JOB(01)/140/Rev.1 27
October 2001
General Council
Preparations for the Fourth Session of the Ministerial Conference
Draft Ministerial Declaration
Revision
The attached draft Ministerial
Declaration has been prepared by the Chairman of the General Council, in cooperation with the
Director-General, for transmission to
the Fourth Session of the Ministerial Conference. This draft does not purport
to be agreed in any part at this stage.
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01-5291
General Council
Preparations for the Fourth Session
of the Ministerial Conference
Draft Ministerial Declaration
1. The multilateral trading system
embodied in the World Trade Organization has contributed significantly to
economic growth, development and employment throughout the past fifty
years. We are determined, particularly
in the light of the global economic slowdown, to maintain the process of reform
and liberalization of trade policies, thus ensuring that the system plays its full
part in promoting recovery, growth and development. We therefore strongly reaffirm the principles and objectives set
out in the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization, and
pledge to reject the use of protectionism.
2. International trade can play a
major role in the promotion of economic development and the alleviation of
poverty. We recognize the need for all
our peoples to benefit from the increased opportunities and welfare gains that
the multilateral trading system generates.
The majority of WTO Members are developing countries. We seek to place their needs and interests
at the heart of the Work Programme adopted in this Declaration. Recalling the Preamble to the Marrakesh
Agreement, we shall continue to make positive efforts designed to ensure that
developing countries, and especially the least-developed among them, secure a
share in the growth of world trade commensurate with the needs of their
economic development. In this context, enhanced market access, balanced rules, and
well targeted, sustainably financed technical
assistance and capacity-building programmes have important roles to play.
3. We recognize the particular
vulnerability of the least-developed countries and the special structural
difficulties they face in the global economy.
We are committed to addressing the marginalization of least-developed
countries in international trade and to improving their effective participation
in the multilateral trading system. We
recall the commitments made by Ministers at our meetings in Marrakesh,
Singapore and Geneva, and by the international community at the Third UN
Conference on Least-Developed Countries in Brussels, to help least-developed
countries secure beneficial and meaningful integration into the multilateral
trading system and the global economy.
We are determined that the WTO will play its part in building
effectively on these commitments under the Work Programme we are establishing.
4. We stress our commitment to the
WTO as the unique forum for global trade rule-making and liberalization, while
also recognizing that regional trade agreements can play an important role in
promoting the liberalization and
expansion of trade and in fostering development.
5. We are aware that the challenges
Members face in a rapidly changing international environment cannot be
addressed through measures taken in the trade field alone. We shall continue to work with the Bretton
Woods institutions for greater coherence in global economic policy-making.
6. We strongly reaffirm our
commitment to the objective of sustainable development, as stated in the
Preamble to the Marrakesh Agreement. We
are convinced that the aims of upholding and safeguarding an open and
non-discriminatory multilateral trading system, and acting for the protection
of the environment and the promotion of sustainable development can and must be
mutually supportive. We recognize the
right of Members under WTO rules to take measures to uphold and enforce the
levels of health, safety and environmental protection they deem
appropriate. We agree to ensure that
measures taken to address such concerns shall not be used for protectionist
purposes.
7. We reaffirm the right of Members
under the General Agreement on Trade in
Services to regulate, and to introduce new regulations on, the supply of
services.
8. We reaffirm our declaration made
at the Singapore Ministerial Conference regarding internationally recognized
core labour standards. We take note of
work under way in the International Labour Organization (ILO) on the social
dimension of globalization. The ILO
provides the appropriate forum for a substantive dialogue on various aspects of
this issue.
9. We note with particular
satisfaction that this Conference has completed the WTO accession procedures
for China and Chinese Taipei. We also
welcome the accession as new Members, since our last Session, of Albania,
Croatia, Georgia, Jordan, Lithuania, Moldova and Oman. These accessions will greatly strengthen the
multilateral trading system, as will those of the 28 countries now negotiating
their accession. We therefore attach
great importance to concluding accession proceedings as quickly as
possible. In particular, we are
committed to accelerating the accession of
least-developed countries.
