RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE G/LIC/M/1
19June1995
ORGANIZATION(95-1638)
WTO Committee onImport Licensing
MINUTES OFTHE MEETING HELD ON3MAY 1995
Chairman: Mr.Calson Mbegabolawe (Zimbabwe)
1. TheWTO Committee onImport Licensing, established under Article 4oftheWTO Agreement
onImport Licensing Procedures, helditsfirstmeeting on3May1995.
2. Thefollowing agenda wasadopted:
Page
A. Election ofOfficers 2
B. Rules ofprocedure 2
C. Participation inmeetings/observership 2
D. Coordination between Committees 3
E. Notification procedures 3
F. Notifications: 5
- Invocation offootnote 5toArticle 2.2by 5
developing countries
- Notification byMalaysia 7
- Notification byCosta Rica 7
G. Procedures forreview under Article 7.1 8
H. Reporting totheCouncil forTrade inGoods 8
I. Other business 8
J. Dateofmeetings 9G/LIC/M/1
Page2
A. Election ofOfficers
3. TheCommittee elected Mr.Calson Mbegabolawe (Zimbabwe) asChairman for1995.
4. TheCommittee authorized theChairman toconduct informal consultations andalsotoconsult
withtheChairman oftheCouncil forTrade inGoods withaviewtoelecting avice-chairperson at
thenextmeeting.
B. Rules ofProcedure
5. TheChairman drew theattention oftheCommittee toArticle IV:6oftheWTO Agreement
which called upon thesubsidiary bodies oftheCouncils toestablish theirrules ofprocedure subject
totheapproval oftheirrespective Councils. Herecalled thattheCouncil forTrade inGoods, atits
meeting on3April 1995, hadagreed thattherulesofprocedure formeetings oftheGeneral Council
shallapply mutatis mutandis formeetings oftheCouncil forTrade inGoods withcertain modifications
assetoutindocument G/C/W/2. Heproposed thattheCommittee adopt thesame rulesofprocedure
asadopted bytheCouncil forTrade inGoods withchanges where necessary totakeaccount ofthe
specific requirements ofthisCommittee. TheCommittee could request theSecretariat toprepare these
rulesforadoption atthenextmeeting andagree toconduct itsbusiness inthemeantime inaccordance
withestablished GATT practice.
6. TheCommittee soagreed.
C. Participation inMeetings/Observership
7. TheChairman noted thataninvitation toattend thismeeting hadalsobeen addressed to
signatories oftheFinal Actthatwerecontracting parties totheGATT 1947andwereeligible tobecome
original Members oftheWTO, other governments withobserver status intheWTO, andcertain
international organizations. Theinvitation tothesignatories oftheFinal Actwasbased onaDecision
taken bytheWTO General Council atitsmeeting of31January 1995(WT/L/27). Inrespect ofobserver
governments, hereferred toaDecision taken bytheGeneral Council atthesamemeeting onguidelines
forobserver status intheWTO (WT/L/28, Annex 2).
8. With reference toparagraph 6ofAnnex 2ofdocument WT/L/28, theChairman noted that
governments withobserver status were allowed to"participate asobservers atmeetings ofworking
parties andother subsidiary bodies oftheGeneral Council asappropriate", withcertain exceptions.
Thisdidnotprevent thisCommittee, ifandwhen considered appropriate, fromholding closed sessions
without thepresence ofobservers.
9. TheCommittee tooknote.
10. TheChairman recalled thatthequestion ofguidelines onobserver status intheWTO for
international intergovernmental organizations hadnotyetbeenresolved. Pending finalagreement on
thismatter, aninterim arrangement hadbeenworked outregarding theattendance bysuchorganizations
atthefirstmeetings ofWTO bodies (WT/GC/COM/2). Pursuant tothisarrangement, theCouncil
forTrade inGoods haddecided atitsmeeting on20February 1995thattheIMFandUNCTAD would
beinvited toattend thefirstmeeting ofthisCommittee (G/C/M/1). TheCouncil forTrade inGoods
hadfurther agreed that, pending theadoption ofcriteria andconditions forobserver status for
international intergovernmental organizations intheWTO, eachsubsidiary body oftheCouncil for
Trade inGoods should decide, ateachmeeting, which organizations should beinvited asobservers
toitsnextmeeting (G/C/M/2). These adhocarrangements were without prejudice tothepositionsG/LIC/M/1
Page3
ofdelegations infuture discussions onthequestion ofobserver status ofthese organizations. The
Chairmanproposedthat,unlessthecriteriaandconditionsforobserverstatusareagreedinthemeantime,
theIMF, UNCTAD, andtheWorld Bank which hadrequested observer status inthisCommittee be
invited toattend thenextmeeting.
