RESTRICTED
PREPARATORY COMMITTEE PC/M/9
FOR THE 16December 1994
WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION
(94-2814)
PREPARATORY COMMITTEE FOR THE
WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION
MINUTES OFMEETING
Held on7December 1994
1. ThePreparatory Committee fortheWorld Trade Organization (WTO) helditsninth meeting
under theChairmanship ofMr.Peter D.Sutherland.
A. Review ofwork under theSub-Committees
2. Mr.Szepesi(Hungary),ChairmanoftheSub-CommitteeonBudget,FinanceandAdministration,
recalled thattheSub-Committee hadbeenmandated toprepare recommendations tothePreparatory
Committee onsixissues: (a)theHeadquarters Agreement tobenegotiated withtheauthorities ofthe
hostcountry; (b)financial regulations including guidelines fortheassessment ofWTO members 'budget
contributions; (c)thebudget estimates for1995; (d)thetransfer ofassets andliabilities ofthe
ICITO/GATT totheWTO; (e)thetransfer andterms andconditions ofthetransfer oftheGATT
stafftotheWTO Secretariat; and(f),therelationship between theInternational Trade Centre and
theWTO.
3. With regard totheHeadquarters Agreement, hehadmade regular reports totheCommittee
ondevelopments related tothenegotiations conducted onbehalf ofthePreparatory Committee with
theSwiss authorities. Thenegotiating teamcontinued tobeguided bytheCommittee 'sviewthata
good mutually satisfactory agreement wasbetter thanahastily concluded onewhich might leave in
theshadow some important aspects. While every effort would bemade tospeed upthenegotiations,
itappeared thatthiswould require anumber ofdecisions which should betaken atthepolitical level
bytheSwiss authorities. Thenegotiations would havetobepursued untilaglobal proposal could
besubmitted tothePreparatory Committee ortotheGeneral Council oftheWTO.
4. Withregard tofinancial regulations, theSub-Committee recommended thattheSecretariat be
entrusted withthetaskofpreparing thedraftFinancial Rules andRegulations fortheWTO based on
GATT practice, sothattheycould besubmitted forapproval totheGeneral Council oftheWTO early
in1995. Pending thisapproval, thepresent GATT practice should bemaintained. With regard to
guidelines forbudget contributions byWTO Members, theSub-Committee hadagreed that,inprinciple,
theassessments should reflect shares ininternational tradeingoods, services andintellectual property,
butthat,pending further study, thecalculation ofassessments forthe1995budget oftheWTO should
follow existing practice under theGATT 1947. Changes toreflect theabove-mentioned decision would
beintroduced nolaterthanoneyearafterthecreation oftheWTO. Asregards thebudget estimates
forthefirstyearofoperation oftheWTO, theSub-Committee recommended thatthePreparatory
Committee approve theBudget Estimates contained inPC/W/8, W.50/11 andCorr.1 and2.The1995
budget amounted toSwF105,389,500, andthecontributions assessed onMembers/contracting parties
represented SwF104,400,000. Therelevant proposals were contained inparagraph 15onpage4,PC/M/9
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paragraph 6onpage12andparagraph 21onpage13ofthedocument, andwould alsobesubmitted
forapproval totheCONTRACTING PARTIES toGATT 1947 attheirFiftieth Session.
5. Asregards thetransfer ofproperty, including thefinancial assets oftheICITO/GATT tothe
WTO, theSub-Committee recommended thatthePreparatory Committee approve anagreement between
thePreparatory Committee, theInterim Commission fortheInternational Trade Organization (ICITO)
andtheCONTRACTING PARTIES toGATT 1947totransfer allassets andliabilities other thanstaff
contracts, from ICITO andtheGATT 1947 CONTRACTING PARTIES totheWTO (PC/W/12,
6SS/W/1). With regard tothetransfer, andtheterms andconditions thereof, oftheGATT staffto
theWTO Secretariat, theSub-Committee recommended thatwitheffect from theentry intoforce of
theWTO Agreement, asatransitional arrangement, theICITO provide Secretariat services forthe
WTO onareimbursable basis. TheSub-Committee further recommended that,pending agreement by
theWTO 'sGeneral Council ontherulesandregulations fortheWTO staff, existing ICITO terms and
conditions ofservice forstaffapply. Itwasalsorecommended that,forthesakeoflegalcertainty,
thedecisions ofthePreparatory Committee concerning allthetransfers beendorsed induecourse by
theWTO 'sGeneral Council.
