HIGHLIGHTS

Mr. Murasoli Maran, Union Minister of Commerce & industry, unveiled on 31 March, 2002 the first Five-Year Export & Import (Exim) Policy of the new millennium for the period 2002-2007 containing a comprehensive package intended to give a massive thrust to India's exports. Announcing the Policy which removes all quantitative restrictions on exports at a news conference in New Delhi, Mr. Maran said that the new Policy was comprehensive in scope as it encompassed the agricultural sector, cottage & handicrafts and the small scale sectors, thus taking care of more than 80% of India's population living in the rural areas which would also benefit a wide-range of the country's population and give an additional fillip to the country's exports. Outlining the broad approach of the new Exim Policy in a Mission Statement, Mr. Maran stressed the need for taking radical steps, away from "a business as usual approach" and said that the Policy was geared towards doubling India's present exports of around US $ 45 billion to more than US $ 80 billion over the Tenth Five Year Plan by 2007, envisaging a compound annual growth rate of 11.9%. "Therefore, there should be appreciation of the fact that international trade is a vital part of development strategy, and it can be an effective instrument of economic growth, employment generation and poverty alleviation", the Minister said.

i. Offshore Banking Units (OBUs) shall be permitted in SEZs. Detailed guidelines are being worked out by RBI. This should help some of our cities emerge as financial nerve centres of Asia.

ii. Units in SEZ would be permitted to undertake hedging of commodity price risks, provided such transactions are undertaken by the units on stand-alone basis. This will impart security to the returns of the unit.

iii. It has also been decided to permit External Commercial Borrowings (ECBs) for a tenure of less than three years in SEZs. The detailed guidelines will be worked out by RBI. This will provide opportunities for accessing working capital loan for these units at internationally competitive rates.

i. Export restrictions like registration and packaging requirement are being removed today on Butter, Wheat and Wheat products, Coarse Grains, Groundnut Oil and Cashew to Russia. Quantitative and packaging restrictions on wheat and its products, Butter, Pulses, grain and flour of Barley, Maize, Bajra, Ragi and Jowar have already been removed on 5th March, 2002.

ii. Restrictions on export of all cultivated (other than wild) varieties of seed, except Jute and Onion, removed.

iii. To promote export of agro and agro based products, 20 Agri export zones have been notified.

iv. In order to promote diversification of agriculture, transport subsidy shall be available for export of fruits, vegetables, floriculture, poultry and dairy products. The details shall be worked out in three months.

v. 3% special DEPB rate for primary & processed foods exported in retail packaging of 1 kg or less.

i. An amount of Rs. 5 crore under Market Access Initiative (MAI) has been earmarked for promoting cottage sector exports coming under the KVIC.

ii. The units in the handicrafts sector can also access funds from MAI scheme for development of website for virtual exhibition of their product.

iii. Under the Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG) scheme, these units will not be required to maintain average level of exports, while calculating the Export Obligation.

iv. These units shall be entitled to the benefit of Export House status on achieving lower average export performance of Rs.5 crore as against Rs. 15 crore for others; and

v. The units in handicraft sector shall be entitled to duty free imports of an enlarged list of items as embellishments upto 3% of FOB value of their exports.

With a view to encouraging further development of centres of economic and export excellence such as Tirupur for hosiery, woollen blanket in Panipat, woollen knitwear in Ludhiana, following benefits shall be available to small- scale sector:

i. Common service providers in these areas shall be entitled for facility of EPCG scheme.

ii. The recognised associations of units in these areas will be able to access the funds under the Market Access Initiative scheme for creating focused technological services and marketing abroad.

iii. Such areas will receive priority for assistance for identified critical infrastructure gaps from the scheme on Central Assistance to States

iv. Entitlement for Export House status at Rs. 5 crore instead of Rs. 15 crore for others.

Duty free imports of trimmings and embellishments upto 3% of the FOB value hitherto confined to leather garments extended to all leather products.

i. Sample fabrics permitted duty free within the 3% limit for trimmings and embellishments.

iii. Additional items such as zip fasteners, inlay cards, eyelets, rivets, eyes, toggles, velcro tape, cord and cord stopper included in input output norms.

iv. Duty Entitlement Passbook (DEPB) rates for all kinds of blended fabrics permitted. Such blended fabrics to have the lowest rate as applicable to different constituent fabrics.

i. Customs duty on import of rough diamonds is being reduced to 0%. Import of rough diamonds is already freely allowed. Licensing regime for rough diamond is being abolished. This should help the country emerge as a major international centre for diamonds.

ii. Value addition norms for export of plain jewellery reduced from 10% to 7%. Export of all mechanised unstudded jewellery allowed at a value addition of 3 % only. Having already achieved leadership position in diamonds, now efforts will be made for achieving quantum jump on jewellery exports as well.

iii. Personal carriage of jewellery allowed through Hyderabad and Jaipur airport as well.