11. TheCommittee soagreed.
D. Coordination between Committees
12. TheChairman referred toaDecision taken bytheGeneral Council atitsmeeting on
31January1995ontheAvoidanceofProceduralandInstitutionalDuplication(WT/L/29).TheDecision
taken inaccordance withtherecommendation ofthePreparatory Committee, provided forcooperation
between theTokyo Round Committee onImport Licensing andthisCommittee withrespect to
notifications andtheholding ofjointorconsecutive meetings intheperiod between thedateofentry
intoforce oftheWTO Agreement andthedateoftermination ofthelegalinstruments through which
thecontracting parties applied theGATT 1947 andtheTokyo Round Agreements. TheDecision of
thePreparatory Committee andtheCONTRACTING PARTIES toGATT 1947(PC/11, L/7582) would
beproposed foradoption attheTokyo Round Committee onImport Licensing. Adraftdecision to
terminate theTokyo Round Agreement onImport Licensing Procedures hadalsobeencirculated for
theconsideration ofthatCommittee (LIC/W/73). Heproposed thattheCommittee takenoteofthe
Decision oftheGeneral Council.
13. TheCommittee tooknoteoftheDecision.
E. Notification procedures
14. TheChairman drew attention tothereminder ofnotification obligations under theAgreement
onImport Licensing Procedures, issued bytheSecretariat asWTO/AIR/16, andproposed thatthe
Committee adopt procedures fornotification. First, hedrew theattention oftheCommittee tothe
factthattheAgreement onImport Licensing Procedures wasnotspecific astothelanguage inwhich
notifications under Articles 1.4(a) --publications --andArticle 8.2(b) --lawsandregulations --were
tobemade. According toArticle 1.4(a), therelevant information wasrequired tobepublished "in
suchamanner astoenable governments andtraders tobecome acquainted withthem". Further, with
respect topublication ofinformation, several provisions inArticle 3(paragraphs 3,4,5(b),5(c)and
5(d)) required Members topublish certain information "forother Members andtraders toknow the
basisforgranting and/or allocating licences", or"insuchamanner astoenable governments andtraders
tobecome acquainted withthem". Itwould benecessary toagree whether, incases where the
publications werenotinaWTO language, asummary inaworking language oftheWTO should be
provided together withthepublication. TheAgreement wasnotspecific alsoastothelanguage in
which notifications oflawsandregulations under Article 8.2(b) should bemade. Thiswasthecase
alsoforseveral other WTO Agreements. With respect totheTokyo Round Agreements, including
theLicensing Code, which hadbeensilent astothelanguage inwhich national legislation should be
notified, theCode Committees, attheirfirstmeetings, hadadopted decisions toensure thatnotifications
ofnational legislation would, where thenational language wasnotaGATT language, bealsomade
inaGATT language. Heproposed thattheCommittee consider whether totakeasimilar decision
bytheWTO Committee onImport Licensing, andifso,whether itwould benecessary tohaveeither
thewhole notification, orasummary ofthenotification, inoneoftheofficial languages oftheWTO.
Thesecondissuewhichrequiredtobeaddressedwaswhetherthefirstnotificationoflawsandregulations
under Article 8.2(b) should cover thefulltextofrelevant lawsandregulations ineffect onentry into
force oftheWTO Agreement fortheMember concerned, andifso,what thetime-limit should be
forsuchnotifications, e.g.,asforcurrent Members: within threemonths fromthedateofthismeeting,
andasforfuture Members: within threemonths fromthedateofentryintoforceoftheWTO AgreementG/LIC/M/1
Page4
fortheMember concerned. Thethirdissuewaswhether inrespect ofnotifications under Article 7.3,
itwould notbeappropriate toretain thecurrent time-limit of30September, agreed bytheGATT 1947
Council forthesubmission ofreplies totheannual questionnaire onimport licensing procedures.
Fourthly, ashadbeenraised intheinformal meeting, theCommittee should address whether anyimport
licensing aspects associated withtheadministration oftariff quotas resulting from "tariffication" in
agriculture should benotified tothisCommittee ortotheCommittee onAgriculture.
