RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/COMTD/M/29
14 November 2000
(00-4821)
Committee on Trade and Development
Twenty-Ninth Session
NOTE ON THE MEETING OF 28 JUNE AND 10 JULY 2000
Chairperson:  H.E. Mr. Ransford Smith (Jamaica)
A. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA
1. The Chairman said he had one addition to the agenda, contained in airgrams
WTO/AIR/1317/Rev.1 (9 June 2000) and WTO/AI R/1317/Rev.1/Add.1 (30 June  2000), to propose.
Under Item G, Technical Cooperation, he proposed to include as Sub-Item VI:  "Trade-Related
Capacity-Building Proposal" a communication from Japan (WT/COMTD/W/75) which had recentlybeen submitted to APEC.  He proposed that the draft agenda be adopted as amended.
2. It was so agreed.
B. OBSERVER STATUS
(i) Request for Attendance of Ad Hoc Observers
3. The Chairman recalled that at the 25th Session of the Committee on Trade and
Development (CTD), it had been agreed to invite 11 Intergovernmental Organizations on an ad hoc,
meeting-by-meeting basis.  These organizations were: the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU);  the
Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS);  the Economic Cooperation
Organisation (ECO);  the Inter-Arab Investment Guarantee Corporation;  the Islamic Development
Bank (IDB);   the Organisation of African Unity (OAU);  Organisation of the IslamicConference (OIC);  the South Centre;  the South Pacific Forum; the West African Economic and
Monetary Union (WAEMU);  and the World Inte llectual Property Organisation (WIPO).  The
Chairman proposed that these organisation be invited to the next formal meeting of the CTD.
4. It was so agreed.
(ii) Further Consideration of Request for Ob server Status by League of Arab States
5. The Chairman recalled that there was an outstanding request for Observer Status from the
League of Arab States.
6. The representative of Israel said that consideration of the application should be postponed
until the discussions in the General Council on questions related to the granting of Observer Status
were concluded.
7. The representative of Egypt stressed the importance of giving favourable consideration
submitted by the League of Arab States.  As could be seen from the request circulated to Members,
the economic and trade role of the League of Arab States was self explanatory, and wouldWT/COMTD/M/29
Page 2
undoubtedly facilitate the work of the WTO in dealing with Arab states in economic and trade fields,
and would be a means of addressing issues connected to trade liberalisation in these countries and
their integration into the multilateral trading system.
8. The representative of Kuwait, speaking also on behalf of Qatar, welcomed the application
submitted by the League of Arab States, as well as OPEC, and supported the statement made by
Egypt.  He said that the objectives of both OPEC and the League of Arab States were to raise the
living standards and improve the level of economic development of their member states.  He urged
Members to give positive consideration to the requests for ad hoc Observer Status submitted by both
these organisations.
9. The representative of Pakistan said his delegation associated itself with the intervention made
by Egypt with respect to the granting of ad hoc Observer Status to the League of Arab States,
Economic Wing.
10. The representative of Egypt asked that all the interventions made by Member countries in
respect of the request by the League of Arab States be duly noted.
11. The Chairman said that, while it was true that discussions were on-going in the General
Council regarding Observer Status, subsidiary bodies and committees had the authority to consider
applications submitted to them.  The CTD had agreed to admit, on and ad hoc basis, a number ofparticipants.  He therefore asked the representative of Israel whether his delegation had an objection
to granting the League of Arab States ad hoc Observer Status to the CTD.
12. The representative of Israel said that his delegation had no specific instructions and was
therefore not in a position to join a consensus.  He added that the League of Arab States sponsored
activities that were against the core WTO principles of non-discrimination, and this was why Israelwas not in a position to take a decision on the request made by the League of Arab States.
13. The representative of the United States said that the request submitted by the Economic Wing
of the League of Arab States was one that could meet her delegation's interest as far as the granting of
ad hoc Observership was concerned.  However, her delegation insisted on the right of Members to
postpone consideration of requests for ad hoc Observership, and she hoped that by the time of the nextmeeting of the CTD, Members might be in a better position to deliberate on the economic content of
application submitted by the League of Arab States.
14. The Chairman proposed that the CTD revert to the consideration of the request for observer
status by the League of Arab States at its next meeting.
15. It was so agreed.
(iii) Request for Observer Status by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries
16. The representative of Nigeria spoke in favour of the application made by OPEC.  He said that
OPEC had made its request in view of its interest in the activities of the Committee.  He said that
OPEC Members were heavily dependent on income from oil, and as such, was heavily concerned by
development issues addressed by the CTD.  He said that OPEC played an important role in globaltrade, and the consequences of such trade for development could not be overestimated.  He said that
some OPEC member countries were in the WTO, while other were in the process of accession.  He
said that OPEC had also applied to the Committee on Trade and Environment (CTE), and that by
applying to both the CTD and the CTE, it wished to correct the impression that it was only concerned
with price and quota fixing, which were the most visibl e parts of its activities.  He said that OPEC wasWT/COMTD/M/29
Page 3
also seriously concerned with the environmental impact of oil resources, as well as the equilibrium
between oil producers and oil exporters.  OPEC therefore sought ad hoc Observer Status with the
CTD and the CTE, in order to benefit from the work of the Committees in these areas.  He said that
the Nigerian delegation strongly supported the application by OPEC for ad hoc Observer Status, and
called on members to give the application favourable consideration.
17. The representative of Indonesia said his delegation supported the request for Observer Status
made by OPEC, and supported the statement made by Nigeria.
18. The representative of Venezuela put on record his country's support of the request made for
ad hoc Observer Status made by OPEC.  He said that OPEC could become an instrument in helping
Members analyse the new dimensions of development which the WTO was reviewing.  He said that
OPEC was in fact reviewing its own role, and he believed that granting ad hoc Observer Status to the
OPEC would enhance debates on questions related to development in the WTO.
19. The representative of Canada said that his delegation had no strong views in respect of any of
the organisations whose application was under cons ideration, though Canada did have a preference
that any decision on Observer Status be postponed until the General Council had issued guidelines.
He sought clarification as to whether the proposal was to grant ad hoc or permanent Observer Status.
20. The Chairman said that Observership was granted on an ad hoc, meeting-by-meeting basis.
This was the procedure that was to be followed until such time as the General Council had issued
guidelines.
21. The representative of the United States said that her delegation had examined the material
provided by OPEC which explained that organisation's interest in the CTD and its interest in trade.
She said that unlike the submission made by the League of Arab States, her delegation was unable togo along with granting ad hoc Observer Status to the OPEC, but hoped to be in position to do so at the
time of the next meeting, provided further material was provided which could substantiate both the
interest of the OPEC in the CTD and its trade function.
22. The Chairman proposed that the CTD revert to the consideration of the request for observer
status by OPEC at the next meeting of the CTD.
23. It was so agreed.
(iv) Request for Observer Status by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
24. The Chairman asked whether Members had any comment on the application submitted by
UNEP, and, noting that there were none, said that there appeared to be a consensus to grant ad hoc
Observer Status on a meeting-by-meeting basis to UNEP.  He therefore proposed that the CTD grant
UNEP ad hoc Observer Status on a meeting-by-meeting basis.
25. It was so agreed.
C. REPORT BY THE CHAIRPERSON ON THE SEMINAR ON IMPLEMENTATION OF WTO
AGREEMENTS HELD ON 26 J UNE 2000
26. The Chairman said that his written report on the seminar was available in the room.  (An
edited version of the Chairman's Report is included in the Annex to these Minutes).  He was of the
view that, despite difficulties of scheduling, Members had had a very interesting and useful day,WT/COMTD/M/29
Page 4
adding that he was interested in hearing from Members whether they had any further comments or
observations about the seminar.
27. The representative of the United States said that, regarding paragraph 12 it would be
preferable to reproduce exactly the language used by the General Council Decision on the special
mechanism regarding implementation, in respect of paragraphs 21 and 22 of 19 October 1999 draftministerial text.  She said discussions on implementation were to include paragraphs 21 and 22,  and it
was preferable to use such language rather than to state, as the Chairman's report on the seminar on
implementation did, that discussions were to be based on paragraphs 21 and 22, as this created an
impression that the two paragraphs were the exclusive basis for discussions, which was what had been
agreed.
28. The representative of India thanked the Chairman for his Report, and said that his delegation
wished to return to the report at a later date.  The Seminar had been useful in bringing out
implementation issues which needed to be dealt with.  His delegation was happy to note that the issue
of implementation was receiving serious attention and, referring to the General Council meetings of
22 June and 3 July, expressed the hope that the concerns raised by India and other developing
countries would be addressed and resolved in a time-bound manner.  He quoted the concluding
two sentences of the Chairman's report, which stated that "a good start had been made in the SpecialMechanism but it was necessary to move beyond the restatement of positions.  Both the seminar and
the General Council discussions had demonstrated th at while different views persisted in some areas,
there was full recognition of the importance of impl ementation issues and the need to resolve them."
He reiterated India's view that implementation issues be resolved in a time-bound manner.
29. The representative of Cuba said that the Seminar had been useful, but that nevertheless, it
would be useful if the translation of all relevant documents into Spanish and French could be ensured.
His delegation emphasised the importance of special and differential treatment, and the need to find a
better and practical manner of implementing special and differential treatment, in order to ensure
tangible results for developing countries.  He said that from a policy perspective, it was necessary to
introduce more equity to enable fair competition from developing countries in world markets.  He saidthat close analysis revealed that the economic and social structures of developing countries were very
different from those of developed countries.  It was thus necessary to develop a better type of special
and differential treatment to avoid distortions which arose from the existence of different negotiating
powers between developed countries and developing countries.  He said that further seminars on this
subject should be held in the future.
30. The representative of Pakistan said the Chairman's summary was a just and balanced report,
and added that his delegation concurred with the view that it was necessary to move beyond
discussions and take actual decisions.  He sought clarification regarding paragraph 12, where it was
stated that there was a need to take into account further developments.
31. The Chairman said that paragraph 12 reflected views of panelists, and added that in his view
the references were to decisions taken in the General Council and the special mechanism on
implementation which had been set up.
32. The representative of the European Communities said that the seminar had been useful, and
that the momentum that had been developed in the debate needed to be exploited.  His delegation
wished to emphasise the concrete aspects of the debate, in particular the presentations made by the
World Customs Organisation.
33. The representative of Mexico said the Seminar had been useful and that the report was
well-balanced.  He said that at the end of paragraph 12, there was a full recognition of implementation
issues and the need to resolve them.  Regarding references made in the Chairman's summary toWT/COMTD/M/29
Page 5
paragraphs 21 and 22 of 19 October 1999 draft text, his delegation suggested that these paragraphs be
refered to as the "main basis" for the discussion of implementation issues.
34. The representative of Barbados said that issues of implementation were crucial to small
economies.  Her delegation welcomed the continuation of work on implementation in the CTD and
under the aegis of the General Council.
35. The representative of Djibouti said the Seminar had been a useful and important exercise and
should be repeated in the future.
36. The representative of Egypt said the Seminar had been useful and should be repeated in the
future.  Her delegation looked forward to the continuation of work on implementation in the General
Council.
37. The representative of the Arab Maghreb Union said the seminar and the chairman's Report
had been very useful in elucidating the issues faced by WTO members which were part of the Arab
Maghreb Union.
38. The representative of Zambia said that the Chairman's text was welcome.  He asked which
paragraph of the report covered the specific concerns that LDCs faced in relation to the
implementation of WTO Agreements.
39. The Chairman said that a point had been made in the seminar underscoring the importance of
technical assistance for capacity building with re gard to LDCs, and this was reflected under several
points in the text.  He said that, for instance, under paragraph 7, reference was made to the onerous
nature, especially from a budgetary point of vi ew, of implementing WTO Agreements, particularly
from the point of view of LDCs.
40. The representative of Zambia requested the Chairman to take into the account the specific
concerns of LDCs by either adding an extra point to the report or expanding on an existing point in
the text.
41. The representative of Djibouti said that the question raised by Zambia said that it would be
useful, in future, to treat the concerns of LDCs separately in order to give them proper emphasis.
42. The representative of Nigeria said his delegation hoped that efforts currently being deployed
to resolve implementation issues would yield concrete results.
43. The representative of Saint Lucia said the report by the Chairman was a balanced account of
the deliberations held in the seminar.  She said that perhaps there should have been a specific topic on
the LDCs in order to highlight their particular perspectives.
44. The representative of Guinea said that said her delegation looked forward to modifications to
the report which took into the account the specific difficulties faced by LDCs.  Her delegation looked
forward to the continuation of work on implementation under the auspices of the General Council.
45. The Chairman reiterated that the report of the meeting had been prepared under his own
responsibility, and that he would reflect on and take into account comment made by members, though
he did not intend to make wholesale modifications based on these comments.  He said that the Report
and comments made by Members would be part of the records of the CTD meeting.WT/COMTD/M/29
Page 6
46. The representative of Senegal said that, given the importance of implementation issues, it
would be necessary to repeat this seminar.  He suggested that workshops be held, targeted to specific
groups of countries.
47. The representative of the United States said that, amongst others,  the discussion conducted in
the seminar by Mr. Finger of the World Bank on the Integrated Framework, along with the
presentation by Mr. Chisanga of Zambia, were focused specifically focused on the concerns of LDCs,
and these could be used as a starting-point in elaborating in the report the concerns of LDCs.
48. The representative of Bolivia said that her delegation regretted the fact that the scheduling of
the seminar had clashed with the holding of the "Social Summit", and she suggested that in scheduling
events, account be taken of major events held outside the ambit of the WTO.
49. The representative of Madagascar said that seminars such as the one held on implementation
should be held for the benefit of experts from capital, in the same way as seminars on dispute
settlement were organised.
50. The Chairman said that cost considerations often posed constraints for the holding of
seminars in Geneva from capitals.  He said that decentralisation to the regional level was one
possibility.
51. The Deputy Director-General, Mr Ablassé Ouedraogo, said that that Members were well
aware of the extent of funding they themselves ha d allocated for technical assistance activities, and
consequently that it was not yet feasible to provide the type of service for national experts along the
line requested by, amongst others, the representative of Madagascar.  He said that it was nevertheless
recognised that the question of implementation was critical, and that, with the support of Members, it
should be possible to organise focused technical assistance activities for targeted groups of Members.
52. The representative of CARICOM said that the implementation of WTO Agreements was a
challenge for CARICOM Members, and the Heads of Governments of CARICOM had mandated the
CARICOM Secretariat to assist CA RICOM countries in this respec t.  CARICOM looked forward to
working with the WTO and other organisations willing to provide assistance in respect of
implementation.  CARICOM looked forward to the continuation of work on implementation, and theholding of further seminar.
D. S
PECIAL AND DIFFERENTIAL TREATMENT FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
53. The Chairman recalled that at its 28th Session, the CTD had discussed the Seminar on Special
and Differential Treatment held on 7 March and the Secretariat paper WT/COMTD/W/66 entitled
"Concerns regarding Special and Differential Treatment Provisions in WTO Agreements and
decisions".  Following those discussions, it had be en agreed that the item relating to special and
differential treatment be kept on the agenda of the CTD, and that the further thought be given on how
to take forward the work on this subject.  The Chairman said he wished to devote the present Session
of the CTD, at least in part, to discussing how this should be done, and noted that a number of
suggestions had already been made by Members.  Some called for a special working mechanism on
special and differential treatment, while a number call ed for more detailed work to be carried out.  It
was important that the CTD recognise that since the 28th Session there had been a number of
developments.  Most notably, a special process on implementation had been established under the
auspices of the General Council.  Since concerns relating to special and differential treatment were an
important part of the implementation question, it was important that the work of the CTD be sensitive
to direction by the General Council, and that it did not prejudge the conclusions that might be reachedthrough the General Council process.  It was also necessary to recognise that the question of specialWT/COMTD/M/29
Page 7
and differential treatment was also being pursued at a very detailed technical level in relation to some
specific agreements in the different subsidiary bodies of the WTO.  The most recent example was the
meeting of the Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures held on 21 and 22 June 2000.  The
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) was due to organise a workshop on 19 and 20 July
2000 on technical assistance and special and differential treatment in the context of the TBTAgreement, and that in this context a questionnaire has been sent out inviting Members to identify any
difficulties encountered in the implementation and operation of the Agreement, as well as any
technical assistance needed.  It was therefore important to ensure that the work done in the CTD was
fully aware of, but did not duplicate, that carried out by other bodies.
54. The Chairman said that, with these points in mind, it was nevertheless necessary to consider
how to take forward the work of the CTD on the subject, as the oversight of the special provisions in
favour of developing countries was central to the terms of reference of this Committee.  He threw outsome pointers to allow the CTD to structure its thinking.  It was important to recall that the distinctive
feature of the CTD was the horizontal nature of its work – this was well reflected in document
WT/COMTD/W/66.  The Chairman suggested the CTD could continue with and update the type of
stock-taking contained in that document, and co llate information on ongoing work on special and
differential treatment in the WTO.  Secondly, the Chairman said that the CTD could make use of thekind of typology of special and differential provisions was set out in document
WT/COMTD/W/66 - which classified special and differential provisions into:  (i) provisions aimed at
increasing trade opportunities;  (ii) provisions that required WTO members to safeguard the interest of
developing country Members;  (iii) flexibility of commitments;  (iv) transitional time periods;
(v) technical assistance, and  (vi) provisions relating to measures to assist LDC members.  He was not,however, suggesting that the CTD either endorse or tie itself rigidly into this typology.  The third
consideration that needed to be borne  in mind in order to guide the CTD's work is that there appeared
to be a near-universal acknowledgement that specia l and differential provisions had not contributed
satisfactorily to the integration of developing countries into international trade.  He said that Members
would all agree that that the provisions relatin g to special and differential treatment, and its
application, needed to be refined so that they were more responsive to the particular problems faced
by Members with respect to international trade and the multilateral trading system.  He noted that one
of the CTD's tasks was to contribute to this process.  With these preliminary comments, the Chairman
opened the floor for suggestions by Members.
