RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE WT/GC/M/22
28October 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-4713)
General Council
7October 1997
MINUTES OFMEETING
Held intheCentre William Rappard
on7October 1997
Chairman: Mr.C.Lafer (Brazil)
Subject discussed: Arrangements forconvening theHigh-Level Meeting onintegrated initiatives
forleast-developed countries 'trade development
TheChairman, inopening themeeting, saidthatitspurpose wastotakeadecision onthe
question ofparticipation intheforthcoming High-Level Meeting onthetrade oftheleast-developed
countries sothattheconvening notice fortheHigh-Level Meeting could beissued. Henoted thatthe
General Council wasinstructed intheWTO Agreement toconduct thefunctions oftheMinisterial
Conference intheintervals between meetings ofthelatter, andrecalled themandate fortheHigh-Level
Meeting contained intheSingapore Ministerial Declaration, where WTO Ministers hadagreed to
"organize ameeting withUNCTAD andtheInternational Trade Centre assoonaspossible in1997,
withtheparticipation ofaidagencies, multilateral financial institutions andleast-developed countries
tofoster anintegrated approach toassisting these countries inenhancing theirtrading opportunities"
(WT/MIN(96)/DEC, paragraph 14). Infulfilling thismandate, theWTO Secretariat hadsought to
co-organize theHigh-Level Meeting withtheUNCTAD andITCsecretariats. Herecalled thatinformal
consultationsoftheGeneralCouncilon11JulyhadsupportedtheproposaloftheWTODirector-General
andtheUNCTAD Secretary-General that,inview ofthedifferent rules ofprocedure oftheirtwo
organizations, thebestapproach topursue withregard toparticipation attheHigh-Level Meeting would
beforWTO andUNCTAD eachtoinvite allofitsrespective members, observer governments,
intergovernmental organization observers, andnon-governmental organization observers toattend.
Inthisway,neither organization would beasked tosubtract fromitsexisting rulesofprocedure. Since
theJulymeeting, theDirector-General, theUNCTAD Secretary-General andhehadcontinued topursue
thismatter. However, hehadtoreport thattheyhadnotbeenabletoattract thesupport ofallWTO
andUNCTAD members forproceeding inthewaythathadbeenproposed. Therefore, following the
mandate provided intheSingapore Ministerial Declaration, onepossibility thathadbeendiscussed
wastoconvene aWTO High-Level Meeting involving theparticipation ofallWTO Members, allWTO
observergovernments,andallleast-developedcountries,includingthosethatwereneitherWTOMembers
norobservers. Insuchcircumstances, theUNCTAD Secretary-General, while regretting thatithad
notbeenpossible toproceed along thelinesthatheandtheDirector-General hadproposed before the
summer break, hadconfirmed thattheUNCTAD secretariat would beprepared tocontinue toparticipate
fullyandactively inthepreparation oftheHigh-Level Meeting andinthefollow-up thereto through
itsroleintheimplementation ofthenewIntegrated Framework forTechnical Assistance toLeast-
Developed Countries.
Onthebasis ofwhathehadsaidthusfar,heproposed thattheGeneral Council, astheWTO
body which hadbeeninstructed toconduct thefunctions oftheWTO Ministerial Conference intheWT/GC/M/22
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intervals between meetings ofthelatter, andfollowing themandate given byWTO Ministers in
Singapore, invite theWTO Director-General toconvene theHigh-Level Meeting forLeast-Developed
Countries'TradeDevelopmenton27-28OctoberintheWTO,towhichwouldbeinvitedWTOMembers
andobserver governments, andallleast-developed countries. Special invitations toparticipate should
beextended totheUNCTAD andITCsecretariats, inviewofthekeyrolethattheywereplaying in
preparationsfortheHigh-LevelMeetingandtheimportancethatWTOMembers,andtheleast-developed
countries inparticular, attached toUNCTAD 'sandITC'sfullandactive participation inthe
implementationoftrade-relatedtechnicalassistanceactivitiesundertheIntegratedFrameworkthatwould
result from theHigh-Level Meeting. Invitations should similarly beextended totheIMF, UNDP,
andWorld Bank which, along withtheWTO, ITCandUNCTAD secretariats, weredirectly involved
inthepreparation andfollow-up totheHigh-Level Meeting.
Therepresentative oftheEuropean Communities saidthathisdelegation wasready tojoin
aconsensus infavour oftheChairman 'sproposal. However, itdidsowithreluctance andregret.