15. Therepresentative oftheUnited States noted thatseveral other Committees established under
theWTO Agreement haddecided thatthefirstnotification oflawsandregulations should include the
fulltextoftherelevant national legislation andproposed asimilar procedure forthisCommittee. He
further proposed that,forreasons oftransparency, replies tothequestionnaire onimport licensing
procedures beissued asunrestricted documents andbeavailable tothepublic immediately. Inaddition,
hisdelegation proposed thatalldocuments ofthisCommittee beissued asunrestricted documents.
16. Therepresentative ofJapan saidthattheissues relating tothelanguage andcontent of
notifications, time-limits andnotification ofimport licensing aspects associated with"tariffication"
should becarefully considered taking intoaccount theneedfortransparency ofthesystem, practicability,
andthenotifications already submitted under theTokyo Round Code. AsfortheUnited States 'proposal
thattheCommittee documentation beissued onanunrestricted basis, thiswas,inhisview, amatter
which required careful consideration asanydecision onthisinthisCommittee might affect decisions
inotherareasoftheWTO. Therefore, hisdelegation proposed thattheseissues beaddressed ininformal
consultations prior toreaching anyformal agreement intheCommittee.
17. Therepresentative ofCanada saidthat,prior toagreeing onatime-limit fornotifications, it
would benecessary fortheCommittee todiscuss whatneeded tobenotified. Following onfromthe
point mentioned bytheJapanese delegation, Canada wondered whether itwould stillbenecessary for
Members tosubmit separate andnewnotifications under theWTO Agreement evenifthere hadbeen
nochange inthesubstance ofthenotifications thathadrecently beenprovided under theTokyo Round
Agreement. Itwashisviewthattheprevious notifications made totheTokyo Round Code Committee
would besufficient iftheycovered allthegrounds oftheWTO Agreement. Further, itmight beuseful
toknow whether theimport licensing questionnaire referred toinArticle 7.3covered allthepoints
modified intheWTO Agreement andwhether itwasup-to-date withthenewobligations contained
therein. Concerning thecirculation ofdocumentation onanunrestricted basis, heshared theviewof
theJapanese delegation thatthiswasahorizontal issue. Rules andprocedures relating tothiswere
being discussed elsewhere andthese should apply toallbodies soasnottodeviate from thegeneral
practice. Finally, concerning thenotification ofimport licensing aspects linked totheadministration
oftariffquotas onagricultural products, hisdelegation 'spreference wastoavoid, asmuch aspossible,
theduplication ofnotifications. Inthisrespect, itwould beworthwhile toexamine whether the
notifications provided totheCommittee onAgriculture covered allthepoints usually provided inthe
notifications ofimport licensing. Should thisbethecase, asimple cross-reference would suffice.
Ontheother hand, should there bedifferences between thecontent ofthenotification provided tothis
Committee andthatprovided totheCommittee onAgriculture, itwould benecessary toreflect on
theappropriate procedure thatshould bedeveloped infuture, inorder toensure thatallrelevant
information wasprovided, while duplication wasminimized tothegreatest extent possible.
18. Therepresentative ofHong Kong saidthatheshared theviews ofprevious speakers on
notifications. Asregards WTO/AIR/16 which listed fourobligations under different Articles, itseemed
tohimthattheinformation required tobesubmitted wasmore orlessthesame. Forexample, import
licensing procedures derived from thelawsandregulations themselves. Therefore, theCommittee
should consider whether jointnotifications under morethanoneprovision could besubmitted whenever
relevant.G/LIC/M/1
Page5
19. TherepresentativeofMexicosharedtheviewsexpressedbythedelegationofCanadaconcerning
thesubmission ofinformation onimport licensing onagricultural products, thetariffs ofwhich were
determined intheagricultural negotiations. Ifalicensing system hadbeennotified totheCommittee
onAgriculture, itwould notbenecessary tonotify itagain tothisCommittee. However, astheprime
obligation withrespect toimport licensing wastothisCommittee, onesolution would betohavesome
cross-referencing. Incases where import licensing particulars were provided totheCommittee on
Agriculture, theCommittee onImport Licensing could takenoteofsuchinformation. Duplication
inthenotification process must beavoided whenever possible.
