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From: RuStra@gmx.de

To: finanzmarkt@share-online.de

Sent: Saturday, January 13, 2001 2:36 PM

Subject: [ATTAC-D] (Fwd) [GATSCrit] WTO Doc: Implementation Decision

Eine Nachricht der Mailingliste des ATTAC-Netzwerks zur demokratischen Kontrolle der Finanzmaerkte --

hier das angekündigte 2te mail zur WTO-Entscheidung vom 15.12.,

nämlich der wortlaut der angenommenen Entscheidung selbst

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To: <Undisclosed.Recipients@relay27.jaring.my>

From: "Martin Khor" <mkkp@pd.jaring.my>

Date sent: Thu, 11 Jan 2001 11:46:05 +0800

Subject: [GATSCrit] WTO Doc: Implementation Decision

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TWN AND SUNS INFO SERVICE ON WTO ISSUES

11 Jan 2001

Document: WTO DECISION ON IMPLEMENTATION

Further to the article we sent you earlier today on the report and

analysis of the outcome of the WTO on implementation issues, we are

attaching below the actual decision made by the WTO General Council

on 15 Dec 2000.

With best wishes

Martin Khor

Third World Network

JOB(00)/8205/Rev.2

(8234)

15 December 2000

Implementation-Related Issues and Concerns: Draft General Council Decision

Revision

The General Council,

Having regard to Articles IV.1, IV.2, IV.5 and IX.1 of the Marrakesh Agreement

Establishing the World Trade Organization (WTO);

Considering the importance which Members attach to implementation-related

issues and concerns as reflected in paragraphs 8 and 9 of the Geneva Ministerial

Declaration, in the preparatory process for the Third Ministerial Conference and in

numerous subsequent discussions in the General Council;

Considering that the Decision of the General Council of 3 May 2000 provides that

the General council in Special Sessions shall address issues and concerns raised by

Members in connection with the implementation of some WTO Agreements and

Decisions;

Recalling further that the Decision of 3 May 2000 provides that the General

Council shall assess the existing difficulties, identify ways needed to resolve them, and

take decisions for appropriate action;

Taking into account the work programme on implementation issues agreed by the

General council at its first Special Session on 22 June 2000 which provides that, in the

light of the progress made until then, the third Special Session will take decisions for

appropriate action where possible;

Recalling the mandate given to the Chairman of the council for Trade in Goods

and the consultations held on the issue of transition periods under the Agreement on

Trade-Related Investment Measures;

Taking into consideration the requests made to the Director-General to work with

the relevant international standard-setting organizations and relevant intergovernmental

organizations on the issue of the participation of developing countries in their work;

Recalling further that the following implementation-related issues were referred

to the relevant WTO bodies at the Special Session held on 18 October 2000:

--- in the area of Agriculture, the development of internationally agreed

disciplines to govern the provision of export credits, export credit

guarantees or insurance programmes pursuant to Article 10.2 of the

Agreement on Agriculture, taking into account the provisions of

paragraph 4 of the Decision on Measures Concerning the Possible

Negative Effects of the Reform Programme on Least-Developed and Net

Food-Importing Developing Countries;

--- in the area of Sanitary and Phytosanitary measures, the concerns of

developing countries regarding the equivalence of such measures;

--- in the area of Technical barriers to Trade, the problems faced by

developing countries in both international standards and conformity

assessment;

--- in the area of Customs Valuation, the idea of information exchange

between customs administrations on export values in doubtful cases, the

addition of the cost of services in Article 8:1(b)(iv) and aspects of the

residual method of determining customs value under Article 7 of the

Customs Valuation Agreement; and,

--- in the area of Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights

(TRIPS), the issue of the relationship between the TRIPS Agreement and

the Convention on Biological Diversity and the issue of the

implementation of Article 66.2 of the Agreement on technology transfer.

Noting the reports on the above issues from the Chairpersons of the Council for

Trade in Goods, the Council for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property

Rights, and the Committees on Agriculture, Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures,

Technical Barriers to Trade and Customs Valuation, and from the Director-

General;

Decides as follows:

1. Agreement on Agriculture

1.1 Members shall ensure that their tariff rate quota regimes (TRQs)

are administered in a transparent, equitable and non-discriminatory

manner. In that context, they shall ensure that the notifications

they provide to the Committee on Agriculture contain all the

relevant information including details on guidelines and

procedures on the allotment of TRQs. Members administering

TRQs shall submit addenda to their notifications to the Committee

on Agriculture (Table MA:1) by the time of the second regular

meeting of the Committee in 2001.

1.2 The Committee on Agriculture shall examine possible means of

improving the effectiveness of the implementation of the Decision

on Measures Concerning the Possible Negative Effects of the

Reform Programme on Least-Developed and Net Food-Importing

Developing Countries and reports to the General Council.

2. Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures

In accordance with the request to the Director-General to work with the

relevant international standard-setting organizations on the issue of the

participation of developing countries in their work, these organizations are

urged to ensure the participation of Members at different levels of

development and from all geographic regions, throughout all phases of

standard development.

3. Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade

In accordance with the request to the Director-General to work with the

relevant international standard-setting organizations on the issue of the

participation of developing countries in their work, these organizations are

urged to ensure the participation of Members at different levels of

development and from all geographic regions, throughout all phases of

standard development.

4. Agreement on the Implementation of Article VII of the General

Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994

Noting that the process of examination and approval, in the Customs

Valuation Committee, of individual requests from Members for extension

of the five-year delay period in Article 20.1 is proceeding well, the

General Council encourages the Committee to continue this work.

5. Agreement on Rules of Origin

Members undertake to expedite the remaining work on the harmonization

of non-preferential rules of origin, so as to complete it by the time of the

Fourth Ministerial Conference, or by the end of 2001 at the latest. The

Chairman of the Committee on Rules of Origin shall report regularly, on

his own responsibility, to the General Council on the progress being made.

The first such report would be submitted to the council at its first regular

meeting in 2001, and subsequently at each regular meeting until the

completion of the work programme.

6. Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures

6.1 Taking into account the unique situation of Honduras as the only

original Member of the WTO with a GNP per capita of less than

US$ 1000 that was not included in Annex (VII(b) to the

Agreement on Subsidies and countervailing Measures (SCM

Agreement), Members call upon the Director-General to take

appropriate steps, in accordance with WTO usual practice, to

rectify the omission of Honduras from the list of Annex VII(b)

countries.

6.2 The Committee on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (SCM

Committee) shall examine as an important part of its work all

issues relating to Articles 27.5 and 27.6 of the SCM Agreement,

including the possibility to establish export competitiveness on the

basis of a period longer than two years.

6.3 The SCM Committee shall examine as an important part of its

work the issues of aggregate and generalized rates of remission of

import dues and of the definition of "inputs consumed in the

production process", taking into account the particular needs of

developing-country Members.

7. Further Work

The General Council's Decision of 3 May 2000 on Implementation-

Related Issues is reaffirmed. The General Council shall address the

outstanding implementation-related issues and concerns, including those

set out in paragraphs 21 and 22 of the revised Draft Ministerial Text dated

19 October 1999 (Job(99)/5868/Rev.1), as well as any other

implementation-related issues raised by Members, as envisaged in the

Decision of 3 May and the work programme agreed on 22 June 2000, with

a view to completing the process no later than the Fourth Session of the

Ministerial Conference.