheEuropean Communities (G/C/M/6)
Atitsmeeting of26September 1995, theCouncil forTrade inGoods considered a
communication fromtheEuropean Communities (WT/REG9/N/1), which indicated theentryintoforce
on1January 1995 oftheFreeTrade Agreement (WT/REG9/1) between theECandLithuania.
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods tooknoteofthisinformation, established aworking party,
andauthorized theChairman todesignate theChairperson oftheWorking Party inconsultations with
delegations principally concerned.
(l) Cooperation Agreement between theEuropean Communities andtheRepublic ofSlovenia
(G/C/M/6)
Atitsmeeting of26September 1995, theCouncil forTrade inGoods considered anotification
fromtheEuropeanCommunitiesandtheRepublicofSlovenia(WT/REG10/N/1),inwhichtheyindicated
theentry intoforceon19July1993oftheCooperation Agreement (WT/REG10/1) concluded between
them.
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods tooknoteofthisinformation.
(m) Free-TradeAgreementbetweentheRepublicofHungaryandtheRepublicofSlovenia(G/C/M/6)
Atitsmeeting of26September 1995, theCouncil forTrade inGoods considered anotification
fromHungary andSlovenia (WT/REG19/N/1), inwhich theyindicated thesignature on6April 1994
ofaFreeTrade Agreement (WT/REG19/1) between them.
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods tooknoteofthisinformation, established aworking party,
andauthorized theChairman todesignate theChairperson oftheWorking Party inconsultations with
delegations principally concerned.
(n) EFTA-Slovenia FreeTrade Agreement (G/C/M/7)
Atitsmeeting of1December 1995, theCouncil forTrade inGoods considered acommunication
fromtheparties totheAgreement (WT/REG20/N/1), which indicated thesignature on13June1995,
andapplication onaprovisional basisasof1July1995oftheFreeTrade Agreement (WT/REG20/1)
between theEFTA states andSlovenia.WT/GC/W/25
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TheCouncil forTrade inGoods tooknoteofthisinformation andestablished aworking party.
(o) Agreement between theEuropean Community ontheonepart,andtheGovernment ofDenmark
andtheHome Government oftheFaroe Islands ontheother part(G/C/M/7)
Atitsmeeting of1December 1995, theCouncil forTrade inGoods considered acommunication
from theparties totheAgreement (WT/REG21/N/1), which indicated theentry intoforce on
1January 1992oftheAgreement (WT/REG21/1) between theEContheonepartandtheGovernment
ofDenmark andtheHome Government oftheFaroe Islands ontheother part.
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods tooknoteofthisinformation andestablished aworking party.
(p) Chairmanship oftheWorking Parties (G/C/M/6 and7)
Atthemeeting of26September 1995, theChairman noted thatitwasbecoming increasingly
difficult tofindasufficient number ofofficials tochair thelarge number ofcommittees andworking
parties established under theWTO Agreements. Thisproblem wascompounded asfewpotential
Chairpersons were available forthefullduration oftheworking party process required toexamine
theregional trading arrangements. Heinformed theCouncil forTrade inGoods thathewould be
holding consultations withaviewtofinding howbesttodealwiththissituation.
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods soagreed.
Atthemeeting of1December 1995, theChairman referred totheproposal made byhimat
theGeneral Council meeting of15November 1995concerning thesetting up,asaninterim measure,
ofaCommittee within theCouncil forTrade inGoods which would havethesame terms ofreference,
orsimilar terms ofreference astheexisting Working Parties, butcovering allregional arrangements.
TheCouncil agreed toreview thisquestion early in1996, when abetter assessment ofthe
situation could bemade inlightoftheconsultations going onunder theChairman oftheGeneral Council
regarding theproposal made byCanada inthiscontext. TheChairman noted thatunder these
circumstances thequestion ofappointment ofChairpersons forthese working parties would appear
lessurgent, andthatthere would beadelay inthestart-up ofthework concerning theexamination
ofregional agreements.
12. Marrakesh Ministerial Decision onNotification Procedures
- Establishment ofaWorking Group onNotification Obligations andProcedures (G/C/M/1)
Atitsmeeting of20February 1995, theCouncil forTrade inGoods, pursuant totheDecision
onNotification Procedures, established aWorking Group onNotification Obligations andProcedures
tocarry outthetasks setoutinPartIIIoftheaforementioned Decision.
13. Canada -import regime forpasta (G/C/M/3)
Atthemeeting of29May1995, therepresentative oftheEuropean Communities expressed
concern about therevocation bytheCanadian Wheat Board asfrom27April 1995ofthe"special blanket
import licences" forpasta products.
Therepresentative ofCanada spoke.WT/GC/W/25
Section IV
Page17
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods tooknoteofthestatements.
14. Hungarian agricultural export subsidies (G/C/M/4)
Atthemeeting of3July1995, therepresentative oftheUnited States expressed concern about
Hungary 'sagricultural export subsidy plans, andurged thattheyberevised sothattheyconform with
Hungary 'sWTO commitments.
Therepresentative ofHungary spoke.
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods tooknoteofthestatements.
15. Taxation ofcertain alcoholic beverages inJapan (G/C/M/4)
Atthemeetingof3July1995,therepresentativeoftheEuropeanCommunitiesexpressedconcern
about Japan'sinternal taxation system foralcoholic beverages, andinformed theCouncil forTrade
inGoods thatconsultations hadbeenrequested withJapan under paragraph 1ofArticle XXII ofGATT
1994 andArticle 4oftheDispute Settlement Understanding (DSU).
Therepresentative ofJapan spoke.
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods tooknoteofthestatements.
16. US/Japan: autoandautoparts issues
(a) Japan-United States: autoandautopartsissues; United States unilateral measures (G/C/M/3)
Atthemeeting of29May1995, therepresentative ofJapan informed theCouncil forTrade
inGoods thattheframework discussions which hadbegun inJuly1993between Japan andtheUnited
States about automotive issues hadnotreached aconclusion. Heexpressed concern attheannouncement
bytheUSon16May1995ofunilateral measures based onSection to301,andwasseeking consultations
under Article XX:1 ofGATT 1994.
Therepresentatives oftheUnited States, theEuropean Communities, Australia, India and
Indonesia onbehalf ofASEAN countries spoke.
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods tooknoteofthestatements.
(b) Japan'sautomotive barriers andrestrictive practices (G/C/M/3)
Atthemeeting of29May1995, therepresentative oftheUnited States informed theCouncil
forTrade inGoods thattheUnited States hadcommunicated totheDirector-General itsintention to
invoke theWTO 'sdispute settlement mechanism aspartoftheefforts toobtain effective market access
forUSandother countries 'products intoJapan'sautomobile andauto-parts market (WT/INF/1).
Therepresentative ofJapan spoke.
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods tooknoteofthestatements.WT/GC/W/25
Section IV
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(c) Agreement between US/Japan onautoandautoparts (G/C/M/4)
Atthemeeting of3July1995, therepresentative ofJapan reported thatasuccessful conclusion
tothismatter wasreached on28June 1995 asaresult ofaseries ofnegotiations between the
governments ofJapan andtheUnited States.
Therepresentatives oftheUnited States, theEuropean Communities andCanada spoke.
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods tooknoteofthestatements.
17. Tariff quota oftheEuropean Communities (G/C/M/4)
Atthemeeting of3July1995, therepresentative ofHungary informed theCouncil forTrade
inGoods ofaproblem related totheunbinding bytheEuropean Communities ofatariffquota of20,000
heads ofheifers andcows ofcertain mountain breeds. Hungary reserved allitsrights under theWTO
andGATT 1947.
Therepresentatives ofSwitzerland andtheEuropean Communities spoke.
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods tooknoteofthestatements.
18. Brazil -provisional measure No.1024 (automobiles) (G/C/M/4)
Atthemeeting of3July1994, therepresentative ofBrazil stated thaton13June1995, the
Government ofBrazil hadadopted Provisional Measure N1024, thatdealtwiththetrade régime for
theautomotive sector andcontained alsoother provisions. AnEnglish version ofthefulltextofthe
ProvisionalMeasurehadbeennotifiedtoWTOincompliancewiththetransparencyobligationsembodied
inthe1979 Decision andtheUruguay Round Decision onNotification Procedures (WT/L/73).
Therepresentatives oftheEuropean Communities, Japan, theUnited States andCanada spoke.
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods tooknoteofthestatements.
19. Tariff increase bytheEuropean Communities resulting from achange oftheclassification
ofCD-Rom Drives (G/C/M/7)
Atthemeeting of1December 1995, therepresentative ofJapan stated thattheCommunity 's
reclassificationofCD-ROMDrivesunderanewHarmonizedSystemheadinghadtheeffectofanincrease
inthebound rateintheCommunity 'sSchedule from3.9% to14%, which violated theprovisions of
GATT 1994, especially Article II.
Therepresentatives ofKorea, United States, Malaysia, onbehalf ofASEAN countries, Canada,
Australia, theEuropean Communities andArgentina spoke.
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods tooknoteofthestatements.
20. Information ontheCairns Group Ministerial Meeting inManila on26-27 May 1995
(G/C/M/3)
Atthemeeting of29May1995, therepresentative ofAustralia reported ontheCairns Group
Ministerial Meeting inManila on26-27 May1995.WT/GC/W/25
Section IV
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TheCouncil forTrade inGoods tooknoteofthisreport.