20. Therepresentative oftheEuropean Communities saidthatherdelegation shared theconcerns
voiced bythedelegation ofCanada, particularly asregards whatneeded tobenotified, thepossible
modification ofthequestionnaire, andthederestriction ofdocuments which wasbeing discussed
elsewhere. TheEuropean Communities suggested thattheChairman holdinformal consultations on
allthese points.
21. Therepresentative oftheUnited States saidthat,concerning theissuerelating toagricultural
products, hisdelegation recognized thataclose coordination between theCommittee onAgriculture
andthisCommittee wasvital, andthatthespecific suggestion bytheMexican delegation seemed a
practical anduseful waytofacilitate thiscoordination.
22. Therepresentative ofPakistan saidthat,inview ofthefactthattheAgreement required
notification oftherules andprocedures onimport licensing andthecriteria forissuing licences, the
questionnaire onimport licensing procedures wasnotallthatrelevant. Thequestionnaire which had
beendrawn upalongtimeagodidnottakeintoaccount thenewprocedures thatsome countries might
haveadopted. Forexample, hiscountry haddoneawaywithlicensing assuchandtherewasnoauthority
thatissued import licences although, incertain cases, authorization ofvarious departments wererequired
forimportation. Hewasnotsurewhether toconsider suchprocedures asimport licensing andnotify
themintheformofreplies tothequestionnaire tothisCommittee or,astechnical barriers, totheTBT
Committee, orunder another Agreement.
23. Therepresentative ofKorea suggested thattheChairman pursue thediscussion ontheissues
raised under thisitemoftheAgenda ininformal consultations.
24. Therepresentatives ofSwitzerland andHungary shared theviews expressed byJapan and
proposed that,inviewofthedivergent views expressed bydelegations, theissues raised under this
Agenda itembediscussed ininformal consultations tobeheldunder theguidance oftheChairman.
25. TheChairman noted thatthere wasgeneral agreement ontheneed topursue informal
consultations ontheissues raised under thisAgenda itemandstated hisintention toholdsuch
consultations assoonaspracticable.
26. TheCommittee soagreed.
F. Notifications
- Invocation ofFootnote 5toArticle 2.2(Delayed Application ofCertain Provisions) by
Developing Country Members
27. TheChairman drew attention tofootnote 5toArticle 2.2oftheAgreement which provided
fordelayed application ofcertain requirements linked toautomatic import licensing, bydeveloping-
country Members which werenotParties totheTokyo Round Code, foraperiod oftwoyears fromG/LIC/M/1
Page6
thedateofentry intoforce oftheWTO Agreement fortheMember concerned. Document G/LIC/1
listed 18developing-country Members which hadinvoked therelevant provisions.
28. Therepresentative oftheEuropean Communities saidthat,inorder toensure transparency,
herdelegation believed thatitwould beadvisable ifdeveloping countries invoking footnote 5indicated
thespecific difficulties ofthose countries thatjustified theirrequest forthewaiver aswellastherelevant
time-frames.
29. Therepresentative ofCanada supported thecomments made bytheEuropean Communities
about theneedforfurther details ontheinvocation ofdelayed application provisions. Thiswasone
oftheelements thathisdelegation hadinmindwhen referring totheneedtoupdate theimport licensing
questionnaire. Asthiswasanewprovision introduced intheWTO Agreement, theremight beaneed
thatquestions relating tosuchinformation should beadded tothequestionnaire.
30. Therepresentative oftheUnited States supported theECproposal andfurther noted thatthe
delayed application ofcertain provisions oftheAgreement didnotmean thatdeveloping countries which
invoked them were exempt from thenotification procedures andanydeadlines.
31. Therepresentative ofJapan shared theviews expressed bytheEuropean Communities and
supported byCanada andtheUnited States.
32. Therepresentative ofVenezuela, supported byElSalvador, saidthattheprovision offootnote 5
wasclearandspecific andthatitdidnotimpose anobligation oncountries invoking ittoexplain the
reasons forsuchinvocation. Thiswassomething thatcould bedoneonavoluntary basis. Heagreed
withtheUnited States thatcountries availing themselves ofthisprovision mustabide bytheobligation
tonotify within therelevant time-limits.
33. Therepresentative ofUruguay shared theviews ofVenezuela. Haditbeeninthemind of
thedrafters oftheAgreement, footnote 5would haveincluded thespecific obligation onthose who
invoked theprovision tojustify andgivewhatever explanation theCommittee deemed necessary.
