143rd Session of the Trade Committee - Summary

The OECD Trade Committee provides senior trade policy officials of OECD Member countries and several observer countries the opportunity for a wide-ranging exchange on key trade policy issues and developments. It held its 143rd Session on 8-9 March 2006 in Paris (agenda of the 143rd Session of the Trade Committee).

The meeting opened with a discussion of the state of play of the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) post-Hong Kong and the way forward. Delegates were also asked to consider the elements they wished to see in the message the Chairs of the Trade Committee would address to the May 2006 Ministerial Council Meeting. The Chair highlighted the timeliness of this discussion, given the upcoming end-April deadline decided in Hong Kong for agreeing to modalities in key areas, and encouraged the Committee to be creative in its thinking on how to achieve these modalities by the end of April, and where to go after the April deadline, in order to achieve the conclusion of the round by the end of 2006.

Several Delegates felt that the mood since Hong Kong had been relatively optimistic and that there was a general acceptance of the programme of work and the need to respect its implementation in a timely manner. All Delegates agreed that there was a sense of urgency, since the end of April was approaching quickly and there was still much to be done. On the other hand, they cautioned that despite the tight deadlines ahead in 2006, important decisions should not be made hastily. They felt that in order to have a successful meeting at the end of April, Ministers had to be well prepared in advance and that the decisions to be put before Ministers should be focused and limited in number. Many Delegates reiterated that the stakes were high for the DDA and that failure would bring a loss of credibility to the multilateral trading system, along with a huge missed opportunity, for both developed and developing countries, that would not present itself again for several years.

In terms of where things stood on the different components of the DDA, there was the sense that there was not sufficient progress taking place. Some Delegations noted an interest in greater progress in the area of rules and services, although the plurilateral discussions which had begun on services were noted. Delegates felt the need for progress to occur in these areas, along with agriculture and non-agricultural market access (NAMA).

In terms of the Trade Policy Message to Ministers, while Delegates recognised that it would be necessary to take account of events at the end of April when drafting the message, most of them felt that the message should highlight the strengths of the OECD and be forward-looking in nature.

The Trade Committee had a lengthy discussion on the work in progress. The Chair of the Working Party gave a summary of the wide variety of work underway and highlighted the work directly relevant to the DDA, as well as analysis that looked at longer term issues. He reminded the Committee that it was their role to be forward-looking and “crack the hardest nuts”. Delegates expressed their appreciation for the quality of the work carried out by the Working Party. The Delegate from the Netherlands took this opportunity to inform the Committee of a workshop that would take place in Rotterdam in June on the topic of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and trade.

The Deputy Director for Trade briefed Delegates on the different elements of the OECD horizontal project on Globalisation and Structural Adjustment, a wide-ranging project which would examine the overall effects of globalisation, innovation in key services sectors and trade and labour market adjustments. He informed Delegates that this project was being carried out through the co-operation of several OECD Directorates. It is scheduled to conclude in time for the 2007 OECD Ministerial Council Meeting.

The OECD Secretariat updated Delegates on work taking place in the area of export credits and recent developments in that area. Delegates expressed the importance they attached to this issue and the need to respond to the changes in the playing field for officially supported export credits.

The Trade Committee also had a discussion on their priorities for the Programme of Work and Budget for 2007-2008. They provided guidance to the Secretariat on which topics and countries/regions they felt should be the focus of analytical work. The Programme of Work and Budget will be further developed by the Secretariat in the coming months.

Under other business, Delegates were informed of the reflection taking place within the Trade Committee and Working Party bureaus on how to enhance the interaction between the Trade Committee and civil society to the mutual benefit of both communities.

The Trade Committee will hold its next meeting on 29-30 June 2006.