Cablegate: Meeting of the Wto General Council - March 31, 2005

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS GENEVA 000844

SIPDIS

PASS USTR FOR ALLGEIER AND DWOSKIN
EB/OT FOR CRAFT
USDA FOR FAS/ITP/SHEIKH, MTND/HENKE
USDOC FOR ITA/JACOBS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ETRD WTRO USTR
SUBJECT: MEETING OF THE WTO GENERAL COUNCIL - MARCH 31, 2005

1. The General Council agreed on March 31, 2005 to extend by
three months (until July 30, 2005) the time period for Members to
negotiate compensation or withdraw concessions of their own in
response to the EC's withdrawal of concessions as a result of EU
enlargement to its new membership of 25. The meeting was short
and transpired as expected, with the General Council taking note
of the EC's communication in G/L/695/Add.1/Rev.1 and adopting the
decision reached in the Council for Trade in Goods on March 11,
in which Members agreed to extend to fifteen months the time
period for Members that previously submitted a claim for
compensatory adjustment under Article XXIV:6 to withdraw
substantially equivalent concessions under Article XXVIII:3, on
the understanding that Members in need of a further extension may
raise the matter again at the May session of the Council for
Trade in Goods.

2. Two delegations - the Philippines and Indonesia - took the
floor to express concern that only "affected Members" were
covered by the scope of the EC communication. They expressed
"systemic concerns" about the process being used to withdraw
concessions, with the Philippines referring to its statements
made at the October 20, 2004 meeting of the General Council and
the October 1, 2004 meeting of the Council for Trade in Goods.
Both representatives emphasized that the General Council decision
has no legal effect on the rights and obligations of Members
apart from extending the deadline for rebalancing commitments as
set out in the EC communication.
3. The next General Council meeting is set for May 26-27, 2005,
with an airgram on or about May 12. Deily

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