55. The representative of India recalled the statement made by his ambassador during the Seminar
on Special and Differential Treatment held in March 2000, which said that special and differential
treatment was one of the major problems faced by developing countries in regard to theimplementation of WTO Agreements, and that the major concern was the non-binding and
non-operational nature of special and differential treatment provisions in WTO Agreements.  His
delegation reiterated that having provisions that were devoid of any operational significance or legal
enforceability was unsatisfactory, creating a false impression that benefits were accruing to
developing countries.  His delegation was of the view that, under the General Council process, specialand differential provisions needed to be given an operational content and be made legally binding.
Recalling that another participant at the Seminar on Special and Differential Treatment had made
comments to the effect that special and differential  treatment constituted an exception to the rules of
the multilateral trading system and that the costs of such an exception needed to be evaluated, the
representative of India recalled that his ambassador had responded by calling for an evaluation of thecosts of exceptions to the multilateral rules of two major areas of export interest to developing
countries, namely agriculture and textiles.  India and other developing countries were desirous to see
that binding and legally enforceable provisions for special and differential treatment were developed
to reduce existing inequities in the multilateral trading system.  The representative of  India referred to
paragraph 38 of document WT/COMTD/W/66, which reflected comments made by Egypt, and which
stated that, "It is obvious from the preceding analysis that a number of special and differential
provisions have not been implemented, others have been partially implemented and a number of themWT/COMTD/M/29
Page 8
have been adequately implemented.  Numerous special and differential provisions are vague and
aspirational in nature and it is the collective responsibility of developed and developing countries
alike to ensure that these provisions are translated into concrete benefits to developing countries."
India supported this statement, though it was of the view that only a very few special and
differential provisions had been adequately implemented.  Finally, his delegation was of the view thatit would be useful to take into account proposals made in the preparatory process for the Seattle
Ministerial Conference and in the special process of the General Council.  In this connection,
reference could be made to paragraph 23 of the note of the 28
th Session of the CTD.
56. The representative of Zambia said his delegation agreed with the statement made by India.
He underlined the importance of Article 66.2 of the TRIPS Agreement regarding the provision of
incentives by developed countries to institutions and enterprises on their territory for the purposes of
technology transfer to least developed countries.  He said that his delegation would expand on thisissue under agenda Item K (as well as in the TRIPS Council).
57. The representative of Pakistan said that special and differential treatment was one of the
crucial aspects of the Uruguay Round Agreements, and that these provisions had been introduced for
a variety of reasons.  The prime reason was to provide developing countries with the opportunities to
be on par with developed countries in terms of aspirations to development.  He said that Pakistan,along with other Members, was convinced that the provisions for special and differential treatment
contained in the Uruguay round had not been operative.  The formulation of these provisions in a
vague and ill-defined manner, largely in best-endeavour terms, had led to the problems now facing
developing countries.  The onerous nature of commitments undertaken by developing countries
through the Uruguay Round Agreement was recognised, partially at least, at the time of concluding
the agreements.  The commitments were nevertheless undertaken in the belief that special and
differential treatment would be provided, but unfor tunately none of the provisions for special and
differential treatment had been made operational.  He said that the seminar held in March to discuss
special and differential treatment had been useful.  He echoed the Chairman in saying that, as work
had begun on the question of Special and Differential Treatment in the context of the GeneralCouncil, it was important to ensure that work undertaken in the CTD was not duplicative.  He said
that the CTD should focus on refining and redefining special and differential treatment to ensure that
such treatment was made mandatory and binding.
58. The Chairman proposed that the information contained in WT/COMTD/W/66 be built upon
by collating information regarding the implementation of special and differential treatment provisions.
The Secretariat was requested to continue with it s work on special and differential treatment, which
was to involve an analytical component in respect of WTO Agreements, as well as a factualdescription of what was taking place in terms of the work undertaken by Members.
59. The representative of the United States sought clarification regarding the Chairman's
instructions to the Secretariat.  It had been her understanding that the Secretariat would present a
factual paper compiling the views of Members.  If the Secretariat was being requested to prepare an
analytical paper, her delegation would have to await further instructions before it was in a position to
agree.  She added that the question of special and differential treatment would be dealt with in the
General Council, and that any proposals to change the nature of special and differential treatment
would be a negotiating issue to be taken up by Members.
60. The representative of Sri Lanka echoed the sentiments expressed by Pakistan, saying that the
concept of special and differential treatment was in need of refinement.  It was necessary to make
provisions binding.  She said that there was no need to develop new rules as Part IV of the GATT
already contained provisions, such as Article XXXVIII, where joint actions to be taken by Members
were set out.  Article XXXVIII gave a mandate to the Secretariat to undertake an analytical study, andWT/COMTD/M/29
Page 9
spelled out the type of analysis that needed to be  undertaken.  The Secretariat's work needed to come
up with clear recommendations.
61. The representative of the European Communities said it was not the understanding of his
delegation that the Secretariat's work on special and differential treatment was to contain any
recommendation.  The purpose of the work was to update and look for new information, and perhapsto structure the document to categorise the various thoughts contained in the document.
62. The representative of the United States said that her delegation was interested in seeing
provisions for special and differential treatment beco me more operational.  With respect to modifying
provisions, which would require modifications to agreements, the presentation of suggestions made
by Members would be useful, but suggestions or recommendations made by the Secretariat on the
basis of these would be problematic.
63. The representative of Sri Lanka quoted from Article XXXVIII which stated that "[the
Contracting Parties] shall keep under continuous re view the development of world trade with special
reference to the rate of growth of the trade of less-developed contracting parties and make such
recommendations to contracting parties as may, in the circumstances, be deemed appropriate]."  She
said it was in view of this reference to joint ac tion that the Secretariat was requested to undertake
analytical work on special and differential treatment.
64. The representative of the United States drew attention to the fact that it was for Members to
decide and to make recommendations, not the Secretariat.  Her delegation did have a desire to
examine where provisions for Special and Differential Treatment could be made more operational.  At
the same time, her delegation did not wish the Secretariat to take on a role that belonged to Members.
65. The Chairman said that it was the role of Me mbers to engage in negotiations and to change
provisions as needed, and the Secretariat was relied upon to provide factual and updated information
which Members could use.  He said that the intention was that the Secretariat would update the
document WT/COMTD/W/66 and provide further information.  He said that analysis did not
necessarily involve recommendations, and could rather involve the structuring of information and the
development of typologies.
66. The United States said that the Chairman's clarification was helpful, and that her delegation
was agreeable to the proposal put forward by the Chairman.
67. The Chairman proposed that for the 30th Session of the CTD, the Secretariat should provide
an update to document WT/COMTD/W/66, containing factual information reflecting on a horizontal
basis discussions being held in WTO bodies at this time, and any other information that may have
become available.  This update could then provid e a basis from which Member could draw their own
conclusions, and seek further analytical work to assist them.  The Chairman recalled that thequestionnaire on which document WT/COMTD/W/66 was partly based still existed, and although
responses had been disappointing, Members were free and encouraged to reply to questionnaires to
facilitate the further development of the document.
68. It was so agreed.
E. INTERNATIONAL TRADE CENTRE (ITC):  R EPORT OF THE JOINT ADVISORY GROUP (JAG) AT
ITS 33RD SESSION
69. The Chairman said that Ambassador Seifert (Bolivia) , Chairperson of the Joint Advisory
Group (JAG) of the International Trade Center (ITC), would make a presentation on the AnnualWT/COMTD/M/29
Page 10
Report of the JAG on the ITC, to be followed by a presentation by Mr. Bélisle, the Executive Director
of the ITC.
70. The Chairperson of the JAG said that the Joint Advisory Group on the ITC had held its
33rd Session in Geneva from 10 to 14 April 2000.  Its report was contained in
document ITC/AG(XXXIII)/181.  The terms of reference of the JAG were to review the activities ofthe ITC and to formulate recommendations to the governing bodies of UNCTAD and the WTO.  The
Group had examined the following matters during its session:  ITC's technical cooperation activities
in 1999, based on its annual report; the report of the Consultative Committee on the ITC Global Trust
Fund; the evaluation of ITC's trade information programme, a new ITC strategy for trade information
services; and the report of the 1999 ITC technical meeting.  The JAG had also taken note of ITC's
contribution to the Medium Term Plan of the United Nations for the period 2002-2005.  During the
opening session, the Deputy Director General of  WTO and the Officer-in-Charge of UNCTAD had
praised the crucial role that the Executive Director of the ITC had played in developing and
strengthening the ITC.  The three organizations had cooperated within the framework of JITAP (Joint
Integrated Technical Assistance Programme in Selected Least-Developed and Other African
Countries) and were also joining forces in electro nic commerce, an area of vital importance for the
participation of developing countries in international trade.  In his statement to the Group, Mr. Bélislehad given examples of ITC's contribution to capacity-building for trade development, which was the
organization's overriding objective.  The ITC had already been involved in multi-country
capacity-building programmes such as JITAP and could build sustainable capacities cost-effectively
in a large number of countries through global programmes like the World Trade Net.  During the
review of ITC's technical cooperation activities in 1999, the JAG had noted that ITC's forward-looking orientation in technical assistance products and services had positioned it well to respond to
the rising needs and expectations of partner countries.  The JAG had adopted the Report of the
Committee on the Global Trust Fund as well as the new strategy for Trade Information Services and
had taken note of ITC's contribution to the Medi um Term Plan of the United Nations for the
period 2002-2005.  As was practice each year, government representatives had announced orconfirmed voluntary contributions to the ITC.  On behalf of the JAG, she expressed gratitude to the
Governments of Canada, Cyprus, Ch ina, Denmark, France, India, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway,
Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey as well as the Islamic Development Bank and the Agence
Intergouvernementale de la Francophonie.
71. The representative of the United States expressed her delegation's appreciation for the report
of the Chairperson of the last session of JAG, parts of which her delegation had attended.  She wished
to congratulate Mr. Bélisle for the great work accomplished and applauded the new initiatives beingtargeted particularly in the area of electronic commerce, which was one of the tools for helping
developing countries leap-frog using new technological opportunities.
72. The Executive Director of the ITC congratulated the Chairman for his election to chair the
important Committee on Trade and Development and thanked him for the time and opportunity given
to them to share with the Committee some of the work done by ITC to support that of the WTO in thetechnical assistance field.  His impression was that it was not known to all precisely how the ITC tried
to complement the efforts of the WTO.  Given that the Committee was discussing technical
cooperation from various angles that day, it was especially opportune to be able to elaborate on ITC's
work following Ambassador Seifert's presentation.  First, the best of ITC's efforts were targeted
towards exporting small and medium-size enterprise s (SMEs), particularly from LDCs.  Second, all of
ITC's work relating to the WTO was done in very close collaboration and friendship with the WTO
Secretariat.  He asked Mr. Badrinath, the Director  of the Trade Support Services Division at ITC, to
give a brief overview of what was being done to support WTO's efforts in technical assistance and
elaborate on one specific tool to give the Committee an example of what it meant in everyday work.WT/COMTD/M/29
Page 11
73. A representative of the ITC said that ITC's work on technical cooperation complemented that
of the WTO in three different areas: policy and rule-making work, normative and research work, and
technical assistance activities.  The focus of ITC's technical cooperation was the business community
and business support institutions, particularly SMEs in developing and transition economies,  with
special attention paid to those in LDCs.  All activities were carried out in close consultation with theWTO's Technical Cooperation Division and other substantive divisions, be they field-based programs
or preparation of business-guides or training a nd technical materials.  ITC's value-added was its
experience of over 35 years in providing technical assistance, its institutional competence, tools,
techniques and skills for delivery as well as its combination of approaches which had been developed
over the years.  Broadly, the approach of the ITC involved needs assessments, using a mixture of
global, regional, and country projects, concentrating on national capacity building, promoting
partnerships and network building in the field, and making the fullest use of advanced technologiesfor delivering technical cooperation.  In the area of the multilateral trading system, the programmes
had three major objectives: improving the trade performance of the business sector, especially the
SMEs; building national capacity so that the business community could benefit from the multilateral
trading system; concentrating on enterprises, associations, Chambers of Commerce, the legal
community; and facilitating and enriching the dialogue between the public and private sectors so as toincorporate effectively the views of the busine ss community in shaping the multilateral trading
system.  ITC would present to the CTD more detail on some features of the World Trade Net, an
important programme of ITC.  Members were welcome to visit them at the ITC or virtually on the
web-site to obtain more information.  The World Trade Net was only one example of an entire range
of activities covered by ITC's various programmes, including the Integrated Framework and JITAP,where the WTO was a joint-implementer.  ITC had a large number of country programmes as well as
sector and function specific programmes, covering areas such as services, SPS, TBT, public
procurement, apparels, textiles and clothing among others.  The genesis of the World Trade Net
programme had been the 1996-1999 Uruguay Round Follow-up Programme, which had been centered
around a Business Guide to the Uruguay Round.  The Guide was an easy to read publication,published in English, French, and Spanish, explaining the Uruguay Round Agreements.  Some
countries had also taken the initiative to translate it into other languages.  The Guide had been
disseminated through 160 seminars in over 70 countries.  The rich experience gained, thanks to
feedback and questions from the business community and government counterparts, had paved the
way for the ITC to plan and prepare for the World Trade Net Programme.  Broadly, the output of the
programme was easy-to-read business guides: the new Business Guide to the World Trading System,
copies of which were available outside the meeting room, and the Business Guide to the GATS.  Italso included training materials, including for training the trainers.  A web-site and web-based
services had been developed, which would be the focus of a more detailed presentation that day.  All
material of the World Trade Net, most of which was available in English, French and Spanish, was
accessible for all members of the ITC, whether they were Members of the WTO or not.  At the
moment, the web-site was only in English, but the French and Spanish versions would be ready by theend of the year.  In addition, there were some full  members of the World Trade Net, which were the
motivated and committed partners receiving additional assistance in the field under the programme.
At present, 15 countries were full members and 12 were waiting to be incorporated into the
programme.  Other countries would be considered for full membership in a phased manner.
74. Following the general introduction, a second representative of the ITC said that she would
take the Members on a guided tour through the more practical aspects of their work.  The World
Trade Net provided information, training and advice to the business community on the whole range of
WTO related issues and aimed to facilitate the integration of business sector views into national trade
negotiation strategies.  Their main partners in the different networks were business associations.
While the composition of network partners differed in every country, they included WTO focal pointsin different ministries, trade promotion officials, academia, consultants, lawyers, business trainers.
WTO Reference Centers and regional institutions were  also partners in the networks.  All interested
players were invited to join the network and were encouraged to interact, exchange information, andWT/COMTD/M/29
Page 12
cooperate among themselves.  The basic condition for a country to participate in the World Trade Net
was simply the active interest expressed by the public and the private sectors in that country.
Considerations for extending the network included the potential for synergy affects with other ITC
activities and with activities by other donors as well as the intention to create a geographically diverse
network with member countries at different levels of development.  The training and referencematerials provided to all ITC members comprised practical training packs, business cases written by
members based on their experiences and concerns in trying to adjust their business strategies to the
changes in the multilateral trading system.  ITC prov ided a service answering questions related to the
changes concerning business operations emanating from the multilateral trading system.  Last but not
least, the web-site of the programme was an additional tool, not replacing the other tools, but helping
to create another channel of better communication and access to information by network members.
Using a power-point presentation, the representative of the ITC demonstrated the various features ofthe web-site.  The web-site had been utilised to provide information about video-conferences, which
had provided opportunities for network partners to comment on and update their knowledge about the
on-going negotiations on the GATS and discuss developments in their respective countries.  The
up-coming video conference on the GATS and the export of services was organized in cooperation
with the World Bank Distance Learning System and would be hosted in Bangkok, Thailand, withparticipation from Malaysia, Philippines and experts from Switzerland.  Another one had already been
hosted out of Sri Lanka with participation from Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh.  The "what's new"
section of the web-site included a newsletter on developments in the WTO and was sent monthly to
about 400 e-mail addresses.  Overviews of the Busine ss Guides were also available on the web-site,
including a section on most frequently asked questions, which had been compiled during seminarswith business representatives.  The most important part of the web-site was the information about the
networks and member countries, which allowed partners from different networks to interact, exchange
information, and cooperate.  The core of the World Trade Net Programme was the action plans and
activities implemented by its members through the networks.  ITC helped with those activities
through kick-off meetings and joint-planning.  The World Trade Net was neither a web-site, nor meresupport from Geneva, but was the accomplishment of network members.
75. The Executive Director of the ITC thanked the Members for their attention to the presentation
and suggested that they take a look at the web-site and visit them at ITC.  There were more aspects to
the programme than the ones presented during the session.
76. The representative of Mexico thanked the ITC, particularly Mr Bélisle and his team for the
advanced programmes they were developing, particularly by using electronic media.  In
November 1999 his delegation had suggested that ITC use video conferencing and had been told atthe time that there were obstacles, which seemed to have been resolved in the meantime.  His
delegation welcomed the use of video conferencing, which would support the technical cooperation
work of the ITC, complementing the work of the WTO and UNCTAD.  He hoped that ITC's work in
the area of technical cooperation would be discussed further during the forthcoming Days of
Reflection on technical cooperation.
77. The Executive Director of the ITC  said that video conferencing had seemed difficult to
arrange at the time the Mexican delegation had suggested it; however, since then ITC had made an
arrangement with the World Bank Institute whereby ITC used their infrastructure at no cost and paid
only for the telephone connection.  The first conference, which had lasted almost two hours, had
cost US$459.
78. The representative of Zambia said that the LDCs were benefiting most from ITC activities.
His delegation had always commended the role of the ITC especially in capacity building for trade
focusing on enterprises.  They applauded the work of Mr. Bélisle and his team on special programs
for LDCs such as JITAP.  While the WTO focused on rule-making and implementation, ITC had a
complementary role, coaching enterprises in producing the right products, taking them to the rightWT/COMTD/M/29
Page 13
market, and helping them to integrate multilateral rules into their work.  His delegation urged the ITC
to continue its good work on linking multilateral rules with elements of capacity building.  However,
without increased financial support ITC would not be able to sustain its operations.  He therefore
thanked all donors supporting ITC and asked those with the means to join them.