6. Thequestion ofthefuture relationship between theInternational Trade Centre andtheWTO
hadbeenexamined byaWorking Group established under theSub-Committee andtheGATT 1947
Committee onBudget, Finance andAdministration. TheWorking Group hadconcluded thatthematter
should befurther discussed, andtheSub-Committee recommended thatallaspects ofthefuture
relationship between ITCandtheWTO should betaken up,discussed anddecided uponbytherelevant
WTO bodies early in1995.
7. Onanother matter, herecalled thaton22July, thePreparatory Committee hadmandated the
Sub-Committee todecide onmatters relating totheorganizational structure, including amanagement
review. Thecreation of21additional posts for1994 hadbeendecided, andaManagement Review
hadbeenentrusted tooutside consultants whowould submit theirfinalreport on15December. This
report, andthesuggestions therein, would beforwarded totherelevant WTO bodies forconsideration
andaction, asappropriate. Withregard tootherstaff-related matters, namely, salary scales, thepension
scheme, thecontract ofemployment policy, andthestaffrules, theseformed apackage which theSub-
Committee recommended beexamined bytherelevant WTO bodies assoonaspossible in1995, in
thelightof,interalia,thesuggestions oftheconsultants onthemanagement review.
8. TheSub-Committee hadbeenconsidering twoother administrative issues. Thefirstconcerned
administrative measures forMembers withthreeyears ormore ofunpaid contributions, andproposed
measures hadbeensetoutinparagraph 7(a),(b),(d)and(e)ofdocument PC/W/13, W.50/20. The
Sub-CommitteerecommendedtheirapprovalbythePreparatoryCommittee.Withregardtothefinancial
implications mentioned inparagraph 7(c)and(f),these required further consultation andshould be
considered in1995bytherelevant WTO bodies. Thesecond issuerelated tothefinancial obligations
ofStates andseparate customs territories thatwere observers totheWTO. TheSub-Committee
recommended thatthePreparatory Committee approve paragraph 4ofdocument PC/W/14, W.50/21
withthefollowing addition: "These financial obligations willnotapply totheStates orseparate customs
territorieswhichareGATT1947contractingpartiesintheprocessofratificationoftheWTOAgreement,
butwhich havenotyetbecome Members".
9. Inconclusion, theSub-Committee would havetomeetagain before theendoftheyeartoreceive
thereport oftheconsultants onthemanagement review, andtotakestock ofdevelopments inthe
negotiations withtheSwiss authorities ontheHeadquarters Agreement. Another issue onwhich the
Sub-CommitteewasnotinapositiontomakearecommendationtothePreparatoryCommitteeconcerned
thelogofortheWTO. Thesketches tentatively retained bytheWorking Group which dealt with
thismatter could notbeformally approved foranumber ofreasons. Accordingly, theSub-CommitteePC/M/9
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proposed thatthisissue bere-examined in1995 bytherelevant WTO body, andsuggested thatan
adequate procedure besetupwhich might include acallfortenders.
10. Mr.Kesavapany (Singapore), Chairman oftheSub-Committee onInstitutional, Procedural
andLegal Matters, saidthatsince themeeting ofthePreparatory Committee on30November, the
Sub-Committee hadagreed onguidelines fortheappointment ofofficers toWTO bodies (PC/IPL/14).
TheChairman oftheCONTRACTING PARTIES hadprovided clarifications withrespect tosome
aspects oftheguidelines, which would bereflected intheminutes oftheSub-Committee 'smeeting.
Hewished toaddthatfortheWTO bodies inGroups 1,2,4and5intheAnnex toPC/IPL/14, the
outgoing Chairman oftheCONTRACTING PARTIES toGATT 1947 would conduct consultations
andpropose nominations tothefirstmeeting oftheWTO 'sGeneral Council. TheSub-Committee
hadalsoagreed onrecommendations regarding theestablishment oftheAppellate Body (PC/IPL/13).