21. Rules ofprocedure oftheCouncil forTrade inGoods (G/C/M/1,2,4 and5)
Atthemeeting of20February 1995, theChairman proposed tostartinformal consultations
forestablishing therulesofprocedure pursuant toArticle IV:5oftheWTO Agreement, andthatbusiness
oftheCouncil forTrade inGoods beconducted onthebasis ofestablished GATT practice untilits
nextmeeting.
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods soagreed.
Atthemeeting of3April 1995, theChairman proposed thattheCouncil forTrade inGoods
adopt itsrulesofprocedure (G/C/W/2), andthatthose subsidiary bodies oftheCouncil forTrade in
Goods which decided theyneeded rules ofprocedures fortheirownpurposes, might consider using
therules ofprocedures oftheCouncil forTrade inGoods withthenecessary adaptations.
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods soagreed.
Atthemeeting of3July1995, theChairman informed theCouncil forTrade inGoods that
aquestionhadarisenregardingRule33oftheRulesofProcedureofthesectoralCouncils.Consultations
onthismatterwerebeingheldundertheChairmanshipofAmbassadorKesavapany.Pendingtheoutcome
ofthoseconsultations, theRules ofProcedure fortheCouncil forTrade inGoods circulated indocument
G/C/W/2 would beputbefore theGeneral Council forapproval.
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods tooknoteofthisinformation.
Atthemeeting of31July1995, theChairman informed theCouncil forTrade inGoods that
consultations which wereheldbyAmbassador Kesavapany onthismatter hadresulted inthefootnote
contained indocument G/C/W/2/Add.1. Heproposed thattheCouncil adopt thisaddition tothe
Council 'srules ofprocedure andsubmit therules ofprocedure ascontained indocument G/C/W/2
anditsaddendum totheGeneral Council forapproval, pursuant toparagraph 5ofArticle IVofthe
WTO Agreement.
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods adopted theaddition totheCouncil 'srules ofprocedure
contained indocument G/C/W/2/Add.1, andsubmitted theCouncil 'srulesofprocedure contained in
document G/C/W/2 anditsaddendum totheGeneral Council forapproval.
22. Rules ofProcedure ofsubsidiary bodies (G/C/M/7)
Atitsmeeting of1December 1995, theCouncil forTrade inGoods approved therules of
procedure oftheCommittees onCustoms Valuation (G/VAL/W/2), Import Licensing (G/LIC/W/1),
Market Access (G/MA/W/2), Rules ofOrigin (G/RO/W/6), Technical Barriers toTrade
(G/TBT/1/Rev.2), andTrade-Related Investment Measures (G/TRIMS/W/3).
23. Reports from subsidiary bodies
Atitsmeeting of1December 1995, theCouncil forTrade inGoods tooknoteofthereports
submitted bytheCommittees onAgriculture (G/L/41), Anti-Dumping Practices (G/L/34), Customs
Valuation (G/L/55), Import Licensing (G/L/29), Market Access (G/L/50), Rules ofOrigin (G/L/36),
Safeguards (G/L/32), Sanitary andPhytosanitary Measures (G/L/38), Subsidies andCountervailing
Measures (G/L/31 andCorr.1), Technical Barriers toTrade (G/L/54), Trade-Related InvestmentWT/GC/W/25
Section IV
Page20
Measures (G/L/37), theTextiles Monitoring Body (G/L/40), theWorking Party onState Trading
Enterprises (G/L/35), andtheWorking Group onNotification Obligations andProcedures (G/L/30).
24. Adhocarrangementsfortheparticipationofinternationalintergovernmentalorganizations
inthework ofthesubsidiary bodies oftheCouncil forTrade inGoods (G/C/M/1 and2)
Atthemeeting of20February 1995, theChairman proposed alistofthose international
intergovernmental organizations which might beinvited tothefirstmeetings oftheCommittees which
were subsidiary bodies oftheCouncil forTrade inGoods. Thiswaswithout prejudice towhatmay
bethefinalresults ofdiscussions onobserver status forinternational intergovernmental organizations.
TheCouncilforTradeinGoodsapprovedthelistofinternationalintergovernmentalorganizations
which would qualify forinvitation tothefirstmeeting ofitssubsidiary bodies.
Atthemeeting of3April 1995, theChairman proposed thatinaccordance withtheadhoc
arrangements agreed toattheinformal meeting ofHeads ofDelegations on16March 1995, andpending
theadoptionofcriteriaandconditionsforobserverstatusforinternationalintergovernmentalorganizations
intheWTO, thesubsidiary bodies oftheCouncil forTrade inGoods should decide which international
intergovernmental organization should beinvited totheirnextmeeting.
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods soagreed.
25. Adhocarrangementsfortheparticipationofinternationalintergovernmentalorganizations
inmeetings oftheCouncil forTrade inGoods (G/C/M/1, 2,3,4,5,6and7)
Atitsmeeting of20February 1995, theChairman informed theCouncil forTrade inGoods
thatinaccordance withthe"Adhocprocedures onparticipation ofcertain international organizations
inthework oftheWTO Bodies" (WT/GC/COM/2) which were accepted ataninformal meeting of
Heads ofDelegations totheGeneral Council on9February 1995, theUnited Nations, UNCTAD,
IMFandtheWorld Bank hadbeeninvited tothefirstmeeting oftheCouncil forTrade inGoods.
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods tooknoteofthisinformation.
Atitsmeeting of3April 1995, theCouncil forTrade inGoods agreed thatpending theadoption
ofcriteria andconditions forobserver status forinternational intergovernmental organizations inthe
WTO andunless adelegation raised anobjection, those organizations invited tothecurrent meeting
oftheCouncil forTrade inGoods beinvited toitsnextmeeting. Theorganizations concerned were:
theUN,UNCTAD, IMF, World Bank, FAO, OECD, International Textiles andClothing Bureau and
theWorld Customs Organization.
Atitsmeetings of29May1995, 3July1995, 31July1995, 26September 1995and1December
1995, theCouncil forTrade inGoods agreed toinvite thesame organizations toitsnextrespective
meeting.
26. Observer governments (G/C/M/1 and2)
Atitsmeeting of20February 1995, theCouncil forTrade inGoods tooknotethatgovernments
which hadbeengranted observer status intheGeneral Council anditssubsidiary bodies, through the
decision taken atthemeeting oftheGeneral Council on31January 1995, hadbeeninvited asobservers
tothismeeting oftheCouncil forTrade inGoods.WT/GC/W/25
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Atitsmeeting of3April 1995, theCouncil forTrade inGoods noted thatanumber ofworking
parties onaccession ofcertain countries totheGATT 1947hadbeentransformed intoWTO accession
working parties. Inaccordance withcustomary practice, governments whose accession process had
formally begun were invited toattend WTO meetings asobservers. Inthisconnection, theCouncil
forTrade inGoods welcomed Albania, Algeria, Armenia, Estonia andLatvia asobservers toits
meetings.
27. Appointment ofofficers fortheCommittee onAgriculture, Committee onMarket Access,
Committee onSafeguards, Committee onSanitary andPhytosanitary Measures, Working
Group onNotification Obligations andProcedures, andWorking Party onState Trading
Enterprises (G/C/M/1 and7)
Atitsmeeting of20February 1995, theCouncil forTrade inGoods approved thefollowing
appointments:
Committee onAgriculture: Mr.D.Tulalamba (Thailand); Committee onMarket Access:
Mr.J.Saint-Jacques (Canada); Committee onSafeguards: Mr.J.Ruiz(Argentina); Committee on
SanitaryandPhytosanitaryMeasures(SPS):Mr.K.Bergholm(Finland);WorkingGrouponNotification
Obligations andProcedures: Mr.A.Shoyer; (U.S.); Working Party onState Trading Enterprises:
Mr.P.May(Australia)
TheChairman alsoinformed theCouncil forTrade inGoods oftheresults ofconsultations
regarding thechairpersons ofother subsidiary bodies.
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods tooknoteofthisinformation.
Atthemeeting of1December 1995, theChairman informed theCouncil forTrade inGoods
thathewould beholding consultations ontheappointment ofchairpersons ofother subsidiary bodies
inaccordance withtheguidelines contained indocument WT/L/31 concerning "Appointment ofOfficers
toWTO Bodies".
TheCouncil forTrade inGoods tooknoteofthisinformation.WT/GC/W/25
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COUNCIL FOR TRADE INSERVICES
Report onWork since 1January 1995
Thisreport hasbeenprepared pursuant totheprocedures foranAnnual Overview oftheWTO
Activities andforReporting under theWTO (WT/L/93).
TheCouncil forTrade inServices hasheldseven meetings in1995. Reports onsuchmeetings
arecontained indocuments S/C/M/1 -7andshould bereadinconjunction withthisreport.
Rules ofProcedure fortheCouncil onTrade inServices
1. Atitsmeeting of30May1995 theCouncil hadconsidered adraftforitsRules ofProcedure
(S/C/W/2). There hadbeenanoutstanding issue relating toRule33(Decision Making), which was
relevant tothethree sectoral councils ongoods, services andintellectual property. Therefore itwas
agreed thattheCouncil would revert tothematter atafuture meeting. Atthemeeting oftheServices
Council on4October 1995 theChairman stated thattheCouncil forTrade inGoods andtheTRIPS
Council haddecided toaddafootnote toRule33indicating that,when alegalprovision ofanAgreement
specificallyrequiresadecisiontobetakenbyconsensusandthematterisreferredtotheGeneralCouncil,
theGeneral Council shalltakeadecision onlybyconsensus. InthecaseoftheServices Council, the
addition ofsuchafootnote totheRules ofProcedure would notbenecessary, since theGATS does
notincludeanyprovisionwhichspecificallyrequiresadecisiontobetakenonlybyconsensus.Therefore
hesuggested thattheCouncil adopt thedraftRules ofProcedure without amendment. TheCouncil
adopted theRules ofProcedure (S/L/15).
