WORLD TRADE WT/L/177
19September 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-3684)
INTERNATIONAL DAIRY COUNCIL
THIRD SESSION
Note bytheChairperson
1. TheInternational Dairy Council helditsthirdsession on17September 1996. Ms.B.Cannon
(Ireland) wasre-elected Chairperson oftheCouncil.
2. TheCouncil examined thesituation andoutlook intheworld market fordairy products, basing
itselfondocumentation provided bytheSecretariat andoninformation provided byparties during the
meeting.
3. World milkproduction in1995 remained unchanged atits1994level. However, theoutlook
for1996 isforanincrease inworld milkproduction. World production ofskimmed milkpowder
declined in1995, whereas production ofwhole milkpowder increased. World exports ofbothpowders
increased. InJanuary 1996, stocks ofskimmed milkpowder werelow. Prices werestrong during
thefirstthree quarters of1995, reflecting tighter supplies, butdipped inthelastquarter oftheyear
andinthebeginning of1996 asdemand slackened.
4. World production ofbutter andbutter oilincreased marginally in1995andexports recovered.
Bytheendof1995, highprices andlowstocks were thekeyfeatures oftheworld butter market.
However, prices decreased inthefirsthalfof1996 duetoweaker demand.
5. Cheese production continued itsworld-wide upward trend. World cheese tradealsoincreased
in1995. Incontrast toprices ofmilkpowders andmilkfat,cheese prices remained firmin1996 as
demand from major importers hasbeenstrong.
6. TheCouncil considered thefunctioning oftheAgreement, including itsfuture operation and
itwasagreed thattheChairperson undertake informal consultations inthisregard prior tothenext
meeting oftheCouncil in1997.
7. TheCouncil adopted itsreport totheSingapore Ministerial Conference which willbecirculated
asadocument intheWT/L/- series.
8. Considering theDecision adopted bytheGeneral Council onProcedures fortheCirculation
andDerestriction ofWTO documents of18July1996(WT/L/160/Rev.1), andparticularly footnote 1
ofthisDecision which requires thatPlurilateral Trade Agreements take"appropriate action", theCouncil
adopted aDecision onderestriction ofInternational Dairy Agreement (IDA) documents. Thetextof
thisDecision wascirculated asdocument IDA/6.
9. Thenextregular session oftheCouncil isscheduled for16September 1997, subject to
confirmation bytheSecretariat.