10. Recognizing the challenges posed
by an expanding WTO membership, we confirm our collective responsibility to
ensure internal transparency and the effective participation of all
Members. Emphasizing the
intergovernmental character of the organization, we will continue to promote a
better public understanding of the WTO and to communicate the benefits of a
liberal, rules-based multilateral trading system, particularly through the more
effective dissemination of information and improved dialogue with the public.
11. In view of these considerations,
we hereby agree to undertake the broad and balanced Work Programme set out
below. This incorporates both an
expanded negotiating agenda and other important decisions and activities
necessary to address the challenges facing the multilateral trading system.
WORK PROGRAMME
IMPLEMENTATION-RELATED ISSUES AND
CONCERNS
12. We attach the utmost importance
to the implementation-related issues and concerns raised by Members and are
determined to find appropriate solutions to them. In this
connection, and having regard to the General Council Decisions of 3 May and 15
December 2000, we further adopt the Decision on Implementation-Related Issues
and Concerns in document Job(01)/139/Rev.1 to
address a number of implementation problems faced by Members. We agree that negotiations on outstanding
implementation issues shall be an integral part of the Work Programme we are
establishing, and that agreements reached at an early stage in these
negotiations shall be treated in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 40
below. In this regard, we shall proceed
as follows: (a) where we provide a
specific negotiating mandate in this
Declaration, the relevant implementation issues shall be addressed
under that mandate; (b) the other
outstanding implementation issues shall be addressed as a matter of priority by
the relevant WTO bodies, which shall report to the Trade Negotiations
Committee, established under paragraph 39 below, by the end of 2002 for
appropriate action.
AGRICULTURE
13. We recognize the work already
undertaken in the negotiations initiated in early 2000 under Article 20 of the
Agreement on Agriculture, including the large number of negotiating proposals
submitted on behalf of a total of 121 Members.
We recall the long-term objective referred to in the Agreement to
establish a fair and market-oriented trading system through a programme of
fundamental reform encompassing strengthened rules and specific commitments on
support and protection in order to correct and prevent restrictions and
distortions in world agricultural markets.
We reconfirm our commitment to this programme. Building on the work carried out to date, we commit ourselves to
comprehensive negotiations aimed at:
substantial improvements in market access; reductions of, with a view to
phasing out, all forms of export subsidies;
and substantial reductions in trade-distorting domestic support. We agree that special and differential
treatment for developing countries shall be an integral part of all elements of
the negotiations and shall be embodied in the Schedules of concessions and
commitments and as appropriate in the rules and disciplines to be negotiated,
so as to be operationally effective and to enable developing countries to
effectively take account of their development needs, including food security
and rural development. We take note of
the non-trade concerns reflected in the negotiating proposals submitted by
Members and confirm that non-trade concerns will be taken into account in the
negotiations as provided for in the Agreement on Agriculture.
14. Modalities for the further
commitments, including provisions for special and differential treatment, shall
be established no later than ... .
Participants shall submit their
comprehensive draft Schedules based on these modalities no later than ...
. The negotiations, including with
respect to rules and disciplines and related legal texts, shall be concluded as
part and at the date of conclusion of the negotiating agenda as a whole.
SERVICES
15. The negotiations on trade in
services shall be conducted with a view to promoting the economic growth of all
trading partners and the development of developing countries. We recognize the work already undertaken in
the negotiations, initiated in January 2000 under Article XIX of the General
Agreement on Trade in Services, and the large number of proposals submitted by
Members on a wide range of sectors and several horizontal issues, as well as on
movement of natural persons. We
reaffirm the Guidelines and Procedures for the Negotiations adopted by the
Council for Trade in Services on 28 March 2001 as the basis for continuing the
negotiations, with a view to achieving the objectives of the General Agreement
on Trade in Services, as stipulated in the Preamble, Article IV and Article XIX
of that Agreement.
Participants shall submit initial
requests for specific commitments by ... and initial offers by ... .