Decisions Referred totheCouncil forTrade inServices byMinisters
2. TheFinalActoftheUruguayRoundcontainedfourDecisionsrelatingtotheGATStobeadopted
bytheCouncil forTrade inServices. Atitsfirstmeeting, on1March 1995, theCouncil adopted
theDecisiononInstitutionalArrangementsfortheGeneralAgreementonTradeinServices,theDecision
oncertain Dispute Settlement Procedures fortheGeneral Agreement onTrade inServices, theDecision
onProfessional Services andtheDecision onTrade inServices andtheEnvironment. TheDecisions
arecontained indocuments S/L/1 -4respectively.
Participation ofObservers
3. Inaccordance withtheadhocprocedure agreed bytheGeneral Council, theCouncil forTrade
inServices decided ateachofitsmeetings onwhich inter-governmental organizations weretobeinvited
toitsfollowing meeting. TheCouncil continued toinvite thefourorganizations which hadparticipated
asobservers initsfirstmeeting, namely theIMF, World Bank, UNCTAD andtheUN.
Guidelines forNotifications
4. TheSub-Committee onServices haddeveloped asetofGuidelines forNotifications under the
GATS. Atitsmeeting on29November 1994, theSub-Committee hadagreed thatthedraftGuidelines
contained indocument PC/SCS/W/8 besubmitted totheCouncil forTrade inServices foritsapproval.
Atitsfirstmeeting, on1March 1995, theCouncil approved theGuidelines (S/L/5).WT/GC/W/25
Section V
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Notifications under Article XXVIII(k)(ii) oftheGATS
5. Documents S/C/N/1, 2,3and5contained notifications fromCanada, NewZealand, Australia
andSwitzerland, pursuant toArticle XXVIII(k)(ii) oftheGATS, totheeffect thattheyaccord
substantially thesametreatment totheirpermanent residents astheyaccord totheirnationals withrespect
tomeasures affecting Trade inServices andthattheyassume withrespect tothose permanent residents,
inaccordance withtheirlawsandregulations, thesame responsibilities thatother members bearwith
respecttotheirnationals.InaccordancewithArticleXXVIII(k)(ii),thefourGovernmentshadsubmitted
theirnotifications totheWTO atthetimeoftheiracceptance oftheWTO Agreement. Inaddition,
theytransmitted them totheCouncil forTrade inServices forinformation. TheCouncil tooknote
ofthenotifications.
Issues Relating totheScope oftheGATS
6. Thestatement oftheChairman oftheGNS dated 14September 1993 (MTN.GNS/W/260)
provided themandate forparticipants toconsult onissues relating tothescope oftheGATS foran
additional year, until15December 1994, andstipulated thattheresult ofsuchconsultations would
bereported totheCouncil forTrade inServices. However, attheendoftheconsultation process,
ithadnotbeenpossible toreach agreement intheSub-Committee onServices ontheadoption ofa
report totheCouncil. Therefore, theChairman oftheSub-Committee presented areport (contained
indocument S/C/1) onhisownresponsibility totheCouncil. Thereport stated thatconsultations had
taken place onthefivecategories ofmeasures referred toindocument MTN.GNS/W/177/Rev.1. On
twocategories, namely measures relating tojudicial andadministrative assistance andmeasures relating
toentry andstayofnatural persons, agreed conclusions hadbeenreached andwere contained in
paragraph 6ofthereport. Insofarastheother three categories were concerned, namely measures
relating tosocial security, measures relating tothesettlement ofdisputes under bilateral investment
treaties andmeasures relating totheentry andtemporary stayofcertain categories ofnatural persons,
noagreed conclusions hadbeenreached. TheCouncil adopted theconclusions contained inparagraph 6
andtooknoteoftheremainder ofthereport atitsfirstmeeting, on1March 1995.
Notifications under Article VoftheGATS
(a) Enlargement ofEU
7. Document WT/L/7 dated 19January 1995 contained acommunication from theEuropean
Communities informing theWTO oftheaccession ofAustria, Finland andSweden totheEuropean
Union on1January 1995 andnotifying theirreadiness toparticipate, asappropriate, infuture work
inaccordance withtherelevant provisions oftherespective Agreements oftheWTO. TheEuropean
Communities considered thatnotification tobeinfulfilment, inter alia,oftherequirement in
paragraph 7(a)ofArticle VoftheGATS andindicated atthefirstmeeting oftheCouncil fortrade
inServices thatitintended tosubmit amore detailed notification providing information onallaspects
oftheenlargement oftheEuropean Union relating toservices, including anewschedule ofcommitments
oftheEuropean Communities anditsfifteen Member States. Atitsmeeting on30March 1995 the
Council forTrade inServices established aWorking Party ontheEnlargement oftheEuropean Union.
Atasubsequent meeting on4October anagreement wasreached onthefollowing terms ofreference
fortheWorking Party:
"Toexamine theTreaty ofAccession ofAustria, Finland andSweden totheEuropean
Union andtoreport totheCouncil forTrade inServices onitsconsistency with
Article VoftheGeneral Agreement onTrade inServices".WT/GC/W/25
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(b) North American FreeTrade Agreement
8. Atitsfirstmeeting, on1March 1995, theCouncil forTrade inServices received ajoint
communication fromCanada, Mexico andtheUnited States (S/C/N/4) notifying theNorth American
FreeTrade Agreement totheServices Council pursuant toparagraph 7(a)ofArticle VoftheGATS.
Atitsmeeting on30May1995, theCouncil established aWorking Party withthefollowing terms
ofreference:
"Toexamine theNorth American FreeTrade Agreement andtoreport totheCouncil forTrade
inServices onitsconsistency withArticle VoftheGeneral Agreement onTrade inServices".
(c) European Union
9. Atitsmeeting on22November 1995, theCouncil forTrade inServices received a
communication from theEuropean Communities andtheirMember States notifying the"economic
integration agreement" asinstituted bytheTreaty ofRome, subsequently enlarged, andmodified most
recently bytheTreaty ontheEuropean Union. Thenotification wasmade pursuant toparagraph 7(a)
ofArticle VoftheGATS.
Verification ofSchedules
10. During 1995 theCouncil forTrade inServices hasverified thetechnical accuracy andlegal
consistency ofschedules ofcommitments asfollows:
(a) Atitsmeeting on30March 1995, theCouncil forTrade inServices verified the
Schedules ofCommitments covered bytheDecision oftheGeneral Council adopted
on31January 1995 concerning Finalization ofNegotiations onSchedules onGoods
andServices (WT/L/30).
(b) Atitsmeeting on30May1995, theCouncil forTrade inServices verified theSchedules
ofCommitments ofLeast-Developed Countries, which according totheMinisterial
Decision onMeasures inFavour ofLeast-Developed Countries, hadbeen given
additional timeofoneyearuntil15April 1995 tosubmit theirschedules.
(c) Atitsmeeting on4October 1995, theCouncil forTrade inServices verified the
Schedules ofCommitments listed indocument S/C/W/10. Thelistcontained thirty-one
schedules andsixteen listsofMFN Exemptions relating toFinancial Services, six
schedules relating toMovement ofNatural Persons, aswellastwoschedules relating
toSaint Christopher andNevis andtheSolomon Islands.WT/GC/W/25
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Taxes andSubsidies attheSub-federal Level
11. Inaccordance withtheStatement bytheChairman oftheGNS dated 13December 1993
(MTN.GNS/50),participantsintheUruguayRoundweregivenanadditionalperiodoftimeuntil15June
1994 tocomplete thescheduling ofmeasures relating totaxes andsubsidies atthesub-federal level
which were inconsistent withArticle XVII (National Treatment) oftheGATS. Thestatement also
stipulated that"Itisunderstood thatthisprocess willnotresult inanyalteration inthenegotiated balance
ofrights andobligations. Foraperiod ofthirty daysstarting on16June1994, ifanyparticipant
considers thatsuchbalance hasbeenaltered asaresult ofscheduling additional measures, itmayconsult
withtheparticipant orparticipants concerned withaview toreaching asatisfactory adjustment".
Pursuant tothatstatement, theUnited States submitted aCommunication through theSub-Committee
onServices contained inPC/SCS/W/4 dated 30June1994. Upon request from delegations, the
communication wassubject tomultilateral consultations under theauspices oftheSub-Committee on
Services during 1994. Consultations continued under theauspices oftheCouncil forTrade inServices
during 1995. TheCouncil hasreceived reports ontheconsultations atitsmeetings on1and30March,
4October and22November.