79. The representative of the European Communities asked how resource intensive setting up the
World Trade Net had been.  There were at that moment 15 members and many more would be
interested in joining.
80. The Executive Director of the ITC replied that designing and developing the content had been
the most labour-intensive aspect and had taken three years, beginning with the Uruguay Round
Follow-up Programme in 1996.  At present, it occupied the time of about one person and a half of the
time of another, along with occasional consultancy contracts, for developing the materials and
refining and updating them regularly.  The massive investment at the beginning had been paid forthrough the Global Trust Fund.
81. The representative of Djibouti said that he ha d been working directly with the co-ordinators
of six agencies in the preparation of a round table in Djibouti in the context of the Integrated
Framework.  He thanked Mr. Bélisle for the good collaboration of the ITC and the Agence
Francophonie de la Cooperation for the financing of the preparations.  As some other delegations hadstated, it was important to review and ensure the financing of the ITC.
82. The Chairman thanked Ambassador Seifert as well as Mr. Bélisle and his team for their
presentations.  It was reassuring to find out that such excellent work was being undertaken in support
of concerns and interests of developing countries, especially of LDC with respect to improving trade
performance and building national capacity.
F. PARTICIPATION OF DEVELOPING COUNTRIES IN WORLD TRADE
83. The Chairman recalled that Item F had been on the agenda of the 28th Session of the CTD, but
a number of Members had indicated that they w ould also like to revert to the matter at the
29th Session.  He also recalled that  a Note by th e Secretariat on the Participation of Developing
Countries in World Trade (WT/COMTD/W/65) had b een prepared and circulated to members.  He
opened the floor for further discussions on this issue.
84. The representative of Bolivia said that the document WT/COMTD/W/65 called for a serious
reflection by Members regarding the multilateral trading system they had created, and on the
responsibilities which lay with different Members.   For the small and vulnerable economies, whose
exports were dominated by raw materials and agricultural products, the slow – or absence of –
liberalisation in the agricultural sector and the textiles and clothing sectors had retarded thedevelopment of these sectors.  Slow reforms in areas of export interest to small and vulnerable
economies meant that there persisted tariff structures which acted as a disincentive impeding a better
diversification of products.  She said that the ultimate results of fluctuations in trade shares or the lack
of market access were opportunities lost forever; lives cut short; underprivileged children, and
excessive urbanisation.  She said that  said that these considerations seriously affected rural and urbanenvironments, and made it difficult to do anything about enhancing the welfare of animals, since it
was difficult to explain to the populace why the welfare of animals should be given consideration
before its own.  She said that Bolivia had adopted structural adjustment programmes and trade
liberalisation policies, and had made many sacrifices, in order to generate much-needed growth.
However, Bolivia had not received as a counterpart to its efforts, the opening of markets which wouldhave lead to an increase in exports, and had indeed experienced chronic balance of payment deficits,
making policy openness unsustainable, and politically unacceptable to the population.  She said that inWT/COMTD/M/29
Page 14
this era of globalisation, it was necessary that each player assume his responsibilities.  She asked how
one could justify the resistance to change and opening up of access opportunities in favour of those
economies that most needed such opportunities, which, if seized, could enable small and vulnerable
economies to move out of their present condition.  It was necessary to ensure that small and
vulnerable economies received sufficient export revenues, in order for them to sustain their reforms.
85. The Chairman said that the trends in the trade of developing countries were evolving, and
added that the CTD certainly needed to come back to this topic at a later date.  He said that some time
needed to pass before there was information on the trends the CTD had been discussing.  It would be
useful to come back to this in the middle of next year when Members could can have a meaningful
update of the Secretariat paper.  Of course, if there were to be any important rapid developments, the
option was also open to revert to the issue earlier.  It was proposed that the next update of the paper
could be planned for sometime in 2001.
86. It was so agreed.
G. TECHNICAL COOPERATION
(i) Report on Technical Cooperation 1999 (WT/COMTD/W/70)
87. The Director of the Technical Cooperation Division, Mr. Léger, indicated that in 1999 the
WTO carried out some 382 technical assistance activities, representing a 24 per cent increase over
1998.  In 1999, such activities took place in 127 countries of which 100 were WTO Members,
20 countries and territories negotiating their accession to WTO, and seven were countries expressing
an interest in joining WTO.  The activities conducted in 1999 respected the guidelines for WTOtechnical cooperation issued by the CTD in October 1996, that is to say, the Secretariat followed a
demand-driven-approach, ensured as much as possible a geographical balance among the different
regions of the world, and also gave a priority to LDCs.  However, regarding the number of activities
identified as part of the three-year plan for the year 1999, only 52 per cent were actually carried out
(79 missions).  These in turn represented only 21 per cent of the total technical cooperation activitiescarried out in 1999.  If the activities planned for 1998 that were in fact carried out in 1999 were
added, the percentage increased from 21 to 30 per cent.  Therefore, 70 per cent of all technical
assistance activities carried out by the WTO  in 1999 were not identified in the three-year plan.
Concerning activities undertaken by WTO together with other international organizations, 41 per cent
were fully organized by the WTO;  an additional 23 per cent were organized jointly with another
international organization;  and invitations for WTO to conferences, seminars and workshops
represented 36 per cent of activities conducted in 1999.
88. Mr. Léger noted that, in 1999, the largest number of activities took place in Africa with 106;
the largest percentage increase, however, was in Latin America and the Caribbean, where
100 activities were undertaken.  This was due in large part to WTO's collaboration with the Institute
for the Integration of Latin America and the Caribbean, the training arm of the Inter-American
Development Bank, and cooperation with the Organi zation of American States.  Regarding mode of
supply in 1999, WTO undertook more national seminars than regional seminars, indicating a tendency
for subjects presented to be more narrowly focused.  There was a sharp drop in regional seminars,
from 71 to 51, and a sharp increase in symposia, workshops and training courses, from 106 in 1998 to
173 in 1999, again underlining the trend towards more specialized activities.  Finally, in 1999 there
was an increase in both general-type seminars and more focused technical missions, although the rateof increase was larger for more specialized types of missions.
89. Mr. Léger referred to Annex 2 of the report identifying the activities held under the Integrated
Framework and under JITAP, a joint programme with UNCTAD and ITC.  In 1999, 67 missions wereWT/COMTD/M/29
Page 15
related to these two programmes.  Regarding budgetary aspects, he noted that voluntary
extra-budgetary contributions accounted for more than 90 per cent of funding, and stressed that this
heavy dependence on voluntary contributions made it difficult to plan technical assistance.  Thus
increasing the regular budget for technical assistance remained a major priority.  He also noted the
shortage of human resources for technical assistance.  This, he said, was a very urgent problem inview of the fact that more requests were being received from developing countries to assist them in
the negotiations on agriculture and services.  Finally, he said, one element that should not be forgotten
was the process of continuous renewal of developing countries' administrations, with a steady stream
of new government officials requiring training on WTO Agreements.
90. Referring to the budget, Mr. Léger noted that money spent so far in 1999 (i.e. up to July)
amounted to SwF6.05 million against projected expe nditures of SwF10 million for the whole year.  A
large number of activities could not be carried out because of a shortfall in financing;  humanresources were also stretched to the limit.  He recalled that five years ago the WTO conducted
79 missions, compared to 382 last year;  the increase in human resources that the organization had
received over the years for technical cooperation, not only in the Technical Cooperation Division, but
in all divisions, was not commensurate with the increase in the number of activities.
91. The representative of Egypt noted with approval a certain tendency to holding more national
than regional seminars and more specialized ones rather than those of a general nature.  Coupled with
this issue was the relationship with the limited financial and human resources of the Secretariat.
Some requests submitted to the Technical Cooperation Division for holding national seminars or
specialized training courses were still pending, possibly due to lack of human or financial resources;
while others were being addressed through regional or general seminars.  The representative haddoubt that regional or general seminars were very important and of very considerable benefit to some
countries, but such seminars should take place among "harmonized" countries in terms of their levels
of economic development, so that the exchange of views could be beneficial to all.  Finally, the
representative stressed that technical assistance was an educational process that should be done
through the means identified by the requesting country, which was in the best position to know itsneeds.
92. The representative of Switzerland first referred to the report's conclusion, once again, the
financing basis for technical assistance was insufficient and not stable enough, due to the fact that no
solution had yet been found with regard to using funds from the regular budget.  Switzerland regretted
this situation, believing firmly that strong support for technical assistance in the regular budget was
necessary and for that reason it should be increased.
93. Commenting on the report presented by Mr. Léger, he reported a criticism made previously
that it was too much geared to a purely quantitative presentation.  The value of this information may
be interesting for statistics, but was of limited use for determining the value of technical assistance
and for deciding future policy on technical assistance.  On the other hand, he would have expected to
find some indication in the report of the money sp ent while executing individual activities, i.e. some
indication on where, in what areas, and on what activities the SwF6.05 million francs mentioned hadbeen spent.
94. Turning to planning, he noted that 70 per cent of all activities carried out in the previous year
did not have a reference in the three-year plan.  On the one hand, this was a clear sign that the
three-year plan, as a potentially useful working and planning instrument, was not yet where it should
be.  On the other hand, Members as demandeurs  should take much of the blame because the WTO
Secretariat was not necessarily in the position to reje ct ad hoc requests.  In that context, he wondered
whether the term "demand-driven" was not confused with the term "ad hoc".  He was not convinced
that it should be "understandable" that "countries often cannot anticipate a specific need long in
advance".  This might have been understandable in the first couple of years after the WTO came intoWT/COMTD/M/29
Page 16
being;  however, now it should be possible for Members to estimate their needs in advance and to
organize technical assistance in a longer perspective.  He suggested that the Secretariat could also do
more against this "ad hocism", through a well-designed technical assistance programme with a longer
and sustainable perspective.  This would assure that assistance teams were not constantly called into
countries on an ad hoc basis.  By designing longer-term technical assistance programmes it wouldeasier to reject ad hoc calls;  in addition, such  long-term programmes would certainly also yield
longer lasting benefits than just ad hoc interventions.
95. The representative of the European Communities first announced that the Kingdom of
Sweden had decided to give additional funding this year to the Global Trust Fund of SwF1.3 million
or Skr7 million.  He thanked the Secretariat for the report, which gave a good overview of what was
being done in the field of technical assistance.  Positive aspects were that the call for greater regional
cooperation and for outsourcing of activities seemed to have been heard, at least through involvingmore organizations - although he noted in passing the WCO was not mentioned while WIPO and
other regional organizations received attention.  He encouraged the Secretariat to pursue this
particular avenue as far as possible. Building on a question raised by Switzerland, he said that it was
not a very good basis for a discussion with donor agencies to say that "the number of activities has
increased by 24 per cent".  Some of these activities might be very short, involving one official, whileothers may be very long involving several officials.   It would be better to argue how human resources
needs have risen, or how needs have been diminished by using outsourcing.  He also asked why
countries could not foresee their needs in advance, and why there was so much "ad hocism".  If 48 per
cent of planned activities could not take place, so mething was wrong.  A more structured approach to
technical assistance should be taken.  Thirdly, he noted that the training packages developed by WTOshould play a bigger role.  Fuller use should be made of these and even more could be done.  Lastly,
regarding the funding and human resources, he asked whether activities that had not been carried out
because of lack of funding could have been done if the money had been there, in other words, there
were adequate human resources?
96. The representative of India said that his Gove rnment had participated in several activities
organized by WTO or with other organizations.  He felt that much more could be done in the field;
the main problem was lack of manpower and funding to cope with the increased demand.  If technical
cooperation was to be effective, it should go bey ond the present endeavour to organize workshops to
explain the provisions of the agreements, and instead focus on the exchange of technology and
scientific know-how to help developing countries better access the global markets and integrate
themselves into the world economic order. He agreed with the parts of the report on Agriculture, SPS,
and Services.  For TBT he agreed that technical cooperation seminars should focus on assistingdeveloping countries in meeting the requirements of standards, technical regulations and conformity
assessment procedures in their main export market s.  He also emphasized the need for help for
developing countries to develop their human and inst itutional resources;  and finally, he stated that
support to regional coordination and cooperation in assistance to small and medium-size enterprises in
developing countries  to benefit fully from the WTO system were also necessary.
97. The representative of Japan thanked the Secretariat for the two excellent reports on technical
assistance activities and on evaluation.  She would comment once full remarks were received from the
Capital.  Japan considered that developing countr ies fully recognized and were convinced that they
can benefit from the multilateral trading system.  Japan supported technical assistance to help the
developing countries integrate better into the multilateral trading system and acknowledged theimportance for WTO to coordinate its work with the bilateral donor countries and other international
organizations that provide technical assistance in the field of trade, in particular World Bank,
UNCTAD and ITC, to make it more efficient and effective.
98. The representative of United States welcomed the improved organization and format of the
reports and emphasized that the evaluation of the effectiveness of technical cooperation activitiesWT/COMTD/M/29
Page 17
would be an important complement to the discussi on of the reports.  She emphasized the importance
of coordination in technical assistance; recognizing that there could be some difficulty in internal
coordination at the national level in countries receiving assistance, she also sought more information
about coordination within the WTO Secretariat, particularly since a number of Divisions are involved;
in particular, how technical cooperation was coordinated and whether there was a specific strategy foravoiding overlap and duplication of internal activities.  She also reiterated the importance of
coordination with other organizations.  Noting that  ITC had maximized outsourcing possibilities, she
sought a better strategy for dealing with WTO's technical assistance.  The United States had made
suggestions in the Sub-Committee for Least-Developed Countries and the General Council in respect
to improvements in technical cooperation and on the Integrated Framework.  Her delegation would
look very carefully at the review taking place and would comment on that, as it would be very
significant for future technical cooperation activities .  She also recognized the need also to be more
informative about the bilateral technical assistance the United States and other donors were providing,
and hoped that a better picture of the effective use of technical cooperation would emerge.
99. The representative of Norway expressed his delegation's agreement to seeking an evaluation
of technical cooperation.  However, a thorough consideration by the CTD would have been facilitated
if all the reports had been available well in advance of the meeting.  As a general comment, he statedthat it would have been useful if the report had included an explicit reference to the strategy behind
WTO's technical assistance activities, with objectives and priorities clearly stated.  With this, the CTD
would have been better able to undertake a compre hensive review of the 1999 report and to consider
the different elements to which reference was made in the report.
100. He also stated that WTO's comparative advantage in technical assistance was its detailed
knowledge of the different Agreements and provisions of the multilateral trading system. However, he
also appreciated that WTO recognized the need to  work with the other relevant organizations and
bilateral donors to integrate trade-related technical assistance in general development projects and
programmes.  In the introduction of the 1999 report, reference was made to the two questionnaires for
evaluation and to the production of an evaluation report.  This gave the impression that one intendedto integrate a summary of different technical cooperation activities with an evaluation of results
obtained.  Norway would have welcomed this approach and requested the Secretariat to ensure that
next time similar information was prepared for the CTD.  He noted with interest that, in the section on
Services, certain comments on the utility of different types of technical assistance had been included.
He agreed that it was necessary to secure regular and stable access to financial resources for
Secretariat activities;  in Norway's opinion, the best  way to achieve this would be to make technical
cooperation activities part of the regular budget of the WTO.  This would not exclude voluntarycontributions, but would relieve the reliance on ad hoc financing.  In addition to the regular budget
and voluntary contributions, outsourcing of activities was a possibility.  He sought an update on
Memoranda of Understandings (MOUs) that had been signed with other bodies.
101. The representative of Norway said that he was struck by the relatively low share of technical
assistance activities covered by the Three-Year Plan.  The high proportion of activities of an ad hocnature complicated planning.  To the extent possible, requests for technical assistance should be made
well in advance.  Norway agreed that technical assistance should be demand-driven, but also believed
that the Secretariat should seek to apply a more pro-active policy by informing potential beneficiaries
of the existence, objectives and modes of delivery of its technical cooperation activities.  It was
important that these activities should be seen in a comprehensive context by beneficiaries, and notundertaken in isolation from other capacity building efforts of a more general developmental nature.
102. The representative of Zambia shared expressed concerns about financial constraints and
appealed to donors to expand the regular budget.  He noted that, in the Seminar on Implementation,
his delegation had highlighted several problems regarding the implementation of the TRIPS
agreement.  If these were to be solved, contributions should be enhanced to expand activities and staffWT/COMTD/M/29
Page 18
involved.  He felt that technical assistance should come closer to capacity-building particularly
through Article IV of GATS and Articles 9 and 10 of the SPS Agreement.  This could also be a basis
for greater confidence-building.
103. The representative of Kenya noted that most technical activities concerning Kenya had been
undertaken through JITAP.  It is not by coincidence that the only activity outside this framework was
funded by the Swedish Trust Fund, and Kenya appreci ated this extra-budgetary contribution.  Even if
the WTO were to get the SwF10 million that it had been seeking before Seattle, there would still have
been an element for extra-budgetary resources.  He wondered what was the problem in trying to add
the modest sum of SwF10 million for the regular budget.
104. The observer from CARICOM expressed her appreciation for the help given through the
Reference Centre at the CARICOM Secretariat.  She noted that all regions had seen an increase of
activities in 1999.  It would have been useful if there could have been some more detailed informationfor the Caribbean, as in the case of Asia and Pacific, on where some of the seminars and workshops
had been held.  She noted the importance of holding separate activities in the two sub-regions of the
Caribbean on a linguistic basis.  The CARICOM Secretariat was happy to work with the WTO
Secretariat to organized workshops/seminars etc. in the region.  She noted the importance for small
countries being exposed to information and knowledge on the WTO Agreements.