The Electronic Hardware Technology Park (EHTP) scheme is being modified to enable the sector to face the zero duty regime under ITA(Information Technology Agreement)-1. The units shall be entitled to following facility:

iii. Supplies of ITA I items having zero duty in the domestic market to be eligible for counting of export obligation.

i. Licence/Certificate/Permissions and Customs clearances for both imports and exports on self-declaration basis.

iii. Priority Finance for medium and long term capital requirement as per conditions notified by RBI;

iv. Exemption from compulsory negotiation of documents through banks. The remittance, however, would continue to be received through banking channels;

v. 100% retention of foreign exchange in Exchange Earners’ Foreign Currency (EEFC) account;

Fuel costs to be rebated by it in Standard Input Output Norms (SIONs) for all export products. This would enhance the cost competitiveness of our export products. The value of fuel to be permitted as a percentage of FOB value of exports for various product groups is as under:

Product Group	Value of fuel as a % of FOB value of exports
Bulk Drug and Drug Intermediates	5%
Dye and Dye Intermediates	4%
Glass	5%
Ceramic Products	5%
Paper made from wood pulp/ waste paper	5%
Pesticides (Technical)/ Pesticides formulation from Basic Stage	5%
Refractory items	7%
Ferrous engineering products manufactured though forging/ casting process	7%
Non ferrous basic metal	4%
Plastic and plastic products from basic/ monomer stage	5%
Fibre to yarn	4%
Yarn to fabric/ madeups/ garments	3%
Fibre to fabric/ madeups/ garments	7%

i. Setting up of "Business Centre" in Indian missions abroad for visiting Indian exporters/businessmen.

ii. ITPO portal to host a permanent virtual exhibition of Indian export product.

iii. Focus LAC (Latin American Countries) was launched in November, 1997 in order to accelerate our trade with Latin American countries. This has been a great success. To consolidate the gains of this programme, we are extending this upto March, 2003.

iv. Focus Africa is being launched today. There is tremendous potential for trade with the Sub Saharan African region. During 2000-01, India’s total trade with Sub Saharan African region was US$ 3.3 billion. Out of this, our exports accounted for US$ 1.8 billion and our imports were US$ 1.5 billion. The first phase of the Focus Africa programme shall include 7 countries namely, Nigeria, South Africa, Mauritius , Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Ghana. The exporters exporting to these markets shall be given Export House Status on export of Rs.5 crore.

v. Links with CIS countries to be revived. We have traditional trade ties with these countries . In the year 2000-01, our exports to these countries were to the extent of US$ 1082 million. In this group, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Azerbaijan to be in special focus in the first phase.

Transport subsidy for exports to be given to units located in North East, Sikkim and Jammu & Kashmir so as to offset the disadvantage of being far from ports.

To encourage re-location of industries to India, plant and machineries would be permitted to be imported without a licence, where the depreciated value of such relocating plants exceeds Rs. 50 crores.

With a view to reducing transaction cost, various procedural simplifications have been introduced. These include:

i. A new 8 digit commodity classification for imports is being adopted from today. This classification shall also be adopted by Customs and DGCI&S shortly. The common classification to be used by DGFT and Customs will eliminate the classification disputes and hence reduce transaction costs and time. Similarly, Ministry of Environment and Forests is in the process of finalisation of guidelines to regulate the import of hazardous waste.

iii. Reduction of the maximum fee limit for electronic application under various schemes from Rs. 1.5 lakh to Rs. 1.00 lakh.

ii. The percentage of physical examination of export cargo has already been reduced to less than 10 percent except for few sensitive destinations.

iii. The application for fixation of brand rate of drawback shall be finalised within 15 days.

i. Direct negotiation of export documents to be permitted. This will help the exporters to save bank charges.

iii. The repatriation period for realisation of export proceeds extended from 180 days to 360 days. The facility is already available to units in SEZ and exporters exporting to Latin American countries.