Statistics onTrade inServices -Note bytheSecretariat
12. Atthemeeting oftheCouncil on30March 1995, itwasnoted thatproblems relating tothe
availability andcomparability ofstatistics required urgent attention. Accordingly, theSecretariat was
asked toprepare abackground noteonservices statistics andclassification asabasisforinitiating work
inthese twoareas andtoassist delegations intheirconsideration oftheissues involved. Accordingly,
theSecretariat produced thenotecontained indocument S/C/W/5 which waspresented totheCouncil
anddiscussed atitsmeeting on4October 1995. Itfocuses primarily onissues relating tothecreation
ofastatistical framework toservice GATS needs. Anumber ofdelegations stated that,although the
subject wasofimportance, itseemed premature totakeanydecisions ontheestablishment ofaspecial
body toconduct thenecessary work.
TheWorking Party onGATS Rules
13. Atitssecond meeting on30March 1995, theCouncil decided toestablish aWorking Party
toconduct negotiations onSafeguards, Government Procurement andSubsidies, asstipulated in
Articles X,XIIIandXVoftheGATS respectively. Itwasagreed thattheWorking Party should take
upthethree subjects intheorder inwhich theyappear intheGATS, thatissafeguards, government
procurement andsubsidies, andstartwork onthethree subjects onstaggered dates withintervals of
fourmonths, sothatwork onsafeguards would startinJulyandongovernment procurement and
subsidies inNovember andMarch respectively.
Decisions onFinancial Services
14. Atitsmeeting on30June1995, theCouncil forTrade inServices adopted theDecision on
theApplication oftheSecond Annex onFinancial Services (S/L/6). TheDecision provided forthe
extension ofthedeadline provided forintheSecond Annex onFinancial Services, bywhich Members
maymodify theircommitments and/or MFN exemptions, from 30Juneuntil28July1995.
15. Atitsmeetingon21July,theCouncilforTradeinServicesadoptedthetwofollowingDecisions:
(a) Decision onCommitments inFinancial Services (S/L/8), which stipulates thatifthe
Second Protocol totheGeneral Agreement onTrade inServices, towhich new
commitments onfinancial services areannexed, doesnotenter intoforce, MembersWT/GC/W/25
Section V
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may during aperiod ofsixty days beginning on1August 1996 modify their
commitments and/or MFN exemptions relating tofinancial services.
(b) Second Decision onFinancial Services (S/L/9), which stipulates thataftertheentry
intoforce oftheSecond Protocol totheGATS, Members may,during aperiod ofsixty
days beginning on1November 1997, modify their commitments and/or MFN
exemptions relating tofinancial services.
These decisions follow theDecision Adopting theSecond Protocol totheGATS which had
beenadopted bytheCommittee onFinancial Services on21July1995. ThatDecision contained the
adoption oftheSecond Protocol totheGATS towhich newcommitments onfinancial services were
annexed. Italsoprovided that,pending theentry intoforce oftheProtocol, tothefullest extent
consistent withtheirexisting legislation, Members shallnottakemeasures which would beinconsistent
withtheirundertakings resulting from thenegotiations inthissector.
Decisions onMovement ofNatural Persons
16. Atitsmeeting on30June1995, theCouncil forTrade inServices adopted theDecision on
Movement ofNatural Persons (S/L/7) which provided fortheextension ofthedeadline provided for
intheMarrakesh Ministerial Decision onNegotiations onMovement ofNatural Persons from30June
until28July1995.
17. Atitsmeeting on21July1995, theCouncil adopted theDecision onMovement ofNatural
Persons Commitments (S/L/10). TheDecision contained theadoption oftheThird Protocol tothe
GATS towhich newcommitments onmovement ofnatural persons wereannexed. Italsoprovided
that,pending theentry intoforce oftheProtocol, tothefullest extent consistent withtheirexisting
legislation, Members shall nottakemeasures which would beinconsistent withtheirundertakings
resulting from thenegotiations inthisarea.
Establishment ofaCommittee onSpecific Commitments
18. Atitsmeeting on4October 1995, theCouncil decided toestablish theCommittee onSpecific
Commitments. Atitsmeeting on22November, theCouncil adopted theDecision ontheTerms of
Reference fortheCommittee onSpecific Commitments (S/L/16).
Progress reports onon-going negotiations
19. TheCouncil forTrade inServices hasbeenreceiving progress reports onon-going negotiations
inbasic telecommunications andmaritime transport services. Italsoreceived progress reports onthe
negotiations onmovement ofnatural persons andonfinancial services uptotheirconclusion on21July
1995.WT/GC/W/25
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ANNUAL REPORT OFTHE COUNCIL FOR TRADE-RELATED ASPECTS OF
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS TOTHE GENERAL COUNCIL
I General
1. Thisreport issubmitted pursuant tothedecision taken bytheGeneral Council atitsmeeting
on15November 1995, which requires thesectoral councils toreport inNovember eachyeartothe
General Council ontheactivities oftheCouncil. Theperiod covered inthisReport isJanuary-November
1995.
2. TheCouncil forTRIPS heldfourformal meetings, on9March, 24May, 21September and
21November 1995. Theminutes ofthese meetings aretobefound indocuments IP/C/M/1-4.
3. MeetingsoftheCouncilwereopentoallWTOMembers.Inaddition,thenon-votingparticipants
andgovernment observers toWTO bodies wereinvited asagreed bytheGeneral Council atitsmeeting
of31January 1995. Pursuant totheinterim procedure onobserver status forintergovernmental
organizations evolved under theauspices oftheGeneral Council, theIMF, theUNCTAD, theUnited
Nations andtheWorld Bank were invited toallfourmeetings, theFAO, theOECD, andtheWCO
tothesecond, thirdandfourth meetings, andtheInternational Union fortheProtection ofNewVarieties
ofPlants (UPOV) tothethirdandfourth meetings. WIPO wasinvited toallfourmeetings, inaccordance
withtherecommendation oftheContact Group under thePreparatory Committee, asconfirmed by
theGeneral Council.
4. Atitsmeeting inMay, theCouncil adopted itsRules ofProcedure withtheexception ofRule33,
which itadopted atitsmeeting inSeptember (documents IP/C/W/2, IP/C/M/2, paragraphs 5and6
andIP/C/M/3, paragraphs 2and3).These Rules ofProcedure weresubmitted totheGeneral Council
forapproval (document IP/C/1).
II Notification procedures
(a) Article 63.2
5. TheCouncil has,ateachofitsmeetings thisyear, discussed procedures forgiving effect to
theobligation tonotify implementing legislation under Article 63.2withaview ofputting them in
place bythebeginning of1996when thebulkofobligations enter intoforce forsome Members. The
Council hasalsodiscussed itsschedule fortheconsideration ofnational implementing legislation in
1996 and1997. Atitsmeeting inNovember, theCouncil adopted thefollowing fourdecisions on
these matters:
- Procedures forNotification of,andPossible Establishment ofaCommon Register of,
National Laws andRegulations under Article 63.2(document IP/C/2);
- Schedule forConsideration ofNational Implementing Legislation in1996/1997
(document IP/C/3);
- Format forListing of"Other Laws andRegulations" tobeNotified under Article 63.2
(document IP/C/4); and
- Checklist ofIssues onEnforcement (document IP/C/5).WT/GC/W/25
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6. BytheendofNovember, theCouncil hadreceived 13notifications under Article 63.2, ofwhich
ninerelated toArticle 70.8oftheTRIPS Agreement discussed below. These notifications arecirculated
intheIP/N/1 series ofdocuments.
(b) Articles 1.3and3.1
7. Articles 1.3and3.1oftheTRIPS Agreement, relating tothedefinition ofbeneficiary persons
under theAgreement andtonational treatment, allow certain exceptions tothenormal rulesonthese
matters, provided thatnotifications aremade totheCouncil forTRIPS. Atitsmeeting inMay, the
Council drewtheattention ofMembers tothedesirability ofconsidering whether theywished tomake
notifications under theprovisions ofArticles 1.3and3.1by1July1995, while recognizing thatit
would remain open forMembers tomake notifications atalaterstage iftheysowished (document
IP/C/M/2, paragraphs 11and12).BytheendofNovember, theCouncil hadreceived 21notifications
relating tothese Articles. These notifications arecirculated intheIP/N/2 series ofdocuments.
(c) Article 69
8. Article 69oftheTRIPS Agreement requires Members toestablish andnotify contact points
forthepurposes ofcooperating witheachother withaviewtoeliminating international tradeingoods
infringing intellectual property rights. Atitsmeeting inSeptember, theCouncil decided onprocedures
forthenotification ofcontact points under thisArticle, thatnotifications should bemade by1January
1996andthatanysubsequent changes totheinformation should benotified promptly. TheSecretariat
willcompile theinformation intoasingle document fordistribution toMembers. Thisdocument will
bekeptuptodatethrough addenda andcorrigenda andperiodic revisions (document IP/C/M/3,
paragraphs 27and28).
(d) Article 4(d)
9. Article 4(d)oftheTRIPS Agreement requires aMember seeking tojustify anexception to
them.f.n. ruleonthebasisofaninternational agreement relating totheprotection ofintellectual property
which hadentered intoforcepriortotheentryintoforceoftheWTO Agreement tonotify thatagreement
totheCouncil forTRIPS. TheCouncil discussed, atitsmeetings thisyear, what action, ifany,is
required bytheCouncil togiveeffect tothisprovision. Atthemeeting oftheCouncil inNovember,
theChairman drew theattention ofMembers totheneedtomake notifications under Article 4(d)by
1January 1996 ifMembers wished tohavelegal cover from thatdateforanyexceptions tom.f.n.
treatment thattheyseektojustify byreference totheprovisions ofArticle 4(d).
