General Council: Proposed agenda
1. Appointment of the Director-General
Mr. Azevêdo made a presentation which was followed by a question-and-answer session. Some 21 delegations’ names were chosen at random from a box containing the names of all delegations wishing to put questions to Mr. Azevêdo, to which Mr Azevêdo provided answers. At its resumed meeting on 28 February, the General Council agreed to appoint Mr. Roberto Azevêdo as the Director-General of the WTO for a second term of four years as from 1 September 2017. The Chairman, on behalf of the General Council, congratulated Mr. Azevêdo on his re-appointment and twenty-seven delegations intervened to convey their words of gratitude and support.
2. Report by the Chairman of the Trade Negotiations Committee
The Chairman referred to the Director-General’s report at the 23 February HODs meeting where a discussion on Members’ negotiating work had taken place and over 40 delegations had intervened.
3. Protocol amending the Marrakesh Agreement establishing the World Trade Organization — Agreement on Trade Facilitation — Status Update
The Director-General provided an update on this matter and signed the official Depositary Notification of the entry into force of the Protocol amending the Marrakesh Agreement establishing the WTO, done at Geneva on 27 November 2014, concerning the Agreement on Trade Facilitation. The General Council formally took note of the entry into force of the Agreement on Trade Facilitation. Twenty delegations took the floor to congratulate the organization for this achievement and to support the efficient implementation of the TFA.
4. Implementation of the Bali and Nairobi Outcomes — Statement by the Chairman
The Chairman highlighted Australia’s submission of a draft modification to Section II of Part IV of its Schedule to eliminate its export subsidy entitlements — the first Member to take this step — and hoped this would encourage other Members with scheduled export subsidy entitlements to submit their draft revised schedules as soon as possible. On the Work Programme on e-commerce, he referred to his previous report in WT/GC/W/728 and announced that the next GC review of progress will be in July. He reported that the CTD had met in Aid for Trade session on 10 February where updates were provided by Members and Observers on Aid-for-Trade activities. He also provided updates on the Monitoring Mechanism on S&D and on work on LDC issues including on the informal consultations at the end of 2016 on preferential rules of origin and on the annual review and the CTD’s standing item on DFQF market access. Rwanda and Nigeria intervened.
5. Work Programme on Small Economies — Report by the Chairman of the Dedicated Session of the Committee on Trade and Development
The CTD Chairperson reported that the sectoral discussions and reviews of Global Value Chains had been completed and that the SVEs were currently working on an outcome document based on the discussions which had taken place during the meetings held in 2015 and 2016. On the Nairobi mandate, the Secretariat was currently carrying out its research and expected to have a report ready by the end of March. Guatemala (SVEs) intervened.
6. Review of the Exemption provided under Paragraph 3 of the GATT 1994
In line with the procedure agreed by the Council in 2002, statements made at GC meetings in 2017, questions posed to the United States and related replies would form the basis of this year’s review, together with the annual report provided by the US (WT/L/1005). The General Council will take up the matter again at its December meeting. A number of delegations expressed concerns about the exemption and called for a meaningful review which should consider if the conditions for the exemption still prevailed. The United States stood ready to answer Members’ questions on the matter.
7. Review of Waivers pursuant to Article IX:4 of the WTO Agreement
The GC took note of the report contained in WT/L/1006 regarding the operation or implementation of the waiver on the United States — African Growth and Opportunity Act. Morocco (African Group) intervened.
8. Appointment of Officers to WTO Bodies
The Chairman reported that he had conducted consultations on the Appointment of Officers to WTO bodies, in line with the Guidelines in WT/L/510. Consultations were conducted on the WTO regular bodies listed in Groups 1, 2, 4 and 5 in the Annex to the Guidelines and, in light of the coincidence in time of the vacancies in two negotiating bodies, consultations were also conducted on new Chairpersons for the Dispute Settlement Body in Special Session and the Committee on Agriculture in Special Session. He noted that, despite the efforts, consensus had yet to emerge. In light of this situation, the General Council agreed to the appointment of the Chairs of the General Council and DSB — Ambassador Xavier Carim (South Africa) and Ambassador Junichi Ihara (Japan), respectively. The newly appointed Chair of the General Council will continue the consultations on the appointment of officers to WTO bodies for 2017 and the General Council will reconvene at an appropriate time to take up the remaining slate of names. Morocco (African Group), Kenya, Moldova and India intervened.
9. Election of Chairperson
The General Council elected by acclamation Ambassador Xavier Carim (South Africa) as Chairperson for 2017. Morocco (African Group); Rwanda (ACP); Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Arab Group); Brazil (GRULAC); Uganda; Kenya; Cameroon; Dominican Republic (IGDC); Cambodia (LDCs) and Iran (Observer) intervened.
Under other business, the Philippines, on behalf of its co-sponsors, provided an update on their MSMEs initiative. Nigeria; Argentina and Switzerland supported the enhancement of the participation of MSMEs within the WTO legal framework. Australia invited delegations on a MIKTA Workshop on 20 March to exchange views on trade, investment and development; investment facilitation and the WTO’s role in this endeavour. Mexico; Republic of Korea; China; Russian Federation; Argentina; Nigeria; Pakistan; Hong Kong, China; Singapore; Brazil; Cote d’Ivoire; Turkey and Canada intervened. The Chairman made a statement on the preparations for MC11 including on the administrative matters that the General Council will have to take a decision on in the first part of the year and on the LDC Trust Fund. He also made an announcement regarding the Members and Observers in arrears.
The meeting was adjourned. The General Council will reconvene, at an appropriate time, to continue its consideration of Agenda Item 8 (Appointment of Officers to WTO bodies).
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