Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest • Volume 8 • Number 5 • 12th February 2004
WTO: General Council Sets Stage For Resumption Of Doha Negotiations
The WTO General Council (GC) met for the first time in 2004 on 11 February. The meeting, attended by a number of high-level officials from capitals, decided on a new slate of chairs for the various WTO bodies. They also took a decision to postpone Iran’s request for accession to the WTO, while granting Iraq observership at the trade body. The GC was not yet prepared to take a decision on when to hold the next WTO Ministerial meeting, and postponed this item for a later session.
Japan to chair the GC
Over the past few weeks, Members had consulted informally to select new chairs for the regular WTO bodies as well as the negotiating bodies under the Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC), which the last GC in December 2003 had decided to reactivate after a period of suspension following the failed Ministerial meeting in Cancun in September (see BRIDGES Weekly, 17 December 2003).
Japan’s Shotaro Oshima was elected the new chair of the GC. Members agreed that Amina Mohamed (Kenya) would serve as chair of the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB), Joshua Law (Hong Kong) would head the Council for Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs), Naéla Gabr (Egypt) would chair the Committee on Trade and Environment and Trevor Clarke (Barbados) would chair the Committee on Trade and Development. While Members agreed on the new slate of chairs at the GC, each WTO body will formally adopt their new chair at their next meeting. The chairs of the subsidiary bodies under the Council for Trade in Services and the Council for Trade and Goods will be nominated later.
As for the negotiating bodies under the TNC, Members agreed that Tim Groser (New Zealand) would head talks on agriculture, with Stefán Jóhannesson (Iceland) chairing the negotiating group on market access, Eduardo Pérez Motta (Mexico) the negotiating group on rules, Alejandro Jara (Chile) the special session of the Council for Trade in Services, Manzoor Ahmad (Pakistan) the special session of the TRIPs Council, David Spencer (Australia) the special session of the DSB, Taoufiq Ali (Bangladesh) the special session of the Committee on Trade and Environment and Faisal Ismail (South Africa) that of the Committee on Trade and Development.
The GC did not suggest chairs for the working groups on the contentious Singapore issues (trade facilitation and transparency in government procurement, which enjoy some support, as well as investment and competition). Members did not reach consensus on the status of these issues at the end of last year, and at the 11 February GC meeting, Chair Perez del Castillo noted that the issue of nominees for these chairs had not been discussed so as not to complicate the selection of the rest of the chairs. He noted that informal exploratory talks at the GC level would continue with the assistance of the WTO Secretary-General, without prejudice to the outcome of the talks or the opinion of any Member.
Addressing the plenary, Shotaro Oshima stressed that he would build on the groundwork done by outgoing Chair Perez del Castillo, and said he would focus on providing for a transparent process.
Status of Iran, Iraq discussed
Also at the meeting, Members considered Iran’s request to start accession negotiations. The US opposed the request. Tanzania, speaking for a number of developing countries, expressed the hope that Iran’s request could be accepted at the next GC. The EC, supported by China, Cuba, Malaysia, India, Venezuela, Pakistan, Switzerland, Indonesia, Haiti and New Zealand, said Iran fulfilled all criteria for beginning accession negotiations, and noted that the beginning should not be a political consideration. The EC added a request that the chair of the GC and the Director General conduct informal consultations on the issue to allow for Iran to begin the accession process, as consensus is needed for this.
Members then accepted, by consensus, Iraq’s request for observership at the WTO, allowing it to follow WTO proceedings. Iraq then entered the room and thanked the membership for accepting its request to attend as an observer.
No consensus on the date of the next Ministerial
The US, in a letter from Trade Representative Robert Zoellick, had suggested early in the year that the sixth Ministerial meeting be held already in 2004 (see BRIDGES Weekly, 14 January 2004). At the GC, the US said it would be useful to hold the Ministerial within 2004 in order to keep up the momentum in negotiations. The Chair noted, however, that he had not found consensus on this issue during informal consultations, with some countries finding the setting of an early date unrealistic, and a decision on the date of the sixth Ministerial was postponed until mid-year, when Members will have a clearer picture of progress made.
The various negotiating bodies are expected to begin their work in March, most likely in conjunction with the meetings of the regular bodies they are affiliated with. The next GC will be held in May.
ICTSD reporting.