These facilities are being made available to status holders only for the present.

i. Import/Export of samples to be liberalised for encouraging product upgradation.

ii. Penal interest rate for bonafide defaults to be brought down from 24% to 15%.

iii. No penalty for non-realisation of export proceeds in respect of cases covered by ECGC insurance package.

iv No seizure of stock in trade so as to disrupt the manufacturing process affecting delivery schedule of exporters.

v. Foreign Inward Remittance Certificate (FIRC) to be accepted in lieu of Bank Realisation Certificate for documents negotiated directly.

vi. Optional facility to convert from one scheme to another scheme. In case the exporter is denied the benefit under one scheme, he shall be entitled to claim benefit under some other scheme.

vii. Newcomers to be entitled for licences without any verification against execution of Bank Guarantee.

i. Duty Exemption Entitlement Certificate (DEEC) book to be abolished. Redemption on the basis of Shipping bills and Bank Realisation Certificates.

ii. Withdrawal of Advance Licence for Annual Requirement (AAL) scheme as problems were encountered in closure of AAL and the significance of scheme considerably reduced due to dispensation of DEEC. The exporters can avail Advance Licence for any value.

iii. Mandatory spares to be allowed in the Advance Licence upto 10% of the CIF value.

vi. DEPB rates for composite items to have lowest rate applicable for such constituent.

i. EPCG licences of Rs.100 crore or more to have 12 year export obligation (EO) period with 5 year moratorium period.

ii. EO fulfilment period extended from 8 years to 12 years in respect of units in agri-export zones and in respect of companies under the revival plan of BIFR.

iii. Supplies under Deemed Exports to be eligible for export obligation fulfilment along with deemed export benefit.

The latest 12- month programme deals with one of the most critical stages of the agriculture negotiations. It will set "modalities" or targets (including numerical targets) for achieving the objectives set out in the Doha Ministerial Declaration: "substantial improvements in market access: reductions of, with a view of phasing out, all forms of export subsidies; and substantial reductions in trade-distorting domestic support". It will also include some rule-making. This stage will therefore determine the shape of the negotiations’ final outcome.

The "modalities" will be used for members to produce their first offers or "comprehensive draft commitments". The Doha Ministerial Declaration says this has to be done by the Fifth Ministerial Conference in Mexico, a few months after 31 March 2003. The negotiations themselves are to end by 1 January 2005 as part of the Doha agenda’s single undertaking.

The programme begins with technical work on detailed possibilities for each of the three "pillars" of the agriculture agreement: export subsidies/competition; market access; and domestic support. Special treatment for developing countries will be an integral part of all of these, and non-trade concerns will be taken into account.

Chairperson-designate Stuart Harbinson of Hong Kong, China, presided over the consultations that produced the consensus backing for the programme. Four informal consultations open to all WTO members were held to report on smaller group discussions and to hear comments before a consensus compromise was struck. One of the constraints was the need to avoid a schedule that clashed with other meetings - including negotiations in other subjects - in a busy year.

Mr. Harbinson, who chaired the WTO General Council during the preparations for the Doha Ministerial Conference, was formally elected chairperson at the beginning of the meeting, a position he will hold until the Fifth Ministerial Conference in Mexico. He took over from Ambassador Apiradi Tantraporn of Thailand.

• June meeting: export subsidies and restrictions (informal 17-19 June, formal 20 June)

• Early September meeting: market access (informal 2-3 September, formal 4 September)

• Late September meeting: domestic support (informal 23-25 September, formal 27 September)

• After that, for circulation by 18 December: overview paper drafted by Chairperson Harbinson, based on discussions so far.

• January meeting: comprehensive review based on overview paper (informal/formal 22-24 January)

• February meeting: comments on first draft (informal/formal 24-28 February)

• March meeting: consideration of final text (informal/formal 25-31 March)

In the first two phases on unprecedented 126 member governments submitted 45 proposals and numerous other documents setting out their initial negotiating positions in the negotiations. The talks have now moved into the more difficult stage of attempting to narrow the gaps and ultimately reach a compromise consensus.

1. Government of India has taken up comprehensive upgradation and modernisation of the patent administration at a cost of Rs. 75.59 crore. This is inclusive of initiatives for the simplification and re-engineering of work procedures and developing of databases of facilitate on-line search as also to create user-friendly systems. These initiatives have so far enabled initial computerisation, establishment of on-line search facilities, development of work manuals, launch of website, preparation of information brochures, installation of front office software to generate computerised information about status of patent application and issue of receipts. Two modernised patent offices in Delhi and Chennai were operationalised in July and August 2001 respectively. The modernisation of the Patent office in Kolkata is nearing completion while the work is going on in Mumbai.