105. The representative of Senegal said that the importance of technical assistance had been
demonstrated as a very important activity of WTO.  He noted the scope of activities directed towards
Africa.  However, this also showed a lack in  technical cooperation activities, because African
countries were the least integrated in the multilateral trading system.  He hoped that the report would
help in carrying out an exhaustive examination to reorient technical assistance to be more centered onimplementation, so that all elements in connection with the different Agreements concerning special
and differential treatment became compulsory.  Precise indicators should be provided to show the
progress achieved by developing countries in their integration into the multilateral trading system.
106. The representative of Djibouti said that his Government had taken good advantage of
technical assistance at the national and regional levels.  He proposed that a follow-up system to
reports should be established so that donors and beneficiaries could judge the results of technical
assistance on the basis of these reports.
107. Mr. Léger took note that some Members felt that the report was too quantitative in nature and
not enough in terms of quality of activities c onducted.  A decision had been taken a few months
earlier to separate the Evaluation Report (WT/COMTD/W/72) from the Annual Report
(WT/COMTDW/70),  The evaluation report was based on two questionnaires discussed in 1999 in the
CTD, and follow-ups with numerous countries.  Mr. H. Aboutahir of the Technical CooperationDivision (TCD) would present the interim evaluation report.  Additional information on individual
missions by mode of delivery and subject matter, and money spent, was available in the Secretariat
database and could be provided.  The Secretariat could also provide tables on person-month inputs for
each mission and how much of this was outsourcing.  Concerning internal coordination, he stated that
each request received for a technical assistance mission went through the TCD.  No request wassigned until the cost associated with the mission had been identified  and the necessary funding
provided.  Information was gathered on the destination, names of the official(s), the number of days
and the objective of the mission.  This information, available in the database in TCD, was updated on
a daily basis.  He took note that the Committee wished to see in 2001, before reviewing the activities
for 2000, the Secretariat's specific strategy, objectives and priorities so that Members could compare
these against the results.  Regarding outsourcing, he noted that the WTO was negotiating a number of
MOUs with other organizations, including UN regional commissions.  MOUs with the ECA,
ESCWA, ESCAP, and others, had as their objective to assist WTO in organizing regional seminars
whereby the regional bodies would undertake responsibility for logistics and administrative matters.WT/COMTD/M/29
Page 19
The WTO would in future extend cooperation with these organizations from the point of view of
assisting in delivering some of the presentation materials and with the more general types of
presentations.
(ii) Interim Evaluation Report on WTO Technical Cooperation Activities
(WT/COMTD/W/72)
(iii) The Framework for Monitoring and Evaluating the WTO Technical Cooperation
Activities (WT/COMTD/W/73
(iv) Manual for WTO Secretariat Staff dealing with Technical Cooperation Activities
(WT/COMTD/W/74)
108. Introducing documents WT/COMTDW/72, W/73 and W/74, Mr. Aboutahir said that
WT/COMTD/W73, in proposing a framework for evaluation of WTO technical assistance, put
forward an approach and tool which the WTO Secretariat could use to assist and support theCommittee in its evaluation and monitoring activities.  The objectives of monitoring and evaluation
were threefold:  first, to evaluate the performance of technical assistance activities;  second, to
contribute to improving the content and format of technical assistance;  and, third, to optimize the use
of resources.  The scope of the evaluation proposed by the framework related to:  (i) individual
activities, evaluated through questionnaires circulated to participants at the end of each event;(ii) regional projects and programmes in which WTO participated actively;  (iii) specific  topics, such
as notifications or customs valuation, to evaluate for each subject the relevance of technical
cooperation activities;  and (iv) activities as a whole, where technical assistance could be assessed
through their impact by region and by subject.  The scope of monitoring and evaluation had three
dimensions:  the relevance  of the activities, namely, whether or not they met the needs of
beneficiaries and how WTO used its comparative advantage vis-à-vis other organizations;
performance , particularly the effectiveness and efficiency of activities (reaching the best possible
result with the least possible cost)  and impact  on beneficiaries, measured by indicators which should
be identified in the planning phase.  Mr. Aboutahi r stated that the framework presented had suggested
a number of concrete indicators relating to WTO's technical assistance activities.  To give structureand analysis to this framework, it was proposed to use a matrix, as shown in the document.  He
emphasized that the process would only be successful when the direct beneficiaries of technical
assistance as well as the donors are involved.
109. Document WT/COMTD/W/74, the Manual for Technical Cooperation, was a tool that could
be used in the first stage in the process of monitoring and evaluation.  The objective was to contribute
to developing an evaluation culture in the Secretariat.  Page 19 of the document contained a number
of indicators directly connected to technical assistance objectives.  The list was not exhaustive butwas a set of examples, giving an indicative list of possible indicators, which could be elaborated in
collaboration with beneficiaries.
110. Lastly, Mr. Aboutahir presented the interim evaluation report (WT/COMTD/W/72).  This
kind of interim evaluation of technical assistance wa s a first attempt.  It should be further developed
and improved following Members' suggestions at the meeting and through contacts withrepresentatives of beneficiary countries in Geneva and in the capitals.  The aim of the report was to
provide the CTD with an evaluation of the relevance and performance of technical cooperation
activities and to try to measure the impact of technical cooperation activities on beneficiaries.  The
report also proposed a number of recommendations aiming at improving the content and format of
WTO's technical assistance.  Mr. Aboutahir emphasized that all the information in the report reflectedthe opinions of beneficiaries both in their capitals and in Geneva on the technical cooperation
activities conducted, and was also based on the questionnaires that participants fill out after each
activity.  As far as possible, the Secretariat had used the instruments proposed in documentWT/COMTD/M/29
Page 20
WT/COMTD/W/73.  In a number of cases, in particular on impact measurement, this report did not
draw definite or final conclusions, because impact could only be measured over a long period, the
evaluation process was in a very preliminary stage and a number of tools were just being developed.
The methodology used was an analysis of documentation given by the technical assistance
lecturer/official, as well as contacts with various officials from the Secretariat.  At the second stage,field visits were made to beneficiary countries;  the final stage was an analysis of questionnaires filled
out by participants in technical assistance activitie s, by according to a random sampling, so that the
questionnaires could be analysed in-depth.
111. Mr. Aboutahir stated that, during the proce ss of the interim evaluation, drawbacks were
pointed out by a number of delegations particularly in terms of programming.  Integrated
programming should normally secure logical links between activities, clarify activities for a given
period and identify the evaluation indicators and the basis for monitoring.  At present, theimplementation of technical assistance activities was basically carried out on an ad hoc basis.
Concerning the content of activities, a number of fu ndamental elements appeared to be missing in the
eyes of developing countries and economies in transition, such as evaluation of the use of funds and
mechanisms.  A full understanding of the WTO rules was not enough to ensure the possibilities of
taking advantage of the WTO system; more emphasis should be put on practical means of applyingthe rules and mechanisms.  In addition, it was suggested that technical assistance should provide
greater support for a number of concrete and specific tasks;  an example was the method of drafting
laws and establishing technical regulations relating to a number of Agreements.  New issues arising
from the Singapore programme, and training in techniques of negotiation, should also have a place in
the WTO's activities.
112. Mr. Aboutahir said that he had been told on repeated occasions that many developing
countries, and particularly African countries, were not in a position to participate fully in the WTO
system.  They could not even manage better implementation without an ability to negotiate rules and
without the possibility of participating in the decision-making process.
113. Concerning training, it was noted that the "tra ining of trainers" approach should certainly
have priority because of its multiplier effect.  This is an approach which most other international
organizations use.  It was suggested that WTO should try to set up trainers' networks in order to
ensure a solid basis for the transfer of knowledge.  The Secretariat was also told that in certain cases
its training material was not well adapted to the needs of participants. Mr. Aboutahir suggested that
WTO should consider dividing the content of this material into two or three levels so that participants
can be better targeted.
114. Use of WTO Reference Centres was reported as very high.  However, approximately
one-third of the Reference Centres were not operational for a whole set of reasons;  for example,
connection cost and a number of other reasons contained in the report.  The assessment of impact  had
focused on Africa and revealed a number of positive indicators, namely better access to information
and increased requests for detailed information after each activity.  It appeared that the message was
passing successfully.  On-line contacts had also increased through the establishment of ReferenceCentres.  There had been great interest on the part of African countries on participation in the WTO
system, and particularly in technical cooperation activities with WTO.  However, few participants
could manipulate databases, a very important element if they were to negotiate new rules and take
advantage of WTO systems.  It was suggested that the Secretariat could do more in this area.
Concerning the use of consultants, the Secretariat was told that it would be advisable to resort to
national/regional competence alongside international experts.  In this way, sometimes the message
could be transmitted more rapidly and could sometimes contribute to efficiency and to the saving of
resources.WT/COMTD/M/29
Page 21
115. In conclusion, Mr. Aboutahir recalled that less than ten per cent of technical assistance
activities were financed by the regular budget, with the other 90 per cent through voluntary
contributions.  On this inadequate and unforeseeable basis, technical cooperation activities will
certainly continue to suffer on several fronts.  The Secretariat was now trying to do better with its
present means, but a more solid basis for financing would certainly help the Secretariat carry outimprovements.  A balance between the regular budget, extra-budgetary resources of Members, and
resources from regional institutions should be encouraged.  Several of the ideas contained in the
report could not be fully implemented if human and financial resources were not put at the disposal of
the Secretariat.
116. The representative of the United States appreciated the presentation, but recognized that
document WT/COMTD/W/72 was an interim report.  She asked whether the developing country
Members who had participated in the interviews felt that it accurately reflected their views.  She
noticed that five countries were interviewed either in the capitals or at the Mission in Geneva.  It was
hard to tell whether some of the views expressed represented five or only some of the countries that
were interviewed in Geneva, and therefore to get a clear idea quantitatively what views were
represented in the report.  She also asked if, in th e context of perhaps the "days of reflection" or an
informal discussion, a better idea could be gained from the individual countries of what they thought
about the evaluation and its recommendations.  She noted that in some areas there were very positive
suggestions;  but stated that her capital was not so sure of the level of objectivity.  The vews of
delegations that had contributed to the report would assist in assessing the objectivity of the report.
117. Concerning WT/COMTD/W/73, the United States  wholly supported the concept highlighted
regarding the culture of evaluation and would like to see it elaborated further.  Commenting on thetechnical mission feedback form, she noted that the second element spoke of whether or not
objectives were met but did not ask what the objectives were.  The United States considered that
should come before the question of whether objectives were met.  She also asked whether there was
provision for advance written agreements between the Secretariat and the recipients on the needs, that
is, the objectives of the assistance?  The United States believed that such a process was vital, not onlyfor the delivery of assistance, but also for the evaluation of its delivery and effectiveness.  Concerning
reporting to the Committee, she considered that the proposed process would convey information in a
useful way.  The United States might also like to elaborate further, during the "Days of Reflection" on
some of the questionnaires that had been presented at this meeting.
118. The United States representative also noted that in the "Days of Reflection" her delegation
would have more to say on bilateral technical cooperation, because, regardless of the sources of
funding and other resources, when providing bilateral technical assistance, Members needed to have afull picture of resources available, not only those from the WTO, but also from recognized institutions
that worked with the WTO.   She cited U.S. funding for a WTO project in Egypt;  the United States
would document more thoroughly the different projects in which it was involved and the amounts it
was spending, but this would not foreclose U.S. interests in contributing to the WTO Trust Fund and
other relevant projects that came under the WTO itself.
119. The representative of Australia welcomed the Secretariat's report as a very useful evaluation
of WTO's technical assistance activities.  In particular, she noted the comments regarding the lack of
technical cooperation activities in the area of negotiating techniques.  She announced that Australia
was funding a two-week trade negotiations training course for African members of the
Commonwealth, scheduled to take place in South Africa in late July and early August.  Therecommendations and lessons set out on pages 19 and 20 of document WT/COMTD/W/72 appeared
sound, providing a realistic "shopping list" of actions for the WTO to enhance the delivery of
technical assistance.  Australia particularly agreed on the need for an adequate and predictable
funding base and strengthened cooperation and coordination with other relevant organizations.
Australia also supported the use of local partners, initiatives to enhance the "demand-driven" approachWT/COMTD/M/29
Page 22
and the promotion of a culture of evaluation within the WTO and beneficiary countries.  Australia
considered that the documentation provided a good basis for careful reflection by the CTD on ways to
strengthen the WTO's involvement in technical cooperation activities.  It was important that the CTD
should ensure full discussion of these issues and that appropriate follow-up action was initiated.
120. Two issues deserving more detailed consideration were, first, how to ensure the durability of
technical cooperation activities and second, how to  strengthen the synergies between the WTO's
technical assistance and efforts taken by other organizations, bilateral donors and the beneficiary
countries themselves to strengthen trade-related capacities.  One should not underestimate the
challenge involved in building stronger trade-related capacity in many developing countries,
particularly the least developed, nor the time that this might take.  A key factor might be enhancing
domestic ownership through ensuring appropriate and adequately resourced domestic partners able to
play an active role in identifying needs, helpin g design programmes and ensuring follow-up.  Another
important issue might be to recognize that short-term training programmes and missions might be of
limited use if they were not adequately integrated into a longer-term strategic approach to developing
capacity and appropriate skills.  Three areas in which Australia was particularly interested were:  how
the WTO intended to enhance the effectiveness of its training packages, which currently were
described as lacking an optimal pedagogical approach;  how problems associated with themaintenance and use of the resource centres were being addressed;  and the Secretariat's efforts to
improve the programming of its activities.  Australia would also be interested in advice on the training
that WTO staff undergo in the use of the evaluation framework.
121. The representative of the European  Communities, commenting on documents
WT/COMTD/W/73 and W/74, said that on first reading, they seemed to reflect common sense.  The
EC would want their experts in the development fi eld to look at the documents and might come back
with more substantive comment at some stage.  Commenting  on WT/COMTD/W/72, he was happy
that it was an interim evaluation report which could give a chance to take on board suggestions and
comments by Members, to improve the document.  He found the paper somewhat confusing:  it was
not clear where information ended and analysis began.  He also found it confusing that therecommendations were spread out throughout the document, leading to a "shopping list" in which it
was not very clear what the linkages were with the various parts of the analytical work of the report.
Some streamlining could be done.  He asked the Secretariat to shorten the report and bring it closer to
WT/COMTD/W/73 and W/74.  Commenting on some of the recommendations, he noted the emphasis
laid on the question of negotiating techniques (point 10).  He questioned whether this was a core
WTO activity or whether it should be left to UNCTAD.  Regarding point 12, he felt it was not clear
what the "involvement of the media" mean in promoting the image and profile of WTO.  Point 13referred to the private sector and key players;  he noted that there was a discussion of voluntary
contributions from the private sector in progress.  He would therefore suggest some caution in taking
up such a recommendation at this point.
122. The representative of Switzerland said that the interim evaluation report was a good start,
even though greater focus on the evaluation would be necessary. There was too much emphasis on
description and too little in terms of evalua tion.  In addition, he questioned whether lengthy
explanations on the budgetary and financing problems belonged in such a report, even though they
were important.  Third, while nobody could deny that technical assistance was an integral part of
WTO, it should not be the purpose of an evaluation report to state this.  An evaluation report should
look at the way actual technical assistance was provided, whether it was effective, and not on whethertechnical assistance was important or not.  Although the interim report was a start, a lot more work
was needed, certain problematic areas had to be singled out and evaluated more in depth and some
general recommendations would have to be further worked on in order to allow improvement; for
instance, the recommendation to strengthen cooperation with relevant international organizations.  In
a final report, areas where this could be feasible would have to be described, as well as the way suchWT/COMTD/M/29
Page 23
cooperation with other organizations could be carried out.  He hoped that the "Days of Reflection"
planned for mid-July would provide another opportunity to go more into details.
123. The representative of Switzerland suggested that, as a next step, areas of technical assistance
could be singled out and evaluated in detail, for instance, technical assistance in the dispute settlement
area.  He suggested that for that purpose, dispute settlement could be regarded as a programme initself and analysed with regards to its objectives, how success could be measured, positive points of
the programme, weaknesses, plus, of course, detailed recommendations on how to improve the
programme.  Such a detailed evaluation could be an example for how to proceed in other areas of
evaluation on technical assistance and how to improve the report as a whole.
124. The representative of Kenya noted that the document recognized the efforts made by
developing countries toward meeting their obligations.  He agreed with most of the general
recommendations, including the proposal for training in negotiating techniques.
125. The representative of Morocco supported the comments made on African countries and
agreed with the recommendations, in particular on financing.  Technical assistance depended on a
foreseeable, balanced budget.
126. The observer from the Arab Maghreb Union noted that the reports were very well constructed
and thanked the Secretariat for the establishment of a Reference Centre in the AMU Secretariat.
Referring to the establishment of a regional focus centre, he suggested that this should be taken up on
the basis of two elements:  (i) training of trainers at the regional level;. (ii) participation in the
logistics.  He also supported the proposal by Egypt and others regarding the organization of regional
seminars.
127. At the resumption of the meeting on 20 July 2000, the representative of the United States
proposed that a substantive discussion of document WT/COMTD/W/74 should be undertaken once a
framework for technical cooperation was approved.
