RESTRICTED
PREPARATORY COMMITTEE PC/M/5
FOR THE 30September 1994
WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION
(94-1966)
PREPARATORY COMMITTEE FOR THE
WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION
MINUTES OFMEETING
Held on22September 1994
1. ThePreparatory Committee fortheWorld Trade Organization (WTO) helditsfifthmeeting
under theChairmanship ofMr.Peter D.Sutherland.
2. TheChairman welcomed Burkina Faso, Grenada andTogo asthe113th, 114th and115th
members ofthePreparatory Committee. Hethenrecalled thattheCommittee hadestablished theperiod
of6-15December asthetarget datefortheImplementation Conference. Keeping inviewtheobvious
logistical considerations andtheminimum preparation timeneeded incapitals toensure theWTO 's
entry intoforce on1January 1995, hewasconvinced thattheImplementation Conference should be
heldattheearliest possible dateinDecember. Theprecise dateandagenda would havetobefixed
bytheCommittee atitsmeeting scheduled for25October. Hewould beconsulting delegations on
these questions. Hefeltitimportant alsotorecall thethreebasic assumptions behind theCommittee 's
work programme: (i)thecompletion ofallwork under theCommittee 'smandate during theperiod
22November -5December; (ii)theconclusion ofwork intheSub-Committees relevant toaction
bythePreparatory Committee interms ofitsmandate before, orattheverylatest, during thissame
period; and(iii)completion ofratification processes incapitals assoonaspossible afterthesummer
break and,inanycase, before theImplementation Conference. These assumptions should bekept
inviewinplanning allofthework ahead, whether intheSub-Committees orelsewhere. Theserious
timeconstraints under which allwereworking weremore thanobvious. Heurged delegations tokeep
upthepaceand,indeed, toaccelerate itfurther toensure thatthesubstantial amount ofwork thatstill
needed tobedone wasconcluded intheeight ornineweeks available. Toachieve thisend,itwas
essential toproceed withclearly defined priorities concentrating ondecisions thatwere absolutely
necessary tobring theWTO intoforceasscheduled. Allbodies, including thePreparatory Committee,
would, ofcourse, needtobeready tomeetatshort notice, when needed.
3. TheCommittee tooknoteofthestatement.
A. Review ofWork Done under theSub-Committees
(i) Sub-Committee onBudget, Finance andAdministration
4. Mr.Szepesi (Hungary), Chairman oftheSub-Committee, saidthatthework programme of
theSub-Committee hadbeenintense intheperiod preceding thesummer break. Ithaddealtwithseveral
keyissues, suchasthechoice oftheseatfortheWTO, thecreation of21newposts, guidelines for
theassessment ofcontributions onWTO Members andtheselection ofconsultants fortheManagement
Review, aswellastheadoption oftheirmandate. Thework programme intheautumn would beat
leastasheavy. Atitsmeeting on16September, theSub-Committee hadagreed that,inaddition to
thenegotiations oftheHeadquarters Agreement andtheinvolvement intheManagement Review, it
would consider thefollowing issues: budget estimates for1995, theWTO contracts ofemployment
policy, salaries andpensions, future relations between theWTO andtheITC,thebasisforcontributions
ofWTO Members asfrom1996, andthetransfer ofassets andliabilities fromICITO/GATT toWTO.PC/M/5
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Forsome ofthemore administrative andtechnical issues, theSub-Committee would havethesupport
ofaworking group chaired byMr.Gosselin (Canada), Chairman oftheGATT Budget Committee.
Thecomposition ofthisworking group would broadly correspond tothatoftheGATT Budget
Committee.