2. The modernisation initiatives have started showing initial results. Patent Offices, which have been examining around 2800 applications per year, examined over 4264 application in 2000-2001. The average output of Patent Examiners has improved by 50%. The Delhi Patent office is currently examining food, drug and medicine related patent applications filed in March 2001 and the Chennai office is examining applications filed in June 2001. These gains, which are with existing manpower, will be further consolidated with the appointment of 132 Examiners, 81 of whom are being issued appointment orders. From October 2000, the practice of Preliminary Examination Reports (PERs) for patents was commenced. This has resulted in starting early the process of patent processing. Over 26,000 PERs have been issued by various offices.

3. The Patent Office is a subordinate office under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion and is headed by the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks. The other senior functionaries are Senior Joint Controller of Patents and Designs, Joint Controller of Patents and Designs, Deputy Controller of Patents and Designs, Assistant Controller of Patents and Designs and Examiner of Patents and Designs.

4. The operationalisation of a work procedures manual (available on website) ensures uniformity in procedure. Installation of front office software to enable generation of computerised information about status of patent applications and issue of receipts also provides user friendly services. All categories of patent applications are dealt in strict chronological order of receipt. The proposed up-gradation of the website to an integrated and interactive intellectual property portal will further contribute to transparency in the functioning of patent offices.

5. The number of patent applications pending with various Patent Offices is as under:

The Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 was notified on 30th December, 1999. The operationalisation of the Act is contingent upon the finalisation of the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Rules and also upon the establishment of the Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB). Steps are underway to expedite operationalisation and these include notification of the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Rules, 2002 and establishment of the IPAB. The formalities relating to IPAB are nearing completion.

India has been demanding in the Council for TRIPS that the higher level of protection as is available to wines & spirits under Article 23, should be extended to geographical indications of other products also. India in a Joint submission along with Bulgaria, The Czech Republic, Egypt, Iceland, Kenya, Liechtenstein, Pakistan, Slovenia, Sri Lanka, Switzerland and Turkey has submitted a proposal in this regard in the TRIPS Council on 2nd October 2000 and further supported this proposal vide Joint submission on 17th March 2001 and on 17th September 2001. Ministerial Declaration at Doha has directed the Council for TRIPS to address as a matter of priority, the issue of extension of the protection of geographical indications provided for in Article 23 to products other than wines and spirits and to report to the Trade Negotiations Committee in this regard by the end of year 2002 for appropriate action.

Doha Declaration on the WTO’s TRIPS Agreement on Public Health affirms that the TRIPS Agreement can and should be interpreted to protect public health and promote access to medicines for all. The Declaration recognises the affordability and availability of medicines as a universal right. The Ministers agreed that the TRIPS Agreement does not and should not prevent Members from taking measures to protect public health. The Declaration reaffirms the Member’s right to use, to the full, the flexibility of compulsory license and parallel import for the purpose of public health. It clarifies that the governments have freedom to determine the grounds to grant compulsory licenses. The Declaration also clarifies that each Member has the right to determine what constitutes a national emergency or other circumstances of extreme urgency for issuing compulsory licenses on an expeditious basis. The Declaration also clarifies that each Member is free to establish its own regime for exhaustion of IPRs. The Declaration recognises the problem of countries with insufficient or no manufacturing capacities in the pharmaceutical sector in effectively using the flexibility of compulsory license and instructs the TRIPS Council to find an expeditious solution to this problem and to report the General Council before the end of 2002. The Declaration provides that the LDC Members will not be obliged, with respect to pharmaceutical products, to implement the provisions of the TRIPS Agreement relating to patent protection and undisclosed information until 1.1.2016. The Declaration would allow more flexible interpretation of the provisions of the TRIPS Agreement in undertaking measures to protect public health. The declaration clarifies the flexibilities available in the TRIPS Agreement relating to compulsory license and parallel import and removes ambiguities in the developing countries about freedom to utilise these flexibilities . The Indian Pharmaceutical industry would also benefit in catering to the demand generated by authorisation of parallel import and compulsory license.

The Government had advised all the State Governments/Union Territories to set up WTO Cells and appoint nodal officers to effectively coordinate various WTO related matters. The State Governments of Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Haryana, Punjab, Delhi, Tripura, Nagaland and the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli have established the WTO Cells. As the basic purpose for setting up to these cells was coordination between States and the Union Government on WTO matters, by and large these cells consist of Government officers. Some States like Karnataka have also involved academician and other experts in the working of these cells. The inputs provided by some of the State Governments have been useful in formulating Government’s views on the issues involved in the negotiations on WTO Agreement on Agriculture.

