AITIC : AITIC's Early Warning System

I. Highlights of this issue (January March 2004)

B. Following the collapse of the Fifth WTO Ministerial Conference in Cancun (10-14 September 2003), the agendas of WTO bodies, in particular the negotiating bodies, were influenced by the instructions contained in the Ministerial Statement (WT/MIN(03)/20). Pursuant to this text, which embodies the final outcome of the Cancun Conference, a meeting of the General Council (GC) was held on 15 December 2003 in order to get the Doha Work Programme back on track. However, the impasse continued. The next meeting of the GC is scheduled on 11-12 February 2004. As the mandates of the WTO negotiating and regular bodies are up for renewal, intensive consultations are taking place and the GC will nominate the new Chairs at this first 2004 meeting.

C. Council for Trade in Services (CTS): Significant progress has been made with the adoption of the Modalities for Treatment of Autonomous Liberalization (TN/S/6 - 10 March 2003) and the Modalities for the Special Treatment for LDCs (TN/S/13 - 5 September 2003). However, 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.

D. 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, two documents are under intense discussion: the Chairs framework document contained in document JOB(03)/91/Rev.1 on 28 May 2003. The second text is a comprehensive proposal by Mexico under JOB(03)/208 on 10 November 2003.

(shading indicates an informal meeting)

