AITIC : AITIC's Early Warning System

I. Highlights of this issue (April - June 2004)

A. Geneva Week. The WTO practice of inviting officials from the developing and least-developed non-resident members and observers of the WTO to attend training and regular sessions of WTO bodies for a week twice per year has become fully established. The first Geneva Week this year will be held from 10 to 14 May. Prior to the start of the Geneva Week, AITIC will organise, as it did with the AITIC Day of the Geneva week in the July 2003 edition, a warm-up session for non-residents on the afternoon of Sunday 9 May 2004. Issues on which this introductory session will focus on are: agriculture and services as well as issues of particular interest to LACs, notably special and differential treatment and the work programme on small economies.

B. Council for Trade in Services (CTS): Added momentum is still needed on the rules on trade in services, and on measures to increase participation of developing countries and LDCs in the liberalisation of services, in particular in the requests and offers phase through proposals based on the sectors and modes of particular export interest to them. The movement of natural persons (Mode 4) is paramount to this extent and has led to many proposals by developing countries and will be examined in the future CTS meetings (TN/S/W/14). The CTS has agreed to extend the deadline for completing the work on Emergency Safeguard Mechanisms (EMS), as per the mandate from GATS Article X, until the end of the Doha Work Programme.

C. The Dispute Settlement Body is working in Special Session on improvements and clarifications to the Dispute Settlement Understanding under the mandate given in paragraph 30 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration. After the extension of the deadline from May 2003 to May 2004, intense discussions are still under way on the basis of the Chairs framework document contained in document JOB(03)/91/Rev.1 on 28 May 2003.

II. Details of Selected WTO Meetings of Particular Importance to LACs

A. Negotiating Bodies & Special Sessions
(shading indicates an informal meeting)

Agenda available in WTO/AIR/2281, topics of interest include:

● assessment of trade in services (Doc. TN/S/12);

● proposals under Article XIX of the GATS, communication from a group of Members on liberalisation of Mode 4 (TN/S/W/14);

● review of progress made in the negotiations (requests and offers phase).

The deadline for negotiations has been extended from 15 March 2004 to the end of the negotiations under the Doha Work Programme.

The last available minutes are in: TN/S/M/9.

Agenda available in WTO/AIR/2272, the topics include:

● negotiation of the establishment of a Multilateral System of Notification and Registration of Geographical Indications for Wines and Spirits, under paragraph 18 of the Doha Declaration;

● the definition of "geographical indications" and possible geographical indications for inclusion in the system;

● the purpose and definition of the system of notification and registration;

● outstanding issues (practical aspects of notification, challenge mechanisms, legal effect of registration, modalities for participation in the system, etc.).

The standing draft proposal by Chairman can be found in JOB(02)/49. Also, see the revised factual compilation by the Secretariat in TN/IP/W/7/Rev.1.

The last available minutes are in: TN/IP/M/7.

Agenda not available but items of interest include:

● proposals by the African Group (TN/CTD/W/3/Rev.2) and by the LDCs (TN/CTD/W/4/Add.1) focus on RTA-related S&D;

● regional trade agreements, a proposal by India (TN/RL/W/114) highlights issues of particular concern to developing countries under this topic;

● continued discussions over the implementation of new practices regarding: anti-dumping, subsidies and countervailing measures, including fisheries;

● subsidies: a proposal by India for S&D treatment (TN/RL/W/8) is likely to receive continued attention;

● regional trade agreements: a proposal by India (TN/RL/W/114) highlights issues of particular concern to developing countries;

● Anti-dumping: see a proposal on issues related to Affiliated Parties TN/RL/W/146; European Communities (replies) in TN/RL/W/67 and another Paper on a swift control mechanism for initiations of anti-dumping cases (TN/RL/W/142); Argentina in TN/RL/W/81, Egypt in TN/RL/W/144; India in TN/RL/W/147.

A compilation of issues and proposals identified by participants in the Negotiation Group on Rules can be found in: TN/RL/W/143.

The last available summary report is in: TN/RL/M/12.

Agenda not available but items of interest include:

● paragraph 31(i): relationship between WTO rules and Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs); See the most recent version of the WTO Secretariat document Matrix on Trade Measures Pursuant to Selected MEAs (WT/CTE/W/160/Rev.2); in addition, two documents were circulated by the Secretariat: document (TN/TE/S/3/Rev.1) entitled "Compilation of Submissions under Paragraph 31 (i)" and document TN/TE/S/5 entitled "Matrix of Trade Measures Pursuant to Selected Multilateral Environmental Agreements";

● paragraph 31(ii): information exchange;

● paragraph 31 (iii): environmental Goods and services: two new documents have been circulated under this item by the United States in TN/TE/W/34 and TN/TE/W/38; a paper by the OECD on environmental goods is in document TN/TE/W/33;

● paragraph 33: capacity building and environmental reviews. Work remains at the exploratory stage.