5. Asacontribution totheManagement Review, apolicy debate would takeplace thefollowing
week, which would cover thefollowing topics: economic research andanalysis, technical cooperation,
in-house expertise asagainst theuseofother competent organizations, andmedia relations. Onall
these topics theSecretariat wascirculating short "issue papers" thatwould identify points for
consideration. AsfortheManagement Review, interviews withMembers oftheSub-Committee and
withtheSecretariat staffwere being conducted inparallel. Together withMr.Gosselin, hewould
haveweekly meetings withtheconsultants, whowould make brieforalprogress reports totheSub-
Committee every second week. Adraftreport andthefinalreport would besubmitted respectively
bymid-November andmid-December.
6. With regard tothenegotiation ofaHeadquarters Agreement withtheSwiss authorities, the
Sub-Committee hadagreed, following informal consultations, onthecomposition ofthenegotiating
teamcomprised ofrepresentatives ofMembers andtheSecretariat staff. Theteamwould, ofcourse,
report andseekadvice andinstructions fromtheSub-Committee onaregular basis. Providing abrief
outline oftheSub-Committee 'swork programme intheperiod ahead, hesaidthatthepolicy debate
wasscheduled for29September; aftercompletion ofthepreparatory work within thenegotiating team
andconsultations withMembers oftheSub-Committee, thediscussions withtheSwiss authorities on
theHeadquarters Agreement would begin inearly October, withaview tocompleting them bythe
endofOctober orearly November. Thelatter weretarget dates rather thandeadlines, astheultimate
priority remained reaching agood agreement. Other meetings would bearranged toallow theSub-
Committee tomonitor theprogress inthenegotiations oftheHeadquarters Agreement andthe
Management Review. TheSub-Committee would present proposals tothePreparatory Committee
oneachissue forthefinaldecision.
7. TheCommittee tooknoteofthereport bytheChairman oftheSub-Committee.
(ii) Sub-Committee onInstitutional, Procedural andLegal Matters
8. Mr.Kesavapany (Singapore), Chairman oftheSub-Committee, saidthatatthefirstmeeting
oftheSub-Committee since thesummer break, on14September, hehadtriedtoimpart asense of
urgency toall,considering thatlessthannineweeks remained untilmid-November, which helooked
upon asatarget forthecompletion ofallthework thatcould reasonably beachieved inthecontext
oftheSub-Committee. Anumber ofworking documents hadbeenmade available atthemeeting, in
particular onrulesofprocedure fortheMinisterial Conference andtheGeneral Council, onguidelines
forobserver status intheWTO, andontransitional arrangements. Because these documents hadbeen
circulated onlyveryshortly before themeeting, ithadbeenagreed topostpone substantive discussion
onthese matters untilthenextmeeting oftheSub-Committee, scheduled for26and27September.
9. Atthe14September meeting, hehadalsoputforward whatheconsidered tobeareasonable
approach todeveloping arrangements ofonekindoranother withtheother international organizations
thatwerespecifically mentioned intheWTO Agreement andwithwhich theWTO Agreement envisaged
effective cooperation. Hissuggestion wastoprioritize theworkinthisareaandaimatmaking maximum
progress. Separately, delegations hadbeenasked togiveconsidered thought tohowthequestion of
thecomposition oftheTextiles Monitoring Body, which thePreparatory Committee hadreferred to
theSub-Committee, should behandled. Hewasalsogiving urgency tothequestion oftransitional
arrangements because hebelieved thatthiswould bethenumber oneissue fortheSub-Committee.
Ithadbeengenerally agreed thatwork onterms ofreference andrulesofprocedure forWTO bodies,PC/M/5
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aswellasontransitional arrangements, should beapriority, andhewasconfident thatprogress could
bemade inallthese areas. Heintended tokeepthemomentum going inorder tomake maximum
progress, andhoped tobeabletoreport positive developments atthenext meeting ofthe
Preparatory Committee.