WTO Body	Meeting Dates	Subjects to be Discussed
Council for Trade in Services (Special Session)	1, 15 March	Agenda items of interest include: ● assessment of trade in services (Doc. TN/S/12); ● proposals under Article XIX of the GATS; ● review of progress made in the negotiations (requests and offers phase). The last available minutes are in: TN/S/M/8.
Negotiating Group on Market Access	12 March	Agenda items of interest include: ● the Chairmans revised draft text on modalities (TN/MA/W/35/Rev.1); ● a proposal for tariff reductions by Canada, the EC and the US (JOB(03)/163); ● a submission by African developing countries highlighting the negative impact that tariff reductions could have on government revenues in some WTO members (TN/MA/W/40); ● modalities on the reduction of non-tariff barriers (NTBs). The WTO Secretariat has circulated a survey on modalities already proposed within the NGMA (as TN/MA/9). The overview of the submitted proposal is available as TN/MA/6/Rev.1. See also the Chairmans report to the last session of the TNC (TN/MA/11). The last available minutes are in: TN/MA/M/10.
Dispute Settlement Body (Special Session)	23, 26-27 January 17, 24-25 February 19 March	Agenda in WTO/AIR/2185/Rev.1, the topics include: ● Continuation of the work on clarifications and improvements to the DSU: discussion of conceptual ideas; ● Issue-by-issue discussion, building on the work done so far; ● Chairs text (framework document) is in document JOB(03)/91/Rev.1 on 28 May 2003, based on the proposals contained in Job(03)/91; ● Discussion of a comprehensive proposal by Mexico (JOB(03)/208) on 10 November 2003. The last available minutes are in: TN/DS/M/12.
Committee on Trade and Environment (Special Session)	4, 16-17 March	Highlights of continuing work by paragraph under the Doha Declaration: ● 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); ● paragraph 31(iii): (a definition and) liberalisation of environmental goods and services; on goods see submissions by a group of African countries (TN/MA/W/40) and the US (TN/TE/W/38), and on services see an existing classification in MTN.GNS/W/120; ● paragraph 32(i): market access. See the submission by India (WT/CTE/W/207) on how environmental measures in developed countries may hamper imports of potentially environmentally friendly goods from developing countries; ● 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
Trade Policy Review Body – USA, Gambia, Sri Lanka	14-16 January 4, 6 February 3, 5 March	Consists of: ● 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 Technical Barriers to Trade	22, 23 March	Agenda items of interest include: ● implementation and administration of the agreement; ● technical assistance; ● preparations for the third triennial review of the operation and implementation of the TBT Agreement under Article 15.4; The last available minutes are in: G/TBT/M/31.
Dispute Settlement Body	26 January 17 February 19 March	WT/DSB/W/249 & 250. 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. It is worth noting some recent DSB cases under compliance phase: request for sanctions by the EC against the USA (Byrd Amendment Case); 2 panels set to examine US & EC measures on Korean semiconductors (DS296); the issuance of the DSB report on the softwood lumber case (DS257); the establishment of a panel on cigarettes by Honduras against the Dominican Republic (DS302/5); the adoption of the Appellate Body (AB) report on US carbon steel: DS244. A panel has issued a report on a case of particular interest to developing countries: DS246/R.
Sub-Committee on Least Developed Countries	9 March	Agenda items cover the implementation of the WTO Work Programme for the LDCs (WT/COMTD/LDC/11). (See WTO/AIR/2212: market access and TRTA for LDCs). Of particular interest to LDCs is a market access study prepared by the Secretariat (TN/MA/S/7). The last available minutes are in: WT/COMTD/LDC/M/35.
Committee on Customs Valuation	8 March	Agenda items of interest include: ● report of the work of the Technical Committee on Customs Valuation; ● implementation and administration of the Agreement; ● information on the application of the Decisions of the Committee on Customs Valuation (G/VAL/5); ● technical assistance (G/VAL/W/82/Rev.1); ● report of the Committee to the Council for Trade in Goods (G/VAL/W/123); ● preshipment inspection (G/L/300); ● paragraph 12 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration (WT/MIN(01)/Dec/1). Outstanding implementation issues to be addressed by the Committee are found in paragraph 8 of the Decision on Implementation-Related Issues and Concerns and tirets 57-61 of JOB(01)/152/Rev.1.
Committee on Rules of Origin	16-20 February	Agenda items of interest include: ● review of the Implementation and Operation of the Agreement; ● Notifications related to rules of origin; ● the work programme for harmonisation. The last available minutes are in: G/RO/M/44. See also JOB(03)/132.
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures	15-16, 17-18 March	Agenda items of interest include: ● implementation of the agreement; ● implementation of the provisions on special and differential treatment (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); ● clarification of paragraph 7 on equivalence (See document G/SPS/W/128); ● technical assistance activities (responses to the questionnaire); ● monitoring the use of international standards; ● update on SARS and other epidemic situations. The last available minutes are in: G/SPS/R/31.
Committee on Trade and Development	18 February	Agenda not yet available; items of interest include: ● presentation on the developmental aspects of the dispute settlement negotiations at its next meeting and environmental aspects of the negotiations (under paragraph 51 of the Doha Declaration and environmental aspects of the negotiations); ● technical cooperation and training: continuation of discussion on the revised draft 2004 TA Plan WT/COMTD/W/119/Rev.1 (see also the report on technical assistance activities for 2002 (WT/COMTD/W/101/Add.4); ● report on the implementation of the 2003 TA Plan; ● continuation of the proposal on the declining terms of trade for primary commodities, and its implication to trade and development of primary commodity exporting countries (WT/COMTD/W/113); ● electronic commerce: see background note by the WTO Secretariat (WT/COMTD/W/110) and WT/COMTD/47. The last available minutes are in: WT/COMTD/M/47.
General Council	11-12 February	Agenda items of interest include: ● report by the Chair of the TNC on the follow up after Cancun (WT/MIN(03)/20); ● election of the new Chairs of the regular and special WTO bodies; ● work programme on the small economies (WT/COMTD/SE/W/3). The last available minutes are in: WT/GC/M/83.
Council for Trade in Goods	26 January	Proposed agenda is in G/C/W/479. Items of particular interest include: ● review of the operation of the TRIMS Agreement; ● regional trade agreements. The last available minutes are in: G/C/M/72.
Council for Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights	8-10 March	Agenda 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. The last available minutes are in: IP/C/M/40 and 41.
Committee on Agriculture	25 March	Agenda 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); see the draft report in G/AG/16; ● proposal by the African Group in the context of the review by the CTD of all special and differential treatment provisions: see TN/CTD/W/3/Rev.2, paragraph 52 and G/AG/17; ● implementation of the Decision on Net Food Importing Developing Countries (NFIDCs). The last available minutes are in: G/AG/R/37.
Working Group on Trade, Debt and Finance	3 March	Paragraph 36 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration Agenda not yet available, but issues to be discussed may include. ● the relationship between trade, debt and finance, and the international financial architecture; ● trade policy and financial stability; ● external debt and trade; ● market access for highly indebted low-income countries; ● coherence: follow-up of the General Council meeting of 13 May 2003; ● relevant WTO rules; ● the future work programme. See WT/WGTDF/W17. The last available minutes are in: WT/WGTDF/M/6.
Working Group on Trade and Transfer of Technology	...	Paragraph 37 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration; issues 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.
Committee on Regional Trade Agreements	30 January 29-30 March	Agenda not yet available, but should address the continuation of work on: ● examination of the regional trade agreements; ● pursuit of the operation of agreements (WT/REG/W/42); The last available minutes are in: WT/REG/M/35.
Working Parties on Accession to the WTO The Republic of Belarus The Russian Federation The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Kazakhstan Sudan Tajikistan Cape Verde Samoa and Tonga	30 January 5 February End of February* 4 March* 12 March* 18 March* 26 March* During the next Geneva Week*	Working parties are to examine the application for accession to the WTO under Article XII and to submit to the General Council/Ministerial Conference recommendations which may include a draft Protocol of Accession.

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