Total farm subsidies (including domestic support and export subsidies as notified to the WTO) provided by USA, EC (including U.K., Germany and France), Japan and China in 1998 were as under:

Directorate General of Anti-Dumping and allied Duties has initiated 14 Anti-Dumping cases concerning imports from China during the year 2001 mainly involving pharmaceutical and chemical products and consumer items like Lead Acid Batteries, Compact Fluorescent Lamps and Vitrified Porcelain Tiles. Action has been taken by the Government concerning these cases in the following manner: (i) Definitive duties have been recommended in 4 cases, of which duties have been imposed in 2 cases; (ii) Provisional duties have been recommended in 9 cases, which, duties have been imposed in 6 cases; (iii) The remaining I case has been terminated due to withdrawal of petition by the domestic industry.

The new Generlised System of Preference (GSP) scheme of the European Union (EU) for the period January, 2002 to December, 2004, has introduced a flat rate of preferential margin of 3.5 percentage points on the applicable Common Customs Tariff (CCT) instead of percentage reduction under the previous scheme. For majority of the products preference margin available under the new scheme is higher than that was available under the previous scheme. The new scheme also provides for a "standstill clause" which guarantees that India’s export continue to enjoy at least the same market access as it was offered under the previous scheme, it the application of the 3.5 percentage point for certain products results in a less favourable rate than in the previous scheme. The margin of preference available for the clothing sector under the new scheme is 5% more than that was under the previous scheme. Under the `graduation mechanism’ of the EU GSP Scheme, India had already graduated for `textiles’ covered under HS (Harmonised System) Chapters 50 to 60, and was therefore not receiving GSP tariff preference for this sector, from 1995 onwards. the status remains the same under the current scheme also.

Institutional arrangements for the Post-Doha negotiations and the TNC meeting

The outstanding issues on the Statement of the Chairman, General Council, were finally resolved at the meeting of the Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC) held in Geneva on 1/2/2002. From our point of view, India made sure that some ground rules were laid down for the negotiations, particularly the system of reporting by Chairpersons of lower bodies to higher bodies. This should systematise the negotiations to a certain extent. Also, the other negotiating objectives laid down by Government were achieved, such as DG in ex-officio capacity being made the Chairman of TNC and nomination of outsiders to chairs of negotiating bodies/special sessions only with the approval of respective Governments.

The General Council (GC) of the WTO formally met on 13/2/2002. The Chairman announced that consultations were continuing, that progress was being made but that the slate of Chairs was not yet finalised. The meeting was therefore adjourned.

The slate of Chairs was ultimately finalised at its meeting on 15/2/2002. There was difference of opinion between India and EU on the Chair of the Working Group on Investment throughout the day. Ultimately, a few minutes before the GC meeting, both sides agreed on the Brazilian Ambassador to chair the Group. Pakistan was accommodated by offering to Ambassador Munir Akram the Chairmanship of the Working Party on Accession of Saudi Arabia. Ultimately, the slate consisted only of Geneva-based Ambassadors and no new outsiders were included. At the meeting, India requested that the issues relating to transparency in procedures at the Ministerial Conferences and in selection of Chairs may be inscribed on the agenda of the next GC meeting scheduled in May. Ambassador Sergio Marchi of Canada, former Trade Minister, took over as Chairman of the General Council.

Committee on the Expansion of Trade in Information Technology Products (ITA Committee)

The ITA Committee held its 30th meeting on 15/2/202 and deferred a decision on the participation of the People’s Republic of China until the next meeting of the Committee due to some technical problem raised by the United States. The United States hoped to resolve the problem bilaterally through its Embassy in Beijing by the next meeting. It also continued its discussion on non-tariff measures work programme. The Committee agreed with Canada’s proposal requesting the WTO Secretariat to go ahead with its survey on EMC/EMI Conformity Assessment of ITA products. The Chairman invited Members views on holding of the survey. He clarified that it was up to the Committee to consider and evaluate the outcome of the survey and take decisions. The Committee agreed to keep the focus of work in this area on the submissions made by Members with the possibility of Members making additional submissions. The Chairman requested the Members to consider and come up with views on how to develop the issues raised in various submissions.

An open-ended informal meeting of the WGTI was held on 18/2/2002 to discuss the technical assistance and capacity building in the area of trade and investment pursuant to para 21 of the DMD (Doha Ministerial Declaration) and to discuss the organisation of work programme of the WG. WTO Secretariat briefed Members on its coordination with UNCTAD for technical assistance. It also circulated draft outline for workshops/national seminar/technical Missions being planned in cooperation with the UNCTAD. Regarding organisation of work, apart from para 21, it was suggested that two items out of seven listed in para 22 be kept on the agenda of each of the WG’s meeting. The WG tentatively would be meeting four times in 2002.