Ontherelated matter ofrulesofethical conduct indispute settlement, workwascontinuing satisfactorily.
Ashehadstated onother occasions, theobjective wastotakethiswork asfaraspossible before the
entry intoforce oftheWTO. AttheSub-Committee 'smeeting thedaybefore, ithadalsobeenagreed
thatthePreparatory Committee should recommend totheWTO 'sGeneral Council thatitinvite as
observerstoitsfirstmeetingthefourinternationalorganizationspresentlyinvitedasobserverstomeetings
ofthePreparatory Committee anditssubsidiary bodies, namely theIMF, World Bank, UNand
UNCTAD, pending theadoption ofguidelines onobserver status forinternational intergovernmental
organizations. Withregard totransitional arrangements, theSub-Committee hadagreed ontheelements
ofapackage. Atitsmeeting thedaybefore, theSub-Committee hadconsidered twodecisions tobe
taken bythePreparatory Committee attheImplementation Conference. Thefirstrelated tothe
participation inmeetings ofWTO bodies bycertain signatories oftheFinal Acteligible tobecome
original members oftheWTO (PC/W/15, 6SS/W/4) andthesecond concerned theavoidance of
procedural andinstitutional duplication (PC/W/16, 6SS/W/3). Another element ofthepackage was
adraftdecision ontransitional coexistence oftheGATT 1947 andtheWTO Agreement, contained
innon-paper number 3044. Inessence, thatdecision stated thatthelegalinstruments through which
thecontracting parties applied theGATT 1947 would beterminated oneyearafterthedateofentry
intoforce oftheWTO. Thelastelement ofthepackage related totheTokyo Round Codes, andin
particulartothedisputesettlementprocessesthereunder.AWorkingGroup,co-chairedbytherespective
ChairmenoftheCommitteesonAnti-DumpingPracticesandonSubsidiesandCountervailingMeasures,
hadbeenexamining thismatter.
11. Mr.GraçaLima, Chairman oftheCommittee onAnti-Dumping Practices, saidthatthe
Committees onAnti-Dumping Practices andonSubsidies andCountervailing Measures hadmetjointly
andinformallyanumberoftimesoverthepastfewweeksinordertoconsider,pursuanttotheMarrakesh
Ministerial Decision ontheApplication andReview oftheUnderstanding onRules andProcedures
GoverningtheSettlementofDisputes,adraftdecisiononwithdrawalfromtheTokyoRoundAgreements
andacomplementary draftdecision ontransitional coexistence. Asaresult oftherelation ofthese
draftdecisions totheprocess initiated under theSub-Committee onInstitutional, Procedural andLegal
Matters, determined efforts hadbeenmade tocomplete thistaskbefore thepresent meeting ofthe
Preparatory Committee. Following recommendations made thatmorning, theWorking Group had
metintheafternoon toexamine thedrafts inthelightofsuggestions made byinterested delegations,
andhadbeenabletoreach anagreement onbothdrafts. Thishadallowed apackage toemerge of
which asimilar decision regarding coexistence oftheGATT 1947andtheWTO wasanintegral part.
These draftdecisions hadbeencirculated todelegations atthestartofthemeeting. Asimilar setof
decisions reflecting asimilar agreement intheareaofsubsidies andcountervailing measures would
becirculated shortly.
12. TheChairman oftheSub-Committee onInstitutional, Procedural andLegal Matters saidit
washisunderstanding thatagreement totakethedecisions outlined bytheChairman oftheCommittee
constituted apolitical commitment onthepartofallparties torespect thetimeframes specified therein.PC/M/9
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TurningtothecompositionoftheTextilesMonitoringBody,herecalledthataContactGrouponTextiles
hadbeenconsidering thismatter forsome time. Itappeared thatasolution acceptable toallparties
hadproved elusive inthatframework. Overthepasttwenty-four hours, therefore, heandtheChairman
ofthePreparatory Committee hadbeenholding consultations onthismatter. Regrettably, asolution
continued toprove elusive. Hewasconfident, however, thatasolution tothismatter, theonly
outstanding partofthemandate entrusted totheSub-Committee, would soonbefound.