III Implementation ofcertain provisions oftheTRIPS Agreement
(a) Article 70.8
10. Pursuant toanagreement reached intheframework ofthePreparatory Committee (document
PC/IPL/7, paragraph 9),theCouncil, atitsmeeting inMarch, urged Members towhom Article 70.8
applies tonotify therelevant legislation priortothenextmeeting oftheTRIPS Council. TheCouncil
consideredtheimplementationofArticle70.8atitslatermeetings.BytheendofNovember,theCouncil
hadreceived 9notifications relating toArticle 70.8(document series IP/N/1).WT/GC/W/25
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(b) Article 65.5
11. Article 65.5oftheTRIPS Agreement provides thataMember availing itself ofatransitional
period under paragraphs 1,2,3or4ofArticle 65shallensure thatanychanges initslaws, regulations
andpractice made during thatperiod donotresult inalesser degree ofconsistency withtheprovisions
oftheAgreement. TheCouncil hasdiscussed thequestion ofhowitshould carry outitsmonitoring
function, inthesense ofArticle 68,withrespect tothestandstill obligation ofArticle 65.5, andin
particular what information might besought from Members tofacilitate suchmonitoring. Such
discussions didnotleadtoaconsensus. TheCouncil decided, atitsmeeting inNovember, toleave
thematter asitstood, while noting thatitremained openfortheCouncil torevert toitatanytime
iftheCouncil should sowish.
IV Technical cooperation
12. Atitsmeeting inMay, theCouncil invited eachdeveloped country Member toprovide a
description ofitstechnical andfinancial cooperation programmes intheareaofintellectual property
relevanttotheimplementationoftheTRIPSAgreement.Second,itinvitedeachoftheintergovernmental
organizations observers totheCouncil forTRIPS andalsoUPOV todothesame. Third, itrequested
theWTO Secretariat toprovide information onitstechnical cooperation activities andalsomake
suggestions about whatmight bethefuture policy inthisarea(document IP/C/M/2, paragraphs 53
and54).Inresponse tothese requests, information wasprovided by12developed country Members
(documents IP/C/W/12 andAddenda 1to6),seven intergovernmental organizations (documents
IP/C/W/10 andAddenda 1to6)andtheWTO Secretariat (document IP/C/W/11). Atitsmeeting in
September, theCouncil initiated anin-depth consideration oftheissue oftechnical cooperation, in
particular inthecontext ofArticle 67oftheTRIPS Agreement, which provides thatdeveloped country
Members shallprovide, inorder tofacilitate theimplementation oftheAgreement, onrequest and
onmutually agreed terms andconditions, technical andfinancial cooperation infavour ofdeveloping
andleast-developed country Members. Atitsmeeting inNovember, theCouncil agreed thatthe
Chairman, withthehelpoftheSecretariat, should prepare forthefirstmeeting oftheCouncil in1996
ashortinformal discussion noteoutlining andstructuring theissues andidentifying thepossible options
forcarrying forward theCouncil 'swork inthisarea.
V Arrangements forcooperation withWIPO
13. Article 68oftheTRIPS Agreement provides thattheCouncil shall, inconsultation withWIPO,
seektoestablish, within oneyearofitsfirstmeeting appropriate arrangements forcooperation with
thebodies ofthatOrganization. Atitsmeeting inMay, theCouncil authorized itsChairman, with
theassistance oftheSecretariat, toenter intoinformal contacts withWIPO andtoinform themofthe
stateofthinking intheCouncil, inparticular withregard tothetypes ofcooperation itmight suggest
(document IP/C/M/2, paragraphs 59and63).TheChairman oftheCouncil, accompanied byanofficial
oftheSecretariat, mettheDirector General ofWIPO on22June.
14. Asagreed bytheCouncil atitsmeeting inSeptember, theChairman oftheCouncil sentaletter,
dated 22September, totheDirector General ofWIPO. Theletteremphasized oncemoretheimportance
attached bytheCouncil tothedevelopment ofcooperative andmutually supportive relations withWIPO.
Second, thecommunication informed WIPO thattheelements indocument IP/C/W/6 relating to
cooperation withWIPO (relating tothenotification oflawsandregulations) constituted aproposal
fromtheCouncil toWIPO forcooperation inthisarea, without prejudice tothepossible needforthe
further refining oflanguage ordetails. Third, theideas putforward inparagraphs 18-21 ofdocument
PC/IPL/7/Add.2 (relating toprocedures forthenotification ofnational emblems) constituted aproposal
fromtheCouncil, subject oncemore tothisbeing without prejudice tothepossible needforthefurtherWT/GC/W/25
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refining oflanguage ordetails. Fourth, thecommunication stressed thevalue attached bytheCouncil
tothedevelopment cooperation activities ofWIPO inassisting developing countries tomeet their
obligations under theTRIPS Agreement, andexpressed thehopeoftheCouncil thatWIPO would be
abletoenhance these activities inthefuture. Italsoexpressed thedesire oftheCouncil thatthe
International Bureau ofWIPO andtheWTO Secretariat would enhance cooperation intheirtechnical
cooperationactivitiesrelatingtotheTRIPSAgreementsoastomaximizetheusefulnessoftheseactivities
andtoensure theircomplementary nature. Furthermore, theletter stated thattheChairman ofthe
Council, withtheassistance oftheSecretariat, stood ready tomeettherepresentatives chosen byWIPO
withaviewtodrawing upthetextofanagreement between thetwoOrganizations, withthehopethat
itcould besubmitted totheCouncil andtheappropriate bodyofWIPO sothatitcould come intoforce
preferably before theendofthisyear(document IP/C/M/3, paragraphs 57-59).
15. TheChairman oftheCouncil forTRIPS, assisted bytheWTO Secretariat, heldintensive
consultations withtheChairman oftheWIPO Coordination Committee, assisted bytheInternational
Bureau ofWIPO, inthelastdaysofOctober andthefirstthreeweeks ofNovember. These consultations
resultedinadraftagreementbetweenthetwoOrganizations(documentIP/C/W/17),whichwassubmitted
totheCouncil atitsmeeting inNovember. Inintroducing thedraftagreement, theChairman ofthe
Council noted thateachorganization would needtotakecertain autonomous decisions inresponse to
theagreement. First, theInternational Bureau ofWIPO hadinformed himthatitwould propose to
theAssemblies oftheParis andBerne Unions decisions recognizing thatrequirements under theParis
andBerne Conventions tocommunicate national lawstotheInternational Bureau maybefulfilled by
communication ofsuchlawsthrough theSecretariat oftheWTO. Second, toaccompany Article 3
ofthedraftagreement concerning theimplementation ofArticle 6teroftheParis Convention forthe
purposes oftheTRIPS Agreement, hepresented adraftdecision oftheTRIPS Council, which would
recognize thatthecommunication ofemblems andofobjections thereto among WTO Members through
theInternational Bureau would beconsidered ascommunications forthepurposes oftheTRIPS
Agreement (document IP/C/W/18). Third, inrelation toparagraph 3ofArticle 3ofthedraftagreement,
which concerns provision ofinformation totheWTO Secretariat about communications ofemblems,
theInternational Bureau hadinformed himthatitwould propose totheParis Union Assembly that
itshould abandon itspresent practice bywhich ittreats asconfidential anyobjection lodged against
anemblem.
16. Atitsmeeting inNovember, theCouncil haditsfirstexamination ofthedraft agreement.
Itwillrevert tothismatter andalsotothedraftdecision onArticle 6teratitsnextmeeting, which
islikely totakeplace on11December.
VI Other matters
(a) Assistance oftheCouncil inthecontext ofdispute settlement
17. Atitsmeeting inMay, theCouncil decided todrawtheattention ofMembers tothedesirability
ofensuring thatthenominations theymade ofpotential panellists tobeplaced onthecentral roster
include persons withexperience ofintellectual property matters viewed from atrade orcommercial
perspective (document IP/M/2, paragraphs 55and56).
(b) Draft model legislation oftheWorld Customs Organization
18. Atitsmeeting inMay, theCouncil discussed thedraftmodel legislation being drawn upby
theWCOwithaviewtoassistingcountriesingivingeffecttotheirTRIPSborderenforcementobligations
(document IP/C/W/1). TheCouncil, first,welcomed theinterest andtheactivity oftheWCO inregard
tothecustoms enforcement ofintellectual property rights andalsoitsconcern totakeintoaccount theWT/GC/W/25
Section VI
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provisions oftheTRIPS Agreement; second, expressed theimportance thatitattached toamutually
supportive relationship between theWTO andtheWCO inthisregard; and,third, tooknoteofthe
draftmodel legislation being developed bytheWCO. TheCouncil alsonoted thatitwasnotthejob
oftheCouncil forTRIPS oftheWTO toapprove ordisapprove suchatext,which didnotconstitute
anofficial interpretation oftheTRIPS Agreement, thisbeing ataskthatonlytheWTO could undertake
(document IP/C/M/2, paragraphs 66and67).WT/GC/W/25
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REPORT (1995) OFTHE COMMITTEE ONTRADE AND DEVELOPMENT
TOTHE GENERAL COUNCIL
Chairman: H.E. Ambassador HARON Siraj(Malaysia)
Introduction
1. During itsfirstyear,theCommittee onTrade andDevelopment heldfourSessions; on5April,
5July, 14September and17November 1995. Thisreport briefly summarizes thediscussions held
andthedecisions taken during these meetings. More complete details ofthework oftheCommittee
onTrade andDevelopment canbefound indocuments WT/COMTD/M/1-4. Thecontents ofthisreport
areorganized inaccordance withthework programme oftheCommittee onTrade andDevelopment.