The last available minutes are in: TN/TE/R/7.

WTO Body	Meeting Dates	Subjects to be Discussed
Committee on Market Access	2 April 21 June	Agenda items of interest include: ● the periodic report of the Committee to the Council for Trade in Goods on waivers expiring on 31 October 2003 (G/MA/SPEC/26); the report will be completed at the 2 April meeting; ● notifications on quantitative restrictions, G/MA/NTM/QR/3 on 25 March 2004, according to the Decision on Notification Procedures for Quantitative Restrictions, adopted by the Council for Trade in Goods (G/L/59); ● notifications under the Decision on Reverse Notification of Non-Tariff Measures in G/MA/NTM/W/3/Rev.1on 23 January 2004, following the Decision on Reverse Notification of Non-Tariff Measures, adopted by the Council for Trade in Goods (G/L/60); Information on tariffs is available from the Secretariat in document G/MA/TAR/3/Rev.9 on 23 March 2004. The last available minutes are in G/MA/M/35.
Informal Working Group on Trade and Transfer of Technology	5 April	Paragraph 37 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration; issues of interest may include: ● individual country experiences; ● studies submitted by universities and international organisations; ● relevant work carried out by other WTO bodies; ● the future work programme. See the background note of the Secretariat on country experiences on international technology transfers (WT/WGTTT/W/3). The last available minutes are in WT/WGTTT/M/7.
Dispute Settlement Body	20 April 19 May 22 June	The DSB meetings have standing agenda items on surveillance of implementation of recommendations adopted and on the setting up of panels following requests by members. A panel has issued a report on a case of particular interest to developing countries on the conditions for granting tariff preferences to developing countries (See WT/DS246 EC). This is an interesting case, brought by India, for developing countries, in particular for LDCs and Non-Residents, as it deals with the extent to which additional S&D treatment can be granted to developing countries. It also relates to the implementation of the Enabling Clause (L/4903). The last available minutes are in WT/DSB/M/165
Committee on Trade and Environment	20 April	Agenda items of interest for developing countries, in particular LDCs, include: ● paragraph 32(i): ● the "market access aspect", i.e. the effect of environmental measures on market access ● the "win-win-win" aspect, i.e. the elimination or reduction of trade restrictions and distortions would benefit trade, environment and development, sector by sector. ● paragraph 32(ii): relevant provisions of the TRIPS agreement; ● paragraph 32(iii): labelling requirements for environmental purposes; ● paragraph 33: technical assistance, capacity building and environmental reviews; work remains at the exploratory stage; ● Paragraph 51 on debating developmental and environmental aspects of the negotiations; the next topic will be selected after informal consultations, as the CTE has already debated the developmental and environmental aspects of agriculture, trade in services, rules, and dispute settlement; Canada has submitted a proposal on the work programme of the Committee in WT/CTE/W/234. The last available minutes are in WT/CTE/M/35.
Council for Trade in Goods	27 April 5 July	Agenda not available but items of interest include: ● review of the operation of the TRIMS Agreement; ● regional trade agreements, notifications under GATT Article XXIV; ● requests or waivers for the introduction of HS2002 changes in WTO schedules of tariff concessions (see document G/C/W/477). The last available minutes are in: G/C/M/72.
Trade Policy Review Body Rwanda, Benin/Burkina Faso/Mali	10, 12 May 28, 30 June	Agenda not available but the TPR process includes ● a report by the Secretariat; ● a report by the government undergoing the review; ● circulation of the draft report to the members prior to the meeting; ● a report by the lead discussant (normally a developed country with a close trade relationship to the country in question); ● Statements by members; ● responses by the country under TPR; ● concluding remarks by the Chair of the TPRB.
Committee on Trade and Development	11 May	Agenda not available but items of interest include: ● technical cooperation and training: continuation of discussion on the revised draft 2004 TA Plan WT/COMTD/W/119/Rev.3; See also the report on technical assistance activities for 2002 in WT/COMTD/W/101/Add.4; ● notifications under the Enabling Clause (L/4903); ● declining terms of trade for primary commodities, and its implication to trade and development in WT/COMTD/W/113; See also statement by Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda (WT/COMTD/W/124); ● paragraph 51 of the Doha Declaration on identifying and debating developmental aspects of the negotiations, in order to help achieve the objective of having sustainable development appropriately reflected; ; the next topic will be selected after informal consultations; ● Work Programme for 2004, report on the implementation of the 2003 TA Plan; ● electronic commerce: see background note by the WTO Secretariat in WT/COMTD/47. The last available minutes are in: WT/COMTD/M/48.