13. Mr.Lampreia (Brazil), Chairman oftheSub-Committee onTrade andEnvironment, recalled
thathehadbeenconsultingonapossibleinputtotheCommitteewithrespecttoappropriatearrangements
forrelations withintergovernmental andnon-governmental organizations referred toinArticle Vof
theWTO Agreement. Regrettably, although progress hadbeenmade, hehadnotbeenabletofind
aconsensus onallaspects ofthisissue. Withrespect torelations withintergovernmental organizations,
herecalled theSub-Committee hadagreed toextend invitations toobserve itswork toUNEP, FAO,
ITC, UNDP, theUNCommission onSustainable Development, theOECD andEFTA, inaddition
totheIMF, World Bank, UNandUNCTAD, which hadbeen accorded observer status bythe
Preparatory Committee. Ithadalsobeen agreed thatfurther requests forobserver status from
intergovernmental organizations should betaken uponacase-by-case basis taking intoaccount any
criteria andconditions forobserver status forsuchorganizations tobeapproved bytheSub-Committee
onInstitutional, Procedural andLegal Matters. Inhisconsultations onappropriate arrangements for
relations withnon-governmental organizations, several delegations hadconsidered ituseful toexamine,
inthiscontext, modalities forimproving thetransparency oftheWTO 'swork intheareaoftradeand
theenvironment, including thepossibility ofgeneral guidelines forderestriction ofsome orallofthe
relevant documentation. While there wasbroad agreement onmany aspects ofthisissue, ithadnot
beenpossible inthetimeavailable tofindanoverall consensus.
14. Mr.Manhusen (Sweden), Chairman oftheSub-Committee onServices, saidthattheInterim
Group onFinancial Services hadhelditssecond meeting on1December, during which anumber of
delegations hadprovided information onliberalization measures taken intheareaoffinancial services
sincetheendoftheUruguay Round. Several delegations hadalsoreported onprogress made inrecent
bilateral negotiations. TheGroup hadagreed, inprinciple, tomeetagain inlateJanuary 1995tohear
reports onafurther round ofbilateral negotiations tobeheld. Thenegotiating groups onMaritime
Transport Services andonBasic Telecommunications hadnotmetsince hisprevious report tothe
Committee.
15. TheoutstandingworkoftheSub-Committeeconsistedoftwoitems.Thefirstwastheoutstanding
issues relating tothescope oftheGATS. Hewascontinuing informal consultations onthese issues
andhoped toproduce afinalreport thereon bythedeadline setforthiswork, namely 15December.
Thesecond wastheverification ofschedules. Ashehadmentioned atthe30November meeting of
theCommittee, aninformal meeting ontheverification ofservices schedules would beheldon
15December. Atthatmeeting, allschedules onwhich bilateral negotiations hadbeenconcluded would
beverified. According totheagreed procedures, theverification ofaschedule could nottakeplace
untilbilateral negotiations hadbeenconcluded. Itshould benoted, therefore, thatnegotiations on
outstanding schedules should beconcluded by15December ifthegovernments concerned were to
become original members oftheWTO under theexisting procedures. Inconclusion, heenvisaged
thatafinalmeeting oftheSub-Committee would beheldon16December.
16. Therepresentative ofMexico saidthatalthough theChairman oftheSub-Committee on
Institutional, Procedural andLegal Matters hadstated thatonlyoneissueremained outstanding, there
mightwellbetwo.Mexicohadsomeconcernsregardingthedraftdecisionsontransitionalarrangements,
andhoped thatthese wereofapurely technical nature andcould beresolved indiscussions thatday.
Hisdelegation hoped thatthere would benooutstanding issues thefollowing day,andthatthe
Implementation Conference would beconcluded successfully.PC/M/9
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17. TheChairman saidhehoped thatMexico 'sconcerns could beresolved satisfactorily infurther
discussions which could beheldthatevening. Hethenproposed thattheCommittee takenoteofthe
progress reports bytheChairmen oftheSub-Committees, andalsotakenoteoftherecommendations
made totheCommittee, including onquestions which should befurther examined andacted upon by
theappropriate bodies oftheWTO, ontheunderstanding thattheywould beincorporated inappropriate
textual form inthenextrevision oftheCommittee 'sdraftreport totheWTO.
