139th 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 139th Session on 13 April 2004 in Paris.

The Trade Committee devoted the first portion of its meeting to a discussion of the draft Trade Message that the Chairman of the Trade Committee will address to the upcoming annual OECD Ministerial Council Meeting. Delegates agreed on the importance of sending a positive signal to Ministers urging rapid and significant advances in the WTO process. They expressed the view that OECD Members share a special responsibility in moving the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) forward and actively addressing its development dimension.

The Trade Committee also had a discussion on the draft Programme of Work and Budget (PWB) for 2005-2006. Delegates were presented with the results of the prioritisation exercise, in which Delegations ranked the proposed areas of work for the coming biennium; these results had served as one basis for establishing the draft Programme of Work. The main orientations for the 2005-2006 PWB include work on the following: the development dimension of trade and developing country concerns; making globalisation work for all, supporting WTO negotiations; regulatory and governance issues; outreach and co-operation with non-members; and work in the area of export credits, among others. Delegations underlined the need to maintain flexibility throughout the implementation of the PWB, in order to respond to shifting priorities resulting from new developments in the multilateral trade policy environment. The importance of exploring possibilities for synergies with other international organisations working in the area of trade was also highlighted.

In response to the invitation made to Delegates to share information and discuss recent developments in policies that may significantly affect trade relations or the functioning of the multilateral trading system, Mexico informed Delegates of the completion of substantive negotiations for a free trade agreement with Japan. Once the legal text of the agreement is completed, it will go to the legislatures in both countries for ratification.

Finally, the Trade Committee was informed of progress in the ongoing OECD horizontal project on Trade and Structural Adjustment.

The Trade Committee will hold its next meeting on 18-20 October 2004.