 
./.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/GC/INF/3 
8 October 2004 
 (04-4212) 
  
  
 
 
INFORMATION NOTE TO MEMBERS 
 
Digital Archiving of GATT Official Documents
1 and Certain GATT Internal Records –  
Collaborative Project Between Stanford Univ ersity Libraries and the WTO Secretariat  
 
  The purpose of this information note is to brief Members on a collaborative project between 
Stanford University Libraries and the WTO Secretar iat to preserve digitally GATT official documents 
and certain GATT internal records. 
 
 During former Director-General Ruggiero's term  in office, the WTO Secretariat reached an 
agreement with Stanford University Libraries (SUL) under which SUL would preserve certain GATT 
records and documents in digital form.  The agreement stemmed from a concern that the WTO 
Secretariat had no digital back up for this unique and historic set of documents.  There was thus some 
urgency in creating a safety net for at least part of our archives.  Since 1999 the WTO Secretariat has 
been collaborating with SUL in this undertaking.   
  In order to improve focus and coordination, the current Director-General established an 
Internal Secretariat Working Group on this ar chiving initiative.  The Working Group has been 
meeting regularly to provide overall supervision of the project and has been working closely with the 
SUL team as it brings to a close the "cap ture phase" of the archiving work.   
  The project has been a major undertaking on th e part of SUL who have digitised most GATT 
official documents from 1947 to 1995.  The majority of these documents are unrestricted or have been derestricted.  SUL's archiving work in relation to  GATT official documents has been confined to 
English language documents for reasons relating to funding constraints and their own immediate 
priorities.  SUL have also digitized around 2.2 million pages of GATT internal records.  These 
comprise records held in the GATT Secretar iat Registry from 1947 to 1995 and include, inter alia , 
correspondence received or sent by the Secretariat,  internal Secretariat communications as well as 
some internal records held by divisions – includi ng, for example, Certifie d Protocols and Bilateral 
Agreements.  The costs SUL have assumed for this project, both in terms of human resources and the 
cost of digitising this material, now stand at around US$3.3 million. 
  Digitisation of these documents by the SUL team  has been taking place annually in the Centre 
William Rappard during the summer breaks.  The SU L team returned to Geneva this summer to 
complete remedial and outstanding scanning work.  Th is brought to a close the main "capture phase" 
of the archiving initiative.   
  The agreement also envisaged making the digitised GATT unrestricted official documents more accessible to WTO Members and the public .  The Internal Secret ariat Working Group is 
therefore collaborating with SUL to provide elect ronic access, via a website, to the digitised GATT 
unrestricted official documents.  The principal areas of collaboration relate to the website interface 
                                                     
 
1 GATT official documents are those w ith a formal document series symbol. WT/GC/INF/3 
Page 2  
 
 and searching facilities and also data preparation (i.e. quality control and subject cataloguing).  
Documents posted on the website would be those already in the public domain
 but which, to date, 
have only been accessible in paper or microfiche form.  SUL have indicated to us that they are aiming 
to have the website operational towards the end of 2004.   
 
 Any confidential or restricted documentati on which has been digitised cannot, under the 
agreement between WTO and SUL, be made availabl e to the public, nor indeed can it be accessed by 
SUL for their own research purposes.  Provision of public access to such documents would require the 
requisite decisions to be taken by the General C ouncil.  In due course, WTO Members may be asked 
to give the issue of derestriction of GATT restricted  official documents their consideration.  Access to 
GATT internal records may also be brought up in due course. 
  The question also arises of what action would be preferable in relation to the French and 
Spanish language official documentation which ar e equally worthy of preservation.  SUL have 
indicated a possible interest in archiving the Fr ench and Spanish language  documentation but would 
need to secure new funding for such a project.  We  have indicated our openness to discussions in this 
connection but have also indicated that Members may have views on the preservation of French and 
Spanish documentation and specifically who should undertake such work.  
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