18. TheCommittee soagreed.
19. Therepresentative oftheUnited States saidthatanumber ofdelegations hadraised theissue
oftheUnited States 'continued participation asaGATT 1947 contracting party following theentry
intoforce oftheWTO. Heassured Members thatinlightoftheterms oftheproposed decision on
transitional coexistence oftheGATT 1947 andtheWTO Agreement, andassuming thatasuccessful
conclusion tothediscussions ontransition from theTokyo Round Codes wasreached, itwould be
theintention oftheUnited States toremain acontracting partytotheGATT 1947foroneyearfollowing
thedateofentry intoforce oftheWTO. Hewished tonotethattheUnited States 'willingness toenter
intotheproposed decision wasbased inpartonthegeneral understanding thatamember oftheWTO
would notutilize thedispute settlement procedures oftheGATT 1947 withrespect toanother WTO
member. Finally, hisdelegation confirmed thestatement oftheChairman oftheSub-Committee on
Institutional, Procedural andLegal Matters withregard totheTokyo Round Codes. TheUnited States
wasprepared tocommit tothetimeframe setforth under thedecisions thathadbeenworked outon
theCodes, assuming thatoneproceeded onthebasis ofthose decisions.
20. TheChairman proposed thattheCommittee takenoteofthespecific draftdecisions presented
bytheChairmen oftheSub-Committees atthepresent meeting, andagree totransmit them tothe
Implementation Conference foraction.
21. TheCommittee soagreed andtooknoteofthestatements.
B. Paragraph 8(c)(iv) oftheDecision establishing thePreparatory Committee
(Composition oftheTextiles Monitoring Body)
22. Therepresentative ofIndiaexpressed concern thatthequestion ofthecomposition oftheTextiles
Monitoring Body remained unresolved. Itwasdifficult toanticipate atthisstage whatimplications
thiswould havefortheImplementation Conference tobeheldthefollowing day. India regretted that
importing countries hadshown extreme inflexibility onthisissue. Itwasstillnottoolatetofinda
solution tothiscrucial issue, andhisdelegation washopeful thattheChairman would succeed inhis
efforts toarrive ataconsensus. However, should thesituation notberesolved bythefollowing day,
India wished toreserve allitsrights withregard totheappropriate further course ofaction.
23. Therepresentative ofMalaysia, speaking onbehalf oftheInformal Group ofdeveloping
countries, saidthatthequestion oftextiles wasverydeartodeveloping countries. They believed that
there should beabalance inthecomposition oftheTMB, which should reflect thenumber andthe
trade interests ofproducing, exporting andimporting countries. Ontheissue ofrotation, hehoped
thatcountries would bemore flexible, andagree tohaving atleastsome seatsontheTMB thatwould
beheldinrotation bysome countries.
24. Therepresentative ofPakistan saidthattheTMB wasacritical element fortheimplementation
oftheAgreement onTextiles andClothing, andthatthequestion ofitscomposition hadbeenspecifically
included inthework programme ofthePreparatory Committee. Pakistan regretted thatthere wasas
yetnodecision onthecomposition oftheTMB, despite themaximum possible flexibility shown byPC/M/9
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developing countries during theconsultations heldbytheChairman oftheContact Group onTextiles,
andthose heldbytheChairmen oftheSub-Committee onInstitutional, Procedural andLegal Matters
andofthePreparatory Committee. Pakistan wasconcerned attheunwillingness ofthemajor countries
toabide bytheprovisions oftheAgreement onTextiles andClothing. Itwondered howasuccessful
conclusion totheImplementation Conference could beenvisaged without adecision onthecomposition
oftheTMB,andhopedthatbetweenthenandtheImplementationConference,theissuecouldberesolved
tothesatisfaction ofall.
