WTO GENERAL COUNCIL ELECTS CHAIRS, DECIDES ON NGO ACCESS AT CANCúN

The WTO General Council met for one day (10 February) instead of the scheduled two, electing officers for 2003, and agreeing on procedural issues for the Fifth Ministerial meeting in Cancún in September. Chair Ambassador Sergio Marchi (Canada) then suspended the meeting to allow for further discussion of the Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) Agreement and Public Health. Discussions on special and differential treatment (S&D) of developing countries were also stalled after blockage in the General Council (see related stories in this issue of BRIDGES Weekly).

NGO participation at Cancún

The General Council meeting decided on procedures for registration and attendance of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) at the fifth session of the Ministerial Conference in Cancún, Mexico, from 10-14 September 2003. NGOs will be allowed to attend plenary sessions of the meeting, without making interventions. They are required to apply for the right to attend, documenting that they are "concerned with matters related to those of the WTO". NGOs that have registered twice for attendance at Ministerials are exempted from the requirement of providing full documentation. Requests for registration should be sent by 30 April, and registration forms will be sent by 31 May to all NGOs that fulfil the registration criteria. The document outlining this General Council decision, in English, French and Spanish, will be available online by the end of the week (WT/MIN(03)/INF/, searchable at http://docsonline.wto.org).

Election of officers

During the General Council meeting, Members elected Carlos Pérez Del Castillo of Uruguay as the new General Council chair. The General Council further elected Shotaro Oshima (Japan) as chair of the Dispute Settlement Body, Milan Hovorka (Czech Republic) as chair of the Council for Trade in Goods, and Ousmane Camara (Senegal) as chair of the Council for Trade in Services. Members elected Vanu Gopala Menon (Singapore) as chair of the TRIPs Council, while Peter Bròo (Slovak Republic) and Mohamed Saleck Ould Mohamed Lemine (Mauritania) will be chairing the Committee for Trade and Environment and Committee for Trade and Development, respectively. Commenting on the path ahead for the newly elected chair, Ambassador Marchi stressed the work-load and said that "if 2002 was a year to tackle some of the WTO's systemic challenges, initiate procedural reforms and keep the Doha Development Agenda negotiations on track, 2003 will be a year of preparation for our 5th Ministerial Conference in Cancún, Mexico".

ICTSD Reporting; "Marchi hails roster of 2003 WTO chairpersons," WTO PRESS RELEASE, 10 February 2003.