MARKET ACCESS FOR NON-AGRICULTURAL
PRODUCTS
16. We agree to negotiations which
shall aim, by modalities to be agreed, to reduce or as appropriate eliminate
tariffs, including the reduction or elimination of tariff peaks, high tariffs,
and tariff escalation, in particular on products of export interest to
developing countries, as well as non-tariff barriers. Product coverage shall be comprehensive and without a priori
exclusions. The negotiations shall take
fully into account the special needs and interests of developing and
least-developed country participants, in accordance with the relevant provisions
of Article XXVIII bis of GATT 1994 and the provisions cited in paragraph 43
below.
TRADE-RELATED ASPECTS OF
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS
17. We stress the importance we
attach to implementation and interpretation of the Agreement on Trade-Related
Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights
(TRIPS Agreement) in a manner supportive of public health, by promoting
both access to existing medicines and research and development into new
medicines and, in this connection, have adopted a separate Declaration.
18. With a view to completing the
work started in the Council for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property
Rights (Council for TRIPS) on the implementation of Article 23.4, we agree to
negotiate the establishment of a multilateral system of notification and
registration of geographical indications for wines and spirits by the Fifth
Session of the Ministerial Conference.
We note that issues related to the extension of the protection of
geographical indications provided for in Article 23 to products other than
wines and spirits will be addressed in the Council for TRIPS pursuant to
paragraph 12 of this Declaration.
19. We instruct the Council for
TRIPS, in pursuing its work programme including under the review of Article
27.3(b), the review of the implementation of the TRIPS Agreement under Article
71.1 and the work foreseen pursuant to paragraph 12 of this Declaration, to
examine, inter alia, the relationship between the TRIPS Agreement and the
Convention on Biological Diversity, the protection of traditional knowledge and
folklore, and other relevant new developments raised by Members pursuant to
Article 71.1. In undertaking this work,
the TRIPS Council shall be guided by the objectives and principles set out in
Articles 7 and 8 of the TRIPS Agreement and shall take fully into account the
development dimension.
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TRADE AND
INVESTMENT
20. In the period until the Fifth Session of the Ministerial
Conference, work will focus on the clarification of elements of a possible
multilateral framework to secure transparent, stable and predictable conditions
for long-term cross-border investment, particularly foreign direct investment,
and to contribute to the expansion of trade.
Core elements are: scope and
definition; transparency;
non-discrimination; modalities
for pre-establishment commitments based on a GATS-type, positive list approach;
development provisions; exceptions and
safeguards; consultation and the
settlement of disputes between Members;
and negotiating modalities, including the question of
participation. The framework should
reflect in a balanced manner the interests of home and host countries, and take
due account of the development policies and objectives of host governments as
well as their right to regulate in the public interest. The special development, trade and financial
needs of developing and least-developed countries should be taken into account
as an integral part of the framework, which should enable Members to undertake
obligations and commitments commensurate with their individual needs and circumstances. Due regard should be paid to other relevant
WTO provisions. Account should be
taken, as appropriate, of existing bilateral and regional arrangements on
investment. At the Fifth Session, a
decision will be taken on modalities of negotiations in this area. We commit ourselves to ensuring that appropriate
arrangements are made for the provision of technical assistance and capacity
building throughout, and as an element of the outcome.
INTERACTION BETWEEN TRADE AND
COMPETITION POLICY
21. In the period until the Fifth
Session of the Ministerial Conference, work will focus on the clarification of
elements of a possible multilateral framework aimed at enhancing the
contribution of competition policy to international trade and development. In this connection, the following elements
will be addressed: core principles,
including transparency, non-discrimination and procedural fairness, and
provisions on hardcore cartels;
modalities for voluntary cooperation;
support for progressive reinforcement of competition institutions in
developing countries through capacity building; and negotiating modalities, including the question of
participation. Full account shall be taken
of the needs of developing and least-developed country participants and appropriate
flexibility provided to address them.
At the Fifth Session, a decision will be taken on modalities of
negotiations in this area. We commit
ourselves to ensuring that appropriate arrangements are made for the provision
of technical assistance and support for capacity building throughout, and as an
element of the outcome.