25. Therepresentative ofHong Kong associated hisdelegation withthose thathadexpressed
disappointment withthelackofprogress onthisissue. TheAgreement onTextiles andClothing
represented theendofdecades ofbilateralism intrade intextiles andclothing, anditcould notbe
implemented without multilateral surveillance. Itwastherefore essential tohaveaTMB ondayone
oftheWTO. Forthisreason, Hong Kong hadmade clearforsometimethatitattached greatimportance
toadecision onthisissue before theImplementation Conference. TheImplementation Conference
concerned theimplementation ofalloftheresults oftheUruguay Round, andnotjustamajority of
them. Ifitwasstillpossible toagree onadatefortheentry intoforce oftheWTO, onewould have
tofacetheprospect thatsome oftheconstituent elements, suchastheTMB, might notbeoperational
onthesame date. Inthese circumstances, Hong Kong would havetoconsider itsposition carefully.
Itwasconceivable thatHong Kong, andperhaps some others, might havedifficulty inagreeing to
proposalstomakealltheWTOinstitutionsoperationalwhilethesituationinrespectoftheTMBremained
unresolved. Thiswould beanunfortunate startfortheneworganization, andHong Kong wasprepared
towork ashardaswasnecessary toavoid it.Having saidthat,Hong Kong andother exporters had
already shown considerable flexibility, andhadmade averyfairoffer onTMB composition. They
stood bythatoffer, andbelieved thatitwasnowuptotheimporting countries toshow thesame degree
offlexibility anddesire forasolution.
26. Therepresentative ofBrazil saiditwasunfortunate thatthequestion ofthecomposition of
abody ascrucial astheTMB remained astheonlyunresolved issue atthisstage. Hehoped thata
solution could befound, andagreed withHong Kong thataresolution ofthisissue should beaprior
conditiontotheorganizationoftheinstitutionsoftheWTOwhenitenteredintoforceon1January1995.
27. Therepresentative ofBrunei Darussalam, speaking onbehalf oftheASEAN countries, said
itwasunfortunate that,despite alltheefforts, asolution totheissue hadnotbeenfound. Although
exporting countries hadmade greatefforts tofindacompromise, theposition oftheimporting countries
hadbecome unreasonably rigid. TheTMB wasoneofthemostimportant institutions oftheWTO,
anditwasinconceivable fortheWTO tocome intoeffect without it.TheASEAN countries reserved
theirposition onthismatter.
28. TherepresentativeofKoreasaidthat,havingbeenarotatingmemberoftheTextilesSurveillance
Body under theMultifibre Arrangement, Korea alsohadagreatinterest intheTMB. Itwasregrettable
thatthecomposition ofthisbody hadnotyetbeenresolved. Korea believed thattheproposal bythe
ChairmanoftheContactGrouponTextileswasbalanced,reasonableandsensible.Indeed,itrepresented
whathisdelegation considered tobeitsbottom-line position. Korea would regret anyattempts tolink
thecomposition oftheTMB toitschairmanship, andhoped thatthecomposition issuecould besettled
assoonaspossible, possibly bytheImplementation Conference.
29. Therepresentative ofChina shared theprevious speakers 'views. Ifthismatter could notbe
resolved before theImplementation Conference, itmight havesome effect ontheConference. He
hoped thatallparties would show therequisite flexibility, which hehadnotseenmuch ofonthepart
oftheimporting countries, inorder totrytoresolve thismatter asearly aspossible.PC/M/9
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30. Therepresentative ofArgentina saidthatthemembers oftheGroup ofLatin American and
Caribbean countries (GRULAC) fullyshared theprevious speakers 'concerns. They believed thatit
wasnecessary tofindasatisfactory solution tothisissue assoonaspossible.
31. Therepresentative ofMorocco regretted thatanacceptable solution hadnotemerged despite
theefforts ofall.Anagreement onthecomposition oftheTMB wasessential, andwould bethebest
demonstration ofcollective faithinastrong andequitable multilateral trading system.
32. Therepresentative ofTurkey regretted thatefforts thusfarhadfailed toproduce amutually
acceptable outcome onthisissue. Turkey hadtriedtocontribute toamutually acceptable solution
byintroducing aproposal thatdaywhich could stillbeofrelevance tobothexporters andimporters.