The CRTA held its 31st Session on 19/2/2002 and continued its discussions on the two background surveys conducted by the WTO Secretariat on (i) Coverage, Liberalization and Transitional Provisions in Regional Trade Agreements; and (ii) Rules of Origin Regimes in Regional Trade Agreements. The Committee continued its other work, namely, examination of Free Trade Agreements listed in the agenda. It also elected Ambassador Boniface Guwa Chidyausiku of Zimbabwe as the Chairperson of the CRTA for the year 2002. The new Chairperson suggested to the Members to consider the request from the Chairman of the Committee on Trade and Development with regard to special and differential treatment for developing countries in the context of discussions in the CRTA. He informed the Members that this issue would be discussed at the next session of the Committee likely to be held in late May or early June as a reply has to be sent to the CTD Chairman by July 2002.

At the DSB (Dispute Settlement Body) special meeting in Geneva on 19/2/2002, US expressed its intention to implement the DSB rulings in the dispute US – Omnibus Act (DS176). DSB adopted the panel report on Canada – Aircraft Subsidy (DS222).

At the regular DSB meeting on 1/2/2002, EC presented its last status report on Banana dispute. As EC implemented the 2nd phase of the agreed measures, US informed that it withdrew its retaliation measures against EC on 1st Jan. 2002. All those who spoke agreed for deletion of this item from future DSB meetings. US presented status reports on 1916 AD Act (DS136&162) and on Copyright Act (DS160) disputes. DSB adopted the panel and Appellate Body reports on US – Omnibus Act (DS176).

The Panel on US – Countervailing Measures concerning certain Products from the EC (DS212) met on 20/2/2002 with third parties. Brazil and Mexico made third party presentations. In our brief intervention we stated that while no principle of precedent would be applicable in WTO dispute settlement system, (in view of AB – Appellate Body — ruling in Bismuth Steel case (DS138) disapproving US method of calculating subsidy in a privatised company), it was a matter of good faith that those rulings should be observed in respect of similar cases and CVD should be withdrawn.

The Panel on US – Anti-dumping and Countervailing Measures on Steel Plate from India (DS206) held its second meeting on 26/2/2002 with parties. US and India made oral statements and Panel asked a few questions, which were given in writing on the next day. The Panel on US–Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act (DS217&234) held first meeting on 5 & 6/2/2002 with parties and third parties. India as well as all other 10 co-complainants and third parties, Argentina & Norway, made oral statements countering US arguments made in its first submission to the Panel. US also made oral statement defending the Act. Panel asked a few questions, which were later given in writing.

For Bangladesh, it was agreed to extend the BOP cover for another six months, pending agreement in the CTG (Committee on Trade in Goods) on Bangladesh’s notification to invoke Article XVIII:C in relation to specific products. The agenda and work programme on implementation issues was agreed. Under substantive consideration of the implementation issues, India made a detailed presentation reintroducing its proposals on tiret 1 and the relevant part of tiret 3. Some initial comments were made, but members respond in detail at the next meeting scheduled for 8 April 2002.

The agenda and work programme on implementation issues was agreed on 26/2/2002. Under substantive consideration of the implementation issues, India made a detailed presentation reintroducing its proposals on tirets 57-61. Some initial comments were made, but members will respond in detail at the next meeting scheduled for 27-28 March 2002.

The Chairperson convened an informal meeting of the CSC to exchange views on the likely role of the Committee in the context of the on-going negotiations on services. The Members noted the lack of progress on classification issues in the Committee in the last 12-18 months. It was also noted that the process was Member-driven and it was up to Members to come up with proposals. Some felt the need for a specific direction from the CTS Special Session to deal with classification issues raised in negotiating proposals submitted by Members. Some others felt that there was no such need as the mandate of the CSC already provided for dealing with such issues. Similarly, there was a clear division of views with regard to the need for reaching a common understanding on classification issues before the commencement of the request phase of the bilateral market access negotiations starting in June 2002. While one set of Members argued for resolution of the classification issues very early in the market access phase to allow Members to submit offers on the basis of some minimum common understanding of which sub-sectors were covered by individual sectors and to provide legal clarity and comparability of the various offers included in the draft schedules, another set of Members wanted to be practical as it was not possible to reach a common understanding by 30 June 2002 and felt that the request/offer phase would trigger consultations among Members bilaterally, plurilaterally, and multilaterally to understand the approaches adopted by individual Members. After discussion, it was agreed that the Chairperson of the CSC would write to the Chairperson of the CTS Special Session seeking a special direction from the CTS Special Session on the CSC role in dealing with classification issues raised in the negotiating proposals. However, it was agreed to retain the item relating to classification issues on the agenda for the forthcoming meeting on 11 March 2002. As for additional items to be considered by the CSC, there was near unanimous view among Members present that the issue of incorporation of new commitments resulting from the on-going negotiations should be considered. During discussion, a majority of Members considered the suggestion of the Chair to submit new schedules consolidating existing commitments, their improvements, and new commitments resulting from current negotiations as well as technical improvement. There was not much support for the other option of having further addenda or supplements to the existing schedules, but some felt that lack of/less capacity of some lesser developed Members to undertake work on consolidating the schedule should be taken into account. It was also agreed to discuss the Hong Kong proposal on scheduling of additional commitments under Article XVIII of the GATS at the next meeting purely as a simple stocktaking exercise without prejudging various possibilities. Taking this into account, it was agreed to introduce a new general item on the agenda entitled "Matters relating to Scheduling of Specific Commitments. Under this general item, there would be two sub-items, namely, incorporation of new commitments and approaches to scheduling additional commitments.

