As BRIDGES Weekly went to press, the WTO General Council was in session for its final meeting of 2002, and had addressed over half of its 26- item agenda over 10-11 December. While progress was made on some smaller issues, such as accessions, the body remained stuck over major issues of concern to developing countries, notably intellectual property rights and access to medicines, special and differential treatment (S&D), and implementation concerns. Members remain divided over these contentious areas for which decisions are due by the end of the year (see related stories, this issue). General Council Chair Sergio Marchi (Canada) indicated that the body could continue meeting into the weekend in an attempt to reach agreement, with a potential resumption on 18 and 20 December. The General Council is convening one week after a meeting of the Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC) on 4-6 December, which took stock of negotiations in the various WTO bodies and which also encountered roadblocks over similar issues, particularly on implementation concerns of developing countries.

Trade sources say that an inability to arrive at solutions favourable to developing countries, particularly with regard to the Doha mandate on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) to facilitate access to cheap medicines, would send a discouraging signal that the WTO is not taking its so-called "development" round seriously. Neither the General Council nor the TNC has thus far been able to resolve these issues.

Implementation at the TNC blocked over GIs

Chairs of the respective negotiating bodies presented their reports at the TNC, painting a limited and unbalanced picture of progress made thus far on the Doha mandate. According to TNC Chair/WTO Director- General Supachai Panitchpakdi, "we need more clarity in negotiating positions so we can begin to forge consensus." 46 delegations made interventions, and much emphasis was placed on slow progress on agriculture, TRIPs & health, and S&D.

Implementation -- the other item on the TNC agenda -- also appeared stuck. Debate around the approximately 80 implementation issues which Members agreed to address in a decision in Doha last November was polarised primarily by the EC's desire to turn geographical indications for certain products into a negotiating item. The EC, together with other mostly European countries who want to extend geographical indications (GIs) beyond just wine and spirits to other products, proposed elevating all these implementation issues to the TNC from their respective bodies, with an agreement to be reached on them by August 2003. Such a move would effectively lump implementation items together with other negotiating issues to be taken up at the Fifth WTO Ministerial in Cancun in September 2003.

India, Brazil, and many other developing country Members who are pushing for greater emphasis on implementation, supported the EC proposal, with India saying that implementation concerns should be addressed in special sessions of the TNC.

However, the US, Australia, New Zealand and many agriculture-exporting Latin American countries disagreed with this approach, largely due to their opposition to the EC's attempt to elevate GIs. Mexico and others warned that an attempt to bring all implementation issues to the TNC could crowd the Cancun agenda and overburden ministers. Supachai, who is also wary of overloading the Cancun Ministerial, indicated he would consult on how to move the process forward and that the TNC would revisit the issue at its next session, currently scheduled for 4-5 February 2003.

General Council: LDC accession guidelines adopted

Despite continuing stalemates on TRIPs & Health and S&D, the General Council nevertheless approved on 10 December new guidelines streamlining WTO accession procedures for least-developed countries (LDCs). The simplified and accelerated accession procedures aim to assist in integrating LDCs into the global economy, which was identified as a principal objective at the WTO Ministerial Conference in November 2001. The Doha Ministerial also provided the negotiating mandate for the guidelines as part of the Work Programme on LDCs. The guidelines, which will come into effect immediately, focus on the areas of market access, WTO rules, process and trade-related technical assistance and capacity building. They exempt LDCs from making excessive concessions or commitments with regard to market access, grant transitional periods and arrangements with regard to WTO rules, and provide for support and technical assistance both with regard to the accession process and general integration into the multilateral trading system.

The guidelines (WT/COMTD/LDC/12, accessible at http://docsonline.wto.org) had been forwarded from the Sub-Committee on LDCs, where they were agreed on 2 December following negotiations chaired by Ambassador Johan Molander of Sweden.

It was also announced at the General Council that the Secretariat was working on the establishment of a new division dedicated to LDC concerns. This was welcomed by LDC Members.

The General Council also agreed on the Protocol of Accession for Armenia. Once approved by Armenia's legislature, the country will become a WTO Member thirty days after the WTO Secretariat receives official notification of ratification.

Internal transparency

Following the adoption of a Chair's paper on procedures for the appointment of Directors-General (WT/GC/W/482/Rev.1), Members engaged in a lengthy debate around two issues that remain unresolved. Firstly, it remains unclear, Members say, whether or not there should be a rotation of D-Gs between developed and developing countries. Developing countries argue that this should be the "first and driving force" of D- G appointments. Secondly, countries pointed to a lack of clarity around the issue of voting, specifically the phrase "additional procedures of voting to be decided when necessary". Members say this leaves the process open to interpretation and effectively undermines the communication. A second document -- Guidelines for Appointment of Officers to WTO Bodies (JOB(02)198/Rev.1) -- was adopted without any debate.

However, a third document forwarded by the Chair, "Internal Transparency and Effective Participation of Members - Preparatory Process in Geneva and Negotiating Procedure at Ministerial Conferences" was not approved. Some Members questioned whether their views had been fully taken into account in the paper, with Bulgaria and India expressing concerns that the process in the Chair's statement would leave the question of small-scale informal meetings too open. India said it wanted to continue consultations and come up with further guidelines. WTO sources indicated that it was unlikely this item would be resolved before Cancun.

The General Council will continue meeting through this week; BRIDGES Weekly will report on further outcomes in subsequent editions.

ICTSD reporting; "Director-General Supachai welcomes agreement streamlining LDC membership Initial," WTO PRESS RELEASE, 3 December 2002. "Pascal Lamy welcomes agreement for accelerated accession of poorest countries to the WTO," EC PRESS RELEASE, 10 December 2002.