33. Therepresentative ofEgypt saidhehoped thatthereport hehadmade, inhiscapacity as
Chairman oftheContact Group onTextiles, totheChairman oftheSub-Committee onInstitutional,
Procedural andLegal Matters, would formthebasisforfurther consultations onthismatter. Hebelieved
strongly thataconsensus could bebuiltaround theproposal hehadmade inhisreport.
34. Therepresentative oftheEuropean Communities saidthathisdelegation hadlistened carefully
tothestatements onthespecific issue relating totheTMB. Hebelieved thattheCommunity, forits
part,hadshown aflexible attitude. Inhisexperience, theprinciple ofparity inthenumber ofexporting
andimporting countries ontheTextiles Surveillance Body under theMultifibre Arrangement hadnot
beenchallenged, andtheBody hadworked satisfactorily thusfar.Some countries werenowasking
forthatbalance tobechanged. While theCommunity waswilling tolisten totheirreasons, itbelieved
thatflexibility should beshown byallsides. TheCommunity wasready tocontinue tosearch fora
solution.
35. TheCommittee tooknoteofthestatements.
C. Arrangements fortheImplementation Conference
36. TheChairman informed theCommittee ofcertain aspects ofthearrangements forthe
Implementation Conference. Asmembers wereaware, theImplementation Conference would consist
oftwoparts,commencingwiththePreparatoryCommitteemeetingatSeniorOfficialslevelandfollowed
immediately thereafter byaSpecial Session oftheCONTRACTING PARTIES toGATT 1947. Under
ItemA(i)ofparagraph 3oftheproposed agenda (PC/AIR/40, GATT/AIR/3652), thePreparatory
Committee would confirm 1January 1995 asthedateofentry intoforce oftheWTO. Insodoing,
theCommittee would proceed ontheunderstanding thatmembers werecommitted tobringing theWTO
intoforce onthatdateandwould conclude theirdomestic ratification processes tothisend. Under
itemA(ii)ofparagraph 3oftheproposed agenda, theCommittee would takeupthedraftdecisions
onbudgetary, financial andadministrative matters andontransitional arrangements thathadbeen
transmitted toitforadoption. These decisions andthedevelopments reported bytheChairmen of
theSub-CommitteesatthepresentmeetingwouldbeincorporatedinthenextrevisionoftheCommittee's
draftreport totheWTO. Finally, taking intoaccount theongoing work inoutstanding areas, andwith
aviewtoadopting theCommittee 'sreport totheWTO, hewould propose thatafinalmeeting ofthe
Preparatory Committee beheldontheafternoon of21December. Members would recall thatatthe
meeting oftheCommittee on23November, hehadalready indicated theneed forsuch a
meeting (PC/M/7, paragraph 23).TheSpecial Session oftheCONTRACTING PARTIES totheGATT
1947 would meet inorder totakeupcertain draftdecisions pertaining totransitional arrangements
within theirsphere ofresponsibility.
37. TheCommittee tooknoteofthestatement.PC/M/9
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D. Ratification
38. TheChairman saidthatwiththeImplementation Conference round thecorner andwithroughly
threeweeks remaining before theWTO 'sentryintoforce, thetimely conclusion ofdomestic ratification
processes bygovernments hadacquired much greater priority andurgency. Many governments were
rightly looking totheImplementation Conference itself asareference point fordepositing their
instruments ofratification. Thus far,forty-seven governments hadeither formally ratified theWTO
Agreement orcompleted theirdomestic ratification processes, andmore were expected todosoby
thefollowing day. Alarge number ofgovernments hadstepped upefforts tobeinaposition toratify
theWTO Agreement assoonaspossible inDecember, andtheconclusion ofratification processes
incertain keycountries hadacted asafurther spur. Forthesereasons, theoverall trend wasextremely
positive, andheexpected thatthevastmajority ofgovernments would havecompleted theirratification
processes before theendoftheyear. Finally, heinformed theCommittee thatapplications foraccession
totheWTO hadrecently beenreceived fromCambodia, theformer Yugoslav Republic ofMacedonia
andUzbekistan. Heproposed thattheCommittee takeupthese applications atasubsequent meeting.
39. TheCommittee tooknoteofthestatement.