The TPRB conducted the first Trade Policy Review of Malawi, a small land-locked LDC Member with no representation in Geneva. Members welcomed Malawi’s commitment to the multilateral trading system and appreciated the substantial efforts this requires from Malawi. Members were also encouraged by Government’s economic reforms, including trade and investment liberalisation efforts to foster increased efficiency and private sector development. Members encouraged Malawi to further mainstream trade policy reforms into its national development policy through the Poverty Reduction Strategy. Some Members commented on the need for greater policy coherence between WTO and other multilateral institutions. Members also supported the need to extend adequate trade-related technical assistance to Malawi.

A meeting was convened by the Pakistani Mission in Geneva on 21/2/2002 to have preliminary discussions on the WTO Working Group on Trade and Transfer of Technology (TOT) set up pursuant to para 37 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration. Apart from LMG Members, the representative of Uruguay Mission also participated at the meeting. The meeting was also attended by Mr. Karl P. Sauvant, Director, UNCTAD, Mr. Pedro Roffe and other experts from the Technology Transfer Division of the UNCTAD. At the meeting, Mr. Pedro Roffe introduced a preliminary note prepared by the UNCTAD, at the request of Pakistan’s Delegation, on the WTO Working Group on Trade and Transfer of Technology. It was noted that since developing countries have been demandeurs of the WG on Trade & TOT, they would have to come up with substantive arguments to sustain discussion in the WG.

Word Trade Organisation Member Governments have pledged CHF 30 million, doubling the target set for a new Global Trust Fund that will boost technical assistance and help developing countries to build capacity and participate fully in the Doha Development Agenda, said WTO Director-General Mike Moore on March 11. The successful result was "yet another solid step forward" for the Doha Development Agenda, said Mr. Moore during the Doha Development Agenda Global Trust Fund (DDAGTF) Pledging Conference in Geneva, which was attended by senior trade officials, high ranking representatives from International Organisations and experts on finance and development.

"This is a remarkable outcome and will help ensure that the world’s most vulnerable countries have a more effective voice in the new Trade Round," said Mr. Moore. "We are on schedule and ahead of target, as promised at Doha. Donors have kept their word. We have secured a high level of commitment to helping us meet our mandate of increasing the level of WTO Trade-Related Technical Assistance." Mr Moore added that he believed the result indicated donors recognised the hard work the WTO had done to increase transparency and accountability in its auditing and performance evaluation mechanisms for its programs. Mr Moore noted that one of the key features of the new trade round launched last November, was that for the first time, developing countries had put conditionality on the developed, by demanding capacity-building and technical assistance in order to fully take part. The Pledging Conference was convened in accordance with the December 2001 decision by the WTO General Council to establish a sound and predictable basis for funding WTO Trade-Related Technical Assistance (TRTA). In that decision, the General Council set a target amount of core funding totalling CHF 15 million. Some governments also agreed to provide significant support in kind, including organising their own training courses for trade officials.

Although developing countries world-wide will benefit from DDAGTF-financed programs, the primary focus will be the least developed countries, and countries without representatives in Geneva, said Mr Moore. "We have consulted fully with all of our members, and especially the developing countries, in order to effectively respond to their needs."

The successful launch of the Global Trust Fund also highlighted the increasing acceptance amongst the multilateral institutions of the need for greater coherence in providing resources to developing countries, said Mr Moore. " The Doha Development Agenda established an extensive and unprecedented agenda for trade and development, including for TRTA, which far exceeds the delivery capacity of any one organisation," he said. "This Pledging Conference has given us a unique opportunity to initiate an urgent and necessary policy dialogue on several issues at the core of technical cooperation and capacity-building. Central to current discussions on this is the urgent necessity for coordination and coherence amongst agencies and between agencies and the bilateral donor community."

