./.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONTN/CTD/8
4 March 2003
(03-1250)
Committee on Trade and Development
Special Session
SPECIAL SESSION OF THE COMMITTEE ON
TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT
Report by the Chairman, Ambassador Ransford Smith (Jamaica),
to the Trade Negotiations Committee
1. Since its report1 to the Sixth Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC), the Special Session of the
Committee on Trade and Development (CTD) held one formal and a number of informal meetings in
order to finalize its report to the General Council.  As indicated in the earlier report, the two main
areas on which convergence among Members was being sought, were the Agreement-specific
proposals on which recommendations could be made to the General Council, and the 'Way Forward'for the Special Session of the CTD beyond the 10 February meeting of the General Council.
2. Although during this period intensive consultations were held and the Special Session
considered many of the Agreement-specific proposals, both in open-ended informal meetings and
smaller plurilateral consultations, positions could not be bridged on most of them.  In all, Members
could agree to make recommendations on 12 Agr eement-specific proposals.  However, there were
different views on whether these should be harv ested now.  Some Members considered that this
should be done, but others expressed a preference for doing so only after further progress had been
made on the seventy-five or so remaining Agreement-specific proposals.
3. An important area of difference has been the interpretation of some aspects of the Doha
mandate.  While Members recognized the importance that Ministers attached to the S&D work
programme, and accepted the need to review all S& D provisions "with a view to strengthening them
and making them more precise, effective and operational", there were significant differences on howthis could be achieved.  Some Members considered that one way to make S&D provisions more
precise, effective and operational, was to make them mandatory by changing the existing language of
some of the 'best endeavour' provisions.   Others di d not wish to consider amending the text of the
Agreements or otherwise altering what they considered to be the existing balance of rights and
obligations.
4. In the discussions on the "Way Forward", many Members expressed the need for seeking
clarification of the mandate contained in paragraph 44 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration and
paragraph 12 of the Decision on Implementation-Related Issues and Concerns.  These Members felt
that further work in the Special Session of the CTD should be undertaken only after clarification of
the mandate had been provided by the General Council.  Other Members affirmed that the mandatewas clear and were of the view that the difficulties resulted from differences on how the mandate
should be implemented, the nature of some of the proposals, and from differing expectations about the
outcome.  They were prepared to continue working on the Agreement-specific proposals and other
aspects of the work programme, albeit at a reduced pace.  Some of these Members acknowledged that
there were differences in perception and interpretation of the mandate.
                                                     
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5. Accordingly, the Special Session in its report2 to the General Council recommended that the
General Council take note of the recommendations made on the 12 Agreement-specific proposals on
which Members had agreed in principle, but revert to the question of their adoption at a later date.
The Special Session also recommended that the General Council provide clarification, as it considers
appropriate, regarding paragraph 44 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration and paragraph 12 of theDecision on Implementation-Related Issues and Concerns, and the legal and practical means to give
effect to the mandate.  In the interim, it was recommended that the General Council instruct the
Special Session of the CTD to suspend further work.
6. The report of the Special Session was considered in the General Council during its meeting of
10 and 11 February 2003 and, in light of the absence of consensus on adopting its recommendations,
it was agreed that the Chairman of the General C ouncil would undertake consultations on how to take
the matter forward.
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