WORLD TRADE WT/L/106
27November 1995
ORGANIZATION(95-3739)
GUIDELINES ONTHE ARRANGEMENTS FOR
SCHEDULING OFMEETINGS OFWTO BODIES
Adopted bytheGeneral Council on15November 19951
1. Theeffort should betospread outthemeetings asevenly aspossible. Tofacilitate theprocess
thelatest schedule ofmeetings should bemade available totheChairman when considering convening
ameeting.
2. OnlyoneCouncil meeting (i.e.theGeneral Council, DSB, TPRB, andtheCouncils onGoods,
Services andTRIPS) should beheldatatime.
3. There should notbemore thantwosimultaneous formal meetings ofWTO bodies.2Theneed
toavoid overlap withtheexisting schedule ofmeetings should betaken intoconsideration while
convening informal meetings aswell.3
4. Asfaraspossible thecalendar fortheformal meetings should befixed forthewhole year.
For1996itshould bepossible toestablish acalendar bytheendofNovember. Totheextent possible
meetings ofbodies attended bythesame experts from capitals should beheldconsecutively.
5. While informal meetings maybeconvened todiscuss specific problems asconsidered necessary
bytheChairman, theneedtokeepthenumber ofsuchmeetings within reasonable limits should be
keptinview.
6. Informal meetings (including plurilateral meetings) should beconvened afteranotice ofatleast
fiveworking days. Inurgent cases aminimum oftwofullworking days'notice should begiven.
7. Multilateralmeetingsshouldonlybecancelledorpostponedforreasonsofoverridingimportance.
Notice ofcancellations should beprovided asfarinadvance aspossible, bearing inmind thatformany
meetings representatives come from capitals andthattheSecretariat mustoften contract interpreters
1Upon agreement ontheguidelines theChairman saidthattheDSB, theBOP Committee andtheTMB hadparticular
requirements formeetings andthatitshould therefore beunderstood thatwhilst allefforts would bemade toschedule the
meetings ofthese bodies inaccordance withthese guidelines thenecessary flexibility would beapplied ininstances where
thiswould notbepossible. Healsomentioned thatinscheduling WTO meetings, thetimetable ofmeetings ofother
intergovernmental organizations inGeneva, suchasUNCTAD, would betaken intoaccount insofaraspossible, bearing
inmind theworkloads oftherespective organizations.
2Forthepurpose ofthese Guidelines, theCommittees ofthePlurilateral Trade Agreements, dispute settlement panels
andtheAppellate Body arenotincluded.
3Meetings willbearranged inaccordance withavailability ofconference rooms. Meetings ofbodies withfullmembership
canonlybeaccommodated intheCouncil Room andRoom D,unless facilities canbeobtained attheCICG anduntilsuch
timeasthenewConference Centre iscompleted. Informal multilateral meetings maybeaccommodated inRoom Eifthe
Council Room andRoom Dareoccupied.
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wellinadvance ofmeetings. Thereasons forsuchcancellations orpostponements should beprovided
inthenotice.
8. TheSecretariat hasaspecial responsibility forensuring thatdocumentation iscirculated well
inadvance ofthemeeting inthethreeworking languages. Meetings should, therefore, notbescheduled
unless there isareasonable assurance oftimely availability ofdocumentation. Documentation for
informal meetings should bemade available atthetimetheyareconvened.
9. These guidelines maybereviewed afteroneyear.