TRANSPARENCY IN GOVERNMENT
PROCUREMENT
22. We agree to negotiations on a
multilateral agreement on transparency in government procurement, building on
the progress that has been made in the Working Group on Transparency in
Government Procurement and taking into account participants' development
priorities, especially those of least-developed country participants. The negotiations shall be limited to the
transparency aspects and therefore will not restrict the scope for countries to
give preferences to domestic supplies and suppliers. Matters related to the nature of commitments and their
implementation shall be addressed in the negotiations, taking into account the
situation of developing and least-developed country participants. In the case of developing and
least-developed countries, it is recognized that the implementation of the
outcome shall be related to their capacities to implement and the technical
assistance provided. We commit
ourselves to ensuring adequate technical assistance and support for capacity
building both during the negotiations and after their conclusion.
TRADE FACILITATION
23. With the aim of further
expediting the movement, release and clearance of goods including goods in
transit, we agree to negotiations which shall build upon Articles V, VIII and X
of the GATT 1994 by clarifying and improving elements of those Articles, taking
into account, as appropriate, existing WTO provisions on matters related to
customs and other procedures and formalities for goods trade. Matters related to the nature of any
additional commitments and their implementation shall be addressed in the
negotiations, taking into account the situation of developing and
least-developed country participants.
In the case of developing and least-developed countries, it is
recognized that the implementation of the outcome shall be related to their
capacities to implement and the technical assistance provided. We commit ourselves to ensuring adequate
technical assistance and support for capacity building both during the
negotiations and after their conclusion.
WTO RULES
24. In the light of the increasing
application of these instruments by Members, we agree to negotiations aimed at
clarifying and improving disciplines under the Agreements on Implementation of
Article VI of the GATT 1994 and on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures, while
preserving the basic concepts and principles underlying them and taking into
account the needs of developing and least-developed participants. In the initial phase of the negotiations,
participants will indicate the provisions that they seek to clarify and
improve. In the context of these
negotiations, participants shall also aim to clarify and improve WTO
disciplines on fisheries subsidies, taking into account the importance of this
sector to developing countries.
25. We also agree to negotiations
aimed at clarifying and improving disciplines and procedures under the existing
WTO provisions applying to regional trade agreements. The negotiations shall take into account the developmental
aspects of regional trade agreements.
DISPUTE SETTLEMENT UNDERSTANDING
26. We agree to negotiations on
improvements and clarifications of the Dispute Settlement Understanding. The negotiations should be based on the work
done thus far as well as any additional proposals by Members, and aim to agree
on improvements and clarifications not later than May 2003, at which time we
will take steps to ensure that the results enter into force as soon as possible
thereafter.
TRADE AND ENVIRONMENT
27. We instruct the Committee on
Trade and Environment, in pursuing work on all items on its agenda within its
current terms of reference, to give particular attention to:
(i) the effect of environmental measures on market access and
those situations in which the elimination or reduction of trade restrictions
and distortions would benefit trade, the environment and development;
(ii) the relationship between the multilateral trading system and
multilateral environment agreements (MEAs);
(iii) the relevant provisions of the Agreement on Trade-Related
Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights;
and
(iv) labelling.
Work on these issues should include
the identification of any need to clarify relevant WTO rules. The Committee shall report to the Fifth
Session of the Ministerial Conference and make recommendations, where
appropriate, with respect to future action, including the desirability of negotiations.
ELECTRONIC COMMERCE
28. We take note of the work which
has been done in the General Council and other relevant bodies since the
Ministerial Declaration of 20 May 1998 and agree to continue the Work Programme
on Electronic Commerce. The work to
date demonstrates that electronic commerce creates new challenges and
opportunities for trade for Members at all stages of development, and we
recognize the importance of creating and maintaining an environment whichis
favourable to the future development of electronic commerce. We instruct the General Council to consider
the most appropriate institutional arrangements for handling the Work
Programme, and to report on further progress to the Fifth Session of the
Ministerial Conference. We declare that
Members will maintain their current practice of not imposing customs duties on
electronic transmissions until the Fifth Session.
SMALL ECONOMIES
29. We agree to a work programme, under the auspices of the
General Council, to examine issues relating to the trade of small
economies. The objective of this work
is to frame responses to the trade-related issues identified for the fuller
integration of small, vulnerable economies into the multilateral trading
system, and not to create a sub-category of WTO Members. The General Council shall review the work
programme and make recommendations for action to the Fifth Session of the
Ministerial Conference.