Likeverymany others, theCommunity hadastrong anddistinct preference forajointmeeting. The
whole ideaofanintegrated framework implied, andindeed required, ajoint, coordinated approach
among theparticipating agencies. Members should takesteps toensure thatinthecrucial follow-up
totheHigh-Level Meeting, thesense of"ownership" andinvolvement ofallagencies wasfullyand
effectively maintained. Itwasonthatbasis thattheCommunity wasready tojoinintheconsensus.
TheCommunity proposed thatthefollowing stepsbetaken: (i)having noted thattheChairman
hadconfirmed thenature oftheroleoftheUNCTAD intheinitial preparation forthemeeting and
insubsequentfollow-upactions,theCommunity,throughtheChairman,invitedtheUNCTADSecretary-
General toassume theresponsibility ofreporting backtotheUNCTAD membership ontheresults
oftheHigh-Level Meeting withaviewtoensuring thatthere wasnolossofmomentum orsense of
commitment totaking thenecessary implementing action; (ii)thedecision taken atthepresent meeting
should notbeaprecedent; onewasfollowing a"WTO-type" approach, butitwasasuigeneris meeting
andshould notbeseenascommitting delegations tomaintaining thesame format inthefuture; (iii)
theCommunity invited theWTO Secretariat toprovide guidance, ideally inwritten form, ontheconduct
ofthemeeting, inparticular soastoensure thattheUNCTAD 'sroleandresponsibilities andvisibility
intheHigh-Level Meeting wereonaparwiththatoftheWTO; and(iv)theCommunity invited the
Secretariat toprepare guidelines inwriting forthefollow-up totheHigh-Level Meeting, again soas
toensure acoordinated, "joint" approach oftheagencies involved inthemeeting. Hehoped thatwith
theparticular issueoftheparticipation ofChinese Taipei resolved, governments would usetheremaining
twotothree weeks toaddress thequestions ofsubstance inawaythatwould leadtoconcrete results
benefitting theleast-developed countries. This, afterall,waseveryone 'sobjective, andonethathe
hoped would nowgetundivided attention.
Therepresentative ofBangladesh recalled thattheleast-developed countries hadrequested some
timeforconsultations toreacttotheproposal athand. Tothem, ajointmeeting asoriginally proposed
would undoubtedly havebeenpreferable. However, foranumber ofcomplex reasons, thiswasnot
possible. Theleast-developed countries would therefore goalong withtheChairman 'sproposal, and
looked forward toasuccessful High-Level Meeting. Hewished toreiterate thatfortheleast-developed
countries theforthcoming meeting wasofcrucial importance, andtheywerepositive thattheirappeal
fortotalsupport from allparties would notgounheeded. Heexpressed appreciation toallfortheir
efforts inenabling asolution acceptable toalltobereached, andwished toseetheUNCTAD andits
Secretary-General fullyinvolved inthepreparations aswellasthrough theHigh-Level Meeting.
Mr.Fortin, Deputy Secretary-General ofUNCTAD, saidthattheUNCTAD Secretary-General
fullyendorsed theChairman 'sstatement thattheproposed solution didnotdetract inanywayfrom
thefactthattheUNCTAD secretariat would continue toparticipate fully, actively andvisibly inthe
preparation, conduct andfollow-up oftheHigh-Level Meeting. TheUNCTAD secretariat shared fullyWT/GC/M/22
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theCommunity 'sreluctance andregret thatthemeeting could notbeajointintergovernmental meeting.
However, itwasajointmeeting asfarasthesecretariats were concerned. TheUNCTAD would
haveliked themeeting tohavebeen, asoriginally intended, ameeting ofthemembership ofboth
organizations, andtheUNCTAD Secretary-General hadtriedhardtosuggest waysinwhich thiscould
havebeendone. Ithadbecome clear, however, thatnoneofthese suggestions would remove themain
obstacle, which wasthataUNmeeting could onlytakeplace inaccordance withUNrules. The
UNCTAD therefore regretfully agreed tothesolution proposed bytheChairman. Hewished toconfirm,
however,thattheUNCTADwasfullycommittedtoparticipationinthepreparations,conductandfollow-
upofthemeeting. Healsowished toconfirm thattheUNCTAD secretariat would bereporting back
totheUNCTAD membership ontheresults ofthemeeting withaview toobtaining aclear and
unequivocal mandate toproceed onthefollow-up, which wasasimportant asthemeeting itself. The
High-Level Meeting wasthebeginning ofaprocess, which should beaprocess ofcooperation between
thetwoorganizations.