34. Therepresentative ofCosta Ricatooagreed thatitwasnotrequired tospelloutreasons for
invoking thefootnote. Thespecific difficulties ofdeveloping countries which invoked theprovision
were covered either bysub-paragraph (a)(ii) or(a)(iii), orboth.
35. Therepresentative ofEgypt toosupported theviews expressed byVenezuela thatthere was
nospecific requirement togiveanyreasons forinvoking theprovisions fordelayed application. As
forthetime-frames mentioned bytheEuropean Communities, hebelieved thatthefootnote indicated
thetime-limit fortheapplication oftheclause.
36. Therepresentative ofMalaysia toosupported thestatement made byVenezuela andsaidthat
hebelieved thatitwassufficient tonotify theCommittee thattheprovisions were being invoked.
37. TheChairman proposed that,inviewofthedifference ofopinion onthematter andalsoas
some ofthepoints raised touched onthetime-limits fornotification andpossible revisions totheimport
licensing questionnaire, hebeauthorized totakeupthesematters ininformal consultations withaview
toreaching some agreement.
38. TheCommittee soagreed.G/LIC/M/1
Page7
- Notification byMalaysia
39. TheChairmandrewattentiontothenotificationsfromMalaysia(G/LIC/N/2/MYS/1)concerning
theinstitution ofanautomatic licensing system, witheffect from 23March 1995, onimports of
polyethylene andpolypropylene.
40. Therepresentative ofSingapore welcomed thenotification andnoted thattheautomatic licensing
procedure hadbeenimplemented forthepurpose ofdatacollection witheffect from23March 1995.
Singapore hoped thatMalaysia would administer thenewautomatic licensing system infullconformity
withitsobligations under theGATT andtheWTO Agreement onImport Licensing Procedures. She
recalled inthisconnection thenotification made byMalaysia, circulated asdocument WT/L/32 dated
6February 1995, ofitsinvocation ofGATT Article XVIII:C toapply, asfrom7April 1994, quotas
andimport licensing procedures onimports ofpolyethylene andpolypropylene. Singapore understood
thattheinvocation ofArticle XVIII:C pertained totheuseofanon-automatic licensing measure. Apart
from thenotification tothisCommittee, there existed another notification made byMalaysia ofits
licensing scheme onthesame twoproducts, albeit toadifferent forum intheWTO. Singapore would
appreciate itifMalaysia could explain therationale fortheexistence ofthetwonotifications andthe
inconsistencybetweenitsnotificationtothisCommitteeanditsnotificationunderGATTArticleXVIII:C
ofalicensing measure onthesame products, which hadnotbeencirculated tothisCommittee.
41. Therepresentative ofJapan toosought clarification oftheautomatic licensing measure notified
tothisCommittee onthetwopetrochemical products andtherelationship ofthismeasure withthe
measure notified under GATT Article XVIII:C onthesame products. Japan shared Singapore 'sview
thattheautomatic licensing system should beimplemented infullconformity withtheGATT andthe
Import Licensing Agreement.
42. Therepresentative ofMalaysia confirmed thattheimport licensing procedure onpolyethylene
andpolypropylene wasautomatic andthatitwould beimplemented inconformity withitsobligations
under theGATT andtheWTO. Hefurther confirmed thatthenon-automatic licensing measure
previously notified totheWTO andcirculated indocument WT/L/32 wasmodified intoanautomatic
import licensing measure. Thenotification made tothisCommittee circulated asdocument
G/LIC/N/2/MYS/1 concerned thismodification. Inthisrespect, herecalled thattheChairman ofthe
Council forTrade inGoods, atitsmeeting on3April 1995, hadreported ontheconsultations hehad
hadwiththetwodelegations onthismatter. Malaysia hadsubsequently modified themeasure into
anautomatic licensing system aswascommunicated tothisCommittee. TheChairman oftheCouncil
forTrade inGoods hadalsobeeninformed ofthismodification andbeenrequested totakethisinto
account inhisconsultations.
43. TheChairman proposed that,inthelightoftheclarification provided byMalaysia andinview
ofthefactthattheChairman oftheCouncil forTrade inGoods waspursuing consultations onthis
matter, theCommittee takenoteofthestatements.
44. TheCommittee tooknoteofthestatements.
- Notification byCosta Rica
45. TheChairman proposed, andtheCommittee agreed that, inview ofthefactthatthe
communication from Costa Ricaconcerned theissue ofnotification ofmatters thatalsorelated to
agriculture, theCommittee takethismatter upininformal consultations.