Working Group on Trade, Debt and Finance	13-14 May	Agenda not yet available, but issues to be discussed include. ● external debt and trade; ● market access for highly indebted low-income countries; ● relationship between the trade and financial systems: see the communication from the African Group in WT/WGTDF/W/16; ● trade policy and financial stability: paper from OECD on "HIPC and Trade Policy Reform: Some Early Observations" in WT/WGTDF/W/19; a World Bank submission in WT/WGTDF/W/12 on the criteria to be fulfilled to move from the "decision" to "completion" point; ● future work: document JOB(03)/54 to be revised; ● on coherence issues, see document from the Secretariat in WT/WGTDF/W/17. The last available minutes are in: WT/WGTDF/M/6.
General Council	17-18 May	Agenda not available but items of interest include: ● report by the Chair of the TNC on the follow-up of the negotiations under the Doha Work Programme after the election of the new Chairs; ● work programme on the small economies (WT/COMTD/SE/W/3); The last available minutes are in: WT/GC/M/85.
Council for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights	15-17 June	Agenda not available but items of interest include: ● review of legislation; ● relationship between the TRIPS Agreement and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD); ● protection of traditional knowledge and folklore; ● non-violation and situation complaints; ● technical cooperation and capacity-building; ● special and differential treatment proposals referred to the Council; ● discussions on an amendment to the TRIPS Agreement replacing the Decision on "Implementation of Paragraph 6 of the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health" (WT/L/540); ● review of the application of the provisions of the geographical indication under Article 24.2; see the Checklist of questions in IP/C/W/253/Rev.1. The last available minutes are in: IP/C/M/42.
Committee on Agriculture	17 June	Agenda not available, items of interest include: ● implementation of commitments under the reform programme: Article 18.6 of the AoA; ● review of notifications; ● follow-up report on Implementation Related Issues (JOB(02)/152/Rev.1); Draft report in G/AG/16; ● proposal by the African Group in the context of the review by the CTD of all S&D provisions in TN/CTD/W/3/Rev.2, paragraph 52 and G/AG/17; ● implementation of the Decision Net Food Importing Developing Countries (NFIDCs); See the Secretariats Background Note in G/AG/W/42/Rev.6. The last available minutes are in: G/AG/R/37.
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures	22, 23-24 June	Agenda items of interest include: ● implementation of the agreement; ● implementation of the S&D provisions; See G/SPS/W/135 and G/SPS/26. Particular attention is drawn to the proposal by Canada adopted by the Committee (G/SPS/W/127 and 132/Rev.3) and to a proposal made by Egypt in G/SPS/GEN/358; ● clarification of paragraph 7 on equivalence (See document G/SPS/W/128); ● technical assistance and cooperation activities: in response to the questionnaire (G/SPS/W/103/Rev.1) on the SPS enquiry points in G/SPS/R/32; See also the status of the Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF) in G/SPS/GEN/423 and a communication from Codex Alimentarius in G/SPS/GEN/447; ● monitoring the use of international standards. ● The last available minutes are in G/SPS/R/31 & 32.
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade	30 June	Agenda items of interest include: ● implementation and administration of the agreement: see a newly proposed technical regulation on registration, evaluation and authorization of chemicals in the EU (the REACH system), contained in document G/TBT/W/208; ● technical assistance: see a proposal from the EC in G/TBT/W/228, which referred to the EC-related TA projects for developing countries; ● preparations for the Fourth triennial review of the operation and implementation of the TBT Agreement under Article 15.4 after adoption of the Report of the Third Triennial Review in document G/TBT/13. The last available minutes are in: G/TBT/M/31.
Council for Trade in Services	30 April	Agenda not available but items of interest include: ● notifications under GATS Article III and V (regional trade agreements that cover trade in services); ● implementation of GATS Article VII on domestic regulation; See a communication from India in JOB(03)/120; ● technical review of the GATS through Article XX, paragraph 2; ● work programme on electronic commerce. The last available minutes are in: S/C/M/70.

Developments on the stocktaking and the way forward after the Cancun WTO Ministerial Conference, in order to push ahead the Doha Work Programme.

Issues of particular interest to Non-Residents may include:

● Reports from the Chairs of the negotiating bodies to the TNC;

● Other meetings.

AITIC will conduct a briefing session on Sunday 9 May 2004 as it did in the July 2003session of the GW, in order to get the delegates more acquainted with the negotiations in the WTO.

AITIC will also avail itself this opportunity to have a two days session with delegates from the Pacific Islands countries, which will focus on the DWP, in particular on issues related to accession and small and vulnerable economies.

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D. Geneva Week