TheChairman saidthathehadpersonally spoken withtheUNCTAD Secretary-General on
thissubject several times, andthelatter, liketheWTO Director-General, wasfullycommitted tothe
success oftheHigh-Level Meeting andofthefollow-up thereto.
Therepresentative ofPakistan expressed appreciation totheDirector-General andtheUNCTAD
Secretary-General forhaving arrived atapractical solution toadifficult problem, andonewhich
respectedthedecisionsoftheUNGeneralAssemblyonimportantpoliticalissues.Pakistanwasconfident
thatwiththeunderstanding ofallconcerned theHigh-Level Meeting would besuccessful, despite the
procedural convolutions towhich allhadhadtosubject themselves. Pakistan strongly welcomed the
UNCTAD 'scontribution tothemeeting, andjoined theCommunity insaying thattheUNCTAD should
havearoleinthefollow-up thereto. Thiswould beanimportant precedent since theUNCTAD had
amuch wider roleinthepromotion oftheobjectives oftrade anddevelopment thanincontributions
totheleast-developed countries, andPakistan looked forward tofurther opportunities tobenefit from
theparticipation andcontribution oftheUNCTAD tothegoals thatMembers pursued intheWTO.
TheGeneralCounciltooknoteofthestatementsandagreedtotheChairman'sproposalregarding
theorganization oftheHigh-Level Meeting.
TheChairman, addressing thepossible attendance asobservers attheHigh-Level Meeting of
intergovernmental organizations andnon-governmental organizations, saidthatthese issues should be
considered onthebasis thattheHigh-Level Meeting wasasuigeneris event, andthatwhatever
recommendations weremade inthisregard should beontheclearunderstanding thattheywould not
beconsidered assetting aprecedent ofanykindunder WTO rules ofprocedure.
Withregard tointergovernmental organizations, heasked whether Members could agree that
invitations toattend theHigh-Level Meeting asobservers inanon-speaking capacity besentonan
adhocbasis toanumber ofintergovernmental organizations thatwere notcurrently accredited as
observer organizations intheWTO butwhich nevertheless werecontributing tothepreparation ofthe
High-level Meeting orhadexpressed astrong interest inparticipating intheMeeting asobservers given
thattheirfunctions included theprovision orfinancing oftrade-related technical assistance activities
inleast-developed countries. Ifthere were tobeagreement onthisquestion, hewould propose that
thequalification attached toadmitting theseintergovernmental organizations inanon-speaking capacity
onlybedealt withinthesame wayasthesame issue inthecontext oftheSingapore Ministerial
conference, i.e.thatthequalification would notbereflected formally intheconvening notice through
which theseorganizations would beinvited, butwould bereflected intheminutes ofthepresent meeting,
andtheChairman oftheHigh-Level Meeting would defactonotofferthefloortothese organizations
tospeak.WT/GC/M/22
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Asregards non-governmental organizations, herecalled thattheparticipation ofNGOs as
observers inanon-speaking capacity inplenary sessions oftheHigh-Level Meeting hadbeenenvisaged
inthecontext ofajointWTO-UNCTAD High-Level Meeting onthegrounds thatNGO involvement
wasincluded under UNCTAD 'srulesofprocedure andthattheWTO hadmade special provision for
thepresence ofNGOs atitsSingapore Ministerial Conference. However, hisinformal consultations
hadsuggested thatiftheWTO weretoconvene theHigh-Level Meeting under itsrulesofprocedure
alone, several delegations would havedoubts about accepting anNGO presence inplenary sessions
oftheHigh-Level Meeting. Ontheother hand, hebelieved there wasagreement thatNGOs would
beabletoparticipate inthecountry-specific roundtables thatwould befeatured attheHigh-Level
Meeting, upon specific invitation oftheleast-developed country responsible fororganizing itsown
country-specific roundtable, aswellasinthethematic roundtables uponinvitation fromtheChairpersons
ofthose roundtables.
Onthisbasis, heproposed thattheintergovernmental organizations thathadobserver status
intheWTO and,uponrequest, other intergovernmental organizations thathadresponsibilities related
tothepurposes oftheHigh-Level Meeting should beinvited toattend theHigh-Level Meeting as
observers. Furthermore, non-governmental organizations might beinvited toparticipate incountry-
specific roundtables attheHigh-Level Meeting bythose least-developed countries thatwereresponsible
fororganizing theirowncountry-specific roundtables, andinthethematic roundtables uponinvitation
from theChairpersons ofthose roundtables.
TheGeneral Council agreed totheChairman 'sproposals regarding theattendance of
intergovernmental andnon-governmental organizations attheHigh-Level Meeting.