Organizational Matters andInstitutional Arrangements
(i) Rules ofProcedure
2. TheCommittee discussed itsRules ofProcedure inbothitsFirstandSecond Sessions, and
theywere adopted intheSecond Session (WT/COMTD/6). Inaccordance withtherequirements of
theAgreementEstablishingtheWorldTradeOrganization(WTO),theRulesofProcedurewereapproved
bytheGeneral Council on15November 1995.
(ii) Observer Status
3. InaccordancewiththeadhocproceduresadoptedattheGeneralCouncilconcerningobservership
indifferent bodies oftheWTO, theCommittee onTrade andDevelopment invited toitsmeetings
allthose organizations which hadobserver status intheGATT 1947Committee. Following therequest
oftheUnitedNationsIndustrialDevelopmentOrganization(UNIDO)forobserverstatus,theCommittee
agreed toaddUNIDO tothelistofobservers. Annex 1liststhose organizations thatcurrently are
being invited, onanadhocbasis, tothemeetings oftheCommittee onTrade andDevelopment.
4. While itwassuggested thattheCommittee onTrade andDevelopment should grant observer
status totheInternational Trade Centre (ITC), itwasagreed thatitshould revert tothis-andother
questions ofobservership -oncetheGeneral Council would havecompleted itswork onguidelines
forobserver status.
(iii) Programme ofWork
5. TheCommittee onTrade andDevelopment adopted, atitsFirstSession, theprogramme of
work for1995 (WT/COMTD/W/2/Rev.1). Inaccordance withitem6ofitsterms ofreference, the
Committee reviewed itsprogramme ofwork atitsNovember meeting andagreed thatthe1996 work
programme would beslightly modified. Thetentative programme ofwork for1996 isattached as
Annex 2withtheunderstanding thatitmaybeimplemented inaflexible manner.
6. Therepresentative ofIndiarequested thattheCommittee address in1996theinclusion, within
itsterms ofreference, ofanitemreferring totheexamination ofprotective action bydeveloped countries
against imports from developing countries.WT/GC/W/25
Section VII
Page2
(iv) Sub-Committee onLeast-Developed Countries1
7. TheCommittee onTrade andDevelopment agreed, atitsSecond Session, totheestablishment
oftheSub-Committee onLeast-Developed Countries.2Miss Anne Stoddart, Deputy Permanent
Representative oftheUnited Kingdom, wasappointed Chairperson oftheSub-Committee.
8. TheSub-Committee helditsFirstSession on17October 1995. TheSub-Committee adopted
itsprogramme ofwork (contained inAnnex 3)andagreed tofollow mutatis mutandis theRules of
Procedure oftheCommittee onTrade andDevelopment andtoreport regularly tothatbody. The
firstsuchreport wasmade orally bytheChairperson attheFourth Session oftheCommittee onTrade
andDevelopment. AtitsFirstSession, theSub-Committee wasalsoinformed thatthegovernment
ofNorway wasmaking aninitial contribution of$2.5million toestablish afundwithin theWTO to
assist poorer andleast-developed countries, particularly those inAfrica, toparticipate more actively
andeffectively intheWTO.
Programme ofWork for1995
Item A Review oftheimpact oftheresults oftheUruguay Round ondeveloping country
Members, inparticular ontheleast-developed country Members
9. Matters relating tothenotification obligations deriving fromtheUruguay Round wereraised
attheFirstandSecond Sessions oftheCommittee onTrade andDevelopment. TheWTO Secretariat
organized, inMay1995 inGeneva, aWorkshop onNotifications atwhich presentations weremade
byWTO officials onthenotification obligations ofallUruguay Round Agreements. Anumber of
representatives stated thattheWorkshop washelpful andencouraged similar workshops tobeheld
periodically. Some delegations indicated thatinformation onnotification requirements wasstill
incomplete, andcalled formoreassistance inthisarea,nottheleastbecause ofthelackofrepresentation
inGeneva ofanumber ofdeveloping countries.
10. Inaddition toinformation onnotifications, theCommittee onTrade andDevelopment hadat
itsdisposal anumber ofbackground documents addressing some oftheimplications oftheRound for
developing country Members. TheCommittee conducted afirstdiscussion oftheissues involved at
itsSecond andFourth Sessions, noting thatmore timewasrequired toreview theresults oftheRound.
AttheCommittee 'sFourth Session, requests foradditional documentation bytheSecretariat weremade
bydelegations.
Item B Review oftheparticipation ofdeveloping country Members inthemultilateral
trading system
11. Inaddressing thisitemattheFourth Session oftheCommittee, anumber ofdelegations were
oftheview thattheCommittee should gobeyond merely noting thechanges thathadtaken place
throughout theyears. Therepresentative ofIndia proposed thattheCommittee examine, based on
ananalysismadebytheSecretariat,thedifficultiesthatproductsofexportinteresttodevelopingcountries
werefacing indifferent markets -suchastechnical barriers totrade, safeguard measures, restrictive
businesspractices,environmentalmeasures,etc.TherepresentativesofGhana,CanadaandPerureferred
tothefactthatsuchanalysis should alsocover investment, which could beseenasanewkeydimension
1Afullaccount ofthemeeting isfound indocument WT/COMTD/LLDC/1.
2Theterms ofreference oftheSub-Committee arecontained indocument WT/COMTD/2.WT/GC/W/25
Section VII
Page3
formarket access. Inthiscontext, theimportance ofthenational economic environment indeveloping
countries wasalsoreferred to.
12. Atthesame Session, therepresentative ofSingapore proposed thattheCommittee onTrade
andDevelopment establish aWorking Group thatwould consider thenumerous suggestions made and
giveguidance totheSecretariat withrespect totheworkitwastoconduct. Besides, theWorking Group
could alsoprovide policy guidelines andmake recommendations fortheMinisterial Conference tobe
heldin1996inSingapore, inparticular withrespect tothespecial situation ofleast-developed country
Members. Anumber ofdelegations, while supporting theproposal, noted thatitwasimportant to
ensure thatthework doneinsuchGroup would notduplicate work being doneinother international
organizations.Followingthisdiscussion,theCommitteeagreedtoestablishsuchanopen-endedWorking
Group.
Item C Provision ofguidelines forWTO technical cooperation activities astheyrelate to
developing country Members
13. Thisitemwasdiscussed attheCommittee 'sFirstandSecond Sessions, interalia,onthebasis
ofinformation provided bytheSecretariat (WT/COMTD/W/7). TheCommittee stressed theneed
fortheWTO Secretariat tocoordinate itstechnical assistance activities withother international
organizations withaviewtoremoving anyoverlap intheirprogrammes andalsotoensure thatrecipient
countries oftechnical assistance benefit fully from their complementarity andcompetence. The
representatives ofanumber ofdeveloping countries expressed satisfaction withtheworkoftheTechnical
CooperationandTrainingDivisionandsomecalledforanincreaseinresources,inviewoftheincreasing
technical assistance needs ofdeveloping countries. Support wasalsoshown forthepriority given by
theWTO Secretariat totheprovision oftechnical assistance toleast-developed countries.
Item D Consideration ofmeasures andinitiatives toassist intheexpansion oftrade and
investment opportunities (including support formeasures oftrade liberalization)
ofdevelopingcountryMembers,inparticulartheleast-developedcountryMembers
14. TheCommittee addressed thequestion ofcredit andrecognition forautonomous trade
liberalization measures atitsSecond andFourth Sessions. Some delegations were oftheview that
credit andrecognition wasanissuethatshould beactively pursued. Theypointed outthatthesuggestions
made intheSecretariat document WT/COMTD/W/4 deserved careful consideration, andtheyrequested
theSecretariat tomake concrete proposals onhowtooperationalize suchsuggestions. Onedelegation
referred tothefactthatproviding credit andrecognition forliberalization measures undertaken inthe
context ofadjustment programmes sponsored bytheInternational Monetary Fund andtheWorld Bank
waspartofthemandate given totheWTO tobring greater coherence toglobal economic policy-making.
Ontheother hand, anumber ofdelegations stressed thatcredit andrecognition hadbeendealtwith
intheUruguay Round andthat,while theywelcomed autonomous liberalization measures, these were
primarily tothebenefit ofthecountries liberalizing. Several delegations noted thatsomeoftheproposals
departed fromtheprinciples oftransparency andpredictability, andemphasized thatanypropositions
should beconsistent withfundamental WTO rules, notably most-favoured-nation treatment.