Mr Moore said that there were clear limits to what the WTO could and could not do implementing the Doha Development Agenda. "It’s not for us to tell countries and companies to make T-shirts or shoes, build airports or scaports. Our core business in the this context is helping countries build the capacity for them to successfully conclude the new round."

There are seven levels to the architecture that the WTO conceives for addressing the mandates for technical cooperation and capacity building. These are:

To negotiate and design effective inter-agency groups, focused on issues and activities, for the coordinated delivery of TRTA.

The Integrated Framework for Trade-Related Assistance, The unique aspect of the last meeting of Agency Heads was the unanimous undertaking to support developing and least-developed countries in the new round of trade negotiations and the negotiations of the Doha Development Agenda, on the basis of complementary expertise of the agencies.

The creation of a Doha/Trade-Related Technical Assistance Database, which maintains a country file that is continuously updated, recording the assistance being receiving from different multilateral and bilateral donors.

Effective coordinated delivery of TRTA by the WTO and bilateral donors in the Development Assistance Committee of the OECD.

Building a strategic partnership with the Regional Banks, Institutions and Commissions. The MOU signed last month with the Inter-American Development Bank provides a model for this sort of cooperation.

The WTO Secretariat-wide Annual Technical Assistance Plan, which, in coordination with some agencies, responds to the short term TRTA needs of the beneficiary members. The Plan is a significant step forward in delivering on the Doha mandates. It contains a total of 514 activities. Implementation has effectively begun, and will now be accelerated.

"Success breeds success, which creates confidence," said Mr Moore. "We have a new negotiating structure in place, chairpersons appointed to key committees, meetings scheduled for the year for help resource-constrained countries plan their activities, a new venue and a host minister who is deeply engaged. Our new budget announced after Doha greatly increased our ability to deliver in promised areas. This very successful pledging Conference adds to that momentum."

He added: "We doubled our training capacity before this conference and our team is now engaged in creative initiatives in distance education and using new technology to tutor students. More work will be done in this area and announced soon. We are seeking out and negotiating with new partners to ensure in-depth training accelerates, and is built into our drive to build capacity for developing countries to participate in negotiations, advance their interests, conclude agreements and implement them."

8                 Committee on Balance-of Payments
8                 Committee on Rules of Origin
9                 Special Session of the Committee on Trade and Development
9- 11          Textiles Monitoring Body
10 & 11      Negotiating Group on Market Access
10 & 11     Working Party on the Accession of Viet Nam
11 & 12     Joint WTO-World Bank Symposium on Movement of Natural Persons (Mode 4) under the GATS
15              Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration
15 & 16     Trade Policy Review Body - Mexico
15              Working Group on Trade, Debt and Finance
16              Special Session of the Dispute Settlement Body
16 & 17     Working Group on Trade and Transfer of Technology
17              Dispute Settlement Body
18 & 19     Working Group on the relationship between Trade and Investment
19              Committee on Rules of Origin
21 - 25       Geneva Week
22 & 23      Committee on Anti-Dumping Practices - Working Group on Implementation
22               Committee on Trade and Development - Seminar on E-Commerce
22             Symposium on Trade and Competition Policy
23& 24     Working Group on the Interaction between Trade and Competition Policy
24             Committee on Anti-Dumping Practices - Informal Group on Anti-Circumvention
24             Trade Negotiations Committee
25 & 26    Committee on Anti-Dumping Practices
25             Committee on Trade and Development
25             Working Party on the Accession of the Russian Federation
26             Committee on Market Access
26             Seminar on Regionalism
29             Committee on Safeguards
29             Opening Session of the WTO Symposium - The Doha Development Agenda and Beyond
29             WTO Symposium - Development Opportunities from Doha
29             WTO Symposium - Market Access/What is at stake?
30             WTO Symposium - Dumping and the WTO / Food Security implications
30             WTO Symposium - Functioning and Financing of the WTO
30             WTO Symposium - New Issues in the Trading System
30             WTO Symposium - The WTO, Poverty Alleviation, and the Environment
30             WTO Symposium - The WTO: The role of Parliamentarians
30             WTO Symposium - Trade and Environment after Doha.

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Country	Domestic Support	Export Subsidies	Total
USA	64957.88	147	65104.88
EC	100698	5843	106541
Japan	30414	Nil	30414
China	31834.76	Nil	31834.76
India	9664.05	3.92	9667.97