128. The representative of Zambia commenting on the Interim Evaluation Report on Technical
Cooperation;  said that the report was a good basis to engage in a qualitative discussion of
developments and the performance of technical cooper ation activities.  It drew attention to positive
aspects, as well as some short-comings that the Secretariat should address.  The recommendations
should contribute to making technical cooperation a better instrument for the integration of
developing economies into the Multilateral Trading System.  He suggested that technical cooperation
should be reviewed and extended beyond its current form.  This included not only WTO technical
cooperation but also the whole context of technical cooperation  in the area of trade and development
undertaken by different organizations such as UNCTAD, UNDP and the World Bank.  The WTO
should exploit its comparative advantage, i.e  it s knowledge of the Multilateral Trade Agreements
while improving its complementarity with the tech nical cooperation provided by other organizations
such as UNCTAD.  WTO technical cooperation should focus on giving support to the establishment
of the legal and technical infrastructure required to fulfil the obligations and to take advantage of the
rights embedded in the Agreements.  He recalled that the WTO Decision on Measures in Favour of
Least-Developed Countries stated that least-developed countries would be provided substantiallyincreased technical assistance in the development,  strengthening and diversification of their capacity
for production and exports.  In this regard, he commended the EC and U.S. for their support to
technical assistance and two proposals on improving technical cooperation in WTO for capacity-
building.  While WTO technical cooperation targeted in the first place governments' capacity to
participate in WTO activities and negotiations and to comply with the Multilateral Trade Agreements,the private sector was supposed to be targeted by ITC Technical Cooperation.  He mentioned one
aspect of technical cooperation for the private sector that current efforts did not include, namely, the
private sector's interests in the Dispute Settlement Mechanism.  He noted that technical cooperationWT/COMTD/M/29
Page 24
should be both a target and an instrument that ensures efficiency, credibility and ownership.  Training
of trainers and capacity-building of national institutions was critical.  Local participation should also
involve, for instance, the local media which needed to understand the challenges raised by
participation in the WTO in order to disseminate accurate information to the public.  A key issue was
active involvement in the design and implementation of WTO technical cooperation.  Technicalcooperation could also provide support to the articu lation between the regional trade agreements and
multilateral rules.  Donor assistance was invaluable to enhance the competitiveness of LDC
economies by supporting enterprise development in particular by facilitating access to new
technologies.
129. Mr. Aboutahir, replying to the discussion concerning the U.S. intervention and the degree of
objectivity in the sampling of opinion, recalled that the report's methodology was used by all
international organizations, namely, in the first stage to study the documentation, and second toanalyze questionnaires.  The third element was field visits.  The Secretariat had tried to visit a
maximum number of countries allowed by its human and financial resources;  five countries was a
number acceptable in other methods of evaluation carried out in other Organizations.  The conclusions
drawn were to be approved by the Committee.  He noted that a certain degree of subjectivity would
always exist in any evaluation report, since the ev aluator, whether in-house, or external, would give
his opinion and his interpretation.  He noted that, in preparation of the report, the Secretariat had
contacted a small number of missions.  It would not be possible to contact all permanent missions
unless the CTD asked the Secretariat to do so.  He agreed with the United States that there was room
for improvement of the questionnaire on technical assistance;  and that the objectives should be
identified before saying whether they had been achieved or not.  The Secretariat would make changesbased on all the comments received.
130. Mr. Aboutahir also agreed with the Australian delegation regarding the way in which new
training material and its pedagogical aspects should be introduced.  Reflection would continue within
the Technical Cooperation Division and with other Divisions in order to achieve better adaptation of
this material.  The idea was to adapt the material to the level of understanding and development ofbeneficiaries and to target groups, namely the final users of these training packages.  He had noted the
EC's comment concerning changes to the structure of the report.  Future reports would be better
targeted.  An attempt would also be made to make them shorter.  On the EC's question concerning
substance and in particular regarding negotiation techniques,  he agreed that this subject fell under the
competence of UNCTAD.  However, the WTO, while being neutral, had long and extensive
experience in negotiating techniques.  WTO also had databases that UNCTAD did not have, which
could be of technical help to the developing countries helping them to negotiate better.  Oneconclusion that could emerge was that UNCTAD and WTO should cooperate closely, each on the
aspect where it had comparative advantage, to help developing countries to negotiate and thereby
learn how to apply these negotiations to internatio nal trade and the WTO process.  As for the private
sector, the document suggested that there should be closer association of the private sector in the
technical cooperation activities.  From first responses, it was clear that the "objectives and principles"of the guidelines (WT/COMTD/8) should be also studied by the private sector, as a beneficiary.
131. Responding to Switzerland's comments relating to budgetary and financial aspects,
Mr. Aboutahir noted that there were different ways of drawing up these reports;  financial and
budgetary aspects had been included to give a better in-depth evaluation of technical cooperation
activities in relation to financing.  If the CTD decided that financial aspects should not be included,the Secretariat would comply.  He also said that  the Secretariat would try to identify a specific
programme every year, and make a more in-depth evaluation, if the CTD so decided.  The Secretariat
would take note of all the comments made by delegations.WT/COMTD/M/29
Page 25
(v) Report on Training – Trade Policy Course 1999 (WT/COMTD/W/68)
132. The representative of the Secretariat wished to correct an oversight in the report on training
and offered, on behalf of the Secretariat, most sincere thanks to the Governments of Austria, Italy,
Norway, Finland, Spain and Canada for having orga nized and hosted study tours for trainees.  The
study tour in Spain had just been completed and the one in Canada would take place in the fall of that
year.  He also thanked Switzerland for regularly hosting all groups of participants in Bern and for
financing consultants for workshops on trade negotiating skills as well as courses for economies in
transition.  The summary account of the content of the courses found in the report gave a fair and
accurate picture of the activities carried out during each course.  He emphasized that the full
programme was compulsory for the participants, although some flexibility could be applied in special
circumstances.  Much attention was devoted to the consistency and relevance of the programme as awhole.  Delegations were not supposed to make use of trainees for official extra-curricular tasks and
involve them in the regular activities of the WT O.  In accordance with the internal rules of the
fellowship programme, the trainees needed to devote  all their official time to the courses.  Starting
with the previous course in 1999, a new feature of the selection process had been to include the
economies in transition in the list of invited governme nts.  For several years they had not been invited
since they had benefited from the special six-week courses financed by Switzerland and the
United States.  As a result of the change in the type of assistance provided by the Swiss and US
authorities, it was decided to include those beneficiary countries in the framework of the regular
residential three-month courses.  It had resulted in a much keener competition for the scarce number
of fellowships each year.  The implication for the c ountries involved was that they were subject to a
different, less automatic selection process by the Secretariat as opposed to the one by the sponsoring
countries in the earlier courses.  Three years earlier, it had been decided to discontinue the practice of
inviting applicants from the secretariats of regional organizations because of the large backlog of
countries seeking participation in the courses.  The only modification to that practice was that they
allowed participation of self-financed candidates from those secretariats, thereby not depriving WTOMembers or Observers of the few valuable fellowships.  On course delivery and program assessment,
the report described in some detail the delivery aspects of the courses as well as the efforts undertaken
to assess their impact on the participants.  They had completed in less than a year the preparation of a
rather voluminous training manual.  While the ma nual drew to a large extent from the Technical
Cooperation Division's Training Package already available on the WTO Web-site, it had been
complemented by reading lists represented in a user -friendly format.  It was available in the three
languages of the WTO and was distributed to all the course participants.  Their intention was to makeit available more generally, including on the WTO web-site, once the on-going in house verification
had been completed.  They hoped that it would provide a useful tool to delegations and capitals as
well as to other interested readers.  As to the follow-up and contact after the completion of the
courses, the evaluation of the courses in Geneva was fairly advanced and elaborate.  There was a
need to improve the post-course evaluation by governments and participants themselves in capitals,which required closer cooperation from governments concerned.  Their recent attempts in this regard
had not yielded all the expected results.  Indeed only about seventy percent of the ex-course
participants' authorities had replied to their communication seeking to update their information as to
the current location and job of their nationals.  Information about assignments upon return and
improvements back on the job would provide a better idea of the impact of the training received.They were thankful to those delegations which had submitted all the relevant information.  They
would be reviving, most likely in the autumn, the alumni association in Geneva.   It was very
comforting to the Secretariat to see so many ex-participants of the courses present in Geneva in
various capacities.  However, they were often unaware of others who had shared a common
background with them and with whom they could exchange ideas in the framework of an alumni
forum.  The Secretariat would be contacting the ex-participants in the near future.  Since mid-1999, up
to 50 countries where Reference Centers had been installed had participated in the courses.
Participants from those countries had been offered, as part of the curriculum, extensive computer
training directly related to the use of the centers in their capital.  A number of Reference Centers alsoWT/COMTD/M/29
Page 26
had a former participant in a training course as the person-in-charge.  Updating the figures provided in
the report on the total number of participants to the courses thus far, he said that the most recent figure
was 1,757 (and not 1,702), including 90 self-financed au ditors.  Developing countries, least-developed
countries and economies in transition shared the 144 fellowships and 36 auditor posts available over
each two-year cycle, which guaranteed at least one fellowship to each applicant country or customsterritory over that cycle.  The proposal by the Di rector-General to double the training capacity would
make it possible to ensure the same frequency of participation but over one-year cycles, instead of
two, thus providing a meaningful improvement.  Th is important initiative was being pursued by the
Director General in the context of the preparation of the budget for 2001.
133. The representative of Chile thanked the WTO and the Training Division for the opportunities
his country had been given to send officials to the training courses.  In fact, two officials were
completing the most recent course in Spanish.  They appreciated the fact that the Training Divisionwas continuously updating and improving the curriculum in line with developments in the WTO.  For
example, that year training in agriculture and services sectors had been reinforced..  The follow-up to
the courses was also very crucial as it gave the Secretariat an indication of which activities
ex-participants were involved in.  In responding to the WTO questionnaire, they had investigated and
found out that in Chile many of the ex-participants, including one from the class of 1956, wereworking in the field of trade policy.  Still, th ey had some comments and suggestions on how to
improve the courses.  There seemed to be a lack of coordination between similar activities undertaken
at the WTO.  For example, during the course of the latest three-month course in Spanish, there was a
two-day seminar on GATS, an implementation seminar, and a dispute settlement course organized by
the University of Geneva, in all of which the trade policy course participants could have participated.It might be a good idea to negotiate with the University of Geneva so that the participants could take
advantage of the three-day course on dispute settlement.  Study tours were regarded by some as
superfluous trips, including touristic activities, which took away time from other activities and cost a
significant amount.  They wondered if the trips fulfilled the objectives of the courses and asked for a
more detailed study regarding the effectiveness of the trips.
134. The representative of Venezuela wished to thank the Secretariat for the information presented,
the details of which were provided in the comprehensive Secretariat Note on Training .  The Days of
Reflection would provide a good opportunity for further discussion.  They appreciated the
extraordinary support offered by the Secretariat in training activities.  His delegation was one of the
delegations that had benefitted from the courses regularly within the limits set for the equitable
distribution of fellowships.  In response to the Secretariat request to reply to a survey on where former
participants of the courses were at the time, they had made an evaluation.  It had shown that many ofthose officials had assumed important positions in trade policy decision-making and had participated
in important trade negotiations, which demonstrated the importance of the courses offered.   Still, the
courses were not perfect and some improvements could be made.  They needed to regularly take into
account the changes taking place, not only in the framework of globalization, but also with respect to
the requirements of the multilateral trade agreements.  As the Secretariat Note stated, one of thefundamental objectives of the courses was to prepare officials for the administration of trade
agreements.  In addition, more attention needed to be paid to the level of knowledge and expertise of
the participants.  At times, there were junior officials in the courses along with officials which had
experience in negotiations.  It was important to ensure that the participants were of a similar level.
Furthermore, the participants needed to come out  with a strengthened conviction on the multilateral
trading system and the liberalization process.  They had noted that the dynamic of the courses was
such that there was some discussion at the philosophical level, resulting in rhetorical conclusions
about the utility of the multilateral trading system.  It was important not to lose sight of the main
objectives of the courses.  Apart from being informed about the WTO Agreements, participants
needed to be motivated about the importance of multilateral trade liberalization.  At times, theparticipants entered too early into a philosophical discussion regarding the benefits of being
signatories to multilateral trade agreements, before reaching a good understanding of what the processWT/COMTD/M/29
Page 27
of trade liberalization meant and why the multilateral agreements were crucial for benefitting in the
best manner possible from the process.  With respect to the content of the courses, it was necessary to
look at experiences elsewhere.  In Venezuela, thanks to the support of the Secretariat, they had made
an effort to see if they could succeed in having a multiplier effect to the WTO Trade Policy Courses
through cooperation with a Venezuelan University.  This could become a regular exercise where moreuniversities would develop permanent modalities for training on WTO-related issues.  Such an effort
would help in overcoming difficulties arising from limitations on time and budget.   Special training
centres could be established in cooperation with important universities in all regions of the world in
order to reach out to a wider audience.  It would provide those in the government and in the private
sector, who could not participate in the courses in Geneva, with an opportunity to learn about
important WTO issues.
135. The representative of Bangladesh said that his delegation found the Trade Policy Course to be
an important and highly regarded component of techni cal assistance.  They were glad to hear that the
Director-General was trying to gather resources so that more opportunities would be available for
training.  On behalf of the LDCs and particularly of his country, he said that the differing needs of
developing countries, LDCs and economies in transitions needed to be taken into account for a better
allocation of resources.  The fellowships needed to be awarded according to needs and not on anumerical basis.  He suggested that training courses be held on the field as well.  Some countries had
fairly good institutes for their bureaucrats, providing training on various aspects of their internal
governmental systems.  If the faculty in those institutes were trained, they could in turn develop a
module which could become part of the curriculum for the officials.  Members as well as the
Secretariat needed to insist on seeing that people who received training, either in Geneva orelsewhere, be posted in missions in Geneva.  They were grateful to the countries which hosted study
tours; however, the resources from donors could be better used for increasing the number of facilities
and fellowships in Geneva for LDCs rather than fo r taking the participants out on short trips.  He
asked for clarification as to whether transition economies were benefitting from two channels of
training, one through the trade policy courses and another through the training funded by thegovernments of the United States and Switzerland.  He wondered whether separating the courses for
LDCs and transition economies would be more us eful for these two groups of countries.  They
appreciated the needs of transition economies; howeve r, in view of the needs of LDCs, he asked that
donors consider examining the whole situation so that money was well spent.
136. The representative of Barbados thanked the Secretariat for the informative and comprehensive
report.  Her country, which had been granted fellowships in the past, considered the Trade Policy
Courses to be very useful and they looked forward to benefiting from the opportunity to participate in
them in the future.  She had taken note of the Secretariat commitment to offer at least one fellowship
per Member or Observer over a two-year cycle.  As a small economy, they had a significant need for
technical assistance and their participation in capa city-building exercises, such as the trade policy
course, contributed greatly to their economic development.  Sometimes they found themselves in a
dilemma:  on the one hand, they needed to gain technical expertise;  on the other hand, theyexperienced difficulties in  releasing officials due to lack of human resources.  Still, it did not mean
that they were not going to take the fellowships  they were offered.  Regarding the diversity of
trainees, she was of the view that the interaction between participants from developing countries and
transition economies with different experiences, different origins could be very beneficial.  However,
the number of fellowships granted over a period of time should not be reduced as a result of theincrease in the pool of invitees.  The issue was related to the resources available in the budget.
137. The representative of Sri Lanka said that her country attached high importance to the Trade
Policy Courses.  Most of her predecessors as well as herself had benefitted from them.  It was her
delegation's great concern that demand for the courses could not be met by the Secretariat.
Extra-budgetary resources needed to be explored to allow for wider participation.  Her delegation
welcomed the decision of the Director-General to explore the possibility of obtaining more resourcesWT/COMTD/M/29
Page 28
for the endeavour.  With regard to the study tours, she found them to be very useful as it provided
practical insights to how a Member had been implementing the WTO agreements.  Certain
delegations had genuine concerns as the anticipated results might not have been reached due to the
shortness of the programmes.  But Members needed to give a second thought with regard to the
termination of the study tours.  Regarding course content, she was happy to hear that the Secretariatwas establishing an alumni association, with which she wished to be associated.  She would be happy
to provide suggestions with regard to the improvement of the courses.
138. The representative of Turkey, as a one-time participant of the Trade Policy Course organized
by the WTO, expressed his gratitude to the WTO and the staff of the Training Division for their
efforts.  The courses had always been beneficial for Turkish participants.  They wished to see a
continuation of the courses as well as their extension.  The courses had not only provided practical
knowledge about the WTO system but had also facilitated the opening of new horizons for betterparticipation in world trade.
139. The representative of Canada said that her country had accepted to host the upcoming study
tour for the English-speaking group at the request of the WTO.  The past evaluations of the
programme were very positive.  During the study tour in Canada, there would be sessions with the
most knowledgeable trade policy officials in the federal government and also meetings withdepartments, other than foreign affairs and international trade, including the Department of
Agriculture and the Canadian International Development Agency.  There would also be visits to the
private sector and meetings with representatives of two provincial governments.  The programme did
not allow for tourism activities, except for one day over the weekend.  The study tours were meant to
show participants how a specific country dealt with  trade policy issues so that participants could
observe concretely what they had learned.  The Secretariat needed to make a thorough evaluation to
ensure that money invested was providing a wo rthwhile experience.  Her authorities would be
interested in participating in the evaluation process.
140. The representative of Uganda said that the Trade Policy Courses were one of the best
examples of how the WTO could provide capacity building.  The course content was based on WTO
work and also provided practical information on what was happening on the ground in other
countries.  Ex-participants from Uganda, with whom he had had the opportunity to interact in
formulating position papers, played an active role in the Ministry of Trade and Industry.  He differed
with the delegate of Bangladesh regarding the effectiveness of the study tours.  Judging from the
experience of participants from Uganda, they were of the view that the trips provided an opportunity
to gain practical, hands-on experience.  He wondered how they might be made more effective rather
than being eliminated.  For that, one would need to look closely at the experience of the participantsand the content provided.  He wondered whether the shortening of the Trade Policy Courses from the
original 6 months had had a negative impact on the course content.
141. The representative of Senegal congratulated the Secretariat and he expressed his delegation's
satisfaction with the interim evaluation for 1998-99, particularly for its comprehensive nature and
pertinent recommendations.  Firstly, he noted with interest the proposal for creating sub-regionalcenters of excellence by training the trainers.  It was necessary to have the right synergy between the
WTO and other international and regional institutions, the private sector and the beneficiary countries.
