WORLD TRADE WT/L/194
18November 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-4878)
AGREEMENTS BETWEEN THE WTO AND THE IMFAND THE WORLD BANK
Decision adopted bytheGeneral Council atitsmeeting on
7,8and13November 1996
Recalling theincreasing linkages between thevarious aspects ofeconomic policymaking that
fallwithintherespectivemandatesoftheWorldTradeOrganization("WTO"),theInternationalMonetary
Fund ("IMF") andtheInternational Bank forReconstruction andDevelopment ("World Bank"), the
callforgreater coherence among economic policies contained intheMarrakesh Agreement Establishing
theWorld Trade Organization, andtheinvitation ofMinisters fortheDirector- General oftheWTO
toreview withtheManaging Director oftheInternational Monetary Fund andthePresident ofthe
World Banktheimplications oftheWTO 'sresponsibilities foritscooperation withtheBretton Woods
institutions, aswellastheforms suchcooperation might take,withaviewtoachieving greater coherence
inglobal economic policymaking;
Recognizing theclosecollaborative relationship existing overthepastseveral decades between
theCONTRACTING PARTIES totheGeneral Agreement onTariffs andTrade andtheIMFandthe
World Bank, theimportance ofcontinuing andstrengthening those relationships, andthenegotiating
mandate contained intheGeneral Council Decision ontheRelationship between theWTO andtheIMF
andWorld Bank (document WT/GC/M/5),
Taking noteofthestatement bytheDirector-General onConsultations andCoherence
(WT/L/194/Add.1), andofthebudgetary implications oftheAgreements (WT/L/194/Add.2),
TheGeneral Council hereby decides :
(1) Theproposed Agreement between theInternational Monetary Fund andtheWorld Trade
Organization("IMFAgreement")ascontainedinAnnexIofWT/GC/W/431andtheproposedAgreement
between theInternational BankforReconstruction andDevelopment andtheWorld Trade Organization
("World BankAgreement") ascontained inAnnex IIofWT/GC/W/431(collectively the"Agreements")
arehereby approved. TheDirector-General isauthorized tosignthese Agreements onbehalf ofthe
World Trade Organization andtoimplement theAgreements inaccordance withtheprovisions ofthis
Decision andanysubsequent decisions thatmaybetaken bytheGeneral Council.
(2) TheDirector-GeneralshallinformMembersandconsultwiththemregularlyastomattersrelating
totheimplementation oftheAgreements. Tothiseffect, theDirector-General shall, interalia,hold
consultations withMembers under theauspices oftheChairman oftheGeneral Council, asappropriate
butatleasttwotimes peryear. These consultations shallinclude reports onthecoherence consultations
between theDirector-General andtheManaging Director oftheIMFandthePresident oftheWorld
Bank, WTO observership inIMFandWorld Bank bodies, anyIMForWorld Bank observership in
theDispute Settlement Body (DSB), anywritten communications between theorganizations pursuant
totheAgreements, anyjointresearch ortechnical cooperation projects undertaken pursuant tothe
1Subsequently reissued asWT/L/195.WT/L/194
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Agreements, andthegeneral scope ofcontacts withtheIMFpursuant toparagraph 10oftheIMF
Agreement andwiththeWorld Bank pursuant toparagraph 8oftheWorld Bank Agreement.
(3) TheDirector-General isinvited tobuild ontheAgreements thathavebeenconcluded andthus
topursue theconsultations onCoherence provided forinparagraph 2ofeachAgreement, withaview
tomeeting theprovision established inArticle III:5oftheMarrakesh Agreement Establishing theWorld
Trade Organization andthemandate contained intheDeclaration ontheContribution oftheWorld
TradeOrganizationtoAchievingGreaterCoherenceinGlobalEconomicPolicymaking.Anyconclusions
reached asaresult ofsuchconsultations shallbesubmitted totheGeneral Council forapproval.
(4) Inrespect oftheimplementation andinterpretation ofthese Agreements, itisdecided that:
(a) Theprocedures forgranting IMFobservership intheDSBpursuant toparagraph 6
oftheIMFAgreement shallbeimplemented asfollows: TheDirector-General shall
convey theinvitation oftheDSBtotheIMFtosendamember ofitsstaffasanobserver
tomeetings oftheDSBwhere matters ofjurisdictional relevance totheIMFareto
beconsidered. Forother meetings oftheDSB, theDirector-General maypropose
totheChairman oftheDSBthatamember oftheIMF'sstaffbeadmitted asanobserver
toaparticular meeting, orinrespect ofparticular agenda items proposed forameeting,
oftheDSB.
Formeetings ofother WTO bodies forwhich attendance isnotspecifically provided
fororexcluded intheAgreements orintheabove sub-paragraph, theDirector-General
maypropose totheChairman ofaWTO body thatamember oftheIMF'sstaffbe
admitted asanobserver toameeting where particular matters ofcommon interest to
theWTO andtheIMFwillbeunder discussion; similarly, theDirector-General may
propose totheChairman ofaWTO body thatamember oftheWorld Bank staffbe
admitted asanobserver toameeting where particular matters ofcommon interest to
theWTO andtheWorld Bank willbeunder discussion.
(b) InlightofArticles III:5andV:1oftheMarrakesh Agreement Establishing theWorld
Trade Organization, Article XVoftheGeneral Agreement onTariffs andTrade 1994
(and, inparticular, Article XV:2) andArticles XIandXIIoftheGeneral Agreement
onTrade inServices, theGeneral Council considers itappropriate thatwhenever the
IMFwishes tosubmit itsviews toapanel onwhether anexchange measure within
itsjurisdiction isconsistent withtheIMF'sArticles ofAgreement, itshallsubmit these
views bydirecting aletter containing those views totheChairman oftheDSB. The
Chairman oftheDSBshallinform thechairman ofthepanel oftheavailability ofthis
communication which, unless thepanel decides otherwise, shallremain confidential
tothepanel andtotheparties tothedispute.
Nothing inthisDecision norintheAgreements shallaffect therights andobligations
ofMembers under theDispute Settlement Understanding, including those provided
forinArticle 13thereof.
(c) IntheAgreements, eachreference totheWTO,totheFund ortotheWorld Bank as
such(andnotexplicitly totheWTO Secretariat ,theFund'sstaffortheWorld Bank's
staff),ortotheinstitution ortheorganization ,isunderstood torefertothedecision-
making bodies oftheWTO, theIMFandtheWorld Bank, respectively.WT/L/194
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(d) Inrespect ofthework ofdispute-settlement panels, documentation tobeprovided to
theIMFandtheWorld Bank doesnotinclude documents submitted orprepared in
thecourse ofthework ofpanels, butonlythepanels 'finalreports totheDSB.
(e) Theestablished competences andpractices inbudgetary matters willbepreserved.
Inaccordance withthese competences andpractices, theSecretariat willkeep the
Committee onBudget, Finance andAdministration dulyinformed ofthebudgetary
consequences oftheAgreements.
(5) TheGeneralCouncilreaffirmstheimportanceoftheMarrakeshMinisterialDecisiononMeasures
Concerning thePossible Negative Effects oftheReform Programme onLeast-Developed andNetFood-
Importing Developing Countries. Initsview, theimproved co-operation between theWTO andthe
IMFandtheWorld Bank provided forinthese Agreements should enhance thepossibilities for
governments torespond effectively totheissues addressed inthatDecision.