WORLD TRADE WT/L/46
23February 1995
ORGANIZATION(95-0379)
WTO COMMITTEE ONTRADE AND DEVELOPMENT
Decision bytheGeneral Council on31January 1995
Atitsmeeting on31January 1995 theGeneral Council established theWTO Committee on
Trade andDevelopment withthefollowing terms ofreference:*
1. Toserve asafocal point forconsideration andcoordination ofwork ondevelopment inthe
World Trade Organization (WTO) anditsrelationship todevelopment-related activities inother
multilateral agencies.1
2. Tokeepunder continuous review theparticipation ofdeveloping country Members inthe
multilateraltradingsystemandtoconsidermeasuresandinitiativestoassistdevelopingcountryMembers,
andinparticular theleast-developed country Members, intheexpansion oftheirtradeandinvestment
opportunities, including support fortheirmeasures oftrade liberalization.2
3. Toreview periodically, inconsultation asappropriate withtherelevant bodies oftheWTO,
theapplication ofspecial provisions intheMultilateral Trade Agreements andrelated Ministerial
DecisionsinfavourofdevelopingcountryMembers,andinparticularleast-developedcountryMembers,
andreport totheGeneral Council forappropriate action.
4. Toconsider anyquestions which mayarisewithregard toeither theapplication ortheuse
ofspecial provisions intheMultilateral Trade Agreements andrelated Ministerial Decisions infavour
ofdeveloping country Members andreport totheGeneral Council forappropriate action.
5. Toprovide guidelines for,andtoreview periodically, thetechnical cooperation activities of
theWTO3astheyrelate todeveloping country Members.
6. TheCommittee willestablish aprogramme ofwork which maybereviewed asnecessary each
year.
*Upon adoption oftheterms ofreference theGeneral Council tooknoteoftheaccompanying statement orunderstanding
tothetextreferred toinparagraph 40ofthereport ofthePreparatory Committee contained indocument PC/R.
1Itisunderstood thatmatters relating toactivities inother multilateral agencies willcome under theguidance oftheGeneral
Council.
2TheCommittee would giveconsideration, interalia,toanyreport thattheCommittee onAgriculture maydecide to
refer toitfollowing paragraph 6ofthe"Decision onMeasures Concerning thePossible Negative Effects oftheReform
Programme onLeast-Developed andNetFood-Importing Developing Countries" andArticle XVIoftheAgreement on
Agriculture.
3Thetechnical cooperation activities referred tointhisprovision donotinclude technical assistance foraccession
negotiations.