133rd Session of the Trade Committee - Agenda

1.    Adoption of the Agenda

The World Bank has been invited as an ad-hoc observer to this session of the Trade Committee, while UNCTAD has been invited as an ad-hoc participant in the discussion under item 4.

2.    Doha Declaration: Trade and Development Common Reading

Delegates are invited to engage in a common reading of the Doha Declaration - with the Members of the DAC who have been invited to attend the meeting - in terms of how to respond best to the commitments made at Doha, particularly on trade capacity-building and technical assistance. Discussion will draw in particular on the Trade Committee Chairman's suggestions at the joint informal DAC/IAWG meeting of 17-18 January 2002 to put the emphasis this year on transparency of donors' multilateral, plurilateral and bilateral WTO-related Programmes, to invite demandeurs of technical assistance to identify their WTO-related needs and to discuss in the Trade Committee ways and means to ensure that all donors provide coherent messages to beneficiaries of technical assistance or capacity-building programmes.

3.    Doha Development Agenda: The Way Forward and Implications for the Programme of Work and Budget 2002

Following the discussion on item 4, Delegates are invited to further discuss how they see the process and substance of the negotiations in the coming months in Geneva. They may wish to put the emphasis on the issues that have to be addressed in the negotiations in 2002 and the preparation of work to ensure smooth progress towards the Ministerial meeting in 2003 in Mexico. Delegations may also wish to indicate how to address issues which are important to a number of Members and for which the Doha Declaration does not foresee a specific negotiating mandate.

4.    Regionalism

Following discussion in the Trade Committee on 13-14 February 2001, work has proceeded examining the relationship between regional trade agreements (RTAs) and the multilateral trading system. The objective of this work is to provide an analytical backdrop for WTO Members' consideration of how to manage the relationship- and to foster the complementarity - between RTAs and the multilateral system.

5.    Recent Important Developments in Trade and Trade Policy

As at each Trade Committee meeting, Delegates are invited to share information and discuss recent developments in policies or practices that may significantly affect trade relations or the functioning of the multilateral trading system. If possible, Delegates are encouraged to notify in advance to the Secretariat issues or topics that they wish to address.

6.    Impact of Terrorist Attacks of 11 September

Work in this area has been undertaken in response to the proposal submitted to the Trade Committee in October 2001 for the OECD to undertake work on "The impact of 11 September on the international trade and investment system"

7.    Renewal of the Mandate of the Joint Group on Trade and Competition

The two year mandate of the Joint Group on Trade and Competition expires in May this year at the time of the Ministerial Council Meeting. As decided in 1996, the Joint Group's mandate is renewed by the Competition Committee and the Trade Committee. To that end, both Committees should consider and ultimately approve at their meetings to be held on 12 February (Competition Committee) and 26-27 February (Trade Committee) a report on the issue. This Report to the parent committees will then be transmitted to the MCM in May for information.

8.    Programme of Work and Budget 2003-2004

After having requested the input of Delegations, the Secretariat asks Delegations to indicate their priorities on a list of activities proposed for consideration in the 2003-2004 Programme of Work and Budget. In accordance with the result of this ranking and in light of the orientations given by the Budget Committee and the Council, the Secretariat will submit a concrete PWB proposal for the biennium 2003-2004 to the Committee in April, for approval and presentation to the Council under the responsibility of the Secretary General.

9.    Work in Progress

The Secretariat will update Delegates on developments in ongoing work. The Chairman of the Working Party of the Trade Committee, Mr Luis Carderera, and the Secretariat are at the Trade Committee's disposal to answer any questions that Delegates may wish to raise.

10.  Other Business

Under this item, Deputy Secretary-General, Mr. Richard Hecklinger will brief Delegates on current planning for the 2002 Ministerial Council Meeting, while Deputy Secretary-General Schlögl will make an oral report on the recent High Level meeting on Steel.