TRADE, DEBT AND FINANCE
30. We agree to an examination,
under the auspices of the General Council, of the relationship between trade,
debt and finance, and of any possible recommendations on steps that might be
taken within the mandate and competence of the WTO to enhance the capacity of
the multilateral trading system to contribute to a durable solution to the
problem of external indebtedness of developing and least-developed countries,
and to strengthen the coherence of international trade, financial and monetary
policies,with a view to safeguarding the multilateral trading system from the
effects of financial and monetary instability.
We instruct the General Council to consider the most appropriate
institutional arrangements for handling this work. The General Council shall report to the Fifth Session of the
Ministerial Conference on progress in the examination.
TRADE AND TRANSFER OF TECHNOLOGY
31. We agree to an examination,
under the auspices of the General Council, of the relationship between trade
and transfer of technology, and of any possible recommendations on steps that
might be taken within the mandate of the WTO to increase flows of technology to
developing countries. We instruct the
General Council to consider the most appropriate institutional arrangements for
handling this work. The General Council
shall report to the Fifth Session of the Ministerial Conference on progress in
the examination.
TECHNICAL COOPERATION AND CAPACITY
BUILDING
32. We confirm that technical cooperation and capacity building
are core elements of the development dimension of the multilateral trading
system, and we welcome and endorse the New Strategy for WTO Technical
Cooperation for Capacity Building, Growth and Integration. We instruct the Secretariat, in coordination
with other relevant agencies, to support domestic efforts
for mainstreaming trade into national plans for economic
development and strategies for poverty reduction. The delivery of WTO technical assistance shall be designed to
assist developing and least-developed countries to adjust to WTO rules and
disciplines, implement obligations and exercise the rights of membership,
including drawing on the benefits of an open, rules-based multilateral trading
system. Priority shall also be accorded
to small, vulnerable, and transition economies, as well as to Members and
Observers without representation in Geneva.
We reaffirm our support for the valuable work of the International Trade
Centre, which should be enhanced.
33. We underscore the urgent
necessity for the effective coordinated delivery of technical assistance with
bilateral donors, in the OECD Development Assistance Committee and relevant international
and regional intergovernmental institutions, within a coherent policy framework
and timetable. In the coordinated
delivery of technical assistance, we instruct the Director-General to consult
with the relevant agencies, bilateral donors and beneficiaries, to identify
ways of enhancing and rationalizing the Integrated Framework for Trade-Related
Technical Assistance to Least-Developed Countries and the Joint Integrated
Technical Assistance Programme (JITAP).
34. We agree that there is a need for
technical assistance to benefit from secure and predictable funding. We therefore instruct the Committee on
Budget, Finance and Administration to develop a plan for adoption by the
General Council in December 2001 that will ensure long-term funding for WTO
technical assistance at an overall level no lower than that of the current year
and commensurate with the activities outlined above.
LEAST-DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
35. We acknowledge the seriousness
of the concerns expressed by the least-developed countries (LDCs) in the
Zanzibar Declaration adopted by their Ministers in July 2001. We recognize that the integration of the
LDCs into the trading system requires combined and inter-related action at
three levels, namely: market access, trade-related technical assistance and
capacity building, and supporting domestic measures to mainstream trade
priority areas of action into plans for economic development and strategies for
poverty reduction. We agree that the
meaningful integration of LDCs into the trading system and the global economy
will involve efforts by all WTO
Members. We commit ourselves to the
objective of duty-free, quota-free market access for products originating from
LDCs. In this regard, we welcome the
significant market access improvements by WTO Members in advance of the Third
UN Conference on LDCs (LDC-III), in Brussels, May 2001. We further commit ourselves to consider
additional measures for progressive improvements in market access for LDCs. Accession of LDCs remains a priority for the
Membership. We agree to work to
accelerate negotiations with acceding LDCs.