In addition, the stability and predictability of enhanced technical assistance activities was of utmost
importance.  Furthermore, the difficulty of evaluating technical assistance activities in the Africa
region had already been mentioned.  The Secretariat needed to encourage Members and sub-regionalorganizations to identify their own programmes so as to avoid overlap.  The main beneficiaries
themselves did not always rationalize their own activities.  Moreover, all manuals and teaching
materials needed to be in three languages.  Finally, they  wished that their country could benefit from
internships.WT/COMTD/M/29
Page 29
142. The representative of Mauritius  said that his country had taken advantage of the Trade Policy
Courses, which had been extremely useful.  Many of their participants were afterwards based either in
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade or in the mission in Geneva.  The importance
attached to the Trade Policy Courses was demonstrated by the large number of applications: there
were 300 applications from 150 countries for the course.  It was important to enable developingcountries to participate effectively in the world trading system.  The Trade Policy Course was one of
the core elements of the technical assistance and capacity building programme, helping developing
countries better integrate into the multilateral trading system.  The importance of avoiding duplication
had already been mentioned.  Every Member was offered one fellowship every two years.  One could
take advantage of impartial trade-related courses offered at other institutions and countries.  The
possibility of offering courses at the regional level could also be explored.
143. The representative of Ecuador, as an ex-participant, said that many of the trade negotiators
were bureaucrats with high qualifications but their interaction with the private sector was very limited.
The study tours allowed for a closer look at the real operators in the economy to see how they
organized themselves to face the challenges of the marketplace.  It was very useful to see the
administration and the management of private firms, be they big ones or SMEs, including in the field
of electronic commerce.  The study tours could be improved but they were as valid as the theoreticaltraining that participants received.
144. A representative of the Secretariat said that he would focus on some of the many points raised
by Members.  He was glad that some of the ex-p articipants of the trade policy courses had contributed
to the discussion on study tours, which dated back 45 years and which had always been considered as
an integral part of the programme.  It provided th e participants with an opportunity to see in practice
what the WTO or formerly the GATT meant for government officials.  The aim was to ensure that the
programme offered during the study tours was directly relevant to the curriculum that had been
followed during the trade policy course.  At times, it was impossible to avoid a certain departure from
that, for example, when visiting a private enterprise which was not familiar with all facets of the
WTO.  As for visits at the governmental level, it was a useful addition to the theoretical programmefor the participants to see how policies were fo rmulated, coordinated, and then implemented.  They
had also been considering reallocating the funds possibly to finance additional fellowships.  However,
the decision was not taken lightly because they were aware of the usefulness of the study tours, not
only for the participants, but also for the host countries, which considered them as long-term
investment.  They were far from being tourism activities even if that was at times part of the
programme.  The host countries had themselves attached high importance to the tours and had
committed a lot of money to it, expecting a return in  the long term.  The representative of Chile had
suggested that there be better coordination with other technical cooperation activities in the house,
namely, with some of the other courses taking place, either on dispute settlement or on other selected
issues.  They were not adjusting the course programme to fit other activities, which were meant to
reach out to more people, not just to train the same people.  Whatever was being taught in the special
courses was also covered in the regular courses.  With respect to the comment of the representative of
Venezuela on having participants of the same level, he said that the selection was done on the basis of
written application.  While certain participants might look alike on paper, that might not in fact be the
case.  Besides, they were not aiming at uniformity in that respect, since their mandate was not to
provide a specialized course to train experts, but ra ther to provide a better understanding of all the
WTO Agreements and the multilateral trading system to participants, who would contribute to policyformation once they returned to their capitals.  There had been some problems in this respect in
certain groups.  There was possibly a misunderstanding of the objectives of the courses, which were
explained in the invitation letter.  The addition of economies in transition to the list of invitees had not
been at the detriment of the other countries.  The economies in transition did not get priority in
receiving fellowships.  They had just been integrat ed into the list of invitees.  There was also a
mandate from the High Level Meeting on Least-Developed Countries that they should give priority to
least-developed countries and they had done so.  They supported wholeheartedly theWT/COMTD/M/29
Page 30
Director-General's proposal which would reduce the fellowship cycle to one year.  It depended on the
willingness of the Members to provide the necessary funding.  They had taken note of all the
proposals and recommendations.
145. The representative of the United States referred to the issue of coordination, which the
representative of the Secretariat had addressed in his very thorough response.  They too were
interested in seeing more coordination in-house.  The way the agenda for that day had been structured
certainly went quite far in the area of internal coordination.  It certainly helped them understand better
what was going on with respect to WTO-specific technical assistance.  At times it was hard for them
track down where a certain amount of their funding ha d gone.  It would be better if there were one
central source for channelling all information on funding so that all technical assistance activities
could be easily tracked down.  Further to recent legislative decisions in the United States, her
delegation was looking into additional funding for technical assistance.  Comprehensivedocumentation on WTO technical assistance initiatives would help them get a better picture of which
areas they should be targetting in addition to their bilateral assistance and WTO technical assistance.
(vi) EC Communication on Trade-Related Technical Assistance (WT/COMTD/W/69)
146. The representative of the European Communities said that in conjunction with the document
WT/COMTD/W/69 on technical assistance, there was another document circulated in the Customs
Valuation Committee with the symbol G/VAL/W/71.  The European Communities had circulated a
document on Trade-Related Technical Assistance in the WTO in April of that year
(WT/COMTD/W/69).  He wished to explain to the Committee the guiding concepts which had led
them to introduce the paper, and also to explor e with the Committee how to proceed.  The Community
strongly welcomed the fact that one of the results of the Seattle Ministerial, which without ambiguity
was positive, was the new approach by Members on technical assistance in the WTO.  The issue had
been the subject of intensive debate in the CTD, but also in the General Council where various
contributions by individual delegations and the WTO Secretariat had been put forward.  There was
broad consensus in the organization that it was necessary to have more and better technical assistance.The time had come to translate the consensus into concrete action.  It was not an easy exercise, as the
delivery of technical assistance was complex, involved many players, required adequate financial and
human resources, and a clear vision of what the Members wanted to achieve.  The first result of the
EC's thinking was contained in document WT/COMTD/W/69.  The key principles governing their
thinking, which they did not claim to have invented, but which they wanted to reinforce, were:
(i) ownership, a demand-driven approach, including full participation by the recipients to better target
the actual needs;  and (ii) better cooperation between the donors to enhance coherence and better useof funds and serious follow-up once technical assist ance measures had been implemented to draw the
appropriate lessons.  These principles were well known to Members, as they formed the core of the
Integrated Framework which had been agreed in 1997.  It was not the place to assess the work of the
Integrated Framework, which would be done in the Committee in a different context.  Whatever the
views were on the Integrated Framework, the principles governing it remained valid and were theappropriate starting-point for further reflection on technical assistance in the WTO.  The same
conclusion had been drawn in different contexts.  The recent statement of the Chair following the
Darwin APEC Ministerial contained an Annex B, which included capacity building in APEC related
to the implementation of the WTO Agreements.  It was worth noting that their emphasis on the
principles of the Integrated Framework did not mean that they wanted to expand the IntegratedFramework in its present form to other countries.  It was premature, and had the inherent danger of
lessening the attention they all had to pay to the difficult situation of the LDCs.  The EC attached
importance to coherence in the international setting.  Many delegations had pointed out that technical
assistance had to go beyond the mere implementation via domestic laws of the highly technical WTO
Agreements.  Building domestic capacities and achieving supply-side reform required a large varietyof measures, which were trade-related, but which the WTO Secretariat with its limited means could
not tackle on its own.  The EC had witnessed pr ogress in the effort to mainstream trade intoWT/COMTD/M/29
Page 31
development strategies but certainly more remained to be done in cooperation with all international
development institutions.  The EC wished to inform the Committee that they had taken a first step in
the Customs Valuation Committee to see how they could turn their good intentions to concrete action.
While the document circulated had qualified the approach therein as a pilot project, the EC were of
the view that it was more adequate to talk of a renewed approach to customs valuation aiming atstrengthening and reinvigorating the approach alre ady taken in that Committee.  Looking at the
activities undertaken in that Committee, the EC had found that a bottom-up approach to technical
assistance in line with their own had already been taken.  It meant that the Committee had looked at
the individual needs of countries which had problems in meeting certain deadlines and had identified
the necessary steps which would enable countries concerned to implement the various provisions of
the Customs Valuation Agreement.  It had also tried to coordinate the various actors which delivered
technical assistance.  The EC had taken the initiative to systematise and generalise the principlesunderlining the approach, in order to strengthen and reinforce the direction of the ongoing work.  The
initiative would also help gain experience in applying  the general principle referred to earlier in a very
important area of WTO work.  If successful, a similar targeted approach could be adopted for example
in the areas of Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) or Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS).  The
Chair of the Customs Valuation Committee had been mandated to consult informally and the EChoped to have consensus on the concrete steps necessa ry to strengthen technical assistance in customs
valuation very soon.  The CTD would be kept informe d.  The EC hoped that the results of their efforts
in the area of customs valuation, and soon after in other Committees, would allow the Committee on
Trade and Development to evaluate the results of the EC's renewed approach in line with the CTD's
responsibilities on technical assistance and capacity building.
147. The representative of Hong Kong, China was of the view that the new approach would
improve the quality and effectiveness of technical assistance to the Members in need.
Capacity-building could and needed to be addressed in a broader sense to ensure that technical
assistance activities in the WTO were properly focused.  It was important to give consideration in
parallel to improving the functioning of the In tegrated Framework so as to contribute to the
enhancement of the work in capacity-building.  As for funding, they appreciated that some Members,
including the EC and their member states, had be en making voluntary extra-budgetary contributions
to enable technical assistance activities to be undertaken.  However, funding from the regular budget
was the only way to secure stability and continuity of technical assistance activities.  The
representative reiterated its strong support and intention to actively contribute to the work towards this
goal, hoping that a satisfactory solution would be achieved in the near future.
148. The representative of Jamaica thanked the EC for their interesting paper and said that an
integrated approach as proposed should prove to be a more efficient means of delivering technical
assistance and ensuring that technical assistance from and the policies of international organizations
were harmonized.  Full participation by recipient countries and a demand-driven orientation should
realize great effectiveness and efficiency in the use of technical assistance funding.  There was a
general impression that technical assistance was suppl y-side driven to a significant degree, resulting
in a poor match between needs and resources.  In the recent seminar on implementation, her
delegation had raised the point that the implementation needs of developing countries went well
beyond a basic introduction to elements of the WTO Agreements as many difficulties were
encountered in the actual hands-on or practical application of the Agreements.  Such had been
Jamaica's experience.  Jamaica had benefitted from assistance in implementing the Customs Valuation
Agreement;  however, it faced similar resource constraints in implementing other WTO Agreements,
such as those relating to trade remedy rules.  Jamaica would not expect the implementation of a new
approach to result in a reduction of the current total level of assistance to recipient countries.  The gap
in funding to cover technical activities for the year 2000 and beyond was a perennial concern
requiring a long-term, predictable and stable solution.  The solution was in providing funding from theregular budget.  Jamaica welcomed the fact that the importance of providing technical assistance forWT/COMTD/M/29
Page 32
implementing WTO Agreements and for wider capacity building had come increasingly to the
forefront of discussions in the organization.
149. The representative of Bangladesh said that the EC delegate's introduction had outlined the
basic ideas that the EC wished to follow in its technical assistance activities in the WTO.  Bangladesh
welcomed the recognition by the EU that more needed to be done in the area.  There was consensusthat adequate resources would need to be found.  There was a group of countries that needed to be
brought into the mainstream of technical assistance activities.  They wished to see the principles of
ownership, participation, coherence, a demand-driven approach, etc., played up in the new system.  If
those principles were followed diligently, it would increase the value-added in technical assistance
activities.  He welcomed the proposal that the Integrated Framework be brought into parallel play in
the new system.  The IF provided a parallel but very important set of activities which donor countries,
particularly important donors like the EC, would have to follow with more diligence.  Bangladesh alsowelcomed the fact that the EC was not in favor of expanding the IF at that stage.  His delegation was
concerned sometime back that there were discussions about expanding the stillborn or not fully
developed IF into other areas.  There was no question of expanding it to other countries than the
LDCs until they had seen how it shaped up.  Bang ladesh also appreciated the point made by the EC
that they wished to see a trade and supply response as well as other trade-related activitiesmainstreamed into the WTO work, reflecting the development strategies of the poorest.  With respect
to the Customs Valuation Agreement, he was sure that the EC would keep in mind the different needs
of countries in the new programme.  For example, his country had already entered the new phase of
the Customs Valuation Agreement commitments.  Therefore, his country's needs were different from
those of a country which was awaiting transition.  If there was an overarching concern about being
fair and equal to all countries, that in itself would be unfair.
150. The representative of Canada supported the overall thrust of the EC paper, which advocated
among other things a demand-driven and more coherent technical assistance approach.  Canada also
expressed support for the Japanese paper on trade-related capacity building.  There were cross-links
between the APEC work and the EU proposal.  T echnical assistance was a priority and it was
important to continue to reflect on it.  The various reports provided by the Secretariat were useful in
that respect.  With respect to the funding of tech nical assistance activities, Canada maintained the
view that a greater part should be financed through the regular budget of the WTO.
151. The representative of Malaysia joined other delegations in thanking the EC for their paper on
technical assistance.  They acknowledged the comm itment of the EC in providing resources for the
initial pilot project.  Technical assistance in the area of building capacity needed to focus on
improving expertise in trade policy formulation and not only on implementation.  Implementation wasimportant but there were also other aspects of trade policy which needed to be given due
consideration.  Countries needed to understand the principles and rationale behind the approach to the
multilateral system: trade policy courses provided such an opportunity.  Funding was a major concern
and they welcomed the initiatives of donor countries in contributing to technical assistance activities.
152. The representative of Mexico said that the intention of the EC paper was to reach better
coherence in the application of technical assistance in the organization.  The new focus of the EU was
based on two pillars: technical assistance and capacity building.  There was a clear distinction being
made between the two. The aim of the former was to promote the understanding and use of the WTO
rules so that recipients were able to exploit to a maximum the opportunities offered by the multilateral
trading system.  That approach was already being applied in various Committees and the TechnicalCooperation Division.  The second, capacity-building, went beyond technical assistance and was
implicit in the Integrated Framework, which emphasized administrative, technical and financial
capacity building.  It would be important to follow and learn from developments in the IF.  In the area
of Customs Valuation, there was already a technical assistance programme, coordinated with the
Technical Cooperation Division.  There was a coherent approach since both the Committee and theWT/COMTD/M/29
Page 33
Division carried out the administration of the programme and examined technical assistance support
that was being provided by other IGOs, regional organizations and bilateral assistance.  Presenting the
outcome of the pilot project in the CTD would be very useful.  The lack of funding was a fundamental
concern in the exercise.  With respect to the Inte grated Framework, according to information received
recently, a fund had been set up at UNCTAD to be able to focus attention on the projects that hadbeen presented in the framework of the IF.  However, at present, it seemed that no project had been
implemented due to lack of funding.   In the WTO, there was a Global Fund, through which
developed countries could make contributions in order to support technical assistance.  This was a
good channel, a part from the possibility of having more funds available from the regular budget .
153. The representative of Norway joined previous speakers in thanking the EC for their
constructive paper, which contained a lot of good ideas.  Norway shared the objective of better
coordination and structuring of trade related technical assistance, including the formulation ofobjectives and monitoring and evaluation of proj ects.  Members could learn from UN organizations
with vast experience in projects, including those which were not necessarily technical projects on
WTO matters.  Nevertheless, the U.N. had something to teach on how to monitor and evaluate
projects.  Her delegation fully agreed with the EC that there was need for more coherence in carrying
out of technical assistance activities in the trade area in order to make it more efficient and to avoidoverlap.  Norway was not convinced that coordination needed to be done within the WTO.  The WTO
should not develop into becoming more of a technical assistance organization, but rather its technical
assistance should aimed at helping Members to meet their obligations and benefit from their rights in
accordance with the Agreements.  The challenge would be to find a modality on how to achieve
coherence and coordination between technical assistance activities of WTO, other IGOs and donorcountries.  Norway found the proposed pilot project on customs valuation to be a good initiative.  It
was not meant to be exhaustive and other trade-related areas could be of interest as well.  She recalled
an intervention by the Moroccan Ambassador at a meeting on implementation some time ago where
he had underlined the need for LDCs in Africa to define their needs in the implementation area.  It all
boiled down to financing, as had been mentioned by several speakers.  She fully subscribed to whathad been eloquently stated by the delegate of Hong Kong, China, both with respect to voluntary
contributions and to the financing of technical assistance through the regular budget.
154. The representative of the European Communitie s thanked delegates for their appreciation of
the paper.  They would take into account all comments made.