10. TheCommittee tooknoteofthereport bytheChairman oftheSub-Committee.
(iii) Sub-Committee onServices
11. Mr.Manhusen (Sweden), Chairman oftheSub-Committee, saidthattheSub-Committee had
held itsthird meeting on21September. Herecalled thatatthe22July meeting ofthe
Preparatory Committee, hehadstated thatsome oftheissues relating tothescope oftheGATS had
beenresolved. Subsequently, therehadbeenfurther informal consultations ontheoutstanding issues,
namelymeasuresrelatingtosocialsecurity,measuresrelatingtothesettlementofdisputesunderbilateral
investment agreements andmeasures relating totheentry andtemporary stayofcertain categories of
natural persons suchasseasonal agricultural workers, university andschool teachers under exchange
programmes andworking holidays andyoung workers programmes. Although some progress had
beenmade towards resolving those issues, further work needed tobedonebefore specific conclusions
were reached. Hewould therefore beorganizing further consultations onthissubject. Asregards
guidelines fornotification, hesaidthatinpreparation fortheentry intoforce oftheGATS, theSub-
Committee hadstarted workonthepreparation ofguidelines fornotifications under different provisions
oftheAgreement. Afirstdiscussion hadtaken place atthe21September meeting onthebasis ofa
notebytheSecretariat. Theobjective ofthisexercise wastoproduce asetofguidelines thattheSub-
Committee would propose initsfinalreport. Asregards negotiations ontheMovement ofNatural
Persons, theNegotiating Group onthissubject hadhelditssecond meeting on22September. The
Sub-Committee onServices would holditsnextmeeting on21October, andthenextmeetings ofthe
Negotiating Groups onMaritime Transport Services andBasic Telecommunications would takeplace
intheweeks of17and24October, respectively.
12. TheCommittee tooknoteofthereport bytheChairman oftheSub-Committee.
(iv) Sub-Committee onTrade andEnvironment
13. The Chairman, presenting theSub-Committee 'sreport onbehalf ofitsChairman,
Mr.Lampreia (Brazil), said thattheSub-Committee hadheld itsthird formal meeting on
15-16 September 1994, thefocus ofwhich hadbeenthethird setofissues ofthework programme
oftheMinisterial Decision onTrade andEnvironment, inparticular "therelationship between the
provisions ofthemultilateral trading system and: (a)charges andtaxes forenvironmental purposes;
(b)requirements forenvironmental purposes relating toproducts, including standards andtechnical
regulations, packaging, labelling andrecycling". Aspirit ofpositive engagement hadcharacterized
thediscussion, which hadbeenanalytical andsubstantive. Delegations hadaddressed theissues in
sub-item oneandsub-item two,and,onthesecond day,afewdelegations hadpresented some initial
reactions andcomments tothediscussion ofthefirstday. Delegations hadbeeninvited toraiseother
items fordiscussion, andinthiscontext, theChairman hadreminded them thattheSub-Committee
wasmandated toprovide aninput tothePreparatory Committee onarrangements forrelations with
inter-governmental andnon-governmental organizations (NGOs), referred toinArticle Vofthe
WTO Agreement. Discussion hadensued onthisquestion andmostdelegations hadseemed favourable
totheideaofexploring possible ways andmeans tosatisfy NGO demands forincreasing interaction,
transparency andopenness intheSub-Committee 'swork. Ithadbeenagreed thattheChairman would
consult informally onthisissueaswellasontheexpansion ofthelistofinter-governmental organization
observers, andontheissueofdomestically prohibited goods. Thenextmeeting oftheSub-Committee
would beheldon26-27 October, andwould focus onthefirstsetofissues ofthework programme,PC/M/5
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namely "therelationship between theprovisions ofthemultilateral trading system andtrademeasures
forenvironmental purposes, including those pursuant tomultilateral environmental agreements". The
Secretariat would consult withdelegations todetermine theappropriate dateforanother meeting at
theendofNovember orearly December.