46. Therepresentative ofCosta Ricasaidthatherdelegation would await theresults oftheinformal
consultations inorder tomake thenotification totheappropriate Committee.G/LIC/M/1
Page8
G. Procedures forReview under Article 7.1
47. TheChairman saidthatinaccordance withArticle 7.1oftheAgreement "theCommittee shall
review asnecessary, butatleastonce every twoyears, theimplementation andoperation ofthis
Agreement, taking intoaccount theobjectives thereof, andtherights andobligations contained therein".
Article 7.2stated that"asabasisfortheCommittee review, theSecretariat shallprepare afactual report
basedoninformationprovidedunderArticle5,responsestotheannualquestionnaireonimportlicensing
procedures andother relevant reliable information which isavailable toit",andthat"thisreport shall
provide asynopsis oftheaforementioned information, inparticular indicating anychanges or
developments during theperiod under review, andincluding anyother information asagreed bythe
Committee". Under theTokyo Round Agreement, theCommittee carried outbiennial reviews usually
attheautumn meeting oftheCommittee onthebasisofadocument prepared bytheSecretariat, which
consolidated alltherelevant information submitted bysignatories during theperiod under review.
Signatories were invited tocommunicate totheSecretariat anyadditional datatheywished tohave
included inthedocument. Thedocument wasrevised, asnecessary, following thereview session to
takeintoaccount anyadditional points raised atthatmeeting. Heasked whether theCommittee wished
tofollow thesame procedures astheTokyo Round Committee.
48. Therepresentative oftheUnited States suggested thattheCommittee revert tothisitemata
future meeting aftertheCommittee hadhadsome timeandexperience withthenotification process.
Thiswould givemore insight andabetter ideaastohowtheCommittee should proceed.
49. Therepresentative ofPoland suggested thatthisbediscussed atthenextmeeting afteragreeing
onmatters suchasthetime-limit forthesubmission ofreplies tothequestionnaire.
50. TheCommitteeagreedtoincludethisinthelistofissuestobediscussedininformalconsultations
oftheChairman, andtorevert tothisitematthenextmeeting oftheCommittee.
H. Reporting totheCouncil forTrade inGoods
51. TheChairman drewattention toArticle 7.4oftheAgreement which stated thattheCommittee
shallinform theCouncil forTrade inGoods ofdevelopments during theperiod covered byreviews.
Under theTokyo Round Agreement, theSecretariat prepared adraft report tothe
CONTRACTING PARTIES, which wascirculated tosignatories inadvance ofthemeeting. Thisreport
wasreviewed bytheCommittee atitsautumn meeting, andwasupdated subsequently bytheSecretariat
onthebasisofinstructions received bytheCommittee andinthelightoftheCommittee 'sproceedings
atthatmeeting.
52. TheChairman proposed, andtheCommittee agreed, thattheCommittee follow thesame
procedure astheTokyo Round Committee regarding thereport totheCouncil forTrade inGoods.
I. Other Business
53. Therepresentative oftheUnited States expressed concern overtheproliferation ofcertification
requirements onimports which were, inhisview, defactodiscretionary import licensing. Inaparticular
case,aMember hadbeenreported tobeissuing phytosanitary import permits foronlylimited quantities
ofaproduct, often forlessthantheamount requested bytheimporter.
54. TheCommittee tooknoteofthestatement.G/LIC/M/1
Page9
J. Date ofMeetings
55. TheChairman referred toArticle 4oftheAgreement which stated thattheCommittee "shall
meetasnecessary...". Under theTokyo Round Agreement, theCommittee heldtworegular meetings
eachyear, inspring andautumn. Heproposed thattheWTO Committee follow thesame practice
andmeet, inprinciple, twice ayearinspring andautumn. Thisschedule would alsoenable theTokyo
Round Committee andtheWTO Committee toholdjointorconsecutive meetings asenvisaged inthe
Decision onAvoidance ofProcedural andInstitutional Duplication. Thiswasontheunderstanding
thatmore frequent meetings would beconvened ifrequired. Ifthiswasacceptable, thenextmeeting
oftheCommittee would beheldinautumn, theexact datetobeestablished afterconsultation with
delegations. Inthemeantime, hewould hold, asagreed, informal consultations withdelegations on
theissues leftforfurther reflection.
56. TheCommittee soagreed.