155. The Committee took note of the Communication from the EC and the comments thereon.
(vii) Japanese Communication on Trade-Related Capacity-Building Proposal as Submitted
to APEC (WT/COMTD/W/75)
156. The representative of Japan said that he wished to expand on the Japanese proposal on
capacity building as submitted to APEC related to the implementation of WTO Agreements, which
was endorsed at the APEC trade ministers meeting held in Darwin on 7 June 2000.  He would explain
his delegation's proposal based on the summary of the proposal in document WT/COMTD/W/75.The full version submitted to APEC had been circulated as a room document that day.  The
background of the proposal was clear and self-explan atory.  Developing Members of the WTO were
facing difficulties in implementing WTO Agreements.  The question of implementation had been
taken up as an important issue in the preparatory process and was one of the reasons why the
Members could not reach consensus at the Third Ministerial Conference in Seattle.  In order tostrengthen the multilateral trading system and also to integrate developing members within the
system, capacity-building related to implementation of WTO Agreements was a matter of priority.  In
the WTO, the importance of confidence-building measures had been confirmed in early May.  In
APEC, Japan's proposal of capacity-building as AP EC's contribution to the WTO had been welcomed
by senior officials earlier that year.  The draft proposal had then been circulated to all APECWT/COMTD/M/29
Page 34
members.  The revised proposal had been endorsed at the APEC Trade ministers meeting in Darwin,
Australia on 6-7 June.  The purpose of the proposal was to facilitate the implementation of WTO
Agreements and the integration of developing economies into the multilateral trading system and to
alleviate the concerns and the burden of the deve loping economies of APEC to participate in a new
round.  The WTO and other organizations were reviewing the IF, which was designed to supportcapacity-building of least developed countries.  The Director-General and the Secretariat were
engaged in discussions on capacity-building with ot her relevant international organizations, such as
the World Bank.  On 6 July there would be a high-level coordination meeting on the improvement of
the IF.  His delegation fully understood that least-developed countries had major needs for
capacity-building and supported the IF.  However, more attention needed to be paid to developing
countries in general, including developing economies in APEC.  That was the reason why Japan had
introduced the proposal in APEC on strategy and on measures to help developing economies in APECto support capacity building needs.  The gist of the proposal was that based on the needs of the
individual economies APEC should have its own initiative for strengthening capacity-building
activities in developing economies, with the cooperation of developed economies in the area, the
WTO and other relevant international organizations.  The Japanese proposal consisted of four
elements:  (a) identification of needs and drafting of proposals and the APEC strategy;  (b)endorsement of the APEC strategy to be utilised as appropriate in the context of the development
strategy of members and related international organizations;  (c) identification of possible sources of
funding for the programme;  (d) creation of a mechanism for achieving and following up the
programme.  Regarding the objectives to enhance capacity in developing countries, they envisaged the
following six elements: (i) expanding knowledge a nd skills for implementation of WTO Agreements;
(ii) developing a legal framework for domestic implementation;  (iii) enhancing the physical
infrastructure for domestic implementation;  (iv) enhancing the negotiation skills of those
participating in international negotiations;  (v) bu ilding capacity to participate in the international
dispute settlement mechanisms of the WTO;  (vi) contributing to support for accession to WTO by
new Members.  Questionnaires would be used for the effective identification of needs of developingeconomies in these six categories, on the basis of which studies would be conducted.  Through such
studies, the needs of developing countries in APEC would be identified in detail and concrete projects
would be designed.  Two case studies had already carried out to assess the needs for
capacity-building, and there was a very ambitious schedule to carry out the project.  First, on 6-7 June,
Trade Ministers had already agreed to develop fu rther the APEC strategy.  Second, after the Trade
Ministers meeting, Japan was to distribute the questionnaires to all APEC developing countries.
Third, by the end of August, interested economies would respond to the questionnaires.  Fourth, fromSeptember to October, a coordinating group of AP EC members would coordinate further activities in
view of the studies held in interested economies.  Next, on 12-13 November, on the occasion of the
APEC Ministerial Meeting in Brunei and on the basis of the activities already explained, Ministers
would be asked to endorse the APEC strategy to be  utilised as appropriate in the context of the
development strategies of members.  The investment liberalization fund would be allocated topossible pilot projects.  At the same time, it was hoped that Ministers would agree that Members
would adjust their priorities as appropriate in their development programmes in the light of the APEC
strategy.  Ministers would also be asked to invite relevant international development organizations
such as World Bank and the Asian Development Bank to provide support for the programme.  APEC
Trade Ministers supported the Japanese proposal to help developing members of APEC incapacity-building related to the implementation of WTO Agreements.  Japan would continue to
cooperate with all APEC economies, the WTO Secretariat and other relevant international
organizations to achieve a meaningful result from the initiative. He hoped that his explanation would
help Members understand the APEC initiative and that the initiative would complement efforts in the
WTO to enhance capacity-building for implementation of WTO Agreements.  As a supplementarypoint, another representative of Japan, said that it was an APEC initiative and did not directly relate to
WTO.  The paper had been introduced for two reasons: for transparency purposes and to see if anylessons could be drawn from the APEC activities.  They found that the spirit of the APEC initiative
had commonalties with the EC initiative.WT/COMTD/M/29
Page 35
157. The representative of Canada said that, being a member of APEC and being deeply involved
in the initiative, they supported actively Japan's init iative in APEC and agreed with Japan that their
objective in APEC was to complement and advance technical assistance activities of the WTO and
other organizations.
158. The representative of the United States, referring to the Days of Reflection, asked whether the
circulated agenda on the Days of Reflection on Technical Cooperation was a draft and whether there
would be consultations with delegations on the content to allow for additions to the agenda.  The
United States also hoped to see the draft agendas for the remaining seminars scheduled for that year
and wondered whether there would be consultations with delegations on those.
159. The representative of the Secretariat said that the agenda for the Days of Reflection included a
series of discussion items based on what was raised in the Committee and also on elements considered
internally by the Secretariat.  If the United Stat es delegation wished to make comments the Secretariat
would welcome it, bearing in mind that time was short.  Broadly speaking, the programme had an
introduction and seven working sessions, to be spread over the two days.  The Secretariat had invited
developed and developing country speakers for diff erent sessions to stimulate discussion.  The
Chairman would subsequently make a report on his ow n responsibility.  In discussing a possible date
for a special session of the CTD following the Days of Reflection, some delegations were of the viewthat 28 July would be too soon and had asked for a session in September.  As for the agenda of other
CTD activities, the only upcoming event would be the Seminar on Small Economies, the programme
of which would be circulated in due course and delegations would have a chance to comment.
160. The Committee took note of the comments made.
(vii) Statement by the Representative of the United Nations Industrial Development
Organization (UNIDO)
161. The representative of UNIDO made a statement of UNIDO's technical cooperation activities
in the field of trade promotion.  (The text of the statement is included in Annex II to these minutes.)
H. MARKET ACCESS FOR EXPORTS OF THE LEAST -DEVELOPED COUNTRIES – INFORMATION
PROCEDURES
162. The Chairman refered to the statement made by the Director-General at the 3 May General
Council meeting regarding provision of information on market access for exports originating in
least-developed countries, and said he wished to take up an issue of procedure.  He said that normally
notifications and information provided on changes to the GSP were sent to the CTD under the
provisions of the Enabling Clause.  He assumed, therefore, that information on any actions taken bydeveloped Members under their GSP schemes in favour  of LDCs would also be provided in this way.
On the other hand, steps taken by developing countries under the 1999 Waiver on Preferential Tariff
Treatment for LDCs were to be notified to the Council on Trade in Goods.  There was clearly an
inconsistency here.  What he propose was that, wi th Members' permission, he would consult with the
Chairman of the CTG (and with the Chair of the Sub-Committee on LDCs) on how to resolve thisinconsistency.  He proposed that informal consultations could be held once he had spoken to the
Chairman of the CTG.
163. It was so agreed.WT/COMTD/M/29
Page 36
I. ACTIVITIES FOR NON -RESIDENTS
164. The Chairman said he wished to give some in formation on activities for non-residents that the
Secretariat was undertaking at the initiative of the Director-General, and gave the floor to the
Director, Development Division, to brief the CTD on this topic.
165. The Director, Development Division said that the Secretariat had initiated a number of
activities in respect of non-resident members, of which there were 28, and non-resident observers of
which there were nine.  Of these 37 countries, 17 were least-developed.  The first of these initiatives
was the hosting by the WTO of the "Geneva Week" in favour of non-residents.  A first Geneva Week
was held in November 1999, and the second Geneva Week was scheduled for a full week, running
from 21 to 27 October 2000.  It would immediately follow the meeting of the  UNCTAD's Trade and
Development Board, beginning with the holding of a seminar on small economies  under the auspices
of the CTD, on 21 October, and finishing with the 31st Session of the CTD scheduled for 27 October.
He said that the proposed programme for Geneva Week 2000 gave emphasis to mandated
negotiations; to implementation issues; to devel opments in the field of technical cooperation
(including the new structure of the Integrated Framework); to developments in relation to market
access and electronic commerce; and to development in the "Trade and…" topics, such as trade and
environment, trade and investment and so forth.  It was hoped that other organisations could beinvited.  It was intended to finance the participation of one representative from capitals, and one from
the European-based Mission (where this existed).  The total cost of the week was estimated at
approximately SwF570,000.  The Secretariat would be looking for assistance from Members to meet
the costs of Geneva Week 2000.  The second of these initiatives was the preparation of briefing notes,
which gave an overview of selected areas of WTO work.  The notes were sent out by e-mail and fax
to non- residents.  The notes drew on material already available to Members, and were intended to
provide non-residents with a concise overview of on-going activities.  The third set of initiatives lay in
discussions held by the Director-General with non-resident Members and certain smaller resident
Members in order to examine ways of enhancing the participation of such members in the work of the
WTO.  In this context, some Members had proposed that there be established a centre to support thework of non-residents.  In considering such a proposal, it was necessary to avoid duplication with
other facilities existing in Geneva, to ensure that there was ownership of the work carried out by the
centre, and to ensure that the work was truly responsive to the needs of non-residents.  Finally, the
attention of Members was drawn to a questionnair e circulated on 24 May 2000 requesting feedback
from Member on various aspects of WTO work.  To date, 40 replies had been received, out of which
33 were developing or transition economies.  Feedback was sought on the utility of different tools
used by the Secretariat to facilitate the dissemination of information.  Responses received showed thatthe WTO web-site was found by delegations to be most useful, followed by press-releases, the
Document Dissemination Facility and the Integrated Data-Base.  Members had suggested that
improvements could be made to the Daily Bulletin, in terms of augmenting and standardising the
information contained therein.
166. The representative of Barbados wished to place on record the strong support of her delegation
regarding the various initiatives taken by the Director-General on behalf of non-residents.  Her
delegation was fully aware of the constraint faced by non-residents.  Her delegation had received
favourable feedback from other Members from the Caribbean regarding Geneva Week and the
Briefing Notes.  She said that the selected programmes outlined for Geneva Week 2000, and said that
her delegation was of the view that statements made by non-residents be fully integrated into workthat was on-going in Geneva.  Her delegation also looked forward to the concretisation of initiatives
which were aimed at facilitating the participation of non-residents, which had not yet borne fruit.  Her
delegation admitted to being one of those which had not yet submitted a response to the questionnaire,
and this was partly due to the capacity constraints inherent to smaller missions – a somewhat ironic
situation given that the questionnaire was aimed to a large extent to identify just such constraints.  Herdelegation would make every effort to submit a response.WT/COMTD/M/29
Page 37
J. DERESTRICTION OF DOCUMENTS
167. The Chairman recalled that procedures for the derestriction and circulation of documents had
been adopted by the General Council, and these co uld be found in document WT/L/160/Rev.1.  Under
paragraph 2(b) of the General Council's decision, the CTD has the right to consider any restricteddocument for derestriction at any time.  He said that  it had be his intention to make a proposal to the
CTD regarding the derestriction of documents.  Howe ver, he was aware that the issue was also being
taken up in the General Council, and that consultations had been conducted by Deputy
Director-General, Mr. M. Rodriguez-Mendoza.  The Chairman's proposal to the CTD would be
limited to proposing the derestriction of document WT/COMTD/W/65 on the participation of
developing countries in international trade.  This document was first issued in February 2000.  He
recalled that it had been agreed under agenda item F that the document would be updated in thecourse of 2001, should trends in the trade of developing countries warrant such an update.
168. The representative of Mexico sought clarification as to whether, once the document was
derestricted by the CTD, it had also to be derestricted by the General Council.
169. The Chairman said that it was his understanding that under provisions 2(b) of the General
Council decision contained in WT/L/160/Rev.1 that the CTD had the authority to derestrict any
document if it was so agreed.  It was not his understanding that the matter had then to be refered to the
General Council.
170. The representative of India said it had been unclear from the agenda as to which document(s)
were going to be proposed for  derestriction, and asked that in future this information be presented
more clearly.  His delegation  did not have any objection to the derestriction of documentWT/COMTD/W/65.
171. The Chairman formally proposed that document WT/COMTD/W65 be derestricted.
172. It was so agreed.
K. WORK PROGRAMME OF THE CTD FOR 2000
173. The Chairman drew the attention of Members to two documents: one entitled "CTD Work
Programme for 2000" (WT/COMTD/W/71);  and "Proposed Work Programme for the Year 2000 –
Communication from Zambia (WT/COMTD/W/67).  He recalled that CTD had held a number of
formal and informal discussions on its work programme over the last year, including at an informal
session on 21 January 2000 and the 28th Session of the CTD.  He said that the work programme
contained in WT/COMTD/W/71 was already under way.
174. The representative of Mauritius placed on record the support of her delegation for the holding
of a seminar on small economies, scheduled for 21 October 2000.
175. The representative of India said his delegation had no problems with the work programme,
but wished to ensure that meetings did not clash with the meetings of the other main WTO bodies.
176. The Chairman, proposed that the wok programme be formally adopted.
177. It was so agreed.WT/COMTD/M/29
Page 38
178. The Chairman gave the floor to the representative of  Zambia to make a further statement in
support of the Zambian proposal in connection with the CTD work programme, that was presented at
the 28th Session.
179. The representative of Zambia thanked the staff of the Development Division for their full
cooperation, and especially Ms Métivier and Mrs Vittori of the division's secretariat.  His delegation
wished to thank all delegations of both developing and developed countries that had supported or
showed a positive attitude to the proposal made presented by Zambia at the 28th Session of the CTD.
He said that such an attitude was a real motivation for smaller missions such as his to participate in
the meetings of the WTO.  He said that the ultimate objective of the implementation exercise and of
work in the WTO was to strengthen the supply capacity of developing countries, especially LDCs, by
creating a sound technology base.  Because technology development was the basis for development,
transfer arrangements tended to be economically and technologically complex.  It was important todevelop capabilities within these countries to facilitate the acquisition of technology.  It was in this
context that Zambia had presented a proposal at the 28
th Session of the CTD, which received support
from members, and which Zambia hoped would soon be an integral part of the CTD work
programme.  He said that the Zambia proposal assumed that efforts by the WTO in the
implementation of provisions on technology transfer needed to be complemented by otherorganisations.  The essence of the proposal contained in document WT/COMTD/W67 was to
kick-start the process of implementation of the provisions relating to technology transfer to
developing countries, particularly LDCs, which all Members realised was at the heart of improving
the integration of such economies in the global trading system.  The proposal was not about technical
assistance, but about the exploration of a mechanism to implement these provisions. While technicalassistance remained important in improving supply capacity, it was not a substitute for technology-
content products that were essential for developing countries to compete.  He said that in order to
compete effectively, products from developing countries needed a technology content, and its
blending with current forms of capacity-building.  On its own, the current form of capacity building
would not do much to salvage the trade position of  LDCs.  Technology content was the dynamo and
only hope for integrating LDCs in the world tradin g system.  He said that Zambia were aware of
Uruguay Round Agreements that were supply-oriente d.  In addition to TRIPS, other opportunities,
that were refered to in the seminar on implementation issues, did exist for the WTO to spur the supply
response of LDCs.  These included Agreements such as the GATS, SPS, TBT, TRIMs, Subsidies,
Services, and issues such as coherence.  He said that at a later stage it would perhaps be possible to
specify to the CTD the potential opportunities of other agreements.  What was needed was simply the
political will among developed country trading partners.  This was why Zambia wished to puttechnology transfer at the centre of WTO activities.  Technology transfer required a series of steps,
and the Zambian proposal was about starting that process.  He said that in this context, his delegation
strongly supported the suggestion made by Norway in the 28
th Session of the CTD that the
international organisations listed in the proposal,  namely the UNCTAD, the WIPO, the UNIDO, and
the World Bank, and indeed any other organisation competent in the area of technology be invited toprovide information on their work in the area of technology.  As was said in the seminar on
implementation, approaches existed  through which technology transfer could be achieved.  The
contributions of organisations such as those mentioned above, and individual experts such as
Mr. Jeffrey Sachs, would go a long way in assisting the WTO to implement such important
provisions.
180. The representative of the United States recalled that her delegation had expressed an interest
in the Zambian proposal, at the 28th Session of the CTD.  Her delegation had received initial
favourable feedback from capitals, and looked forward to further work and consultations on the
proposal from Zambia, in the context of preparat ions of the CTDs work programme for 2001.  She
also requested the Members be provided with an agenda of scheduled events of the work programmefor 2000.WT/COMTD/M/29
Page 39
181. The representative of Barbados said that the issue of technology transfer was very important
to Barbados, and therefore that her delegation had an interest in the Zambian proposal.  Her
delegation was of the view that consideration of the issue not be restricted to TRIPs, but should be
extended to other agreements and issues under discussion in the WTO.
182. The Chairman said that it appeared that there should be consultations on how to move
forward the on the proposal made by Zambia, and the issue of technology transfer.  He left it to the
Secretariat to give some further thought on how to mo ve forward on work in this area in the context of
the CTD.  He said that there were two additional aspects which could be added to the current work
programme:  the first was a possible resumption of work on electronic commerce, and the second was
the possible input of the WTO to the United Nations High Level Initiative on Financing for
Development.  These additions depended on the outcome of the General Council to be held on
17 July.  Both of these needed substantive attention both by the Committee and by the Secretariat.
L. GENERALIZED SYSTEM OF PREFERENCES : NOTIFICATION BY JAPAN
183. The Chairman offered the floor to the representative of Japan to introduce the item.
184. The representative of Japan said that the notification was contained in
WT/COMTD/N/2/Add.9.  He said that there were four points in the document, and added that he
wished to explain the first point.  From 1 April 2000, 19 economies had been excluded from the scope
Japan's HGSP programme.  These economies were listed in the document.  Japan's intention to
exclude these economies was first notified in WT/COMTD/N/2/Add.7 of 10 June 1998.  He quoted
from the final paragraph of Annex 1 to that document, which read:  "starting from 1 April 2000, a
beneficiary country or territory is to be excluded from the list of GSP beneficiaries if it is classified asa high income economy in the previous three years' World Bank Atlas in a row or, when it is not on
the World Bank Atlas, recognized to have the same level of GNP per capita."  In setting such a
criterion, Japan had considered the purpose and objectives of the GSP, and the level of development
of the territory in question.  Also considered was the strength of domestic industry in Japan, the need
to expand benefits to beneficiaries other than advanced economies, and modifications made by othercountries providing  preferences through the GSP.