14. TheCommittee tooknoteofthereport oftheChairman oftheSub-Committee.
B. Paragraph 8(b)(i) oftheDecision Establishing thePreparatory Committee
15. TheChairman recalled thathehadprovided adetailed report onthissubject atthe22July
meeting oftheCommittee. Since then,theSecretariat hadreceived draftschedules ongoods andservices
fromMaliandtheUnited Arab Emirates, andhadbeeninformed thatother schedules -notably those
ofsome least-developed participants -would shortly besubmitted. Assoonasthese werereceived,
theSecretariat would conduct afurther process ofverification ofalltheschedules stillonthetable.
Meanwhile, technical assistance continued tobeactively provided tofacilitate early action bythe
governments concerned. Herecalled thatatits22Julymeeting, thePreparatory Committee hadagreed
that,during theperiod uptotheentry intoforce oftheWTO Agreement, thetime-limit forapproval
ofadditions orrectifications andmodifications introduced inschedules attached totheWTO Agreement
should bethirty days. Under these procedures, theSecretariat hadsofarreceived andcirculated two
notifications ofadditional commitments, andninerectifications inrespect ofschedules.
16. Regarding cases ofStates orcustoms territories whose requests formembership oftheWTO
wereunder examination byGATT working parties, heinformed members thattheWorking Party on
Slovenia, having concluded itsworkonSlovenia 'sAccession toGATT 1947, would meetthefollowing
week tobegin examination ofthatgovernment 'srequest foracceptance oftheWTO, inlinewiththe
Preparatory Committee 'sDecision of31May. TheWorking Party onEcuador hadmetintheweek
of19September andhadmade goodprogress ontheestablishment ofEcuador 'sProtocol ofAccession
toGATT 1947. TheWorking Parties onMongolia 'sAccession toGATT 1947 andonPanama 's
Accession toGATT 1947 were scheduled tomeet inOctober. Consultations were being heldto
co-ordinate dates andwork programmes ofother Working Parties.
17. Onratification, herecalled thatatevery meeting ofthePreparatory Committee, hehadreviewed
theoverall position inthisregard. Together withtheSecretariat, hehadbeeninregular contact with
thecapitals ofall125participants -bigandsmall, developed anddeveloping -urging themtoconclude
ratificationasquicklyaspossible,andwascontinuingtomonitorthesituationclosely.Timelyratification
byMembers wasclearly thetop-most itemontheagenda. Thecollective work ofallwould come
tonothing ifgovernments allowed thetimeschedule toslip.Asofthepresent, 26outof125participants
hadeither ratified orconcluded domestic ratification processes. Hestressed thatOctober wasacritical
period formaking asubstantial breakthrough inimproving thepresent number. The
Preparatory Committee meeting scheduled for25October wasawatershed inasense asitwould fix
theprecise dateandagenda fortheImplementation Conference. Ashehadstated earlier, foranumber
ofreasons theConference should beheldinveryearly December. These decisions would bequicker
andeasier ifgovernments andtheoutside world could clearly perceive ratification tobegathering
momentum. Hebelieved thatitwasindeed gathering momentum, notwithstanding thefactthatthe
number 26-ofgovernments having already ratified -seemed tohavebeenrepeated overaperiod of
timewithout alteration.
18. Herecalled thathehadrecently written toMinisters along linesrelating totheimportance of
ratification. Several veryhelpful, andrather detailed, replies hadalready beenreceived, forwhich
hewished tothank thegovernments concerned. Almost without exception, theseresponses hadindicated
averypositive viewofthelikelihood ofthesuccessful completion oftheratification processes within
thecountries concerned. Theoverall assessment thatoneshould draw from these contacts wasthatPC/M/5
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things were definitely moving intheright direction. Governments were increasingly keentobring
theWTO intoeffect on1January 1995 andratification processes incapitals werebeing accelerated
allaround theworld tothisend. Having saidthis,however, hewished alsotosaythatthispositive
picture wasstillmore theresult ofgovernments 'stated intentions rather thanconcrete results. There
seemed tobetwobroad categories: first,governments forwhom ratification wasapurely executive
actorwhose legislative processes were verynearconclusion; andsecond, governments which felt
thattheirlegislative processes might eventakethemintolateNovember. Forreasons hehadmentioned,
thesecond category posed obvious andgrave riskstotheorderly conduct oftheagreed programme
ofwork. Thegovernments inquestion hadbeenrepeatedly warned ofthedangers involved. Asto
thefirstcategory, hecould onlystress again theneedforgovernments, inaposition todoso,toratify
nowwithout waiting forothers toact.There wasaleadership question involved. Ratification was
ashared responsibility andeachgovernment hadtocontribute.