We instruct the Secretariat to reflect the priority we attach to LDCs'
accessions in the annual plans for technical assistance. We agree that the WTO
should take into account, in designing its work programme for LDCs, the
trade-related elements of the Brussels Declaration and Programme of Action,
consistent with the WTO's mandate, adopted atLDC-III. We instruct the
Sub-Committee for Least-Developed Countries to design such a work programme and
to report on the agreed work programme to the General Council at its first
meeting in 2002.
36. We endorse the Integrated
Framework for Trade-Related Technical Assistance to Least-Developed Countries
(IF) as a viable model for LDCs' trade development. We urge development partners to significantly increase
contributions to the IF Trust Fund and WTO extra-budgetary trust funds in
favour of LDCs. We urge the core
agencies, in coordination with development partners, to explore the enhancement
of the IF and the extension of the model to all LDCs, following the review of
the IF and the appraisal of the ongoing Pilot Scheme in selected LDCs. We request the Director-General, following
coordination with heads of the other agencies, to provide an interim report to
the General Council in December 2002 and a full report to the Fifth Session of
the Ministerial Conference on all issues affecting LDCs.
SPECIAL AND DIFFERENTIAL TREATMENT
z37. We reaffirm that provisions for
special and differential treatment are an integral part of the WTO
Agreements. We note the concerns
expressed regarding their operation in addressing specific constraints faced by
developing countries, particularly least-developed countries. In that connection, we also note that some
Members have proposed a Framework Agreement on Special and Differential
Treatment (WT/GC/W/442). We therefore
agree that all special and differential treatment provisions shall be reviewed
with a view to strengthening them and making them more precise, effective and
operational. In this connection, we
endorse the work programme on special and differential treatment set out in the
Decision on Implementation-Related Issues and Concerns.
ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT OF THE
WORK PROGRAMME
38. The negotiations to be pursued
under the terms of this Declaration shall be concluded not later than ...
. The Fifth Session of the Ministerial
Conference will take stock of progress in the negotiations, provide any
necessary political guidance, and take decisions as necessary. When the results of the negotiations in all
areas have been established, a Special Session of the Ministerial Conference
will be held to take decisions regarding the adoption and implementation of
those results.
39. The overall conduct of the
negotiations shall be supervised by a Trade Negotiations Committee under the
authority of the General Council. The
Trade Negotiations Committee shall hold its first meeting not later than... It shall establish appropriate negotiating
mechanisms as required and supervise the progress of the negotiations.
40. With the exception of the
improvements and clarifications of the Dispute Settlement Understanding, the
conduct, conclusion and entry into force of the outcome of the negotiations
shall be treated as parts of a single undertaking. However, agreements reached at an early stage may be implemented
on a provisional or a definitive basis.
Early agreements shall be taken into account in assessing the overall
balance of the negotiations.
41. Negotiations shall be open to:
(i) all Members of the WTO; and
(ii) States and separate customs territories currently in the
process of accession and those that inform Members, at a regular meeting of the
General Council, of their intention to negotiate the terms of their membership
and for whom an accession working party is established.
Decisions on the outcomes of the
negotiations shall be taken only by WTO Members.
42. The negotiations shall be
conducted in a transparent manner among participants, in order to facilitate
the effective participation of all. They shall be conducted with a view to
ensuring benefits to all participants and to achieving an overall balance in
the outcome of the negotiations.
43. The negotiations and the other
aspects of the Work Programme shall take fully into account the principle of
special and differential treatment for developing and least-developed countries
embodied in: Part IV of the GATT 1994;
the Decision of 28 November 1979 on Differential and More Favourable Treatment,
Reciprocity and Fuller Participation of Developing Countries; the Uruguay Round
Decision on Measures in Favour of Least-Developed Countries; and all other
relevant WTO provisions.
44. The Committee on Trade and
Development and the Committee on Trade and Environment shall, within their
respective mandates, each act as a forum to identify and debate developmental
and environmental aspects of the negotiations, in order to help achieve the
objective of having sustainable development appropriately reflected.
45. Those elements of the Work
Programme which do not involve negotiations are also accorded a high
priority. They shall be pursued under
the overall supervision of the General Council, which shall report on progress
to the Fifth Session of the Ministerial Conference.
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