185. The CTD took note of the information provided.
M. OTHER BUSINESS
186. The Chairman noted that there was no other business for the 29th Session.  He recalled that the
next informal meeting of the CTD was two days of reflection on technical cooperation on
18-19 July 2000. The CTD would also be organising a seminar on problems of small economies onSaturday, 21 October 2000, and the CTD would be informed in good time of the programme of this
Seminar.  This Seminar was a precursor to the second "Geneva Week" of the WTO for non-resident
delegations.  Finally, the CTD was to hold its last formal session of the year on 27 October 2000.
187. The Chairman declared the 29th Session of the CTD closed.WT/COMTD/M/29
Page 40
ANNEX I1
Seminar on the Implementation of WTO Agreements, 26 June 2000
Report by the Chairman of the Committee on Trade and Development
188. A seminar on the Implementation of  WTO Agreements was held on 26 June 2000 under the
auspices of the WTO Committee on Trade and Development.  The seminar was opened by the
Director-General, who said that implementation issues were among the main reasons for the failure to
reach agreement in Seattle and remained a key to the launching of any new negotiations.  A special
mechanism established under the General Council had just begun its work, and the seminar shouldprovide insights which would help that process.  Developing countries had an interest in
implementing fully WTO Agreements, but there were real problems that required time and technical
assistance, while WTO resources were limited.  While some options for industrial development may
be foreclosed through implementation, there were other WTO consistent measures for this purpose,
and the Director-General indicated his interest in hearing Members' views on the options.  Hebelieved the seminar would be a useful start in the process of resolving the difficult questions relating
to implementation.
189. The seminar took the form of a series of panels covering (a)  an overview of implementation
issues; (b)  policy perspectives on implementation; (c)  practical aspects of implementation (focussing
mainly on TRIPs, Customs Valuation and TRIMs); (d)  difficulties of developing countries in thepursuit of their rights under the WTO; and (e)  a round-up session looking at the way forward on the
issues.  Panelists included Geneva-based ambassadors and other delegates, as well as representatives
of international organisations  and the academic community.
190. Presentations showed that the general theme of implementation covered a number of distinct,
but inter-related, issues, including the process of bringing national policy regimes into conformitywith multilateral rules and disciplines;  a perception by some Members that benefits expected from the
Uruguay Round Agreements had failed to materialise; and a perception by some Members that there
existed imbalances and asymmetries in Agreements.  One participant emphasised that there was a
number of areas where implementation was proceeding as scheduled, and that a focus in the seminar
on problems only could give a misleading impression.
191. Concerning the process of bringing national policy regimes into conformity with multilateral
rules and disciplines, presentations made by panelists and from the floor drew attention to themagnitude of human and financial resources and technical and institutional capacity required to
implement a number of the WTO Agreements and to ensure their proper enforcement.  This was
perhaps most vividly illustrated by the case of the TRIPS Agreement and the Agreement on Customs
Valuation.  The point was also made that failure to achieve conformity was not always primarily a
result of resource or capacity constraints.  For example, in the TRIMs Agreement, lack ofimplementation could also stem from policy considera tions, particularly in relation to the anticipated
costs of adjustment associated with the phasing out of WTO inconsistent measures, notably in the
automotive industry, where most remaining TRIMs were being used.
192. A separate set of implementation concerns related to the perception by some Members that
anticipated benefits had failed to materialise owing to insufficient action on the part of others.Members cited textiles and clothing, continuing market access barriers and domestic support measures
in agriculture, insufficient "Mode Four" liberalisation in services, the cost of anti-dumping actions
for developing country exports, and a lack of operationalization of provisions relating to transfer of
                                                     
1 This was first issued as Job No. 4175 on 30/06/2000.WT/COMTD/M/29
Page 41
technology.  In response, it was stated that in some areas, developed countries had not realized
benefits owing to the persistence of access barriers in the markets of developing Members for trade in
both goods and services in which developed Members enjoyed a comparative advantage.
193. Some speakers pointed to perceived asymmetries in WTO Agreements, and a lack of balance
in rights and obligations applying to developing country Members.  The view was expressed that,while there may have been imbalances, actions to achieve redressal and rebalancing of Agreements
might best be taken as part of further trade negotiations.
194. The question arose whether the implementation of certain WTO agreements in some countries
made economic sense from a policy perspective.  It was suggested that a negative answer could
perhaps be given, particularly for certain least-developed countries, where the implementation of
certain agreements was particularly onerous from a budgetary point of view.  However, the point was
made that the implementation of Agreements which imposed heavy demands on resources couldnevertheless yield significant benefits by improving the transparency and predictability of policy
regimes and thus signalling the credibility of policy reform to foreign investors.  A positive outcome
would also result where implementation required the phasing out of trade-distorting measures.
195. Technical assistance and capacity-building were cited as important factors in assisting
implementation.  In the areas of Intellectual Property Rights and Customs Valuation, specializedagencies such as the WIPO and the WCO devoted considerable resources to supporting Members in
the implementation process.  Speakers pointed to problems in WTO technical assistance resulting
from difficulties in funding and a focus on the holding of seminars and workshops, which had limited
impact in facilitating implementation.  Issues of concern to least-developed countries were raised,
notably the severe capacity constraints faced by such countries, which hampered their ability toparticipate effectively in international trade an d to implement their WTO commitments.  Emphasis
was given to the need to facilitate access to technology, and to ensure that the Integrated Framework
delivered tangible results.
196. Speakers pointed to the need for coherence in addressing issues related to implementation.
One idea that was stressed was the need to develop an overall strategy that could matchimplementation objectives with costs, time-periods, and inputs of technical and financial assistance.
Some speakers pointed to the need to resolve an in herent tension between the horizontal rule-making
approach pursued by the WTO and a case-by-case approach that took into account the specific
constraints of individual countries.
197. A number of speakers pointed out that not all implementation issues could be addressed by
technical assistance, capacity building measures or financial support.  In some cases, implementation
involved short-term adjustment costs, while benefits would accrue in the longer term.  Implementationwas especially problematic where costs appeared to be a certainty, and benefits only a possibility.  It
was suggested that greater impetus could be given to implementation if actions in developing
countries were matched by actions in developed countries in areas where developing countries held
comparative advantage.
198. With regard to difficulties experienced by developing countries in the pursuit of their rights
within the WTO, it was noted that special and differential treatment provisions were ambiguous,
couched in "best endeavour" terms, and not enforceable.  In addition, matters of "interpretation" of
WTO provisions had become increasingly significant and had raised questions regarding the balance
between policy discretion of individual Members, the collective decision-making responsibilities of
the Membership, and the scope and reach of the Dispute Settlement Mechanism.WT/COMTD/M/29
Page 42
199. The final session reviewed much of the discussion during the day.  In relation to the processes
currently under way in the WTO, it was emphasised that the objectives of the special mechanism
under the General Council were to assess the difficulties, to identify ways to resolve them whether by
technical assistance or substantive changes, and to take decisions on the appropriate action.  While
paragraphs 21 and 22 of the draft Ministerial Text of 19 October 19992 were the main basis for
discussion, it was important to take into account developments that had taken place in recent months.
A good start had been made in the Special Mechanism but it was necessary to move beyond the
restatement of positions.  Both the seminar and the General Council discussions had demonstrated that
while different views persisted in some areas, there was full recognition of the importance of
implementation issues and the need to resolve them.
                                                     
2 Job(99)/5868/Rev.1WT/COMTD/M/29
Page 43
ANNEX II
Statement by
Mr. O. Maizza-Neto, Director, Executi ve Office of the Director General
United Nations Industrial Development Organization, Vienna, Austria
200. First of all, let me thank you for the opportunity to address the Committee today.
201. Being headquartered in Vienna, we have limited scope to cooperate with the permanent
missions in Geneva. Some few are accredited to us from here.  The large majority, however,  does not
have the opportunity to participate in our board and technical meetings.  Hence, we thought it would
be opportune to bring ourselves closer to you and to provide you with an update of our activities andprogrammes, particularly those that are relevant in the context of international trade.
202. Obviously, industry and trade have a strong correlation, as without productive and
technological capacity, countries have limited ability to diversify their exports and engage in high-
value added, international trade. So from a supply-side perspective, much of what UNIDO does,
impacts on the developing countries ability to trade at the national, regional and international level.
203. By the nature of UNIDO’s work and mandate, UNIDO’s  contribution to trade promotion is
through promoting the industrial competitiveness of developing countries,  improving their productive
capacities and addressing overall supply-side conditions.  By concentrating on the linkage between
agriculture and industry, particularly in Africa, UNIDO responds to the urgent need for diversification
of  their largely commodity-based economies.
204. As some of you may know, UNIDO has engaged in a major reform process that was launched
in early 1998. Since then, UNIDO has drastically reor iented its operations, both on the administrative
and organizational level, but most importantly on the programmatic level. Basically, UNIDO has been
refocusing its services into 16 core services in pursuit of sustainable industrial development, which
the organization defines as competitive economy , productive employment , and a sound environment
(the so-called 3 E’s). These basic dimensions ca pture the essence of UNIDO’s services, intended to
enhance the competitiveness of enterprises and of the countries in which they operate, to address and
prevent ecological problems in industrialization, and to stimulate the creation of productive jobs.
UNIDO Services in the Field of Trade Promotion
205. Without going into the detail of all 16 services, let me briefly pinpoint those are relevant from
a trade and supply-side perspective. I also wish to underline, that UNIDO is by and large a technicalassistance agency, focussing on practical, project-driven type of programmes and with less emphasis
to analysis, research and reporting.
• formulation of industrial or supply-side policies. The main objective of this service is
to encourage good industrial governance by providing policy advice and build
institutional capacity for policy analysis and formulation. In the process of policy
formulation and implementation, UNIDO suggests to set up public-private sectorconsultation mechanisms  so as to fully involve the private sector and tap into its
developmental potential. Often a environmental policy element is being introduced,
such as in China, where UNIDO is conceivi ng strategies for the competitiveness of
key sectors, in particular the automotive sector.
• sub-sectoral support, Under this service modules, UNIDO seeks to strengthen the link
between agriculture with industry and to upgrade entire productive systems in theWT/COMTD/M/29
Page 44
agro-industry sector. In line with UNIDO’s comparative expertise, priority sector
include food processing, textile and leather, wood, agro-machinery and chemicals. To
enable the production of competitive goods of consistent quality demanded by the
specific markets, UNIDO pursues a holistic approach, involving the full range of
sector-specific and cross-sectoral institutions and policy issues.  Projects alsointegrate factory-level support, such as technology assessments and on-the job
training on technology transfer issues, product quality, process optimization,
maintenance, cost minimization and product safety.
• continuous improvement and quality management at the productive level. The aim of
this service module, is to restructure and upgrade industries to enhance their
competitiveness, through the introduction of quality management principles. At the
institutional level, UNIDO works with local institutions which are being trained inenterprise diagnosis, technical audits, performance improvement and good
manufacturing practices.  Through these institutions, UNIDO works directly with
enterprises which are being coached in the implementation of the financial and
operational restructuring plans.
• support to standardization, certification and metrology bodies. The aim of this service
module is to strengthen country’s standardization infrastructure together with national
capacities at government, institutional and enterprise level.  This involves the
technical and managerial upgrading of national or regional standardization bodies. It
also involves the establishment or improvement of certification and accreditation
procedures.  National and regional certification and accreditation bodies are beingsupported to achieve international recognition of certification for products, systems,
laboratories, tests and technical personnel. Institutions in turn improve the capacity at
the enterprise level for improved product and process quality, export performance,
environmental performance and certification to relevant international standards.
A good example of this service module ha s found application in  Uganda, whose
exports to the EU were banned due to the contamination of fish from the Great Lakes.
In parallel with the formulation of safety regulations and inspection standards,
UNIDO has been setting up a laboratory and certification procedure to ensure
compliance with EU regulations, as a result of which Uganda managed to obtain re-access of its fish products to the European market.
• cleaner production programmes, pollution control and waste management.  The
objective is to create a sustainable balance between industrial development and
environmental management and conservation.
By advising on appropriate clean and waste management technologies and related
production processes, UNIDO seeks to reduce environmental degradation andpollution caused by industrial production. A centrepiece in this are the national
cleaner production centres (CPCs), which provide advisory services to the local
industry. UNIDO has established CPCs in some 17 countries ( including Guatemala,
Morocco, the Russian Federation, Hungary, India, Nicaragua, Mexico, Slovakia,
Tunisia, Tanzania, Vietnam and Tanzania), while an additional three are planned inEthiopia, Kenya and Mozambique.
A sector-specific centre, focusing on the oil and gas industry, was established in the
Russian Federation. In the pesticide sector, a regional cleaner production and
information programme covers some 15 countries in Asia and the Pacific. ThisWT/COMTD/M/29
Page 45
resulted in the banning of the most persiste nt and toxic pesticides and facilitated the
introduction of new environmentally friendly and bio-pesticides.
• private sector and enterprise development. UNIDO places private sector development
at the core of its vision and technical assistance and fully subscribes to the global shift
away from government intervention towards the creation of an environment in whichmarket forces play a dominant role.
UNIDO projects are based on an integrated support strategy, that may include the
promotion of a more favourable policy and institutional environment for SMEs, the
strengthening of business service centres and business incubators with a view to
create, expand and modernize private enterprises. They may also involve the
formation of SME clusters of enterprises to allow for collective business strategies.Such an integrated private sector development programme is under implementation in
Guinea, where he types of enterprises targeted vary form micro and small enterprises
(such as artisans in the traditional textile se ctor) to formal, medium-sized enterprises (
ready to engage in partnerships with foreign investors).
In addition, UNIDO is increasingly establishing linkages with institutions and
enterprises in the private sector of developed countries, many of which have become
partners in projects or providers of technical cooperation. In India, for example,UNIDO has forged a partnership with FIAT, INSEAD, the Prince of Wales Business
Leaders Forum, and the automotive component manufacturers association of India.The aim is to strengthen the supply chain of Indian SMEs in the automotive
component sector, with a view to linking them up with the supplier network of FIAT.
Through provision of shop-floor level expert advice in areas such as management,
quality, productivity, Indian SME’s are being upgraded to meet international quality
levels and become accredited suppliers to FIAT.
• investment and technology promotion.  Inve stment and technological innovation are
the prime movers of economic development and globalization. To achieve sustainable
increases in investment and technology flows, UNIDO strengthens local investment
promotion agencies in the promotion and negotiation of foreign investment and
technology projects, with a view to forming international industrial partnerships,particularly among SMEs. To this end, UNIDO offers a package of tools and
methodologies for the formulation and appraisal of investment projects, their
promotion towards foreign investors, the finalization of cooperation agreements as
well as linkages with the financing system. Under a recent initiative, the UNIDO
Exchange , UNIDO is setting up an electronic platform, accessible through our home
page, which includes databases on investment opportunities,  technologies and many
referral points, while allowing partners to engage in business interactions.
Integrated Programming Strategy
206. A central element of  UNIDO’s reform, was not only the focusing and streamlining of its
technical assistance services, but also a rethinking in the way these services are being delivered.While in the past, UNIDO would addr ess support requirements through small projects isolated from
each other, the new strategy is to package services into integrated country programmes, with well-
defined linkages among the various components allowing for a more holistic approach and multi-
disciplinary solutions.WT/COMTD/M/29
Page 46
207. Since 1998, integrated programmes have become the main vehicles for UNIDO’s technical
cooperation activities.  Currently there are 29 ongoing programmes, of which 10 are in Africa, 6 in
Arab Countries, 3 in Asia and the Pacific, 5 in Eastern and Central Europe and NIS, and 5 in Latin
America and the Caribbean. An additional 11 progra mmes are at various stages of development.  Of
the total, 14 are in LDCs.
208. These integrated programmes are on average based on 4 to 5 service modules, have a duration
of 3 years, and an average budget of USD 6 million. Cross-cutting themes are agro-based sectoral
support, quality and standardization and  SME and private sector development. Admittingly, the
mobilization of full funding remains a challenge.  Operating on the allocation of seed money from the
Industrial Decade from Africa and various donor contributions to UNIDO’s Industrial Development
Fund, additional donor funding is hoped to be leveraged and we are strongly advocating government
ownership in the funds mobilization process.
Cooperation and Coordination with the WTO
209. As most of you will be aware, UNIDO is not  a member of the core group of six agencies
under the Integrated Framework for LDCs. However, we  are an associated partner which allows us to
participate in the roundtable preparations, if it is so requested by Governments. In the case ofTanzania, Haiti, and Guinea (and  Madagascar, which is currently preparing a roundtable later in the
year), UNIDO’s supply-side oriented technical assistance programmes were included in the multi-
year technical assistance packages presented at the roundtable meetings.
210. UNIDO has been seeking coordination with the JITAP programme, so as to ensure
compatibility between the trade promotion and supply-side support. This is particularly important, asin five of the eight  JITAP countries, UNIDO has ongoing integrated programmes under
implementation (Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Tanzania and Uganda).  Coordination is
pursued at the level of the ITC Management unit and through the focal points at the field level.
211. Finally, there is a current initiative to explore a dedicated cooperation with the WTO in the
field of TBT and quality and standardization related support programmes. An initial idea that we arediscussing is to set up a global monitoring system to record countries constraints in complying with
international standards and to identify their specif ic needs to overcome these constraints, be it at
policy, infra-structural or technical capacity level.  The aim is to initially involve some 20 African
countries and  to draw up dedicated technical assistance programme to address the identified needs.
We hope to have a chance to discuss this proposal in more detail in the context of next week’s
seminar on technical assistance in the context of the Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade.
212. let me end by informing you that UNIDO has a small liaison office here in Geneva, so should
you have any specific questions on UNIDO’s services or the specific activities under implementation
in your countries, please do not hesitate to contact Ms. Elisabeth Merz, the liaison officer in the
UNIDO Office at Geneva.
__________