15. TheCommitteenotedthatdiscussionswerecurrentlybeingheldintheCommitteeonAgriculture
onhowtooperationalize theDecision onMeasures Concerning thePossible Negative Effects ofthe
Reform Programme onLeast-Developed andNetFood-Importing Developing Countries .Thefollow
upofthesediscussions would betaken upattheCommittee onTrade andDevelopment atanappropriate
time.WT/GC/W/25
Section VII
Page4
Item E Annual review oftheapplication ofspecial provisions intheMultilateral Trade
Agreements andrelated Ministerial Decisions infavour ofdeveloping country
Members, andinparticular least-developed country Members
- Supervision oftheimplementation ofGATT 1994PartIVandtheEnabling
Clause
16. Twoissues were addressed under thisitem: theGeneralized System ofPreferences (GSP)
andpreferential agreements among developing countries. AtitsFourth Session, theCommittee took
noteofthewritten information onGSPschemes provided bytheUnited States (WT/COMTD/N/1
andAdd.1), Japan (WT/COMTD/N/2 andAdd.1), European Communities (WT/COMTD/N/4 and
Corr.1),NewZealand(WT/COMTD/N/5)andNorway(WT/COMTD/N/6).Italsotooknoteoffurther
oralclarifications. Concern wasexpressed bysome developing country Members relating tothe
introduction ofnewconditions under some GSPschemes, aswellaschanges regarding beneficiary
countriesofGSPschemes.TherepresentativeofMexicorequestedthatMembersconsiderthepossibility
ofmaking available information regarding GSPschemes through Internet.
17. TheCommittee 'swork relating topreferential arrangements among developing countries was
addressed inboththeThird andFourth Sessions. AttheThird Session, theCommittee adapted the
terms ofreference oftheWorking Party ontheSouthern Common Market (MERCOSUR) Agreement -
established bytheGATT 1947Committee onTrade andDevelopment -toreflect therelevant changes
necessary foritsexamination under theGATT 1994. AttheFourth Session, theCommittee tooknote
ofboththewritten andoralinformation regarding theestablishment ofaCommon Market forEastern
andSouthern Africa (WT/COMTD/N/3). Italsotooknoteoftheinformation provided byASEAN
countries concerning theASEAN FreeTrade Area (WT/COMTD/3) andoftheMemorandum of
Understanding onCloser Relations between Bolivia andMERCOSUR (WT/COMTD/4).
Item F Annual review ofWTO technical cooperation activities astheyrelate todeveloping
country Members
18. TheCommittee addressed thisitematitsFourth Session (WT/COMTD/W/12). Anumber
ofdelegations commended thetechnical assistance services oftheSecretariat. Support wasalsoshown
forthepriority given toAfrican countries andforthespecial contribution Norway iswilling tomake
totechnicalcooperationactivitiesthroughtheestablishmentofaTrustFund.Somedelegationsrequested
thatthetechnical assistance provided bytheSecretariat bebroadened sotoinclude capacity-building
anddiversification oftrade capacities. TheCommittee tooknoteoftheECU 1.1million thatthe
European Communities (EC) wasmaking available foratechnical assistance programme infavour
ofAfrican, Caribbean andPacific (ACP) countries. Thisprogramme, being elaborated jointly bythe
EC,theWTO Secretariat andtheACP Secretariat, would becomposed ofeight regional seminars -
totakeplace in1996 -aiming atinforming boththepublic andtheprivate sectors oftheresults of
theUruguay Round andidentifying policy measures which could beadopted toassist theACPcountries
toobtain themaximum benefits from theRound.WT/GC/W/25
Section VII
Page5
ANNEX 1
Observers intheCommittee onTrade andDevelopment
UNbodies andspecialized agencies:
Economic Commission forAfrica (ECA)
Economic Commission forEurope (ECE)
Economic Commission forLatin America and
theCaribbean (ECLAC)
Economic andSocial Commission forAsiaand
thePacific (ESCAP)
Food andAgriculture Organization (FAO)
International Monetary Fund (IMF)
United Nations Conference onTrade and
Development (UNCTAD)
United Nations Industrial Development
Organization (UNIDO)
World Bank
World Food Council (WFC)Other organizations:
Andean Group Secretariat
Caribbean Community Secretariat
(CARICOM)
Central African Customs andEconomic
Union (UDEAC)
Commonwealth Secretariat
Cooperation Council fortheArab States of
theGulf(GCC)
European FreeTrade Association (EFTA)
Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)
International Wheat Council (IWC)
Latin American Integration Association
(ALADI)
Latin American Economic System (SELA)
Organization ofAmerican States (OAS)
Organization forEconomic Cooperation and
Development (OECD)
Secretariat oftheGeneral Treaty onCentral
American Economic Integration (SIECA)WT/GC/W/25
Section VII
Page6
ANNEX 2
Tentative 1996 Work Programme oftheCommittee onTrade andDevelopment
A. Review oftheimpact oftheresults oftheUruguay Round ondeveloping country Members,
inparticular ontheleast-developed country Members.
B. Review oftheparticipation ofdeveloping country Members inthemultilateral trading system.
C. Provision ofguidelines forWTO technical cooperation activities astheyrelate todeveloping
country Members.
D. Consideration ofmeasures andinitiatives toassist intheexpansion oftrade andinvestment
opportunities (including support formeasures oftrade liberalization) ofdeveloping country
Members, inparticular theleast-developed country Members.3
E. ReviewoftheapplicationofspecialprovisionsintheMultilateralTradeAgreementsandrelated
Ministerial Decisions infavour ofdeveloping country Members, andinparticular least-
developed country Members.
F. Review ofWTO technical cooperation activities astheyrelate todeveloping country Members.
G. Notification obligations
Items ofthework programme willbeaddressed inaccordance withthefollowing timetable:
FirstSession (5March 1996)
ItemB
ItemG
Second Session (18June1996)
ItemA
ItemC
ItemD
Third Session (15October 1996)
ItemE
ItemF
3Thisinclude thequestions ofcredit andrecognition forautonomous tradeliberalization measures
andofnetfood-importing developing countries.WT/GC/W/25
Section VII
Page7
ANNEX 3
Programme ofWork oftheSub-Committee onLeast-Developed Countries
1. Consideration ofthespecial andspecific problems ofleast-developed countries (LLDCs).
2. Consideration ofspecific measures toassist andfacilitate theexpansion ofLLDCs 'tradeand
investmentopportunities,withaviewtoenablingthemtoachievetheirdevelopmentobjectives.
3. Review oftheoperation ofthespecial provisions intheMultilateral Trade Agreements and
related Ministerial Decisions infavour ofLLDCs andmaking recommendations tothe
Committee onTrade anDevelopment foraction.WT/GC/W/25
Section VII
Page8
ANNEX 4
Checklist ofDocuments Prepared forMeetings ofthe
Committee onTrade andDevelopment in19954
Procedural andinstitutional matters
Programme ofWork for1995 WT/COMTD/W/2/Rev.1
Rules ofProcedure forMeetings ofthe WT/COMTD/6
Committee onTrade andDevelopment
Sub-Committee onLeast-Developed Countries
Decision fortheEstablishment oftheWTO WT/COMTD/2
Sub-Committee onLeast-Developed Countries
Note ontheProceedings oftheFirstMeeting WT/COMTD/LLDC/1
Review oftheimpact oftheresults oftheUruguay Round ondeveloping country Members, in
particular ontheleast-developed country Members
Preliminary Information onNotifications WT/COMTD/W/1 andAdd.1
tobeRequired from WTO Members -
Note bytheSecretariat
Uruguay Round Commitments Undertaken WT/COMTD/W/5
byDeveloping Country Members -
Note bytheSecretariat
Regulatory Obligations andOther Implications WT/COMTD/W/6
oftheUruguay Round Agreements -
Note bytheSecretariat
Matrix onRegulatory Obligations andOther Implications WT/COMTD/W/6/Add.1
oftheUruguay Round Agreements -Addendum -
Note bytheSecretariat
Review oftheparticipation ofdeveloping country Members inthemultilateral trading system
Notes ontheParticipation ofDeveloping Countries WT/COMTD/W/11
intheMultilateral Trading System -
Note bytheSecretariat
4Only finalversions ofdocuments.WT/GC/W/25
Section VII
Page9
Guidelines forWTO technical cooperation
Technical Cooperation Activities oftheWTO - Note dated 3April 1995
Informal Note bytheSecretariat
Technical Cooperation oftheWTO - WT/COMTD/W/7
Relations withOther International Organizations -
Note bytheSecretariat
Examination ofcredit andrecognition forautonomous trade liberalization measures
Credit andRecognition forAutonomous Liberalization Measures -WT/COMTD/W/4 andCorr.1
Note bytheSecretariat
Review oftheapplication ofspecial provisions intheMultilateral Trade Agreements andrelated
Ministerial Decisions infavour ofdeveloping country Members, inparticular least-developed
country Members
WTO Measures Relating toDeveloping Country Members - WT/COMTD/W/10
Note bytheSecretariat
Notes ontheParticipation ofDeveloping Countries WT/COMTD/W/11/Add.1
intheMultilateral Trading System -Addendum -
Note bytheSecretariat -Generalized System ofPreferences
- Supervision oftheimplementation ofGATT 1994PartIVandtheEnabling Clause
Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) Agreement - WT/COMTD/1
Updated TextoftheReplies
ASEAN Preferential Trading Arrangements - WT/COMTD/3
Information submitted bytheASEAN Members
Memorandum ofUnderstanding onCloser WT/COMTD/4
Relations between Bolivia andMERCOSUR -
Communication from theRepublic ofBolivia
Working Party ontheSouthern Common Market WT/COMTD/5
(MERCOSUR) Agreement -Terms ofReference
Generalized System ofPreferences - WT/COMTD/N/1 andAdd.1
Notification bytheUnited States
Generalized System ofPreferences - WT/COMTD/N/2 andAdd.1
Notification byJapan
Common Market forEastern andSouthern Africa WT/COMTD/N/3WT/GC/W/25
Section VII
Page10
Generalized System ofPreferences - WT/COMTD/N/4 andCorr.1
Notification bytheEuropean Communities
Generalized System ofPreferences - WT/COMTD/N/5
Notification byNewZealand
Generalized System ofPreferences - WT/COMTD/N/6
Notification byNorway
Annual review ofWTO technical cooperation activities astheyrelate todeveloping country
Members
Technical Cooperation withDeveloping Countries - WT/COMTD/W/12
Note bytheSecretariat
Notifications
Notification Requirements Related totheWork of Note dated 13.11.95
theCommittee onTrade andDevelopment -
Informal Note
Report ofthemeetings
Note ontheMeeting of5April 1995 WT/COMTD/M/1
Note ontheMeeting of5July1995 WT/COMTD/M/2
Note ontheMeeting of14September 1995 WT/COMTD/M/3 andCorr.1
Note ontheMeeting of17November 1995 WT/COMTD/M/4WT/GC/W/25
Section VIII
Page1
REPORT (1995) OFTHE COMMITTEE ON
BALANCE-OF PAYMENTS RESTRICTIONS
1. Thisreport hasbeenprepared inpursuance oftheProcedures foranAnnual Overview of
WTO Activities andforReporting under theWTO (WT/L/105), andsetsouttheactions taken bythe
Committee since 1January 1995.
