Appendix 2

Parliamentary Conference on the WTO
June 24-25 2010, IPU Headquarters, Geneva
21^st Session of the Steering Committee

Summary of the Decisions, prepared by the IPU Secretariat

1.         The Steering Committee of the Parliamentary Conference on the WTO met on 24 and 25 June 2010 at IPU Headquarters in Geneva and was attended by 41 persons (see list of participants in Annex 1). The session was co-chaired by Mr. V. Moreira, representing the European Parliament, and Mr. G. Versnick, representing the IPU.

2.         During its first sitting, the Committee was briefed on the state of play in the Doha Round negotiations by Mr. Harsha Vardhana Singh, WTO Deputy Director-General, who made an introductory presentation and answered several rounds of questions. In his opening remarks, Mr. Singh underscored that, whereas world trade had fallen by 12.2 per cent in 2009, the WTO forecast for 2010 predicted a gradual recovery, with a projected growth in international trade of 9.5 per cent. Should the anticipated positive trend materialize, its overall global effect would likely be multiplied because trade is as much a consequence as it is a driving force of the economic rebound.

3.         Crisis-related experience has generated renewed awareness of the benefits of the rules-based, stable and predictable trading system embodied by the WTO. The Doha Development Round, the focal point of the ongoing negotiations, has been described by the WTO Director-General as “the lowest hanging economic stimulus”. Eighty per cent of the path to the successful conclusion of the Round already appears to have been covered. To finish the job, political will must be converted into effective engagements by WTO Members.

4.         Speaking on behalf of the WTO Director-General, Mr. Singh reiterated that the WTO's relations with parliamentarians had grown and were now on solid footing. The WTO welcomed these regular meetings to exchange views and information and considered the work of the Steering Committee very important.

5.         Following Mr. Singh's presentation, a lively exchange of views took place among the Steering Committee members with regard to the current situation in the Doha Round. In view of the G20 Summit in Toronto, they decided to restate the Committee's firm support for the efforts to reinvigorate the Round. To that end, the Committee adopted a Statement, the text of which is to be found in Annex 2.

6.         The Statement reaffirms inter alia the key role played by WTO’s Aid-for-Trade initiative to help developing countries, particularly LDCs, to build supply-side capacity and trade-related infrastructure. In connection with this topic, the Committee members were briefed by Mrs. Patricia Francis, Executive Director of the International Trade Centre (ITC), on the Aid-for-Trade Work Programme 2010-2011 adopted by the WTO in November 2009.

7.         Aid for Trade is about helping developing countries increase exports of goods and services, better integrate into the multilateral trading system, and benefit from liberalized trade and improved market access. The Aid-for-Trade Initiative came into being at the December 2005 WTO Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong. It is not part of the negotiations under the Doha Development Agenda per se, but complements it. The WTO considers Aid for Trade as the central element of its policy to keep development at the heart of the Doha Round.

8.         In her question-and-answer exchange with the members of the Steering Committee, Mrs. Francis explained that ITC was a 100% Aid-for-Trade agency, with a special focus on the business and private sectors. To be able to carry out its mission successfully, ITC intends to forge partnerships with national parliaments in both donor and beneficiary countries. Examples of how parliaments can contribute to ensuring effective implementation of the Aid-for-Trade agenda include: mainstreaming trade in national development strategies and plans, monitoring the effectiveness of export promotion programmes, removing the supply-side constraints to trade and developing effective export finance mechanisms.

9.         During its sitting in the morning of 25 June, the Steering Committee was briefed by Mrs. Gabrielle Marceau, Counsellor in the Legal Affairs Division of the WTO, on the banana dispute - one of the longest-running, politically sensitive, technically complex, and commercially meaningful legal disputes in the history of GATT-WTO. The comprehensive agreement reached by Latin American banana-producing nations, the United States of America and the European Union at the end of 2009 is widely considered to be a success story and a precursor of things to come.

10.       Having personally followed the banana dispute at the WTO for a number of years, Mrs. Marceau was well placed to provide exhaustive answers to the questions of Steering Committee members. In her view, the settlement was important not only because the dispute had had an exceptionally long history but also because it had contraposed two groups of developing countries. From the institutional point of view, the WTO has emerged from the dispute in better shape, having successfully applied a so-called “good offices” procedure to help broker an agreement. This being said, the deal is yet to be ratified by the European Parliament.

11.       As part of its agenda, the Steering Committee considered issues relating to the future of the Parliamentary Conference on the WTO, including the organization of plenary sessions, meetings of the Steering Committee and other events in the short and medium-term perspective.

12.       The Committee noted with satisfaction that this year's annual WTO Public Forum would take place from 15 to 17 September 2010 under the overall theme "The forces shaping world trade". As in the past, members of parliament specializing in international trade are encouraged to attend the Forum. Relevant information has already been circulated by the WTO Secretariat, the IPU and the European Parliament.

13.       To make the best possible use of the opportunities offered by the WTO Public Forum, the Steering Committee endorsed the proposal to organize a parliamentary panel within the Forum's overall programme (Thursday, 16 September, from 2.15 to 4.15 p.m. in Room D at WTO Headquarters). The Steering Committee asked the Secretariats of the IPU and the European Parliament to finalize practical arrangements for the panel, including its theme and the list of panelists.

14.       It was agreed that the next session of the Steering Committee would take place on 16 September, immediately after the parliamentary panel. The session would be held at the IPU.

15.       Each member of the Steering Committee is expected to register personally for the WTO Public Forum before the official deadline of 9 September 2010 (only on-line registration is possible). In view of the exceptionally difficult situation with hotel accommodation in Geneva in September, members are also invited to book their hotel rooms as soon as possible.

16.       Despite the atmosphere of uncertainty about the outcome of WTO negotiations in 2010 and unclear prospects for the next WTO Ministerial Conference, the Steering Committee felt that there was no point in postponing indefinitely the next plenary session of the Parliamentary Conference on the WTO and decided to hold the session in 2011.

17.       Before the end of its work, the Steering Committee was informed of the imminent departure of two of its long-serving members, Mr. Versnick of Belgium and Lord Paul of the United Kingdom. The Committee thanked both of them for their contribution to the advancement of the Parliamentary Conference on the WTO, of which Mr. Versnick had been a co-chair since its inception in 2002. Annex 1.