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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 133rd Session on 26-27 February 2002 in Paris (agenda of the 133rd Session of the Trade Committee).
A significant portion of the meeting was devoted to addressing a major recent development in the multilateral trading system - the launching of new multilateral trade negotiations under the Doha Development Agenda (DDA). The Doha Development Agenda recognises the need for all peoples to benefit from the increased opportunities and welfare gains that the multilateral trading system generates and seeks to place the needs and interests of developing countries at the heart of the agenda. The OECD can play a significant role in supporting and facilitating this process.
During the first part of the meeting, Delegates to the Trade Committee and the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) met to discuss a Trade and Development Common Reading of the Doha Declaration. UNCTAD was invited as an ad hoc observer for this portion of the meeting. The main objective of the common reading was to stimulate discussion on how the trade and aid communities at the OECD can best respond to the Doha Development Agenda. Delegates from both communities expressed the view that facilitating the DDA, in particular as concerns technical assistance and trade capacity building for developing countries, is a priority for both groups and that the Trade Committee's Programme of Work for 2002 should be adjusted as necessary to accommodate this priority. Activities to contribute to the negotiations should also be continued and incorporated into the Programme of Work for 2003-2004. The DAC Guidelines on Strengthening Trade Capacity for Development can be a useful building block in this regard.
Mr. Paul-Henri Ravier, Deputy Director General of the WTO, informed the meeting of the progress made in a number of areas since the launching of the DDA. The structure for negotiations is now in place and the technical assistance programme of the WTO for 2002, containing some 500 activities, is being finalised. Donors will meet on 11 March 2002 to contribute to the trust fund which will finance these activities. Interagency co-operation is continuing under the Integrated Framework for Trade-Related Technical Assistance, and a WTO database, intended to serve as a clearinghouse for technical assistance initiatives, is currently being elaborated as a priority activity. Delegates expressed strong support for the database initiative.
During the discussions, the issues of transparency and flexibility were stressed as prerequisites for achieving coherence among countries and between the trade and development communities. To achieve better co-ordination and co-operation, it is important to be well-informed of the various activities undertaken by different bodies in the areas of capacity building and technical assistance. It was also deemed necessary to maintain flexibility in work programmes, in order to adjust to new developments and priorities.
Delegates reiterated that addressing the development dimension of trade is not a new concern, and that work has been ongoing in this area for some time. However, in light of the Doha Declaration, there is an increased focus on the need to mainstream development considerations into all aspects of trade policy making and negotiations, and trade into all aspects of development policy making and assistance. Delegates also agreed on the need to strive for a balance in addressing short- and long-term issues. A response to the short-term, more pressing issues imposed by the deadlines under the DDA, which center around negotiations-related capacity building, should not overshadow other equally important strategic issues to be addressed in the longer term, including the expansion of South/South trade and continued domestic reform efforts in developing countries. Indeed, a forward-looking strategic approach should be developed in co-ordination with the short-term agenda. A number of suggestions and concrete proposals to improve co-ordination and undertake joint work were mentioned, taking care to avoid creating unrealistic expectations on what can be achieved in the very short term. Delegates also stressed the importance of basing assistance efforts on input from recipient countries. In his summing up, the Chair noted that the proof of the pudding in the DDA will be in the market access opportunities made available to developing countries. He also flagged the sense of urgency brought to the debate by several Delegates given the tight deadlines arising from Doha.
Following the discussion on the trade and development common reading, Trade Committee Delegates discussed the implications for the Programme of Work and Budget for 2002, and for the biennium 2003- 2004. The OECD Secretariat presented a number of proposals to enhance current work on trade and development, based on the Trade Committee's comparative advantage in carrying out analytical work and tackling new issues. The preparation process for the 2003-2004 Programme of Work was launched by asking Delegations to set their priorities for the biennium.
In the context of the agenda item on Regionalism, the Secretariat presented the work carried out during the past year on the relationship between Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) and the multilateral trading system. Delegates strongly endorsed the work done thus far in seven areas (investment, labour mobility, rules of origin, competition, trade facilitation, contingency protection, intellectual property rights) and supported the finalisation of this project, with the examination of three additional areas (environment, services and government procurement). The Japanese Delegation made a presentation of the Agreement between Japan and the Republic of Singapore for a New-Age Economic Partnership (JSEPA), which was signed by both Prime Ministers on 13 January 2002.
In response to the invitation made to Delegations to share information and discuss recent developments in policies that may significantly affect trade relations or the functioning of the multilateral trading system, the Chair noted an agreement between the United States and Hungary on tariff reduction, which was signed in January 2002 in Budapest. The Korean Delegation informed the Committee of a new regulation that required food producers to label their products to indicate the inclusion of genetically modified ingredients. The European Commission Delegation informed the Committee of its willingness to provide information on the recently overhauled Generalised System of Preferences regime for the European Union.
Concerning work on the impact of the terrorist attacks of 11 September on international trade and investment, undertaken in response to the proposal by the Delegation of Canada submitted to the Trade Committee in October 2001, the Trade Committee agreed to the declassification of the two documents in question after the incorporation of comments received by Delegations.
Finally, presentations were made by two OECD Deputy Secretaries-General. Deputy Secretary-General Schlögl informed the Committee about the three recent high-level meetings on steel held at the OECD to address the issues of inefficient overcapacity and what governments can do to enhance disciplines in this sector. Deputy Secretary-General Hecklinger updated Delegates on the state of preparations for the OECD Ministerial Meeting, to be held on 15-16 May 2002 under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister of Belgium. Trade will be an important element of the meeting, and a ministerial plenary session on trade and development, to discuss the post-Doha agenda and its development aspects, is currently under consideration.
The Trade Committee will hold its next meeting on 29-30 April 2002.
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