2. TheCommittee hasheldconsultations withnineMembers during 1995. Twoother Members
heldconsultations withtheGATT 1947 Committee prior totheirWTO Membership.
3. In1995, twomembers newly invoked balance-of-payments provisions. TheCommittee
consulted withHungary inJuneandBrazil inOctober 1995. Itrequested Hungary topresent forthe
nextconsultation tobeheldinsummer 1996, aconcrete timetable forthereduction andelimination
oftheimport surcharge introduced inMarch 1995.1Following theconsultation withBrazil, the
provisions foranimport quota onmotor vehicles introduced inJunewerewithdrawn witheffect from
27October.2
4. Ontheongoing useofimport measures forbalance-of-payments reasons, theCommittee held
fivefullconsultations withSouth Africa, Slovakia, Poland, SriLanka andIndia. Pursuant toits
consultationwiththeCommitteeinMay1995,SouthAfricaremoveditsimportsurchargeanddisinvoked
therelevant provisions inNovember 1995.3Inaconsultation heldinJune, theWTO Committee
requested Slovakia toeliminate theimport surcharge introduced in1994bytheendof1995, ifpossible,
butinanycasebefore 30June1996.4TheGATT 1947Committee, consulting alsoinJune, requested
Poland toeliminate thesurcharge established in1992, bytheendof1995, ifpossible, andinanycase
toaccelerate thephase-out totakeplace bythetimedueforthenextconsultation inJune1996.5At
aconsultation heldinNovember 1995, theCommittee recommended thatSriLanka nothaverecourse
toArticle XVIII:B forrestrictions which could bejustified under other provisions ofGATT 1994.6
TheCommittee hasscheduled itsfullconsultation withIndia for6-7December 1995.
5. TheCommittee heldsimplified consultations withEgypt inJune, Turkey inSeptember and
thePhilippines inNovember 1995. TheCommittee understood thatEgypt haddisinvoked
Article XVIII:B asfrom 30June1995.7TheCommittee, questioning Turkey 'sapplication ofthe
Mass Housing Fund Levy onanumber ofbound items, determined thatafullconsultation would be
desirable inmid-1996.8TheCommittee, recommending thatthePhilippines bedeemed tohavefulfilled
1WT/BOP/N/2 andWT/BOP/R/3.
2WT/BOP/N/4, WT/BOP/R/7 andWT/GC/M/8.
3WT/BOP/R/1 andWT/BOP/N/5.
4WT/BOP/N/1 andWT/BOP/R/4.
5BOP/R/228.
6WT/BOP/R/8.
7WT/BOP/R/2.
8WT/BOP/R/6.WT/GC/W/25
Section VIII
Page2
itsobligations under Article XVIII:B for1995, agreed that,ifthePhilippines fulfilled thetime-frame
envisaged forthedisinvocation ofArticle XVIII:B, there would benoneed forafurther full
consultation.9Theimport controls maintained byBangladesh forbalance-of-payments purposes were
reviewed bytheGATT 1947Committee inasimplified consultation heldinMarch 1995andBangladesh
wasdeemed tohavefulfilled itsobligations for1995.10
6. TheCommittee welcomed thedisinvocation ofthebalance-of-payments provisions byIsrael
inSeptember 1995.11
7. AreportonotherbusinessconductedbytheCommitteeisalsocontainedindocumentBOP/R/5.
8. Consultations withNigeria, originally scheduled forNovember 1995, willbeheldin1996.
Other Members duetoconsult in1996areHungary, Pakistan, Poland, Slovakia, Tunisia andTurkey.
Thenextsimplified consultation withBangladesh willbeheldin1997.
9. Rules ofprocedure fortheCommittee aresubmitted totheGeneral Council foradoption in
document WT/BOP/10.
9WT/BOP/R/9.
10BOP/R/223.
11WT/BOP/N/3 andWT/BOP/R/5WT/GC/W/25
Section IX
Page1
JOINT WTO/GATT
COMMITTEE ONBUDGET, FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION
ANNUAL OVERVIEW OFACTIVITIES
1. Inaccordance withtheprocedures foranannual overview ofWTO activities andforreporting
under theWTO adopted bytheGeneral Council on15November 1995, areport ontheactivities of
theJointWTO/GATT Committee onBudget, Finance andAdministration in1995ishereby submitted.
2. Itwillberecalled thattheCommittee metonanumber ofoccasions andhaspresented reports
totheGeneral Council onaregular basis.1Thisreport willthencover themajor areas theCommittee
hasdealtwithinthecourse oftheyeartodate.
I. On-going responsibilities
3. TheCommittee monitored thefinancial andbudgetary situation oftheOrganization, thereceipt
ofcontributions including theimplementation oftherelated schemes andmeasures pertaining toreceipt
ofcontributions,andexaminedtheFinalPositionofthe1994BudgetandtheDirector-General'sFinancial
Report onthe1994 Accounts andReport oftheExternal Auditor. Italsodealtwiththequestion of
budget revision fortheInternational Trade Centre UNCTAD/WTO (ITC) andheard progress reports
ontheimplementation ofthemandate given totheSecretariat todiscuss therevised budgetary
arrangements fortheITCwith theUnited Nations inNew York. TheCommittee alsomade
recommendationswithregardtoassessmentsonfournewcontractingpartiesandadvancestotheWorking
Capital Fund. Finally, theCommittee examined indetail theDirector-General 'sbudget proposals for
1996 andformulated arecommendation thereon.
II. Transition from theICITO/GATT totheWTO
4. Aconsiderable amount oftimewasspent onvarious issues connected, either directly or
indirectly, withtheestablishment oftheWTO. They included thefollowing:
5. Newbasisfortheassessment ofcontributions: TheCommittee continued theworkofaworking
group established in1994 under theSub-Committee onBudget, Finance andAdministration ofthe
Preparatory Committee fortheWTO andrecommended totheGeneral Council thatthebasis forthe
assessment ofcontributions, reflecting thewider scope ofthenewOrganization, should relate totrade
ingoods, services andintellectual property. Implementation ofthenewbasis fortheassessment of
contributions tookeffect withthecalculations forthescaleofcontributions tothe1996budget. Afull
review ofthefunctioning ofthenewsystem shallbeundertaken bytheCommittee three years after
itsintroduction.
6. Financial Rules andRegulations: TheCommittee examined thedraft Financial Rules and
Regulations fortheWTO which, inaccordance withArticle VII,2oftheMarrakesh Agreement
Establishing theWTO weretobebased ontheregulations andpractices ofGATT 1947. Onthebasis
1Reports: WT/BFA/1, L/7625 covering themeeting of17February 1995; WT/BFA/3, L/7628 covering the
meetings on16,22and27March 1995; WT/BFA/4, L/7629 covering themeetings of25April and3May1995;
WT/BFA/6,L/7633coveringthemeetingsof29Mayand29June1995;WT/BFA/7,L/7634coveringthemeeting
of27July1995; andWT/BFA/13, L/7649 covering themeetings of28September, 6,9and13October and
2November1995.Inaddition,theCommitteesentspecificrecommen dationstotheGeneralCouncilindocuments
WT/BFA/2, L/7626 andWT/BFA/5, L/7631 andAdd.1.WT/GC/W/25
Section IX
Page2
ofdiscussions, some modifications were incorporated before making arecommendation which was
approved bytheGeneral Council.
7. Conditions ofservice ofWTO staff: Various elements concerning theconditions ofservice
ofWTO staffwereexamined, buttheprimary emphasis wascentred onaproposal tocreate aWTO
Pension Planwhich wasincluded, along withaproposal toadjust thesalaries ofProfessional staff,
inthe1996budget proposals. Asthequestion ofpensions needed toberesolved before consideration
ofsalaries could begiven, thelackofconsensus withregard totheformer precluded anychange in
thelatter.
8. Draft StaffRegulations werealsoputbefore theCommittee anddiscussed. Asthere arestill
outstanding issues tobedecided withregard tosalaries andpensions, further discussions willtakeplace
in1996. Therefore, ICITO willcontinue toprovide theSecretariat oftheWTO untiltheseissues have
beenresolved.