Initial Checklist

JOB(01)/51
20 April 2001

GENERAL COUNCIL

Informal Meeting on Preparations for the Fourth Session of the Ministerial Conference

In order to stimulate thinking, and to provide some initial focus for this meeting, the Chairman has prepared on his own responsibility a checklist of possible issues for discussion during the preparatory process for the Doha meeting. The Chairman wishes to make a number of points in relation to this checklist, which is attached.

First, the immediate purpose of the checklist is simply to provide a broad framework which is flexible enough to accommodate future, more focussed discussions, not to reflect all the aspirations of Members.

Secondly, it is not intended to be exhaustive. It concentrates on possible substantive elements of the Doha agenda. However, there may be other such elements, as well as procedural elements, which will need to be covered during the preparatory process.

Thirdly, the checklist is intended to be neutral and does not prejudge any Member's position with regard to the further work programme of the WTO or future negotiations as part thereof.

Fourthly, the checklist should not be seen as an outline of a possible Ministerial Declaration for Doha. The shape of any eventual Declaration will only be discernible after thorough discussion of all the relevant issues.

With these caveats, the Chairman hopes that delegations will find the checklist a useful initial tool in order to help us to organize our preparatory work in a business-like way. The Chairman intends, with the cooperation of the Director-General and the Secretariat, to use the checklist as a basis for organizing intensive consultations in the weeks ahead.

At the meeting on 3 May, delegations will of course react in the way they consider most appropriate. The Chairman himself does not envisage a detailed item-by-item discussion at this stage. Delegations are therefore encouraged to come to the 3 May meeting prepared to react in general terms to the checklist and to exchange views on how they envisage the evolution of the preparatory process in the coming weeks.

Initial Checklist of Possible
Issues for Discussion

· Ministers' Views/Statements on Current Issues, for example:

- state of the world economy and role of the WTO
- need to combat protectionism
- development dimensions of WTO work
- global economic coherence
- relationship between regionalism and multilateralism
- accessions
- sustainable development
- other possible issues

· Implementation

· Ongoing Negotiations/Reviews

- agriculture
- services
- reviews

· Other Elements of the Work Programme

- "Singapore subjects"
- other possible subjects

· Organization and Management of the Work Programme

· Technical Cooperation and Capacity Building