19. Therepresentative oftheEuropean Communities saidthatthepresent meeting offered yetagain
anopportunity totakestock oftheratification process andfortheChairman toremind allthesignatories
oftheFinal Actoftheircommitments. ItwastheChairman 'sdutytoexpress concern inregard to
ratification, although hisdelegation haddetected moreoptimism thanconcern intheformer 'sstatement.
AsfarastheCommunity wasconcerned, herecalled astatement bytheEuropean Council inCorfu,
Greece, on24-25 June, calling on"theCommunity Institutions andMember States todoeverything
necessary tocomplete ratification intimetoensure entry intoforce before 1January 1995". Nothing
hadchanged since thatdate,andtheCommunity 'sdetermination hadnotweakened. TheCommunity
wasconfident thattheprocess would becompleted induetime.
20. Therepresentative ofBrazil saidthaton29June, hiscountry 'sPresident hadforwarded to
itsCongress anofficial translation inthePortuguese language oftheAgreements resulting from the
Uruguay Round, accompanied byacommunication underlying theimportance theExecutive attached
toanearlyapproval ofthose agreements. Regarding thelegislative process itself, hesaidthatBrazil 's
Congress hadalready started theprocess ofreviewing thetexts, andhoped thattheAgreements would
beratified before theendof1994.
21. Therepresentative ofJapan saidthatshortly after theopening, onSeptember 30,ofan
Extraordinary Session oftheDiet, hisGovernment would submit theWTO Agreement aswellas
approximately tenBillsnecessary toimplement thatAgreement totheDiet. HisGovernment expected
toobtain theapproval oftheDietduring thatSession, given therepeated commitment expressed by
hiscountry 'sPrime Minister foraspeedy ratification which would enable theWTO toenterintoeffect
on1January 1995.
22. Therepresentative ofCanada expressed satisfaction thattheChairman haddetected asense
ofoptimism among theparticipants asregards ratification. InthecaseofCanada, itsParliament had
resumed work on19September. HisGovernment intended tointroduce legislation implementing the
WTO Agreement inParliament during themonth ofOctober, andhewasconfident thatitwould be
passed bybothHouses andthatCanada would beinaposition tonotify aformal acceptance ofthe
WTO Agreement totheSecretariat ontime.
23. Therepresentative oftheUnited States saidthathisauthorities anticipated submission ofthe
necessary legislation inthenextfewdays, andbelieved, following discussions withCongress, that
there would beaction ontheratification prior toCongress 'recess onOctober 15.
24. Therepresentative ofHong Kong saidthatHong Kong wasinanadvanced stageofitsdomestic
process, andwould soonbeabletocommunicate further withtheChairman, hopefully providing him
withsomething more thanastatement ofintent.PC/M/5
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25. TheChairman saidhewould read thesilence ofother delegations asconsent tothe
1January 1995 dateofentry intoforce being reiterated ontheirbehalf byhimasChairman ofthe
Committee, andaconfirmation thattheoverall positivism which hadcome fromthose thathadspoken
reflected alsothesituation inevery other capital around theworld. While hedidnotwant tobe
over-optimistic, because thedeadline wasindeed verytight, itwould befairtosay,ashehaddone
earlier, thattherewerealotofpositive signals atthemoment. Hehoped thatthesewould beconfirmed
byrealaction attheendoftheday.
26. TheCommittee tooknoteofthestatements.